The Unit for Professional Education

Eastern Michigan University
Ypsilanti, Michigan 48197

THE UNIT FOR PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION

Governance and Accountability of the Unit

Initial and Advanced. The institutional mission statement is found in Exhibit IV.A.1.1 and the complementary mission statement of the unit--the College of Education--is found in Exhibit IV.A.1.2. All professional education programming is coordinated through the structures of the College of Education. As of July 1, 1997, the university's certification officer function (for initial preparation) was transferred from the Office of the Registrar to the College of Education. This completed a series of multi-year actions to ensure that all aspects of professional education program admission, policy and curriculum for preparation, exit requirements, and recommendation for licensure are under the administrative jurisdiction of the College of Education.

A description of the College of Education is found in Exhibit IV.A.2.1 and an administrative organizational chart is found in Exhibit IV.A.2.2. Click here to go to the College of Education home page. The College is headed by a dean (Jerry Robbins) and there are two associate deans. One associate dean (Robbie Johnson) heads the COE Office of Academic Services and serves as the certification officer. The COE Office of Academic Services has been created since the previous NCATE visit. This office incorporates and expands a variety of professional education student service functions.

The other associate dean (Martha Tack) is in charge of internal administration of the College (budget, personnel, facilities, equipment, etc.). The Office of Collaborative Education, organized since the previous NCATE visit, reports to this associate dean. Click here to go to the Collaborative Education home page. The National Institute for Consumer Education (NICE) was transferred to another unit within Academic Affairs as of September 1, 1997. Click here for the NICE home page.

The College of Education is organized into four departments: Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance (Michael Bretting, Department Head); Leadership and Counseling (James Berry, Department Head); Special Education (Kathleen Quinn, Department Head); and Teacher Education (Alane Starko, Interim Department Head).

Duties and responsibilities of College of Education departments, department heads, and other administrators with respect to hiring, evaluation, tenure, promotion, retention, and related matters are spelled out in the Contract (see Exhibit III.C.1.1), especially sections XIII through XVII. Curriculum and academic policy matters affecting professional education programs flow through one of the standing committees of the College of Education Council and through the College of Education Council itself. See Exhibit IV.A.2.3.

The dean receives a series of allocations for the College of Education from the Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs. Ordinarily, these come at different times and are in categories such as faculty, SS&M, equipment, etc. The dean then has the responsibility for allocating these resources among the College of Education departments. College of Education department heads have the responsibility for allocating resources among the various program areas.

Since the last NCATE visit, the governance structure for the College of Education has been revised. See Exhibit IV.A.2.4. The Committee on Basic Programs, composed of faculty members from a number of departments and three academic colleges and two students, is now a part of the formal "input" structure. See Exhibit IV.A.2.5. It replaced the former University Council on Teacher Education, which was an "unofficial" body under the Contract. The Committee on Advanced Programs was created as an "official" committee to replace a former ad hoc committee. See Exhibit IV.A.2.6. The Committee on Professional and Affiliated Programs was created to deal with non-NCATE related programs and issues. See Exhibit IV.A.2.7. The former Finance Committee had its role expanded to include the planning function as well. See Exhibit IV.A.2.8. The Personnel Committee was unchanged. See Exhibit IV.A.2.9.

Although the College of Education has a special organizing and coordinating responsibility for all professional education, Eastern Michigan University is deeply committed to the concept that "professional education is a campus-wide responsibility." Communications are enhanced through the maintenance and use of a "communications chart," updated periodically. See Exhibit IV.A.2.10. At the department level, each department has a set of policies/procedures that govern internal operations. See Exhibit IV.A.2.11, Exhibit IV.A.2.12, Exhibit IV.A.2.13, and Exhibit IV.A.2.14.

Exhibit G-5 shows that, since the previous NCATE visit, the number of full-time faculty members in the College of Education has increased slightly, that the number of full-time to the institution but part-time to professional education faculty members has remained about the same, and that the reliance on part-time faculty members has decreased appreciably. About 250 higher education faculty members are involved in EMU professional education programs each year, with more than 800 school faculty members providing invaluable field-based services. Part-time faculty members (known as "visiting lecturers") are selected for their special expertise in the subject to be taught. See Exhibit III.A.1.1 for details. See also Exhibit IV.A.3.1 and Exhibit IV.A.3.2.

The number of administrators and clerical support persons has remained at essentially constant levels over the past five years. The number of support persons in other categories--technical and graduate assistant--has increased over this period of time. In addition, the appreciable increase in sponsored project activity in recent years has permitted the hiring of additional support personnel in several categories. As computers (and printers, etc.) have been added and as the use of e-mail has increased dramatically, there has been some lessening of need for traditional clerical services. See Exhibit IV.A.3.3.

The university--and the unit--offers only one doctoral program, an Ed.D. in educational leadership. The entire eight-person leadership section of the Department of Leadership and Counseling, with a good balance of specialties, is involved with doctoral students, along with several College of Education administrators and faculty members from other departments. See Exhibit IV.A.3.4.

Each department has at least one official standing committee that deals with curricular/academic policy issues. See Exhibit IV.A.2.11, Exhibit IV.A.2.12, Exhibit IV.A.2.13 and Exhibit IV.A.2.14. In addition to those faculty members who sit on these departmental committees, a number of other faculty members hold seats on program-related standing committees at the college level (see Exhibit IV.A.4.1) and still others hold seats on university-wide bodies, such as the Graduate Council, that deal with program matters.

The Planning and Finance Committee spends an appreciable portion of its time dealing with matters related to planning. See Exhibit IV.A.4.1. In addition, various ad hoc committees, notably the Building Committee, have been and are involved with planning for various components of the total programming.

Two students hold voting seats on the Committee on Basic Programs. See Exhibit IV.A.2.5. In addition, there is a Student Advisory Committee. See Exhibit IV.A.6.1. The Program and Policy Advisory Council is composed primarily of external constituents, as is the College of Education's Resource Development Board. A number of programs or departments have advisory boards, primarily composed of practitioners in the field. See Exhibit IV.A.6.1.

University policies, published in the catalog and other official documents, "affirm the admission and participatory rights of all individuals, regardless of gender, race, color, religion, creed, national or ethnic origin." Specific reference is made to the Civil Rights Act; Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action; Title IX, Education Amendments of 1972; and the Americans with Disabilities Act. See Exhibit G-9 and Exhibit G-10 . See Exhibit IV.A.7.1 for due process provisions.

Resources for Teaching and Scholarship

Initial and Advanced. The College of Education receives its proportionate share--and sometimes more--of funds available to support professional development. For example, with 14.4% of the student credit hours, the College of Education received 15.5% of a recent distribution of SS&M funds (which, among other things, support faculty travel at the department level). Support for many other professional development activities is available through university-wide competition. See Exhibit III.D.1.1. In general, if there is any professional development opportunity where the faculty members of the College of Education have not participated at least proportionately, it is due to the fact that the College of Education faculty members have not applied in proportionate numbers. See Exhibit IV.B.1.1

Since the last NCATE visit, the faculty members in the Department of Leadership and Counseling have relocated to good quarters in a residence hall. Otherwise, current facilities are much the same as they were in 1992. See Exhibit IV.B.2.1.

However, since the last NCATE visit, approvals have been received to renovate the present Library building for the use of the College of Education. By recent action of the EMU Board of Regents, this will be known as the John W. Porter College of Education Building. The new facility will contain approximately 86,600 assignable square feet and will cost approximately $14 million. Construction is expected to begin in the spring of 1998, with occupancy a year later. The plans call for the entire college faculty to be housed in this building, along with a number of classrooms, specialized instruction areas, clinics, and other special features. For information and drawings, see Exhibit IV.B.2.2.

Extensive changes and improvements in technology have occurred since the last NCATE visit. Every College of Education faculty office is equipped with at least one computer that is connected to the Internet. Many additional computers have been acquired, upgrades made, peripherals attached, software acquired, and infrastructure expanded and improved. Logistical support is provided by several technically-trained persons.

The former Instructional Materials Center, now the Instructional Multimedia Resource Center (IMRC), has been converted into a technology-based laboratory and classroom. The collection of paper resources has been reduced in order to provide space for state-of-the-art computer-based resources to support professional education programming. A gift of some $70,000 from the Bonisteel Foundation permitted the considerable upgrading of a College of Education computer laboratory in Boone Hall. The College of Education has received $150,000 for FY98 to convert several classrooms in each of several buildings into ones that support computer-assisted instruction--window treatments, data drops, computers, computer carts, computer image projectors, large screens, and so on.

The university has expanded its capacity for sending and receiving compressed video signals and an increasing number of professional education courses, especially at the doctoral level, are delivered through this mode. Two College of Education courses are scheduled to be offered over the Internet in the near future. Faculty and staff members have received additional computer-related training through several types of opportunities. See Exhibit IV.B.3.1 and Exhibit IV.B.3.2 for additional information. Click here to link to information about campus-wide technology services for faculty members and students.

Since the time of the last NCATE visit, the Library acquisitions budget has doubled--from slightly more than $1 million per year to more than $2 million per year. Education-related titles have increased at the rate of 3,000 to 4,000 per year over that period, with an expenditure for education-related titles that has increased from less than $50,000 per year to more than $131,000. Expenditures for education-related periodicals have increased from approximately $66,000 per year to more than $91,000 per year. In recent years, about $25,000 per year has been spent on education-related electronic materials. See Exhibit G-20. Click here to link to information about campus-wide library resources.

The new Bruce T. Halle Library is scheduled to open in early 1998, with some 218,000 assignable square feet--approximately double the current library space. The building is designed as a state-of-the-art facility, with great emphasis on electronic storage and retrieval of information and great capacity for contemporary and future technologies. See Exhibit G-19.

College of Education departments own standard media equipment such as overhead projectors. Large items, such as VCR's and monitors, are available from the University's Media Services Center. The IMRC, mentioned above, is a major location for print and non print resources for professional education. For the past several years, software acquisition has been enhanced by an award from the Microsoft Corporation. Various departments/programs (music education, business education, chemistry, mathematics, etc.) maintain departmental computer/technology laboratories with software related to both pedagogy and the subject-field content. See Exhibit IV.B.5.1.

Learning Resources and Technologies has a staff of 86 people to support campus-wide instructional resources. The Library building is open 105 hours per week during the academic year. The College of Education employs two full-time technical persons and six student workers to support computer services, provide computer laboratory supervision, etc. See Exhibit IV.B.6.1.

Resources for Operating the Unit

Initial and Advanced. The central administration's annual allocation to the College of Education increased from approximately $11.3 million in FY93 to approximately $11.9 million in FY97, approximately 4.5%. However, this needs to be viewed in light of the fact that, for much of this period of time, the College of Education had declining enrollments. Further, as relatively high-salaried senior faculty members in the College of Education retired, they were replaced, almost without exception, with beginning assistant professors.

However, during the same five-year period, total financial resources available to the College of Education, especially including sponsored projects and funds raised through development activities, increased from approximately $11.5 million in FY93 to approximately $13.6 million in FY97, an increase of approximately 18.4%. Further, a number of expenditures that are often budgeted in the Education unit at other institutions are handled centrally at EMU.

During the next several years, College of Education enrollments (credit hour production) are expected to rise. However, relatively many senior faculty members are expected to retire. For the most part, they will be replaced with beginning assistant professors. Further, net increases in the size of the faculty are likely to come about primarily by hiring at the assistant professor level. As a consequence, the central administration's annual allocation to the College of Education is likely to increase only at modest rates.

In order to acquire funds to operate at a higher level, much planning and preparation is being devoted to other sources of funding. For example, within the past six years, sponsored project funding within the College of Education increased almost 10-fold. It is anticipated that "soft money" will be available to support an increasing portion of the total programming of the College of Education. Similarly, development funds have increased from approximately $50,000 per year five years ago to well more than $400,000 this past year. The College of Education is in the early stages of soliciting $1 million from alumni and "friends" to furnish and equip the "new" building. Growth in funding is such that, within a few years, the College of Education endowment will be at a level where there will be some annual discretionary income from the endowment. See Exhibit IV.C.1.1.

University-allocated resources are distributed to the College of Education departments/units that generate credit hours through an elaborate formula. Eighty percent of the resources (dollars, FTEF) are allocated on the basis of (internally) weighted credit hour production, 15% of the resources are allocated on the basis of scholarly/creative/service production, and 5% of the resources are allocated on the basis of special needs. The weighting of credit hours allows for high cost programs and courses. See Exhibit IV.C.2.1.

Facilities will be much improved when the College of Education moves into the John W. Porter Building in early 1999. See Exhibit IV.B.2.2. In general, equipment possessed by the College of Education adequately supports computing, e-mail and network connections, instructional needs, and student use, and this will improve appreciably during the 1997-98 year. See Exhibit IV.B.3.1 and Exhibit IV.B.3.2. The College of Education has generally led the other large colleges at EMU in terms of acquisition and use of equipment (especially computer-related) for communications and teaching/learning settings. See Exhibit IV.C.3.1.

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

Office of the Dean
College of Education
(313) 487-1414
FAX (313) 484-6471

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