11 October, 2002 FPC Faculty Meeting Minutes
October 11, 2002
Room 250 Norman Hall
Welcome
The meeting was called to order at 3:10 pm.
Correa welcomed Dean Emihovich, new FPC members, Department Chairs, Dr. Fran Vandiver from P. K. Yonge, and all faculty to the Fall Faculty meeting.
Introductions
New faculty members in the College of Education were introduced by respective department chairs, including:
Dr. Larry Tyree, Department of Educational Leadership, Policy and Foundations
Dr. Penny Cox, Program Coordinator in the Department of Special Education
Dr. Karen Parker, ESOL Coordinator in the School of Teaching and Learning
New faculty from P. K. Yonge Developmental Research School were introduced by Dr. Vandiver, including:
Lauren Bartoy (4th grade), Justin Brooten (Middle School- Life Science), Jeff Boyer – (High School – Integrated Science), Kerry Delatorre – High School – Math), Jackie Evans (Kindergarten), Amy Hollinger (3rd grade), Randy Hollinger (Middle School – Science), Angie Johnson (Elementary Special Education), Eddie Ladner (Physical Education), Renee Ladner (Physical Education), David Mitchell (High School – Sociology), Amy Murphy (Middle School – – Language Arts), Maria Rinehart (High School – Math), and Barb Williams(Elementary Special Education).
Correa introduced the College of Education’s new Dean, Catherine Emihovich, to the faculty.
Faculty Policy Council Update
Vivian Correa reviewed the new Faculty Policy Council web site, which can be found at https://education.ufl.edu/committees/fpc/. The website includes information on the COE Constitution, FPC and standing committee membership, Minutes of FPC and Dean’s Advisory Council meetings, a calendar, and Archives of last year’s FPC minutes.
It was announced that draft policies for faculty review will be posted on the website. The proposed “Guidelines for Tenure and Promotion” have been posted and they are available in HTML and PDF formats.
Topics to be addressed by the FPC this year include:
- Tenure & Promotion Procedures
- Graduate Admissions Policies
- COE research infrastructure
- Evaluation of Associate/Assistant Deans
Dean’s Announcement
Dean Emihovich announced that $15,000 would be available for faculty travel to present research papers at national and international conferences. Associate Dean Kranzler will chair a committee that reviews applications for the travel funds. Dean Emihovich stated that the travel funds may be available for presentations that have already occurred (with available receipts). The travel funds must be used by June 30, 2003.
Dean Emihovich stated that a mini-grant program would be initiated through the new CARE office. The goal of this program would be to provide small incentive grants that could support faculty in research areas and lead to the development of grant proposals for external funding.
Associate Dean’s Comments
Associate Dean Webb announced that work is continuing on the development of a comprehensive college website. Behind the website is a college database that includes information on faculty, courses, and programs. Fall syllabi have already been submitted and requests will go out soon for Spring syllabi. Faculty will be asked to put their vita in NCATE ready form. A template will be disseminated and faculty can fill this form in or send a current vita to someone designated by the Department Chair to assist with the task.
The NCATE site visit is scheduled for April 5th – 8th. The NCATE Planning Committee is making progress on getting all materials together. The importance of the Conceptual Framework of the College was stressed. The site team will expect faculty to be aware of the framework. The Conceptual Framework of the College of Education is: The College of Education and affiliated programs prepare reflective professionals who create, organize, disseminate knowledge; promote democratic values; and serve diverse communities.
Associate Dean Webb stated that all building projects are on time. The classrooms have been renovated and we all need to continue to keep them in good condition.
Open Discussion
Correa stated this is a new era for the College of Education. We are beginning our second year of shared governance, we have a new Dean, there are new directives from the UF administration, and NCATE will be here in April 2003. There are many issues and initiatives for the faculty to consider: ideas about research, our sense of community, the culture at the COE, student and faculty diversity, perceptions of the Lastinger Center and Opportunity Alliance.
Do we have a tacit vision of the College of Education?
Correa asked what the faculty’s collective thoughts were on themes and /or visions in the College of Education and opened the floor for discussion.Points raised during this discussion included:
· How do we represent ourselves to other colleges? The issue of using one strategy or vision to satisfy multiple constituencies, or multiple strategies and visions was discussed. Can one vision satisfy all groups that we interact with – faculty, college, university, school district, and state of Florida?
· Who are we are trying to reach – traditional or non-traditional students?
· How do we serve Florida? There is a need to be concerned about school children in Florida, working conditions for teachers, and financial support for education. The College of Education is not provided with enough resources, nor is the public schools. Uncertain how we should respond, but people in government are making education decisions without talking to us as education faculty.
· Public education is in jeopardy and the existence of colleges of education is tied directly to the public education system.
· Recently a packet of information from trustees indicated that Colleges of Education do not measure up to science and medicine in universities across the country. It is important to educate our trustees regarding teacher education, research, and all we are doing to impact public education in Florida.
· While attending a recent convocation for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, there was a lot of discussion regarding children and families, but no mention of the College of Education. It is important that we become a part of these conversations.
· Across the state the University of Florida and the College of Education is respected by alumni and educators. But, we are not at “the table” when issues regarding education are discussed. Our presence is not felt in the Florida Department of Education. They are always asking for faculty to come to Tallahassee and become involved in state issues – but we often view ourselves as “above the fray.” We need to get to Tallahassee and become more politically involved, participate in conversations, present a proactive orientation, and make a concerted effort toward capturing the knowledge and passion of the faculty in the College of Education. The College is known for “…..” We need to fill in the blank.
· We need to make people aware of what we do and how we do it. The COE has a long history of research, cross-departmental collaboration, and a focus on translating research into practice. This needs to be communicated to the public.
· How succinct is our research, who does it affect, and how do we affect schools in Florida? We need to disseminate our research in a format that educators and the public can readily use.
· Have we done a perception assessment? How is the College of Education perceived by others? By other colleges at UF, by the people of Florida, by the legislature? How do we present ourselves and how can we alter their perceptions? We need to develop a strategic plan to do this.
· How do we change perceptions of those who have already formed an opinion. People don’t seem to think much of Colleges of Education right now. We are consumed by meeting the standards of other people and groups. Maybe we need to become a “charter COE”. This will remove a number of the regulations and external demands, so we can find our own niche.
· It is a good time for growth, to be proactive. In the past two years we have begun to move from a departmental focus to a new college-wide focus. How do we maintain this college-wide focus and improve upon it?
· We need to focus on research and providing training to public schools. We need a vehicle to disseminate information. PK Yonge is one place this can be done.
· What should our job be? What should the best colleges of education be doing? We don’t necessarily need to produce more educators to meet all the shortage areas in the state and in the country. We could prepare the BEST teachers, counselors, and school psychologists. We could also work to show others how to prepare better educators, we could focus on helping others develop good preparation programs. To do this we need to have programs that push the edge and move into new territory.
· There is a need for more integrated programs that cross departmental lines. We need to remember that the students we are preparing at the COE are moving into an integrated world in public schools. They have to work with other educators. Our programs need to have the same focus. Right now there is too much isolated instruction within programs.
· We should be working with others across the university to improve teaching and instructional experiences in higher education. We can be a resource to improve instruction in the whole university. We know about good teaching!
· While we want to be helpful to the Florida DOE, it’s often much easier to be oppositional. It’s easier to disregard the state and keep doing our isolated work in higher education. But we need to be more engaged in helping the DOE and public schools. What happens now is we suggest practices to public schools that are far beyond what they can possibly do. So they view us as “out-of-touch” and it’s easy for us to just return to the university and keep doing our work. It is unclear how we get out of this trap and start being perceived as helpful, but we need to change the current circumstances.
· Presently, we are reactive. We need to become proactive. There is a need to lobby in Tallahassee; to present alternative ideas about how to address the educational needs in the state. There are approximately 40 alternative certification programs in the state and many would welcome our input as they try to figure out how to prepare educators to meet current shortages.
· We might consider partnering with FSU as they have access to people in Tallahassee. There are many common themes and issues we could address and it would benefit UF to do this.
· Most people entering teaching do not come from programs like UF. So, how do we make our teacher education programs different from the alternative certification programs? And, how can we be helpful to community colleges, small colleges and districts that are providing many of the alternative certification programs?
· We always appear to be responding to external pressures and also internal pressures within the university (like the bank). We need to stop and think. We need to reflect about ourselves, the college and figure out how we want to change.
Correa thanked the faculty for their comments and suggestions and stated the need to continue this conversation in the future.
Dean’s Reflections
Dean Emihovich reflected about issues and concerns that were identified during the conversation. She suggested that we might consider forming smaller groups to continue these conversations in a round-table type discussion. Emihovich noted that in addition to the concerns identified, faculty expressed have very strong emotions – anger, passion, and frustration. We need to figure out how to harness this emotion and use the energy to move forward in a proactive way. Some reflections offered by Dean Emihovich included:
· We need to channel our voice, passion, and knowledge to the right people. Those that will give credence to our ideas and help us promote change.
· We need to be more collaborative and present ourselves as a team. We need to have a college identity as well as a personal identity, and we need to balance these two perspectives.
· Can we identify partners that will help us? Alumni think highly of the College of Education. We need to tap into our alumni within the state and nationally to build our resources and form a network.
· We have an obligation to public education; that is why we are here. We all want better education for our children. We need to strengthen and build relationships across campus and across the state regarding K-12 education. The number one issue in the state is education. We need to capitalize on this public sentiment.
· We should think about a partnership, and possibly a joint retreat, with the College of Education at Florida State University.
· We need to stay focused on scholarship and professional education. We may need to do this differently than we are currently – possibly through multiple and/or different models. We need to focus on quality – sharing ideas with K-12, community colleges, and other colleges and universities.
· Diversity is another issue that we need to consider. This involves the recruitment of faculty and students. We need to have conversations about diversity and we think about our present culture at the college, the university, and the community. “What are we inviting faculty and students to?”
Dean Emihovich announced that two faculty searches have been authorized in the Department of Counselor Education. Two additional faculty searches and the directorship in the School of Teaching and Learning will also begin.
Correa remarked that we need to continue these conversations within departments and in small forums across the College. The Faculty Policy Council will consider how it can assist in these conversations.
The meeting was adjourned at 5 pm.
