University Council on Teacher Education
April 28, 2008Meeting at the Friday Institute, 4:00-5:30
Twentymembers of the Council were present for this meeting: Meredith Adams (grad. student), Len Annetta, Bob Beichner, Ken Branch, Michael Clinkscales, Jo Ann Cohen, Eleanor Goette, Michael Maher, Ellen McIntyre, Kay Moore, Susan Navey-Davis (for Ed. Funkhauser), Rich Nixon, Gerald Ponder, Ruie Pritchard, Norma Quinones, Jeffrey Reaser, Jeffrey Scroggs, Sam Snyder, Anona Smith-Williams, Beth Wilson
The meeting was called to order by Ruie Pritchard, in the absence of Julie Dwyer who was unable to attend. She welcomed the members and distributed the agenda and the roster of current members.Ruie noted that Rich Nixon should be added back to the roster. His term ends in May 2009.
Mr. Rich Nixon / History Teacher, Clayton H.S.JCPSS
919-553-4064 / 400 Sarazen Dr.
Clayton, NC27520 / 919-553-2416 / / May2009
Dean Moore introduced a new ex officio council member, Ms. Norma Quinones, who is the new Assistant to the Dean for Diversity in the College.
The minutes of our last two meetings, April 24, 2007 and October 18, 2007,were distributed and discussed. Ken Branch moved to accept the minutes with typos corrected and Michael Clinkscale seconded.
Ruie acknowledge those 9 council members whose terms expire with this meeting:
Len Annetta*
Robert Beckmann
Bob Beichner
Laura Bottomly
Jane Ann Hughes
Ruie Pritchard
Jeffrey Scroggs
Amy Williams
Beth Wilson*
*Len Annetta and Beth Wilson agreed to stay on the committee through 2011.
Members nominated new members for the council:
Sharon Schulze, Interim Director of Science House
Dr. Kevin Oliver, Assistant Professor of Instructional Technology, C & I Dept.
Dr. John Griggs, Coordinator of Instruction, Department of Mathematics
Dr. Valerie B. Brown, Director of Kenan Fellows
Ruie suggested that Ms. Norma Quinones and Dr. Grant Holley (Director of Distance Education for the College) be named as ex officio members.
It was agreed that those who nominated these persons would contact them to see if they would serve and inform Sue Bullard to add them if they agreed. The members accepted the slate through a show of hands vote of yes or no, with the yeses carrying.
Dean Kay Moore and Associate Dean Gerald Ponder made a presentation, accompanied by a powerpoint and handout, that addressed the 6 “drivers” for our work: The College Strategic Plan, changes in the College, changes in the university GEP (General Education Plan, the UNC Tomorrow report, the State Board of Education Re-visioning of licensure programs, the knowledge base of educational research and best practices.
Dean Moore focused on the origins of the Strategic Plans. She explained the process of developing the plans and aligning them with the University Strategic Plans and the UNC system. A focus of the NC State Strategic plans is Innovative Education. Dean Moore illustrated the College priorities, or four pillars: Global/International links; k-12, Community College, STEM focus; Extension and Engagement; Research and Graduate Programs.
Next, Dean Moore explained the collaboration among Technology Education (in MSTE), Engineering, and Graphics Communication to develop a pre-engineering curriculum for middle and high school students.
The new university GEP requirements will broaden the scope of general education to include diversity, global knowledge, and interdisciplinary courses. The plan is located at: Given the demographics of NC classrooms, our teacher candidates need a focus on other cultures. Ruie Pritchard serves on the subcommittee of the International Operations Council to develop the new Global Proficiency Certificate. Ruie will lead a faculty retreat 3 days in May that will focus on ideas for internationalizing programs and experiences in the College of Education. Ms. Ingrid Schmidt, from the Study Abroad Office, is one of the speakers for that retreat.
Dean Moore announced that a new AdvisingCenter would be housed in Poe Hall. The trained advisors would serve undergraduate students in the college [MED, SED, MSL, TED. ENG, SS, ELM.] It should be opened in spring 2009. This advising center is needed due to the College growing from 780 to 1000 undergraduates.
Dean Ponder explained the revisioning of preparation programs for teachers, counselors, and school executives (new term for administrators.) The College will have a deadline of July 2009 to turn in the new plans for these programs. As of 2010, all current DPI program requirements will end.Dean Ponder is holding a series of workshops to address this. The first is April 11, 2008, for all program coordinators; the next is August 18, 2008. Dean Ponder stated that he would need to input of this council as the programs undergo this important revisioning.
Dean Ponder suggested that major components of the revised programs would be: semester-long student teaching, emphasis on 21st C. technologies (way beyond word processing, data bases, spreadsheets, and powerpoints), community-based experiences (such as interacting in meaningful and purposeful ways with different SES groups, minority youth, immigrants), classroom management and assessment.
Jo-Ann Cohen noted that she would like to see Diversity not as encompassing coursework (for the scholarly base) and experiences.
Bob Beichner questioned where content-specific pedagogy would be addressed.
Ellen McIntyre explained the model used in the elementary education program. Since the students take predominantly courses in the College of Ed., it is easier for the department to control course offerings and have flexible time.
Representatives of other colleges saw this as a challenge. Jeffrey Reaser (English) said that he could offer his content-focus classes on a flexible schedule, but it might be harder to convert the whole department to offering content classes at a time best for LTN (English teacher program), since the student population served by the English Department is much larger than LTN. He explained that NCLB requires 24 hours in the content area for teachers to be “highly qualified.”
Susan Navey-Davis (Foreign Language) agreed that for CHASS majors, flexibility will be essential and that CHASS will have to work closely with CED, while keeping their colleagues informed.
Dean Moore reminded us to think in blocks and think about embedding competencies rather than a program as a series of courses. This is a new way to look at our offerings.
Dean Ponder echoed this by saying, “We are just beginning this process and we must be open to possibilities. We can’t start with focusing on what we cannot do.”
The meeting adjourned at 5:30, with refreshments.
Respectfully submitted,
Ruie J. Pritchard, Secretary
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