MINUTES OF THE MEETING

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

The College of Education Executive Committee met on Thursday, March 8, 2007, at 8:30 a.m. in the COE Conference Room (Room 235) in the Education Center with Dean Gunter presiding. Members present were: Drs. McGahee, Stanley, Hull, Lee, Gerber, Griffin, Martinez, Hilgert, Gladwin (for Galeano), Leech, Reffel, Bauer, Mr. Pearce, and Ms. Roberts. Guests: Dr. Judd, Dr. B. Hull, Mr. Allen DeVane, Mr. Clayton Brady, Mr. Ike Barton, Dr. Brovey, Ms. Ann Lacey, and Ms. Phyllis Douthit.

Dean Gunter distributed summer budgets to department heads. He asked them to check their budget, sign it if it was correct, make a copy for their records, and return the original to him.

Dr. Bob Hull, chair of the COE Scholarship and Honors Committee, reviewed the activities planned for the COE Honors Night to be held on Tuesday, April 17, at 6:00 p.m. in the Magnolia Room in the University Center. Dr. Hull explained that there had been some confusion about the difference between the University Honors Night and the COE Honors Night. Only nine honors will be presented at the University Honors Night, which will be held on May 3. For the COE, only the "Outstanding Student in Education" will be honored at the University Honors Night. All other COE awards will be presented at the COE Honors Night on April 17. Dr. Hull announced that the COE Scholarship and Honors Committee has a meeting scheduled for March 21. Dr. Hull announced that the COE department heads would present the awards to the students in their departments on Honors Night. He asked the department heads to send him a list by April 5 of all students in their departments who will be honored on Honors Night.

Mr. Ike Barton, Mr. Allen DeVane, Mr. Clayton Brady, and Dr. Brovey presented technology updates for the COE: Room 81 in the COE has been upgraded to a Smart classroom (Dr. Cox is working on a user'sguide for Smart classrooms); Smartboards are being installed in Rooms 124, 265, and 267; new projectors have been installed in Rooms 271, 272, 264, and 200; nine additional faculty/staff computer setups were completed in the past month; computers in Room 122 have been upgraded; and 67 assistance calls were handled in the COE during the past month. Mr. Clayton Brady announced that all services in the Education Center will be off-line on Thursday, March 15, from 12:00 noon until 8:00 p.m.  This will affect web services and network drives, as well as all printing services internal to the facility.  Network services to the VSU campus network and Internet access will be down from 12:00 noon until 1:00 p.m.  This scheduled downtime is so that Information Technology staff may reorganize and restructure the COE Datacenter.

Dr. McGahee announced that the GACE II scores from the November 18, 2006, test administration had been received and have been entered into Banner so that they are showing on the "Admission to Teacher Education" page. He noted that a number of students took tests in area for which they had not completed the program; because of this, the pass rate was very misleading. The only way to get a "true" pass rate would be to wait until the PSC matches GACE II scores to the list of program completers which is submitted to PSC each year.

Dean Gunter announced that the majority of institutions seem to be making their Area F changes effective for Fall Semester, 2007. Although according to discussions with Dr. Calendrillo the new Arts and Sciences courses will not be offered Fall Semester, 2007, it was decided to go ahead and offer the three new education courses during Fall Semester, 2007.

Ms. Ann Lacy and Ms. Phyllis Douthit discussed the new graduation procedures which will be used for this semester'sgraduation. Six separate graduation ceremonies will be held; the ceremony for COE and AFROTC graduates will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday morning. She noted that the first part of the ceremony would be the same as it has been in the past, but the COE can make changes to the rest of the ceremony. Ms. Lacey noted some of the items to be considered: someone to read the names of graduates, what music to use, whether or not to have some type of reception, number of COE faculty to attend, etc. Dean Gunter asked the committee members to consider changes for the graduation ceremony and be ready to discuss them at the next Executive Committee meeting.

Dr. Lee moved approval of a change in the Physical and Health Disabilities program from an add-on certification to an endorsement; the motion was seconded by Dr. Bauer. This endorsement will require the completion of four courses: SPEC 5190, SPEC 5260, SPEC 5260, and SEEC 5050. The motion was unanimously approved.

Dr. Gerber distributed a handout and a registration form for a "Classroom Management" conference scheduled for March 24, 2007, in the Education Center. Dr. McGahee will notify the current student teachers about this conference; student teachers may attend for a fee of $10.

Dean Gunter is planning the annual retreat for the Executive Committee; he has narrowed the dates down to three: June 14-15, 21-22, or 28-29. He asked the committee members to look at their calendars and see which of these dates were clear.

Dr. Gerber announced that the COE had received $47,000 for a teacher improvement grant in math and science. He also announced that the COE had received a Math/Science Partnership Grant for $500,000 a year for two years; the official award letter should be mailed next week. Dean Gunter also announced that he, Dr. Gerber, and Dr. Zaccari will meet with Mr. Sam Allen about the development of a math/science oriented school in the Valdosta City System.

Dean Gunter reported on the BOR/DOE grant initiative on transition to teaching. This grant, approximately $300,000 a year, is for the development of on-line coursework for training teachers. Specifically, this initiative is aimed at students who already have at least a baccalaureate degree and are seeking certification only. The BOR is primarily focusing on training teachers in the areas of ESOL, middle grades, and autism. Grant applications are due March 20. Dean Gunter cautioned about trying to put too many programs on-line; a number of students come to college for the complete college experience and do not want to have to take courses on-line.