Eastern Michigan
University
Ypsilanti, Michigan 48197
OVERVIEW OF THE INSTITUTION
Eastern Michigan University (EMU) is a multipurpose university whose roots date to 1849, when it was established as Michigan State Normal School. Its original purpose was to provide for "the instruction of persons both male and female in the art of teaching, and in all the various branches that pertain to a good common school." It was the sixth normal school founded in the United States and the first one west of the Allegheny Mountains.
Numerous educational "firsts" are associated with EMU. These "firsts" include being the first teachers college in the nation: (1) to offer teacher training courses in physical education, (2) to prepare teachers of disabled children, and (3) to provide a program for the preparation of community educators. We were the first college in Michigan (1) to establish a program in manual training (industrial arts), (2) to establish a program for the preparation of teachers of the mentally retarded, (3) to establish a department of special education, and so on. The Michigan Education Association was organized on this site.
With the passage of time, EMU has evolved into a multipurpose institution, offering degrees from the bachelor's to the doctorate (in educational leadership). The changes in the name of the institution reflect the process of its maturation and of the diversification of its offerings.
The institution became Eastern Michigan State Normal College in 1899, Eastern Michigan College in 1956, and Eastern Michigan University in 1959. Within the new university, several colleges emerged: the College of Education (1959), the College of Arts and Sciences and the Graduate School (1960), the College of Business (1964), the College of Health and Human Services (1973), and the College of Technology (1977).
The campus has grown from its original 275 acres on the south side of the Huron River in Ypsilanti to include an additional 182 acres to the west, used primarily for student residences and athletic facilities. The campus also extends into downtown Ypsilanti, where the Gary M. Owen Building (College of Business) is located. Other land supports the field programs of the Department of Biology. Numerous courses and programs are offered at locations other than on the Ypsilanti campus, including via compressed video, the Internet, and other modes of instruction.
Student enrollment has generally tracked higher education trends across the country. The current student body (headcount) is approximately 23,000. Selected demographic information is included in Exhibits II.B.1 to II.B.4.
Personnel from the university were instrumental in founding the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools and the university has been continuously accredited by that body since its inception. A large number of discipline-based accreditations and recognitions are held. These may be found in Exhibit G-10, "Colleges and Departments."
EMU is a charter and continuous 50-year member of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. EMU's professional education programs have been accredited by NCATE since the founding of that organization. EMU is a member of the Teacher Education Council of State Colleges and Universities (TECSCU) and the dean of the College of Education is the president-elect of that organization. EMU is a member of the Michigan Association of Colleges for Teacher Education and the dean of the College of Education is the immediate past president of that group. The College of Education (COE) is a member of several other organizations, including the USA-SINO Teacher Education Consortium and the Michigan Council on Pre-Service Technology. Personnel are active in and provide leadership to the Michigan [Education] Deans' Council and the Directors and Representatives of Teacher Education Programs (DARTEP). Personnel are active in the Association of Teacher Educators (ATE) and the office of the Michigan Association of Teacher Educators is housed in the EMU College of Education. EMU is the "university partner" (with the Detroit Public Schools and the Skillman Foundation) for the Comer Schools and Families Initiative in Detroit.
The university is an active member of The Renaissance Group and the university's Provost has recently completed a term as an officer of that organization. The "consociate school" model of the Renaissance Group was first implemented at EMU. EMU strongly supports the First Principle of The Renaissance Group--that professional education must be an institution-wide function. Professional education students select from majors and minors offered through three of the university's five academic colleges and professional education faculty are housed in the same three colleges.
About 3500 undergraduate students and about 2000 graduate and special students are involved in professional education programs during each academic year. There are about 2000 program completers each year, which makes EMU, according to each issue of the AACTE Directory, the nation's largest producer of educational personnel. Other statistics have shown that EMU is the nation's largest producer of special education personnel, the nation's largest producer of teachers of mathematics, and the nation's largest producer of teachers of science.
EMU holds the largest collection of consumer and economic education materials in the nation. It was the first institution in Michigan (and still one of two institutions) to prepare teachers of Japanese language and culture. This institution is the state's second largest producer of minority teachers.
The professional education programs have received ten national awards from six major professional organizations in the past 12 years. These include:
1985--Exemplary Science Program, National Science Teachers
Association
1985--Showcase for Excellence (Staff Development for School
Improvement Program), American Association of State Colleges and
Universities
1985--Showcase for Excellence (Preservice Elementary Teacher
Education Program in Science), American Association of State Colleges
and Universities
1986--Exemplary Staff Development Program Which Serves as a Model for
the Nation's Schools, American Association of School
Administrators
1986--Distinguished Program in Teacher Education, Association of
Teacher Educators
1987--Christa McAuliffe Showcase for Excellence (Commission on
Creative Strategies to Solve the Educator Crisis), American
Association of State Colleges and Universities
1987--Distinguished Achievement Award in Teacher Education, American
Association of Colleges for Teacher Education
1991--Silver Award, Council for Advancement and Support of
Education
1991--Distinguished Program in Teacher Education (CITE), Association
of Teacher Educators
1992--Christa McAuliffe Showcase for Excellence (The Use of
Multicultural Literature to Develop Cultural Awareness and Reading
and Writing Skills), American Association of State Colleges and
Universities
EMU was cited for ten innovative teacher education programs in
Those Who Can (American Association of Colleges for Teacher
Education, 1989).
Thomas Fleming, an alum, was the 1992 National Teacher of the Year. Alums have been Michigan Teacher of the Year or first runner-up numerous times. The 1991 New Jersey Teacher of the Year is an alum. The state Student Teacher of the Year award has been won frequently by an EMU student. Several dozen alums have become National Board Certified teachers. Seventeen alums have won the prestigious $25,000 prize from the Milken Family Foundation's National Educator Award program. We have been unable to identify any institution with as many or any more alums who have won the Milken Award.
Last year, the state "teacher of the year," the state "elementary principal of the year," the state "secondary principal of the year," and the state "superintendent of the year" were all EMU alums. The Michigan Education Hall of Fame is populated with numerous EMU alums.
Alums hold or have held numerous prominent positions in educational work. These include Don Cameron (Executive Director, National Education Association), Timothy Dyer (Executive Director, National Association of Secondary School Principals), William Morris (former president, American Association of School Administrators), Jim Wilsford (1989 AASA Superintendent of the Year), and several college and university presidents.
Recent initiatives and accomplishments within the COE include:
A. There has been a tenfold increase in sponsored project awards to COE faculty/staff over the past six years. This has permitted the faculty to address a number of unmet needs in the community and with K-12 schools in ways never possible before, as well as to expand scholarly productivity. Development funds have increased dramatically in the past year.
B. Recent years have seen continued budget increases and faculty hirings. Twenty persons have joined the tenure-track faculty in the past two years.
C. In the past two years, technology improvements include the president's campus-wide faculty networking initiative, $250,000 in COE equipment acquisitions (primarily computer-related), $150,000 (for FY98) for multimedia classroom instruction improvements for the COE, a provost-funded new computer laboratory in the Library that primarily serves professional education students, and the donation of the equipment for the Bonisteel Computer Laboratory in Boone Hall..
D. There has been a completion of plans and funding for a "new" Education building which will be ready for occupancy in the spring of 1999, coinciding with the institution's sesquicentennial of service to professional education.
Recognized in many ways for not only the size and diversity of its
professional education programs, EMU is committed to continue the
quality of its programming for educational personnel for which it has
also been recognized extensively for almost 150 years.
For additional information, please contact Jerry H. Robbins, Dean, at (313)487-1414 or by e-mail at Jerry.Robbins@emich.edu.
 EMU |
 COE |
 NCATE |
 Next |
Office of the Dean
College of Education
(313) 487-1414
FAX (313) 484-6471
If you have any questions, comments or problems with these web pages or this web server, please contact: Web.NCATE@emich.edu.