College of Education Senate Meeting
Friday, October 31, 2014
9:00 AM – 11 AM
3237 Benjamin Building
MINUTES
Present: Wayne Slater, Chair, (TLPL); Ellen Fabian, Chair Elect & Senate Secretary,
(CHSE); Paul Beckman (CHSE); Kellie Rolstad (TLPL), Susan Hendricks (TLPL),
Peggy Wilson, (TLPL), Jennifer Turner (At Large), John Seelke (At Large) Donald J.
Bolger (HDQM), Betty Ann Robertson-Tchabo (HDQM), Tracy Sweet (HDQM),
Elizabeth Johnson (Admin. Prof. Rep. Exempt), Meredith Phillips (At Large Admin.
Prof. Rep. Exempt), Valerie Foster (Admin. Prof. Rep. Non Exempt), Amy Furhman
(CHSE Graduate Rep. Doctoral), Christie Lillard (HDQM Graduate Rep. Masters), Tori
Mailin (HDQM Undergraduate Rep.), Beth Kerley (TLPL Undergraduate Rep.)
Abesent: Julie Park (CHSE)
I. Review and approval of September 12 Minutes
Minutes from the September 12 Senate Meeting were approved with minor edits to
correct typographical errors.
II. Dean’s Update: Dean Donna Wiseman
a. Website Update: The Dean reviewed the status of the College and Departmental
website re-design, a task being conducted by an external contractor, “Mind Grub.”
Faculty and staff are involved and encouraged to continue to provide input into the
re-design; which is anticipated to be completed by July 1, 2015.
b. Budget: The Dean indicated that the budget outlook is not very positive. She
anticipates a possible mid-year cut, in addition to the existing budget cuts. Before
the end of the year, the dean’s office anticipates a 2% or $350K cut across the COE.
On a positive note, three faculty and one department chair searches have been
approved and are moving forward.
c. Space: The Dean indicates that Cole Field House space will be unavailable by the
end of spring, 2015. The provost is committed to replacing the space the COE will
lose in Cole, but the Dean wants to move forward with a potential proposal to
recapture about 3,500SQ in the basement of Benjamin for research space. A
potential alternative space being considered to replace the space to be lost in Cole is
in the University Center building at 9400 Baltimore Blvd.
III. Update on Doctoral Programs across Departments: Robert Croninger for
Jennifer Rice
Robert Croninger distributed tables on doctoral student enrollment across
Departments for 10 years (2004 to fall, 2014). Main issues emerging from a review
of enrollment data were: 1) there was an overall decline in graduate student
enrollment across departments; 2) the largest decline across departments was in
the part-time student category; and 3) there was an overall decline in doctoral
student enrollments across departments.
The Senate discussed graduate enrollment declines, particularly with regard to the
University’s “right sizing,” guidelines implemented in 2010 which emphasized only
admitting full-time fully-funded doctoral students. Bob Croninger indicated that the
campus may consider loosening these guidelines and allowing for additional parttime doctoral students to boost enrollment; the Graduate Council (the COE
representative is Jennifer Rice) will be looking at the effect of “right-sizing” in the
spring and possibly making new recommendations. Wayne Slater recommended
that the COE make a strong case to the Graduate Council for loosening the guidelines
for doctoral students in the College of Education in terms of admission of part-time
students and the requirement for fully supported doctoral students. Jennifer Rice
has been meeting with business representatives from other colleges to look at
innovative approaches to funding doctoral students across campus.
There was considerable discussion regarding the effects of right-sizing on graduate
student enrollment in the College and future plans, with the following issues
emerging from this discussion: 1) the need for departments to consider increasing
masters’ student enrollment; 2) looking at innovative approaches to funding parttime doctoral students; and 3) loosening the recommended enrollment targets as
they apply to part-time students. Associate Dean Maggie McLaughlin also raised the
issues of: 1) time to degree for doctoral students in the COE; and 2) the issue of the
number of content credit requirements for COE doctoral programs; an issue that has
been raised by the Graduate School. The Senate decided to consider various
strategies and recommendations for addressing graduate student enrollment as a
“Committee of the Whole” at its next meeting.
IV. Proposal to amend Report from the Committee on Centers and Institutes.
Associate Dean Maggie McLaughlin presented the proposal to amend the COE Report
from the Committee on Centers and Institutes. After some discussion of the proposed
amendment to the “College of Education Centers and Institutes Report,” the Senate voted
on the recommendation to approve the amendment “to support the creation of unit,
departmental, and/or inter-departmental research and development centers and institutes
linked to the College’s diverse missions and faculty research, teaching, and service
agendas.” The motion carried unanimously by all senators present.
V. Update on Certification and licensure programs across Departments (Kathy
Angeletti).
Associate Dean Kathy Angeletti provided the COE Senate with an over-view of 10
years of enrollment data on Certification and Licensure programs across
departments. The Senate discussed the reasons for the decline in enrollments in
undergraduate and graduate professional preparation and licensure programs
across the 10-year period. Associate Dean Angeletti commented on the enrollment
decline, and indicated that the College will be preparing for new 2016 guidelines for
teacher preparation programs and how these might affect enrollments.
V. Faculty input on development of new college, department & program
websites
The Senate discussed the importance of continuing faculty input on the
development of new college, department and program websites; and the need to
update and improve existing websites in support of student enrollment.
VI. Space re-allocation in the Benjamin Building
The Senate discussed the re-allocation of space in the Benjamin Building. Ellen
Fabian indicated that the CHSE Department had appointed a Space Committee to
review utilization of available space in Benjamin.
Senate Adjourned at 11 a.m.