MINUTES OF THE MEETING

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

The College of Education Executive Committee met on Thursday, May 11, 2006, at 8:30 a.m. in Room 255 in the Education Center with Dean Gunter presiding. Members present were: Drs. McGahee, Hull, Corbin, Zahner, Martinez, Hilgert, Gerber, Griffin, Leech, Lee, Reffel,

Mr. Pearce, Ms. Roberts, and Mr. Grubbs (for Stanley). Guests: Dr. Judd, Mr. Joe Newton, Mr. Allen DeVane, and Mr. Ike Barton.

Dean Gunter reviewed the article which appeared in the May 12, 2006, issue of the CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION entitled "Sign of the Times." The article was about the on-line teleconferencing being done between students at the Delaware School for the Deaf and students in the Deaf Education and Educational Interpreting programs at VSU who are serving as their tutors. Dr. Nanci Scheetz is the coordinator for both of these programs.

Dean Gunter had invited Mr. Joe Newton, Mr. Allen DeVane, and Mr. Ike Barton to the meeting to discuss the proposed "memorandum of understanding" (MOU) between the College of Education and the Department of Information Technology (IT). After a lengthy discussion of this issue at the Executive Committee meeting three weeks ago, further questions remained about the specific implementation of the MOU. Mr. Newton, Mr. DeVane, and Mr. Barton were present to answer any questions. Mr. Newton distributed a handout explaining the organization and operation of the Department of Information Technology; he explained how the COE would fit into this current operation. Mr. Newton explained that he felt that IT would be able to support all of the COE's needs. Personnel would be made available to maintain all computer technology within the COE. He emphasized, however, that the people selected to provide this support would be selected based on their abilities. Mr. Newton further emphasized that IT would be supportive of any innovations the COE wished to pursue. He also stated that he felt having an MOU between the COE and IT would help to reduce the current "competition" which existed between the COE and IT. After all questions were answered, Dean Gunter thanked Mr. Newton, Mr. DeVane, and Mr. Barton for coming to the meeting. He then told department heads to share with their departmental faculty the discussion from today's meeting and to come to the next Executive Committee meeting ready to vote on the MOU.

Ms. Roberts reported that she had met with Dean Calendrillo about the Student Success Center. Twenty-two graduate assistants will be employed through the Student Success Center; five of them will be assigned to the COE. Each graduate assistant will be paid $6,000 per year in addition to getting free tuition. Part of the responsibilities of the graduate assistants will be in the area of advising; however, the COE will have input into the other duties and responsibilities of the graduate students.

Dr. McGahee moved approval of the $100 field experience fee for student teachers; Dr. Hull seconded the motion. After some discussion of how the money generated from the fee would be used, the motion was approved by a vote of 8-3. Dean Gunter asked Dr. McGahee to meet with the Field Experience Fee Committee again to discuss possible uses of the funds generated. Dr. McGahee will report back to the Executive Committee at a later date.

Dean Gunter discussed activities for the opening of school in August. Dean Gunter would like to have Dr. Steve Graham as a speaker at the COE meeting, perhaps for a morning and an afternoon session. Dr. Graham is currently on the faculty at Vanderbilt University and has his undergraduate degree and master's degree from VSU. Dean Gunter would like Dr. Graham to speak on the topics of "writing for publication" and "how to identify research topics." Other activities Dean Gunter has planned for the opening of school include: a beginning LiveText workshop, using the new SmartBoard in the new conference room, and advising. The COE will also need to hold elections for Faculty Senate. Dean Gunter plans to have Miller's Barbecue cater lunch.

Dean Gunter reminded everyone that all sections of the Institutional Report are due on June 5.

Dean Gunter reminded everyone that the COE retreat would be June 25-27. All items presented for discussion must be data based.

Dean Gunter announced that the following faculty would attend the LiveText conference in Chicago in July: Dr. Sonya Sanderson, Dr. Shirley Thompson, Dr. Diane Judd, Dr. Carolyn Cox, Dr. Heather Brasell, Dr. Lynn Corbin, and Dr. Julie Lee.

Dean Gunter reported on the "No Teacher Left Behind" conference he had attended yesterday at University Center. One issue which had been discussed was the new master teacher certification. The major point made was that attainment of master teacher certification will be based totally on student achievement, specifically on CRCT scores over a three-year period for those teachers teaching grades for which there are CRCT tests.

Dean Gunter announced that the Georgia Performance Standards Conference will be held next Thursday, Friday, and Saturday (May 18, 19, and 20) in Marietta.

Dr. Martinez announced that his department will sponsor a workshop on "virtual reality in teaching" on Friday, June 23.

Dr. Reffel announced that the local Rotary Club had donated $1,000 to the Learning Tree.