School of Education and Human Development
University of Southern Maine
External Advisory Council
Meeting Minutes
May 3, 2013
Present: Allen Lampert, Jeanne Whynot-Vickers, Cathie Fallona, Joe McDonnell, Jill Blackwood, Jack
Sutton, Tom Lafavore, Mary Anne Crawford, David Chute, Catherine Martin, Deb Ledoux, Joy Halligan,
Bethany Connolly, Barbara Powers, Chistopher Howell, Liz Standen, Sarah-Jane Poli, Glenn Cummings
and Colleen Pleau. Glenn Cummings and Mike Brady attended as guests.
1. The meeting began with a welcome and agenda overview from Jeanne Whynot-Vickers,
followed by introductions.
2. Glenn Cummings – Professional Development Center Future Plans
a.) Glenn is involved in Educational Leadership and would like to engage the Southern Maine
Partnership once again. He stated that the SEHD External Advisory Council can help by
getting the word out.
b.) Glenn has been going around to Superintendents and asking what was on their mind?
The following five major topics have come up strongly:
 Standards based education and what that actually means.
 How do you get good effective teacher and administrative evaluations?
 Data (drowning in data and fearful of data). How do we use micro data?
 STEM and interest in endorsement pathways in High School.
 Obtaining more updated information on brain research.
c.) The plan is to have monthly “Dine and Discuss” meetings with Principals and other
professional same job groupings to talk about the various topics. The SEHD External
Advisory Council members will be placed on the list of those to be invited to these
meetings.
3. USM Graduate Student Reflections – Cathie Fallona
The Governing Sub-Committee asked to have former students speak to the Council members
about their experiences as USM students and how the University has helped them in what they
are presently doing. Cathie introduced students and facilitated the conversation.
a.) Rebecca Bickford graduated from the Doctoral program in School Psychology last
August. She is currently the Field Placement Coordinator for the program and is
primarily responsible for training school psychologists throughout the State of Maine.
b.) Heather Flanders has earned a Masters in Literacy with a concentration in ESL. She is
currently working with K-5 ELL in the Gorham schools. Heather chose USM because we
offer courses that lead to endorsements as an ESL teacher.
c.) Anna Politzer is currently finishing up with the ETEP program. Anna chose USM because
the ETEP program offers the opportunity to be in a classroom atmosphere from the very
beginning.
d.) Nick Smith graduated from the Mental Health program in December 2012. He is
currently a clinician. Nick chose USM because of the location, accreditation and great
feedback from other people in the program.
e.) The students noted the strengths of the USM programs are as follows:
 The faculty is so supportive, incredibly competent and goes above and beyond.
 Accreditation holds a lot of weight.
 The way classes are structured.
 Most recent research is stressed.
 Comprehensive training model.
 USM is very friendly to non-traditional students.
 Two of the faculty members in School Psychology are nationally recognized for
their expertise.
f.) The students expressed it would have been helpful if the following had occurred:
 Nick - If the Mental Health program had a little more interaction with the School
of Social Work.
 Anna - If she could have visited more schools while being in the ETEP program.
 Heather – If more courses were available pertaining to ESL.
 Rebecca – Believes that students need to spend more than 600 hours in schools
and multiple accreditations would be an asset.
4. Scholarship Sub-Committee – Cathy Martin
a.) The Committee is in the process of planning next fall’s fundraising event which will be
held at the Glickman Library from 4 – 6 pm on October 15, 2013.
 The topic of the event is Proficiency-based Diplomas: Resources and materials
to Help You on Your Journey.
 The program will feature a panel discussion where teams of high school staff
will be introduced to resources and action strategies they can use while
grappling with the many challenges of creating proficiency-based diplomas
system.
 Registration is $25 with the net proceeds benefiting the endowed USM School
of Education and Human Development Community Scholarship Fund for student
scholarships.
b.) The next Scholarship Sub-Committee meeting is scheduled for June 21, 2013. They
would love to have more participation on this very active committee.
5. Governance Sub-Committee – Jeanne Whynot-Vickers
a.) The Governance Sub-Committee’s main job is to plan the three yearly Full Council
meetings. They meet a month before the three Full Council meetings- Meetings take
place at Denny’s from 8:00-9:00.
b.) The 2013 – 2014 Full Council meeting dates are as follows:
 September 27, 2013
 January 24, 2014
 May 2, 2014
6. Membership Sub-Committee - Jill Blackwood
a.) A list of eight 2013 – 2014 Council member nominees was distributed. Jill has a list of five
more names to pursue.
b.) There are currently 33 members of the Advisory Council Board.
c.) Sarah-Jane Poli has agreed to be Vice-Chairman. She will serve on the Governance SubCommittee and orchestrate the New member Orientation in the fall.
7. Report of Visit with President & Provost - Dean Joe McDonnell
a.) Many Council members attended the meeting with President Kalikow. Joe was
appreciative to the 10 Council members for the positive tone of the meeting and for their
support in making the meeting such a productive one.
b.) The President heard from the group that Graduate education is very important.
c.) Graduate education has been trending down. To help preserve all our programs, we
need to re-organize in such a way that we place more students in a class.
d.) Would like to see more overlap between programs rather than operate in isolation.
e.) A suggestion was made that perhaps next year we might think about a meeting with the
Chancellor. Jeanne captured this on minutes for the Governance Sub-Committee to
respond to.
8.
PDC – Tom Lafavore
a.) The last of the four sessions based on the information gathered from the USM
Community of Learners meetings is being held on May 9, 2013.
b.) There have been 23 participants.
c.) The sessions have been successful, but they are trying to cover a large array of topics in a
short amount of time.
9.
Confucius Institute – Dean Joe McDonnell
a.) We are starting a Confucius Institute partnership at USM with a Chinese University.
b.) We will be creating programs in Chinese language and culture.
c.) There will be two faculty members coming here from China.
d.) Two superintendent expressed an interest in offering Chinese instruction and Joe
indicated he would include them in meetings with the Chinese teachers.
10. The Advisory Council Sub-Committee Membership was set at the conclusion of the meeting.
(Additional members can and will be added at our first orientation and full committee meeting
in the fall.) If you wish to serve on any of these sub-committees, please let the chair of the
committee know.
Governance Sub- Committee
Next Meetings: May 31 8:00 at Denny’s
Sept. 13 8:00 at Denny’s
Membership:
 Cathie Fallona, SEHD Associate Dean
 Jeanne Whynot-Vickers, Chair
 Sarah-Jane Poli, Vice Chair and Orientation Chair
 Barbara Powers
 David Chute
 Kelly Hasson
 Liz Standen
 Peter Lancia
 Faye Gmeiner
Scholarship Sub-Committee
Next Meeting: June 21, 2013 8:30 Abromson Center Rm 217
Membership:
 Cathie Fallona, SEHD Associate Dean
 Cathie Martin & Jack Sutton, co-chairs
 Jeanne Whynot-Vickers
 Joy Halligan
 Deb Ledoux
 Chris Howell
 Sandy Prince
 Kevin Doiron
 Kim Warren
 Betsy Uhuad
Membership Sub-Committee
Next Meeting: January 24, 2014 10:30 AM
Membership:
 Cathie Fallona, SEHD Associate Dean
 Jill Blackwood, Chair
 Tom Lafavore
 Mary Anne Crawford
 Jeff Porter
 Sarah-Jane Poli
11. Full council meetings for 2013-2014:
 September 27, 2013
8:00-9:00 Orientation for New Members
9:00-10:30 Full Council Meeting
 January 24, 2014
8:00-10:30
 May 2, 2014
8:00-10:30