University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
MSE-PD Council
Minutes of the Meeting of March 11, 2010
Present: Steven Albrechtsen, Liesl Hohenshell, Richard Mason, Anne Stinson, John Zbikowski.
1. The meeting was called to order at 9:09 a.m.
2. The minutes of the February 25, 2010 meeting were approved as presented.
3. Liesl Hohenshell reported on online methods for tracking MSE-PD students’ progress through
the program, including the various steps in the Capstone process.
a. She presented three options based on her meetings with Stanley Smoniewski and David
Delgado:
i. A Survey Monkey-type service would be easy to use, but would pose
unacceptable confidentiality and access risks.
ii. A new Competencies tool is available in D2L that would allow student work to
be tracked automatically, without the need for checkboxes, but for it to be
useful, all relevant work would need to be recorded as assignments in D2L
courses that would each need to be set up properly. Also, faculty would need to
be trained in how to deploy the tool, which has not yet been tested here.
iii. A single D2L course with a grade book enumerating all the program steps could
be created. Each faculty advisor and the program coordinator could have
access. Students individually would be able to check their progress toward
degree completion.
b. The Council decided to go with option “iii”. John Zbikowski will provide a current list of
students and advisors in the appropriate format. Liesl will request a new ongoing D2L
course called “MSE-PD Degree Progress” and will start the grade book. John and Liesl
will review the items to be included in the checklist and will create groups of items
when helpful.
c. Steven Albrechtsen will monitor students’ progress through the Health, Human
Performance, and Recreation emphasis separately, and therefore students in this
emphasis will not be included in the D2L-based tracking system.
4. Anne Stinson proposed requiring graduate students seeking reading or alternative educational
settings licensure to be admitted to graduate degree or certificate programs. John Zbikowski
mentioned that Pam Clinkenbeard and Katy Heyning had discussed using WINS milestones to
track graduate Non-Candidates for Degree who seek licensure. Further discussion of this issue
was tabled.
5. EDUINDP 789 and EDUINDP 727 proposals: by consensus,
a. The proposal to make EDUINDP 727, Capstone Advising II, repeatable for credit will be
withdrawn for the time being based on feedback from the C&I department. John
Zbikowski reported that some department members were uncomfortable putting
advisors in a position to recommend that their students take a course not required for
the program that furthermore directly resulted in pay for the advisor. Anne Stinson
pointed out that advisors would receive requests from students to supervise their work
without their enrollment in a course, as a favor, and that they would be reluctant to
deny such requests.
b. The proposals to change the course description and prerequisite for EDUINDP 789
Capstone Project Seminar will go forward to the College of Education Curriculum
committee by March 30 with one revision pending any additional comments or
concerns from departments: add the alternative prerequisite READING 773 Literacy
Research: Theory and Application as an alternative prerequisite for students in the
Reading and ESL emphases who do not take EDUINDP 727. Members should advise
their departments to send any concerns about the proposals to John Zbikowski before
March 30.
6. Program Evaluation: John Zbikowski noted that at least 20 MSE-PD students have applied for
graduation in May, the greatest number in any term so far. John will be contacting each
instructor in a final capstone course (Capstone Project Seminar, Thesis Research, or Practicum)
and each advisor of a graduating student to complete a survey evaluating each student on
criteria related to Research, Practice, and Voice. The survey will be similar to the one completed
by instructors for each student in CIGENRL 723 Issues, Perspectives, and Directions.
7. The meeting was adjourned at 9:59 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
John Zbikowski