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III. Standard 6: unit governance and resources
The unit has the leadership, authority, budget, personnel,
facilities, and resources including information technology resources,
for the preparation of candidates to meet professional, state, and institutional
standards.
Element 1: Unit Leadership and Authority
Professional Education Programs, initial and advanced, at Morehead State
University are governed and coordinated at the institution to prepare
educators to work in P-12 schools and other professional settings. The
Teacher Education Council, chaired by the Dean of the College of Education,
serves as governing body for all professional education programs. All
teacher education admissions policies are governed by TEC, while curriculum
proposals are submitted for approval to TEC plus the standing curriculum
committees of the departments, colleges, and university. www.msucoe.org/tec2000.pdf
Curriculum changes are typically initiated by the faculty
in individual programs, but recently by the Executive Committee for the
Transformation of Teacher Education has initiated curriculum reforms.
This committee, chaired by the provost and including all the deans and
leaders of major reform projects, has the task of coordinating teacher
education reform efforts. It was created in 2000 to coordinate the implementation
of reforms proposed by a reform task force made up of almost 50 faculty
members from across campus - a task force initiated by the president did
its work during the 1999-2000 academic year.
In 2001, the University’s colleges were reorganized and the College
of Education and Behavioral Sciences was trimmed down to a more focused
College of Education. Three teacher education departments are housed in
the College of Education (Elementary, Reading, and Special Education;
Leadership and Secondary Education; and Health, Physical Education, and
Sports Sciences). Secondary Education, 5-12 Certification, and vocational
school personnel preparation programs are delivered from the Colleges
of Science and Technology, College of Business, and the Caudill College
of Humanities, yet they are overseen by the TEC. An organizational chart
of the University can be found at the following URL: http://www.moreheadstate.edu/units/hr/2002orgchart.pdf
or in the Documents Room: Organizational Charts (MSU and Unit) 1.1.
Other colleges within the University recognize the Unit as a leader in
the preparation of professional educators and school personnel. Faculty
from the Colleges of Science and Technology, College of Business, and
the Caudill College of Humanities serve as members on the Unit Teacher
Education Council and are involved at the program level in curriculum
development and revision. Professionals outside the Unit who are part
of public school systems in our service region play significant roles
in the Unit’s policy making and advisory bodies, including membership
on the Teacher Education Council.
Governance for Professional Education Programs
A significant revision of the governance of teacher education was one
of the first initiatives implemented out of our teacher reform taskforce
in 2000. In an earlier attempt to broaden representation on the Teacher
Education Committee membership had been expanded to the point that it
was no longer an effective working body. In addition, an earlier modification
had made the chair’s position a rotating one held by faculty members.
Both of these changes had proven less effective, and the new governance
proposal, approved by Faculty Senate September 7, 2000, reduced the size
of the committee, made the dean chair, and changed the name from committee
to council. The approved governance document can be found at: www.msucoe.org/tec2000.pdf
Element 2: Unit Budget
The Unit maintains accounting and budgetary systems and controls that
demonstrate accountability and effective stewardship of University financial
resources.
MSU has an institutional planning process that drives budgeting. Within
the parameters of individual unit plans, requests for financial resources
are initiated by the departments/offices within the Unit and move up the
administrative ladder. The following chart shows distributions of funds
by colleges for the last six years. Numbers suggest that the administration’s
high profile commitment to Teacher Education reform has been backed up
with substantial financial resources.
The University continues to provide support for the
Unit through a sequential budgetary process. Budget allocations for the
Unit have moved upward during the reporting period. During the first four
years (1997-01) the budget for the College of Education and Behavioral
Science increased by 5%. During this same period the other colleges within
the University made modest gains, except the Caudill College of Humanities
and it showed a decrease in funding. The decline in College of Education
resources in 2001-2002 is attributable to the reorganization of the college
and the removal of three departments: the Department of Social Sciences,
the Department of Military Sciences, and the Department of Psychology.
Since the 2001-02 academic year, all the colleges within the University
have enjoyed budget increases.
The Unit’s travel funds allotment continues to be a significant part
of the Unit's support for faculty development. These funds are allotted
to each department in the Unit and divided among the faculty. Faculty
may ask for additional funds from the Dean’s office and the provost’s
office. Justification for these additional monies is required.
Over the past two years, special state monies have allowed the Unit to
deliver a wide range of services to schools and to develop further the
expertise of the faculty. The use of over half of Morehead State University’s
Action Agenda Trust Fund (Documents Room: Action Agenda Information 6.2)
for teacher education reforms shows the administration’s strong commitment
to teacher education.
Examples of activities pursued with these funds include:
The development of new clinical faculty/staff partnerships and new professional
development school relationships
Providing teacher education faculty from across all academic disciplines
with stipends and travel support to teach and assist in public school
classrooms across the service region
A Teacher Academy for 30 University teacher educators per year
Re-assigned time available for University faculty to work in public
schools
Establishment of a research program (matched by the University’s
Program of Distinction - Institute for Regional Analysis and Public Policy
– IRRAP) through which faculty may apply for support of “best
practices” and issue research
Employment of a fulltime teacher education recruiter
Establishment of faculty recruiting teams (13 in 2002-2003) to assist
the recruiter in attracting the best and brightest students into the teacher
education programs.
Involvement of faculty, staff, and area teachers in CADET program training.
Development of a new dual credit high school course for future teachers
(formerly affiliated with the Cadet program)
Employment an additional full-time advisor for pre-teacher education
students
Enhancement of salaries for new teacher education faculty to improve
recruitment of faculty
Employment of “Highly Skilled Educators” and other public
school teachers in undergraduate teaching roles on campus
Establishment of a full-time P-16+ Coordinator position with part-time
staff support
Encouragement of Local P-16 clusters to identify and address local initiatives
Development of procedures to assure that elementary education students
are scheduled into appropriately sequenced mathematics courses for understanding
of mathematical concepts and academic success
Establishment of an enhancement lab to reduce mathematics anxiety for
elementary education students
Formation of a campus team to focus on ways to improve the teaching
and learning of mathematics for elementary education students (Documents
Room: Action Agenda Information 6.2)
Other teacher education objectives established by the Unit have been funded
through sources other than the Regional University Trust Fund. Several
of them are listed below.
To enhance the alternative certification program – The Unit's first
M.A.T. programs for initial certification have been established for secondary
certification disciplines as well as business and marketing (5-12), and
Special Education. Enrollment in these programs has increased from 11
– 64 and therefore additional money has also been allocated to cover
the cost of clerical support personnel and two instructors to work with
candidates during their clinical practice semesters. (Documents Room:
Faculty PAR’s 6.3)
To introduce and teach students and faculty in the application of the
latest educational technology –Through MSU’s PT3 Grant, MSU
has trained faculty and students to infuse technology into the curriculum,
created new technologically rich learning environments, modified the curriculum,
and established new technology based partnerships with schools
To improve the assessment of the teacher education students - Progress
has been made in developing exit portfolios, rubrics, and assessment processes
for student teachers based upon new teacher standards. Our digital database
of student’s records and progress has been significantly improved
and staff has been assigned to input data.
To expand grants and fundraising – the success of efforts to create
a viable model for the preparation of teachers is determined by way the
unit leverages internal resources in obtaining grants and support from
external sources. Crucial to all these efforts is the creation of a strategic
plan and case statement for the university-wide effort for preparing educators.
Presently, the unit’s level of outside funding is exceeded by only
one other college on campus.
Despite the larger economic problems of the state and
the nation during the last two years, MSU’s teacher education programs
have had access to better financial resources than at any time in memory,
thanks to CPE’s Action Agenda, the U.S. Department of Education’s
PT3 Funds, and the commitment of the institution’s administration
to teacher education reform.
Element 3: Personnel
The faculty workload at MSU still includes a 24-hour per academic year
load for faculty who teach only undergraduate courses, an 18-hour per
academic year load for faculty who teach only graduate courses, and a
formula for those who teach a mixture which typically results in those
faculty teaching three courses (9 hours) one semester and four courses
(12 hours) the other. (The formula counts a three-hour graduate course
as four hours toward load.) Summer school teaching is a big part of the
workload for many teacher education faculty, and it is remunerated separately
and not figured toward load.
Clinical supervision loads are based upon a formula
in which each candidate one supervises in clinical practice counts as
.67 credit hours toward load. Hence, a full-time clinical supervision
load would be 18 candidates. Since our clinical semester includes an additional
three-hour seminar taught by the supervisor, actually supervisors rarely
have over 12 candidates. At MSU, faculty loads are calculated over the
academic year, so individual faculty members may carry an overload for
one semester, but then carry an "underload" the following semester.
(Documents Room: Faculty Load Formula: 6.5)
In order to enhance the continuity of instruction throughout the programs,
the Unit has been moving away from using adjuncts and generalists to supervise
clinical experiences in the secondary disciplines. Now those academic
departments are taking ownership of the clinical experience and supervising
the experience with the same faculty who teach content-based pedagogy
courses. As noted in Standard 3, the Unit has also developed a closer
and more accountable working relationship with clinical faculty in the
field to enhance quality and continuity of candidates learning experiences.
Since our last reaccredidation visit, there has been
a dramatic increase in the number of support personnel to assist in the
Unit's work. The dean of education has been provided with two assistants
to the dean - faculty members who’ve worked on accreditation, certification,
and reform issues. An associate dean has been appointed to oversee the
P-16 Initiatives and the Professors in the Schools Project. One faculty
member has been given reassigned time to serve as the Unit's assessment
coordinator and another to serve as a coordinator for secondary education
programs.
In addition, a full-time Teacher Education Recruitment
Coordinator was hired in the fall of 2001 and an assistant was added summer
of 2003. A Master of Arts in Teaching Program Coordinator was selected
and received release time to fulfill the administrative requirements of
this new program. A secretary has been hired to support these two coordinators,
plus the director of the Minority Teacher Education Program.
Each department has been provided with reassigned time for a faculty member
to serve as an assessment coordinator. The Department of Elementary, Reading,
and Special Education has been provided reassigned time for extra administrative
support for the chair. In order to address the issue of advising and its
impact on faculty loads raised during the last NCATE visit, MSU used Action
Agenda funds have been used to add a second full-time academic advisor
to the Department of Elementary, Reading, and Special Education. An overview
of the changes cited above is noted on the Professional Education Units
Organizational Chart located in the Documents Room: 1.1.
A changing job market has made teacher education faculty
positions difficult to fill, and Action Agenda funds have been used to
raise salaries of new hires (to benchmark) and make us more competitive
in hiring.
As noted in the discussion of field experience reforms, the Unit has developed
new programs for identifying clinical faculty from public schools, training
and remunerating them. Plans are underway to expand this program to include
cooperating teachers who work with students during their clinical practice
semester.
Departments and offices in the Unit have adequate support personnel to
assist faculty and candidates and to enhance the effectiveness of the
Unit. The supplies and office equipment needs are reviewed on a regular
basis. Supplies and new equipment are made available to the departments
within the Unit on a timely basis.
The Unit adheres to policies, procedures, and practices that provide non-discriminatory
hiring, retention, and due process for faculty/staff. Faculty are guaranteed
non-discriminatory due process through departmental and Unit employment
and merit pay procedures developed at the departmental level and approved
at the departments, Colleges, and University levels.
Element 4: Unit Facilities
The Unit recognizes that facilities have essential function in providing
an environment to enhance the teaching-learning process and are essential
in supporting candidates, faculty and staff activities.
Major expenditures have been used for the upgrading of office space, computers,
classroom chairs, classroom desks, and office equipment within the Unit
and the College of Education. Significantly, during the last two years
several non-teacher education offices have been moved out of Ginger Hall
(The College of Education building) to make more space available for teacher
education programs. The rest of the campus and the extended campus community
have been upgraded with new classroom buildings, and a major renovation
of the Student Center is under way.
Building projects funded by the state of Kentucky include the renovation
of Breckinridge Hall and construction of the new MSU at West Liberty building,
which were completed during the 2001-02 academic year. Breckinridge Hall,
built in 1929, includes two new additions: a 6,335 square feet east wing
and an 18,207 square feet west wing. The facility houses MSU's Department
of Communication & Theatre and is the home to an experimental theatre,
television production studio, distance learning facilities, Morehead State
Public Radio (MSPR), classrooms, and offices. The cost of this construction
project was $14 million.
The 36,000 square-foot West Liberty building, which cost $6 million, has
regular classrooms, three distance learning technology classrooms, a computer
laboratory, and two computer classrooms. The two-story building also houses
administrative offices and an auditorium and multi-purpose room. The MSU
at West Liberty primarily serves students in Elliott, Menifee, Morgan,
Magoffin, Breathitt and Wolfe counties.
The $6.6 million Northeast Regional Postsecondary Education Center, extended
campus facility in Prestonsburg, is located on the campus of Prestonsburg
Community College; it is scheduled for completion in 2003. It will replace
leased facilities in a nearby shopping center used by MSU at Prestonsburg
students since 1991. The new building will have more than 30,000 square
feet of floor space.
The facilities in the Unit support the most recent developments in technology.
Faculty teaching with distance learning technologies are encouraged to
model exemplary teaching with those technologies and are given released
time to develop technology-based courses. An expected result of such faculty
modeling will be more graduates using technology to enhance classroom
instruction. Plans are being developed to add wireless Internet connectivity
to Ginger Hall during the 2003-2004 academic year. Documents Room: MSU
Six-Year Capital Plan 6.6 or www.moreheadstate.edu/presreport/construction.html
Element 5: Unit Resources Including Technology
In the past three years the Unit has made significant progress in improving
the accessibility of technology for teacher candidates, staff, and faculty.
Student computer labs are regularly updated, and faculty members receive
new computers through a rotating lease program. The Office of Information
Technology regularly offers a wide variety of technology training workshops
for faculty and staff.
The institution has also made a strong commitment to distance learning
technologies. We now have seven distance learning labs on campus offering
compressed video courses at 22 sites around the region. The Office of
Distance Learning has hired a full time faculty consultant to help individual
faculty learn to teach online and through compressed video. A position
of Distance Leaning Video systems/Maintenance technician has been hired,
and a new Director of Distance Learning has come onboard.
The Office of Distance Learning (DL) offers extensive training and support
to the University and the Unit and provides an extensive website to communicate
to faculty and students. There are extensive listings of Course offerings
(ITV, KET and Online) throughout the academic year and during the summer.
Training for faculty is on-going.
Since 1997 the Unit has also been active in offering online courses to
undergraduate and graduate students. The table below shows enrollment
in both Internet courses and compressed video courses offered by two education
departments. See Table 6.4 below.
MSU’s commitment to provide technology resources to faculty and students
received a major boost in 2000, when it was awarded a three-year PT3 grant
for a total of $1,400,000. Through this grant Morehead State University
has increased faculty proficiency with technology, integrated technology
into courses across the curriculum, and implemented teacher education
reforms and institutional changes, all leading to measurable increases
in technology competency of faculty and student teachers. PT3 has created
state-of-the-art model classrooms in Ginger Hall, provided technology
training for dozens of faculty and hundreds of students, developed technology
based partnerships with numerous schools, provided individual faculty
with equipment, and generally helped create for all of our programs more
technologically rich environments. (Documents Room: PT3 Grant Information/
New Proposal 1. 12)
As part of the PT3 grant, an in-depth needs assessment
of the presence and use of technology was conducted three years ago. This
has been updated every year and now serves as a comprehensive baseline.
The great majority of both students and faculty report they adequate access
to technology. They also report the integration of technology into the
coursework. Over 500 teacher education candidates have participated in
technology enhancement seminars or taken an additional Internet course.
Seventy-five percent of students who completed a recent SACS survey (3,283
responses out of 4,370 distributed) agreed or strongly agreed that they
had sufficient access to computing resources. Over 300 faculty members
have received training in integrating technology into their teaching.
The number of Internet courses has grown from 5 to 95 since 1997 and several
degree programs are offered online, some in partnership with the Kentucky
Virtual University. Over half of our courses are web-enhanced. (Documents
Room: PT3 Grant Information 1.12)
A spring 2003 survey of teacher education faculty showed that nearly all
of the 254 courses cited use of technology. Concurrently, a consortium
of active partners, including local school districts and corporate partners,
was organized in May 1999, to address the need for preparing technology
proficient teachers in compliance with the new Kentucky State Technology
Standards. With assistance from a Capacity Building and Implementation
Grant from the US Department of Education, the consortium began the effort
to restructure teacher preparation programs to infuse technology and accelerate
the preparation of technology- proficient teachers. Steps have been taken
to develop, test, evaluate, and refine an innovative approach to transforming
teacher preparation for the 21st century. Documents Room: PT3 Grant Information-Proposal
1.12
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