2011-2012 Long Range Planning Committee’s Annual Report
Committee Members: Ruth Lowery (chair), Cynthia Griffin, Tim Jacobbe, Hazel Jones, Walter Leite, Pilar Mendoza, Ana Puig
The LRPC Committee met regularly throughout the 2011-2012 academic year as we sought to fulfill the various tasks we were assigned by the FPC. Committee members worked in unison to carry out these tasks and we are proud of the group’s accomplishments which are highlighted below:
Our committee reviewed the COE Strategic Plan, and came up with suggestions for moving forward with key components of the plan. After reviewing the “Action plan for short-term strategies” section of the Strategic Plan (pp. 16-19), we determined that the following five actions that could be implemented within the 2011-2012 academic year:
Plans for hiring a permanent Associate Dean of Research
Next Step Action: Dean Good and FPC should meet to develop a plan and timeline for hiring a permanent associate dean for research.
Work with faculty and staff in OER to better understand their role and the services they offer to the College of Education, initiatives they have implemented to facilitate research broadly, restructuring the office and duties for optimal efficiency
Develop interdisciplinary groups
Next Step Action: Reinstate the Searchable Database for faculty profiles.
The OER created a searchable database which highlighted faculty members’ research and areas of interest. This database was instrumental in helping to determine potential collaborators across the college and university. In the recent COE website restructuring, the database was removed. We recommend that this database is reinstated immediately.
Develop groups around teaching and pedagogy
Next Step Action: Begin the discussion on teaching and pedagogy
Faculty groups have been meeting with Directors and the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs as FEAPs are being revamped to meet state requirements. This is an optimal time and venue to begin the discussion about what we value in teaching and pedagogy.
Combine existing offices of communication and development
Next Step Action: The Dean, FPC chair, directors, Larry Lansford and Maria Martin should meet to determine strategies for promoting the COE and articulating its contribution to the state, country, and world given the current political climate
Analyze current markets and trends
Next Step Action: The Long Range Planning Committee will review the competition concept paper, the Productivity Task Force Report, and other data sources to determine next steps in analyzing current trends and markets. We will begin work on this at our next scheduled meeting.
**Dean Good indicated that these Next Step Action plans were carried out and the College at large has seen these results.
Ruth, Hazel, and Ana were asked to serve on the “Strategic Plan Implementation Steering Committee” chaired by Paul and Dorene. This committee along with Jodi has been working on implementing the major tenets of the Strategic Plan.
The committee created and administered the annual evaluations for Dean Good, Associate Dean Dana, and Assistant Dean Vernetson. Walter Leite was instrumental in meeting with each dean and fine-tuning the surveys, creating a final product that will be instrumental in future years.
Overall, the committee was called on to work on issues of immediate concern and we were able to accomplish a lot in completing the tasks given.
Moving Forward:
- The committee will continue to work under the directives of the FPC and the Strategic Plan Implementation Steering Committee to implement future benchmarks related to the Strategic Plan.
- The committee will be responsible for developing a survey for the Associate Dean of Research, Thomasenia Adams.
- Using feedback form this year’s surveys, the committee will work toward improving the surveys created for the deans this year.
