School of Education
260-481-6441
January 9, 2004
Susan B. Hannah, Ph.D.,
Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
Indiana University Purdue University Fort Wayne
2101 E. Coliseum Blvd.
Fort Wayne, IN 48605-1499
Dear Dr. Hannah:
Thank you for the opportunity presented to the School of Education to propose the creation of a Center of
Excellence. On behalf of the School of Education under the leadership of Dean Barry Kanpol and
Associate Dean Kathleen Murphey, I am pleased to present a proposal for a Scholar-Practitioner Center
for the Advancement of Educational Leadership and Learning Organizations.
A Scholar-Practitioner Center would potentially make IPFW a hub for the advancement of educational
leadership and lead school corporations in the kind of deep inquiry that is necessary to make informed,
scholarly decisions in a complex world. Peter Senge (1999), in The Dance of Change, wrote:

Organizations are products of the ways that people in them think and interact.

To change organizations for the better, you must give people the opportunity to change the ways
they think and interact. (p. 33)
The proposed Scholar-Practitioner Center, housing a journal committed to teacher research and the
construction of knowledge to address the complex issues facing educators, would give educators the
opportunity to learn how to slow down their reactive thinking processes and think reflectively within a
community of learners committed to authentically raising educational standards through inquiry in the
context of practice.
It is with great enthusiasm that we present the enclosed Scholar-Practitioner Center and Journal for your
review and deliberation.
Sincerely,
Glenda Moss
Assistant Professor
cc: Barry Kanpol
Kathleen Murphey