Please identify the steps taken by the College to ensure
the success of the University's strategic plan.
The College of Education contributes to the success of the
University’s strategic plan in three key areas: 1) by increasing its UF’s overall
ranking among comparable colleges of education, maintaining programs ranked in
the top ten, and adding new programs to the top twenty list; 2) by developing
strong collaborative, interdisciplinary ties with other programs and units
across campus that focus on the needs of children and families; and, 3) by
creating or expanding outreach initiatives that strengthen partnerships with
PreK-12 and postsecondary institutions, and increase the College’s visibility
and influence across the state, nation, and international arenas.
With regard to rankings, the College is currently ranked 15th
among public AAU institutions and 27th among all public and private institutions.
For each of the last seven years, the Department of Counselor Education has
been ranked among the top five programs nationally by US News and World
Report. The Department of Special Education is currently ranked 10th
by US News & World Report, which has increased significantly over
the last five years (up from 20th in 1998). The Department of Educational Psychology
was nationally ranked last year for the first time. According
to the U.S. News & World Report’s rankings of Best Graduate Schools in 2003,
they were ranked 20th.
The College has developed or maintained a substantial number
of collaborative, interdisciplinary programs and projects over the last year as
noted below:
- We received a $395,000 planning grant from the FL Florida Developmental
Disabilities Planning Council to begin the process of developing a
University Center of Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UF-UCEDD).
This interdisciplinary center will draw upon faculty expertise in the
Colleges of Dentistry, Health and Human Performance, Law, Medicine, and
Public Health and Health Professions. When it is fully operational in five
years, it is expected to pull in approximately 10-15 million dollars
annually in external funding.
- Discussions are underway with CLAS to create an attractive
dual undergraduate major for preparation into teaching, especially in
critical shortage areas of mathematics, science, and foreign languages, and
to develop an alternative certification model for those students already
holding the baccalaureate degree that would support their entrée into
teaching in one of our high-needs, high poverty school partners.
- Educational Psychology faculty
have worked cooperatively with other areas on campus to seek funded
research. Several faculty are funded through collaborations with medicine,
health and human performance, psychology, and special education. Current
grants under review represent a similar breadth of cooperative efforts.
- The Student Personnel Program in Higher Education draws
upon the expertise of faculty and staff in the Student Affairs office for
teaching courses and providing advisement. In addition, the Department of
Educational Leadership has a joint PhD/JD program with the College of Law.
- The Department of Counselor Education is continuing its
collaborative relationship with the Addictions Unit of the Department of
Psychiatry. The ultimate goal of this partnership is the creation of an
addictions-prevention program that would be housed within the Mental
Health Counseling Program in DCE. This year they successfully completed
the initial phase of this partnership by developing a new undergraduate
elective course that focused on the etiology, behavioral characteristics,
and treatment of addictive diseases and disorders. Additionally, four DCE
faculty prepared a proposal for a community-based program for the
preparation of mental health/addictions counselors that will ultimately be
submitted to NIMH.
- PKY opened a $6.5 million dollar Performing Arts Center,
and has developed collaborative ties with the College of Fine Arts to offer internships and teaching opportunities to their students.
- We have developed strong ties with the Digital Worlds
Institute to design and seek funding for an International Media Union. This
center will focus the College and University’s information technology
resources on five critical areas related to teaching and learning at the K-12
and postsecondary levels.
- Architecture students from the College of Design, Construction, and Planning are designing a new childcare facility in collaboration with
teachers from Baby Gator.
Budgetary Implications of these collaborations:
- The UF-UCEDD grant requires a substantial match from
all participating units to continue receiving funds. The Provost’s office is
currently providing $30,000 for a doctoral student. Continued support in
this area is necessary to document support from the university administration.
- The University has requested special funding from the
Legislature to support teacher preparation in the critical shortage areas
of math, science, and foreign languages. The College of Education would
like to receive one line in math education to help support this initiative.
We would also like to request $30,000 to support two doctoral level fellows
who can provide induction support to new math and science teachers who
move through an alternative certification program.
The outreach and partnership initiatives have expanded
greatly over the last year.
- The Alliance program is now in its fourth year of
operation and offers a full slate of professional development activities
for teachers, and new programs for students. One very successful program
is a reading tutor program between seniors at Miami Senior High and Auburndale Elementary School. A new program begun this year brought 9th and 10th
graders to the University during the summer to introduce them to careers
in education. Now up to six schools, a seventh school is being considered
for the Alliance Partnership at the end of May.
- The Lastinger Center for Learning is now fully operational
and has developed partnerships with ten K-5 schools around the state. The
fellowship program for both teachers and principals held for the first
time last summer was highly successful, and already there is a waiting
list for others to be admitted.
- Joint research activities between COE and PKY are steadily
increasing, including the development of an innovative peer counseling
model and new ESOL and reading programs. A joint alternative certification
program between PK Yonge and STL is in the initial discussion phase. The
discussion includes the joint hiring of faculty who can teach part-time at
PKY and fulfill instructional needs in STL
- Revisions to the principal certification program are being
planned in partnership with local school districts, the Alliance, and PKY,
based on the model that was created with support from a Faculty Innovation
grant from the FL Department of Education.
- The Department of Educational Leadership, Policy, and
Foundations continues to expand its cohorts in administration preparation
around the state through its certificate program in Community College
Leadership.
- Membership in the Holmes Partnership, a national
consortium of schools, university, and community partnerships focused on
improving student learning in professional development schools was renewed
this year. At the annual meeting in January, 2004, a team of 26 College and
PKY faculty, graduate students, and K-12 teachers and administrators made
research presentations. In
addition, we recruited two Holmes Scholars (a program intended to increase
the number of scholars of color)
and have provided them with assistantships and travel support.
- The College manages the University-wide College Reach Out Program (CROP),
a state funded initiative to bring on campus educationally disadvantaged students
from local schools in grades 6-12 to participate in a wide array of summer
program activities that help prepare them for future college enrollment.
- The College supports the America Reads program (formerly
Gainesville Reads), a reading tutoring program that places college
work-study students in community and school based sites in Alachua County.
Budgetary Implications of these outreach activities:
- The Alliance program needs $25,000 in foundation funds
to provide food at the summer institute and selected events around the
state. These dollars can be traded with operational funds.
- The search for a new Alliance director is now underway.
This position is expected to be filled at a senior level in the range of
100k. In addition, because of the extensive growth in Alliance
professional development activities, a new clerical position will be
needed ($25,000).
- CROP requires a match of approximately $60,000 per year
from university and college sources. We request $38,000 from the
university to continue this match. The College match is handled through
clerical and OPS student support, and use of college vehicles for travel.
Without a continuing match from the university, it is unlikely we can
continue to support this program in lieu of other needs.
- The America Reads program requires $60,000 to maintain
it. The College is providing a full-time lecturer in reading ($45,000) who
also directs this program. An additional $15,000 is requested to provide
OPS support and reading materials. This program is essential to the
University’s federal work-study match.
Identify hiring done by the College in the past year and
the ways these faculty hires have strengthened the College. Please identify
areas that need improvement and state the ways in which you are addressing
these areas.
The College made several strategic hires this year in key
leadership, faculty, and staff positions. The most significant hire was Dr. Tom
Dana, the new Director of the School of Teaching and Learning, since this was
the first time in ten years this department has had a permanent chair. This
hire was especially important given the intense state and national focus on the
issues of teacher quality, recruitment, and retention, the rapidly growing lack
of teachers in critical shortage areas, and the need to develop alternative
certification programs that can be delivered via distance education and
web-enabled venues. Dr. Dana has already moved rapidly in developing new
initiatives in all these areas. Other leadership hires were Dr. Nancy Dana as
the Associate Director for the Center for School Improvement, and Dr. Pam
Pallas as the Director of Baby Gator. Dr. Nancy Dana has focused her attention
on coordinating all our partnership initiatives and renewing the Holmes
Partnership, and Dr. Pallas will focus her attention on creating a premier
child development and research center.
New faculty hires included the following:
- In the School of Teaching and Learning, Dr. Maria Coady was hired as a new assistant professor in the English to Speakers of Other Languages
(ESOL) program. The addition of Dr. Coady enables us to strengthen doctoral
program offerings and expand its international focus. Dr. Anita Gail
Choice, who is African-American, was hired in a lecturer line to support
reading education instruction and the America Reads program. She has
developed new connections with schools and community agencies as part of
America Reads and is partnering with Gainesville Recreation and Parks.
- In the Department of Educational Psychology, Dr. Diana
Joyce was hired as a clinical faculty member to
help guide school psychology students in their internships and to teach
courses.
- In the Department of Counselor
Education, three new faculty were hired: Drs. Michael Brooks,
Waulene Pennymon, and Cirecie West-Olatunji. Professor West-Olatunji was
selected from a national search to fill one of three tenure-accruing faculty
vacancies at the rank of Assistant Professor. Drs. Brooks and Pennymon
were selected to fill two Visiting Scholar positions. Both of these
appointments were made for a single year, with the opportunity for
renewal. These faculty hires are noteworthy for the fact that all are African-American.
New staff positions included the following:
- Jeff Koviack was hired in May, 2003 as a computer
applications coordinator to oversee the conversion from a Mac operating
system to a Microsoft Exchange operating system. He is a Microsoft
certified engineer, and will play a critical role as we move forward with
our plans for expanding our distance education offerings and developing
the International Media Union.
- David Fowler was hired in the Business Office to manage
our growing human resource needs and to help support the PeopleSoft
crossover.
- Robin Frey was hired as the Alumni and Event Coordinator
to replace the previous coordinator who left to work in the President’s
office. She handles planning for all alumni and college events.
- Dotti Delfino was hired as our College Business Manager.
She has extensive UF Campus financial administration and business systems
experience that will help facilitate the administration of our new
programs like distance education, joint campus programs (e.g., CLAS, Law,
and the Health Center), and she will manage the COE transition to
PeopleSoft.
Budgetary Implications
Two program areas that need additional strengthening are
educational leadership and ESOL.
- The Department of Educational Leadership, Policy, and
Foundations will need to recruit an external chair for the 2005-2006 academic
year.
- Because of high student numbers, the ESOL program will need a
clinical faculty member to assist teachers in meeting the state mandated ESOL
Endorsement
- Due to increased state and federal mandates for meeting
accountability standards in professional educator preparation, an Academic
Support Services Coordinator (40-45k) is requested to support the Dean of the
College
Continuing efforts at internationalization - how have you
assessed the achievements of these goals and what changes have you implemented
as a result of the assessment?
The College has undertaken several international activities
in the last year.
- The Educational Technology faculty participate in
“Instructional Leadership for Educational Technology: A Transatlantic
Bridge for Doctoral Studies” (also known as ILET). This collaborative
project involves six leading institutions and four supporting partners in
the United States and Europe. It establishes a doctoral specialization in
inter-cultural educational technology and supports opportunities for both
faculty and student travel abroad.
- The ESOL
program area is: (1) developing a new graduate seminar of International
Perspectives on Bilingual Education, (2) revising other coursework to
include international perspectives, (3) actively collaborating with
scholars in other countries, and (4) in initial stages of establishing
teacher education student exchange programs with universities in Mexico, South Korea, and Ireland.
- A
student teaching exchange is under development with Norwegian Technical
National University (NTNU) in Trondheim, Norway and with PLU in Jonkoping, Sweden. Each of these locations offers opportunities to teach in English while
learning about schooling, language acquisition, and culture.
- The School Psychology program is
planning a cooperative placement for some of their students in Costa Rica.
- A faculty member in Special Education on a Fulbright is
working with colleagues in Poland and faculty and administration at UF to
develop a collaborative relationship. It is anticipated that this
relationship could lead to faculty and student exchanges. She is also
working on a collaborative relationship with the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom.
- The college recently joined a UNESCO consortium of
colleges of education serving the Caribbean region.
Because these initiatives are so recent, no formal
assessment of them has been conducted. One key indicator of success will be to
monitor whether these programs lead to increased doctoral enrollment from
students abroad, and whether these programs attract more UF students into our
programs.
What are your major goals for the college next year?
What plans do you have in place for achieving those goals?
The number one priority is to reverse the downward trend in graduate
enrollment over the last few years. Initially, our growth will be targeted to
two areas – counselor education (all program areas) and school psychology –
since both have far more students applying than they can currently accept. To
handle this growth, we will direct more resources to both programs in terms of including
new lines and support for internship and practicum supervision.
Budgetary Implications
- To manage increased growth in these areas, we are
requesting one assistant professor line and one .5 clinical person for
counselor education, and one assistant professor line in school
psychology.
A second priority is to develop new certification programs
in teacher education that can be offered through distance education.We envision a combination of off-book and on-book
offerings in order to provide revenue to support required services and to
enhance enrollments/headcounts. The first two courses are coming on line in
February 2004 in the Ed Tech area. We expect to develop a complete
masters/specialist program in curriculum and instruction over the next 18-24
months with two different specializations (ed tech and teacher
leadership/instructional improvement). The
Educational Technology program also started a new certificate program in
January 2004 to allow practicing teachers to better utilize educational
technologies in their classrooms. This certificate program allows teachers in Alachua County to obtain 9 hours of credit in 9 weekends.
A third priority is to develop
new models of educational leadership that can be offered through distance
education and the web. A DOE-sponsored Faculty Innovation Institute grant
continues to provide minimal funding for the revision of the state-approved
Principal Certification program. The program under study is an
interdisciplinary model for certification only that would allow a
student to get his/her master’s degree in any college program.
Budgetary Implications
- To support faculty in
developing on-line courses, we will be seeking two new staff members: an
instructional designer, and a person who can provide on-going technical
and faculty/staff support. We also plan to seek support from the Division
of Continuing Education and the Office of Academic Technology for these
initiatives, along with support for faculty release time to develop new
on-line courses.
A fourth priority is to expand the work of the UF-UCEDD and
to seek external grants to build capacity over the next four years. These
external grants will become more essential as the match for the initial grant
steadily increases over the next four years.
Budgetary Implications
- A major agenda of the UF-UCEDD is to research
transition issues as developmentally disabled students leave the K-12
system and move into the community. Because a nationally known expert in
transition has already retired from faculty, and another one is expected
to do so next year, we request an associate/full professor line to ensure
the continuity of this research.
A fifth priority is to begin outlining fundraising
strategies for two major building projects: a new addition to Norman Hall to
house the IMU, and a new facility to expand Baby Gator to become an Early
Childhood Center of Excellence. Baby Gator currently houses 130 children, and
has over 250 children on the waiting list. We also expect to continue
fundraising for other major projects such as the Alliance, the UF-UCEDD, a
possible literacy institute, and a leadership academy.
Budgetary Implications
- Accomplishing these goals will require the addition of
a 2nd development officer, who will concentrate attention on
alumni development and smaller gifts (under $20,000). This second staff
person will free up the current development director who will focus her
attention on the major gifts. We have already received $350,000 in federal
appropriations through the auspices of Congressman John Mica to completely
transform the college operating system from a Mac platform to a Microsoft
Exchange Server system, and to refurbish two new technology classrooms and
two planned math/science classrooms. He expects to remain an active
partner as we seek funds for the new technology research center.
The sixth priority is to increase capacity of faculty to
seek external funding by opening the Office of Evaluation, Research, and
Inquiry. This office will be staffed by a research director, administrative
coordinator, grants specialist, and fiscal assistant. In addition to helping
faculty develop grant proposals, the office will seek contracts with outside
agencies to provide research and evaluation services, particularly for school
districts that need to track student performance for documenting accountability
for “No Child Left Behind.” We also need to work more closely with PKY to
offer opportunities for doctoral students and classroom teachers to study the
efficacy of “evidence-based” practices commensurate with those expected in a
demonstration school.
Budgetary Implications
- Funding for the Research Office is already in place.
Funds are requested to provide tuition waivers for 13 graduate assistants
who will work on various projects in PKY (8 from the College of Education, 4 from the College of Fine Arts, and1 from the College of Journalism and
Communication). We also request funds to hire an associate scholar who
will work closely with PKY teachers to help them design classroom based
inquiry projects (estimated cost $55-65K).
Is the college contemplating the development of new programs
as a result of the retirement of several faculty in the next few years? If so,
please explain.
The area that has experienced the most faculty retirements
is Foundations of Education, now in the Department of Educational Leadership,
Policy, and Foundations. Discussions are underway to move this program to the
School of Teaching and Learning, where it may be reconfigured into a Social
Science of Education (Note: this is a working title only: no decisions have
been reached) program that would also contain a social studies
certification track. This new program will be built primarily with the
remaining foundations faculty member, faculty members in curriculum and
instruction, a postdoctoral fellow in the sociology of education, and
collaborations with faculty in economics, history, and sociology.
A second area of concern is the Student Personnel in Higher
Education program, which is also in the Department of Educational Leadership.
One, and possibly two, senior professors will retire within the next year, and
this program will face a major decline without them. At the same time, it is a
program that attracts strong graduate students from around the country, and
they often work in intern placements in various student affairs offices around
campus.
Last year we discussed your strongest
departments/programs and asked for an outline of a plan to place them in the
top 10 among publics. What steps have you taken in the intervening year to
facilitate their advancement?
Our top rated department is Counselor Education, which is
ranked #3 in the country. Because this department lost three highly productive
and well known senior faculty last year, and is expected to lose two more
within the next two years, it is essential that this department continue to
hire new faculty at both junior and senior levels. In addition, because all
three programs within the department (school counseling, marriage and family,
and mental health counseling) attract far more well-qualified graduate students
than they can currently accept, this program will continue to
receive more resources to provide graduate student assistantships and hire
clinical faculty. The department is also developing a very productive
collaboration with the Department of Psychiatry to offer a mental
health/addictions undergraduate elective which is likely to lead to more
graduate enrollment in the future.
The second highest ranked department is Special Education,
which is currently ranked #10 in the country. To move up in the rankings, the
department has identified these strategies:
- Continue their current level of productivity, especially
in relation to refereed publications and grant funding. In 1998-99
external funding from state and federal agencies totaled $1.74 million. In
2002-03, this funding increased to $3.83 million, an increase of 120%.
- Recruit more doctoral students who are highly qualified to
work on projects and in our teacher education programs. Faculty have
submitted proposals for Leadership Grants from the U.S. Department of
Education to support students in a range of specialization areas such as
Emotional/Behavior Disorders and Early Childhood Special Education
- Maintain or increase credit hour production in graduate
teacher education programs. Several proposals have been submitted through
the U.S. Department of Education in the personnel preparation competition
to provide support for the development of new, innovative, and often
interdisciplinary programs to attract new students into the department.
On-line course offerings are being planned over the next 2-3 years, and we
anticipate offering endorsement programs on-line by 2006-07. Faculty are
also collaborating with faculty from FSU to develop a summer program to
certify teachers in the area of severe disabilities.
- Provide a more stimulating intellectual environment
through activities such as colloquia by visiting faculty, national and
international faculty exchange programs, and national and international
student exchange programs.
The third department that has moved into the top twenty this
year is Educational Psychology. To position itself for increasing its ranking,
they are focusing on these strategies:
- Maintaining documentation on the
School Psychology program to be ready for ongoing accreditation by the
American Psychological Association and the National Association of School
Psychology. The self report for re-accreditation with the American
Psychological Association is due in May 2005.
- Maintaining, or slightly increasing,
enrollments and student diversity in graduate programs. The quality
and quantity of the applicant pool has increased this year. They admitted
a diverse pool of highly qualified applicants last year with the highest
average GRE in the College.
How many faculty searches are being conducted in the
college this year and what progress has occurred to date in filling those
positions?
The following searches are currently underway:
- The most critical search is for a new Associate Dean for
Academic Affairs to replace the current dean who is returning to the
faculty prior to retirement. This search is expected to result in a
candidate who can assume the duties in August, 2004.
- The search for a new director of the Alliance program is
expected to begin shortly. We anticipate a successful conclusion to this
search with a candidate in place by August, 2004.
- STL is searching for an assistant professor of science
education. We seek a faculty member who can support the development of
alternative certification programs (particularly linked to Lastinger
and/or Alliance schools), collaborate with faculty in the sciences and
engineering on science education initiatives (we need to turn away such
overtures now due to low staffing), work with Digital World faculty to
attract science-education funding, and contribute scholarship and leadership
to an emerging mathematics/science/technology focus. We hope to bring
closure to the search process by the end of February 2004.
- The Department of Special Education is searching for an
assistant professor in special education administration. This person is
expected to work closely with faculty in educational leadership to develop
an innovative principal certification model that prepares administrators
to handle inclusion issues. This search is expected to conclude in early
spring.
- The Department of Educational Leadership is currently
searching for an Assistant/Associate Professor to help develop the new
principal certification program. This search has a strong applicant pool,
and is expected to conclude this spring.
- The Department of Educational Psychology is searching for
an assistant professor who specializes in the cognitive aspects of
reading, especially among adolescents and adults. This person is expected
to collaborate with literacy faculty in STL to build a comprehensive
literary program that spans the developmental range. This search is
expected to conclude this spring.
- The Department of Counselor Education is currently
searching for two senior level positions and one assistant professor in
school/mental health counseling. The department is currently re-thinking
its reliance on the traditional developmental model to focus on attracting
candidates who can contribute to a new model where counselors serve as
part of an integrated services team to assist children and families in
crisis, particularly those in high poverty/high diversity/low achieving
schools. The search for the senior level positions may continue over the
next year, while we hope to conclude the junior search at the end of the
spring.
Total Budgetary Requests
New Faculty Lines
- Counselor Education (one assistant professor; one .5
clinical lecturer)
- Educational Psychology (one assistant/associate professor in
school psychology)
- School of Teaching and Learning (one associate/full
professor in math education; one ESOL lecturer)
- Special Education (one associate/full professor with a focus
on transition issues)
- Educational Leadership, Policy and Foundations: Full
professor/Department chair
Operational Funds
- UF-UCEDD provost match: $30,000
- CROP match: $38,000
- Induction support: $30,000
- Alliance: $25,000
- America Reads: $15,000
- PKY tuition waivers: $100,000 (13 waivers @ 3 semesters
each)
- PKY Associate Scholar: $55,000
