REPORT TO THE
PRESIDENTIAL TASK FORCE

College of Education
Strategic Plan

February, 2002

COLLEGE MISSION

The mission of the College of Education is to prepare exemplary professional practitioners and scholars; to generate, use, and disseminate knowledge about teaching, learning, and human development; and to collaborate with others to solve critical educational and human problems in a diverse global community.

UNIT'S CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

The College of Education and affiliated programs prepare reflective professionals who organize, disseminate, and create knowledge; promote democratic values, and serve diverse communities.

REPORT TO THE
PRESIDENTIAL TASK FORCE

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
FEBRUARY, 2002

The College of Education (COE) has a long and distinguished history. From its beginning in 1905, the College has led educational reform efforts and helped establish and validate through research such innovations as the community college system, the integration of southern schools, Head Start, Follow Through, five-year teacher preparation programs, subject-matter majors for high school teachers, process-product research, and the inclusion of students with special needs in regular classrooms.

The College of Education is organized into five academic departments: Counselor Education; Educational Leadership, Policy, and Foundations; Educational Psychology; the School of Teaching and Learning; and Special Education. Each department offers graduate programs that confer master's, specialist, and doctoral degrees. Two departments, Special Education and the School of Teaching and Learning, confer baccalaureate degrees in elementary and early childhood education (PROTEACH), which require completion of a fifth-year graduate program for certification. In addition, P. K. Yonge Developmental Research School is considered a department in the College. (See Organizational Chart in the Appendix.) The College has 85 tenured/tenure earning faculty. Enrollment for Fall 2000 was 1,887 (724 undergraduate, 1,048 graduate, 115 other). In the 2000-2001 academic year, the College awarded 718 degrees (227 bachelor's, 456 master's, and 35 doctoral degrees).

In anticipation of budget cuts and later in preparation for this report, we reviewed empirical data from the top-ten public AAU colleges of education in the nation.[1] In addition, we completed interviews with faculty and administrators at five of these institutions that we will call benchmark universities.[2] Findings from these studies reinforced priorities College faculty have identified at recent work sessions and retreats.

The College of Education compares favorably with the top-ten institutions in a number of areas. When we examine specific ranking criteria, the College is already in top-ten territory in several areas and is very close to it in others. The College has identified the areas in which it can improve and has developed strategies to make those improvements. We list them here, but we will discuss them in detail later in this report.

• Increase focus on graduate education and financial support for graduate students.
• Enhance and expand research infrastructure, research productivity, and the percentage of faculty involved in funded research.
• Improve overall faculty quality, productivity, and diversity through strategic hiring.
• Maintain exemplary teacher education programs.
• Maintain and enhance outreach to public schools, community colleges, and other agencies in ways that support and complement the College's research mission.
• Balance competing demands of teacher preparation, graduate education, research and service.
• Improve facilities and integration of academic technology, library resources, distance education, and research.

A. Top-ten public AAU colleges of education in the nation

1. University of California, Los Angeles
2. University of California, Berkeley
3. University of Michigan
4. University of Wisconsin, Madison
5. Ohio State University
6. University of Oregon
7. University of Texas, Austin
8. University of Illinois
9. Indiana University
10. Michigan State University

B. Characteristics of top-ten colleges of education

The top-ten colleges of education share several characteristics, including: initial teacher preparation programs; emphasis on doctoral education and funded research; state-of-the-art facilities and infrastructure to support their mission; outreach to public schools and agencies; outreach and communication to constituencies; strong academic reputations; selective admission criteria; and financial support for graduate students.

Initial Teacher Preparation. All five benchmark universities offer one or more undergraduate teacher education programs that culminate in certification.[3] Secondary education is nearly always offered in some partnership arrangement with the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, but the degree most often comes from education. Commitment to quality preservice teacher education is virtually a "mantra" at all five schools. Tenured and tenure-track faculty lead these programs and supervise clinical and adjunct faculty and graduate students.[4] Their undergraduate teaching responsibilities are limited. Instead, a few designated faculty serve as instructional managers who design courses; develop course materials; and train, monitor, and evaluate students. The colleges rely on clinical faculty for internship supervision.[5] Our College has not fully adopted this model, in part because it violates accreditation standards. Most of the top-ten colleges do not seek accreditation from the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education.

Graduate Education and Research. Doctoral education is a primary mission, and all faculty are expected to serve that mission. In Fall 2000, doctoral students comprised 54% of all graduate students at the top-ten colleges of education. The mean number of doctorates granted annually was 72, which accounted for 25% of all graduate degrees awarded. The "cultural norm" at the benchmark institutions is that every faculty member has an active research agenda that allows doctoral students to be apprentice researchers. Doctoral students are funded by teaching and research assistantships, and the best students receive fellowships. Faculty research generates intellectual and financial support for doctoral education as it enhances the academic reputation of the institution, which, in turn, attracts more highly qualified doctoral students. Additional doctoral students expand a college's capacity to deliver the undergraduate program and to produce more research in a continuing cycle.

In Fall 2000, doctoral students comprised 27% of all graduate students in our College. The number of doctoral graduates was 30, which accounted for 7% of all graduate degrees awarded. Compared to the top-ten colleges, UF would rank 10^th in number of doctoral degrees awarded and 11^th in percent of graduate degrees awarded. The College has a strong and improving record of funded research, but at present our grant activity supports more faculty than students.

Outreach and Communication to Constituencies: Extending information about the research conducted by faculty is a prominent goal in top-ten institutions. Approaches used for extending research information include dissemination of research "briefs," or summaries of important faculty research; centers that nurture school-district partnership and outreach; on-campus conferences and institutes for school superintendents; federally funded research centers that address specific problems such as teacher shortages; and visibility to the research community, often maintained through receptions and social functions, particularly at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association.

The College has made progress in each of these areas in recent years, though continued improvement is needed. We are increasing our scholarly productivity and extending outreach to assist schools through the UF Alliance schools, the Lastinger Center, and the Center for School Improvement. We have procured a federally funded, $4 million research center; are now organizing a major conference for state legislators and policy makers in the Fall; and are hosting receptions at national meetings.

Funded Research. Faculty at the top-ten colleges of education are heavily involved in funded research. Averaged for fiscal years 1999 and 2000, the mean total research expenditure for these schools was $14.9 million (range = $21.5 - $9.9 million); the mean expenditure per faculty was $413,000 (range = $1.1 million - $196,000); and 47% of full-time faculty were involved in funded research (range = 86% - 29%).

In our College, the total research expenditure for that period was $8 million; the mean expenditure per faculty was $401,000; and 23% of all full-time faculty were involved in funded research. Compared to the top-ten colleges, UF would rank 11^th in total research expenditure, 4^th in expenditure per faculty, and 11^th in percent of full-time faculty involved in funded research.

Reputation. The top-ten colleges of education have excellent academic reputations. In Fall 2000, U.S. News asked education school deans and deans of graduate studies to rate program quality from "marginal" (1) to "distinguished" (5). Their mean rating was 4.0 (range = 4.3 - 3.3). The College was rated 3.6 on academic reputation. Compared to the top-ten colleges of education, UF would rank 10 in this category.

Student Selectivity. Admission to doctoral training is highly competitive. In Fall 2000, the mean GRE score for doctoral students at the top-ten colleges was 1152 (range = 1248 - 1059), and the mean PhD acceptance rate was 38%. In our College, the mean GRE for doctoral students was 1087 and the acceptance rate was 53%. Compared to the top-ten ranked colleges of education, UF would rank 8^th in mean GRE and 10^th in PhD acceptance rate.

Financial Support. The top-ten ranked colleges provide significant financial support to graduate students. In Fall 2000 the mean number of fellowships, teaching and research assistantships, and other appointments for these colleges was 620 (range = 1,830 - 101). The mean number of fellowships was 193 (range = 531 - 56). For the College, the total number of appointments was 160, and the number of fellowships was 37. Compared to the top-ten colleges, UF would rank 10^th in total appointments and 11^th in number of fellowships. Comparisons show that the College pays its graduate assistants thousands of dollars less per year than do top-ten institutions.

C. UF College of Education ranking

The College of Education is ranked 19^th among AAU public universities based on U.S. News & World Report's rankings of Best Graduate Schools 2002. The College of Education ranks higher in U.S. News ratings than does any other college, in any discipline (not just education), in any Florida university (public or private). That number, although pleasing, does not tell the whole story. When we separate the ranking and trend criteria as we have done above, we see that the College already ranks along with the top ten in several areas and is within sight of that status in others. More importantly, we know what we need to do to lift ourselves into the top ten.

D. Major new trends among the top-ten colleges

Major trends among the top-ten colleges of education include the following.

• Building academic programs and partnering with public schools and other groups to improve preparation of future teachers and educational leaders
• Melding research and practice in the schools through varied partnerships
• Recruiting and retaining excellent and diverse faculty and maintaining research preeminence
• Developing alternative certification programs and partnerships with school districts and agencies for professional preparation and inservice training
• Conducting research on professional development of teachers in schools
• Creating off-campus master's programs delivered to teachers (and other professionals) where they work

• Developing research centers devoted to learning in content areas (e.g., reading, science)
• Creating programs for administrators and instructors in higher education
• Shifting funding sources from federal sources to private foundations
• Devoting less effort to NCATE accreditation
• Creating joint graduate programs and joint faculty appointments with other colleges (e.g., business, journalism, LAS)

E. Resources needed to achieve top-ten ranking

The College is poised to climb into the top ten. Even with our current modest level of support, we compare well with the top ten in a number of areas, including academic reputation. Because of this, movement into the top tier will require modest additional resources. The areas of strength we wish to improve include increased emphasis on doctoral training, improved doctoral student selectivity and financial support, increased research funding, and better retention and recruitment of nationally recognized scholars.

One of the main challenges facing the College is how to emphasize doctoral programs while maintaining the quality of undergraduate programs and remaining responsive to state needs. Increasing financial support for graduate students will enable us to compete for top students with the nation's top universities. This investment will increase our enrollment and selectivity.

Our efforts to improve our graduate programs must include an effort to expand faculty research activity and external funding. Additional resources are needed to improve the College's research infrastructure. An Office of Research could provide a range of services including fostering multidisciplinary and inter-institutional research, identifying funding sources, supporting proposal writing and processing, administering grants and projects, and preparing reports.

Finally, to climb into the top tier of education colleges, we must aggressively recruit and hire leading scholars. We need to retain our best people and replace full professors who leave or retire with leading scholars. Although faculty salaries in the UF COE are generally lower than those in the top education schools, the discrepancy is greatest at the full-professor level.

Task Force Questions

1. Which units in your College are currently making the greatest contributions to the stated goals? Please describe briefly the contributions.

For the last six years, Counselor Education has been ranked by U. S. News as one of the five best counselor education programs in the United States. The Department offers only graduate degrees, preparing professional counselors (MEd/EdS) and counselor educators (EdD/PhD). All professional and doctoral level programs are fully accredited by all relevant accrediting bodies. Counselor Education also participates actively in the delivery of teacher education. Faculty are recognized for their outstanding leadership in the profession in a variety of areas, including accreditation of other counselor preparation programs nationally, national/international awards, leadership roles, and editorships of scholarly publications. Six professors have published a minimum of two books each in the last three years, all widely used in counselor education programs throughout the country. Their international reputation is evident in a 2000 - 2001 Fulbright Fellowship, consulting activities with the East Asia Council of Overseas Schools and elsewhere, visiting international scholars for each of the last six years, graduate applications from the Pacific Rim, and an emerging partnership with Seoul National University.

The Department is particularly distinguished by the success of its graduates, including three presidents, two executive directors, and a journal editor for national associations; the chairperson of a highly ranked counselor education program; a college dean; and numerous counselor education faculty teaching in research universities. At the entry level, all of the Department's graduates have passed either the state certification and/or licensing examination on the first attempt. Finally, all school counseling graduates seeking employment have been employed within three months of graduation, and all were asked to return to their place of initial employment.

The Department's recent shift in emphasis toward doctoral education is designed to address the upcoming shortage of counselor educators for U.S. colleges and universities. Furthermore, the Working Teacher School Counselor Program is preparing to meet the critical shortage of counselors who are prepared to work in schools through an e-learning program in school counseling that will be offered in Florida and throughout the U.S. The Department also has developed a model collaborative program with P. K. Yonge, involving all faculty at P. K. Yonge as well as faculty from several departments in the College.

Unified Teacher Education is a second source of national recognition for the College of Education. Since the development of PROTEACH, one of the first five-year extended programs in the nation, in 1984, UF has been in the forefront of exemplary and innovative teacher education. Elementary Education at UF was ranked 15^th in the nation by U.S. News in 2001. All preservice teacher preparation programs in the College culminate at the graduate level and prepare teacher leaders for the state. Unified Teacher Education is the latest version of the PROTEACH program at Early Childhood and Elementary levels and beginning in 2003, the Middle School level.

Unified teacher education programs provide not only basic certification, but also enhanced preparation for dealing with students with special needs and those whose native language is not English. All five College departments contribute to each PROTEACH program with most of the course work and field experience provided by the School of Teaching and Learning and the Department of Special Education. All of these programs involve extensive collaboration with other University divisions. The unified elementary program, for example, requires 22 credit hours of upper-division course work outside the College of Education for the baccalaureate degree. The middle-school program will provide certification in two subject areas with a total of at least 48 credit hours in these disciplines. No other university in Florida has certification programs that require a five-year commitment, and none unify regular education and special education as UF unified programs do.

Graduates of these programs are highly sought by school administrators in Florida. Principals describe our graduates as exceptional teachers, "the strongest beginning teacher I have hired," "a positive addition to the staff," "an excellent teacher," "an outstanding teacher," "very well prepared," and "one of the most phenomenal teachers I have known in my career." Politically, it is increasingly important for us to address the critical teacher shortage, and AAU public universities ranked in the top ten all provide such programs. Because of our emphasis on graduate education, our undergraduate numbers are small in comparison with several other Florida institutions, and it is our intention to retain the current balance. These programs provide models of excellence in teacher education nationally; they also uphold our reputation as a comprehensive university that serves Florida's public schools and provides leadership among teacher education programs.

In recent years, over $3 million in grant funding has come to the early childhood and elementary programs, and faculty have participated in a significant number of other grants in the College and University. Faculty from these programs have been nationally recognized. Distinguished faculty in three departments of the College currently provide leadership to these programs and represent the University through research, publication, and national and international conferences (including the prestigious Holmes Partnership). Elementary PROTEACH has been featured in national publications, including three books and a fourth book soon to be published by SUNY Press.

Our teacher education programs are excellent, and they produce teacher leaders in the state. They also serve the College's graduate programs. For example, unified elementary and early-childhood students generate 25% of the graduate student credit hours (SCHs) for the College. In 2000-2001, these programs generated 6,448 of the 25,277 SCHs generated by the College. Unlike other graduate programs, these students enroll without assistantships or other forms of financial support from the College, except for a few endowed scholarships. Furthermore, these programs support the doctoral program by providing assistantships and valuable experience. In 2001-2002, these two programs provided assistantships for 46 graduate students. Doctoral students who have been classroom teachers assist in teaching undergraduate courses, supervise field experience, and serve as role models for preservice teachers. These programs are structured to place doctoral students on teaching teams where their work is mentored and guided by faculty. When they graduate, they are stellar teacher educators who are sought nationally. Recently they have gone to such institutions as the University of Virginia, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and the University of Georgia.

Special Education is an equally prominent department for its national prestige and uniqueness within Florida. It is presently ranked 12^th, and we fully expect it to break into the top ten soon. One of the reasons, of course, is its participation in the Unified Teacher Education programs described above. In addition, faculty have research and development grants to study beginning teachers, teacher professional development, school improvement and teacher learning, literacy, and sustaining school change. A most notable recent accomplishment regarding this area of research is the funding of the Center on Personnel Studies in Special Education (COPSSE) by the U.S. Department of Education. This center is funded for five years for over $4 million. COPSSE will bring significant visibility to the Department, College, and University and further enhance our reputation for research in the area of teacher education.

A second area of research for which the Department has a strong reputation relates to student behavior and discipline. Faculty currently have grants in this area related to the study of autism, positive behavior supports, and aggression and school violence. This area of research is likely to receive significant external funding in coming years. Overall, a significant contributor to the Department's national reputation is grant funding. In 1999-2000, it had $2.7 million in funding from state and federal agencies for research and development activities. By 2001-2002, this level of funding increased by over 40% to $3.9 million. Total funding for all grants and cooperative agreements is over $13.6 million.

Probably the program that contributes most significantly to the reputation of this unit is its doctoral program. Approximately five doctoral students graduate each year, a moderately large program by special education standards. Three doctoral leadership grants funded by the U.S. Department of Education support these students and those of other departments. Over 50% of these graduates have gone on to positions in higher education, many of them as teacher educators. They have taken positions at such institutions as the University of Virginia, Johns Hopkins University, and the University of Illinois. Many additional graduates are in leadership roles in federal and state agencies, local school systems, and private agencies.

The School Psychology Program (SPP) is accredited by the National Association of School Psychologists and the American Psychological Association and is the College's largest and fastest-growing graduate program. Sixty-two students are presently enrolled, and about 8 students graduate each year. Of the 62 currently enrolled, 37 are doctoral students.

All SPP faculty members are involved in funded research or international projects, collaborating with departments across the College and University, most notably with the Medical School, Brain Institute, Law School, and the College's Department of Special Education and the School of Teaching and Learning. All publish in and serve as editors on editorial boards of the premier journals in the field. Currently there are no national rankings for such programs. Increasing applicant numbers have allowed the program to become selective, and, with a little more time and help from the College, the School Psychology program will become one of the premier programs in the nation.

2. Which units in your College have the potential to make significant contributions to the stated goals, but may not yet have realized their full potential? What additional expertise, guidance, time, and resources are required to realize the full potential of these units?

Several units in the College have top-ten potential and would have already achieved that status had we not asked them to shoulder unreasonably large service obligations to other departments. They have done admirable work, nonetheless, and are poised to lift the College into top-ten contention. Some are close to that status.

Every top-ranked education college has one or two departments that maintain their own graduate programs and pursue leading-edge research in their own disciplines. These departments frequently serve other units and contribute significantly to the quality of college programs, research, rankings, and reputations. The demands on these departments typically grow as other departments move to prominence; and if department resources do not grow to match those demands, the department's own programs and research suffer. Educational Psychology is such a department. Two of its three programs, Research Methods and Educational Psychology, might have moved into top-ten contention had they not so ably served the needs of other departments.

Every top-ranked college of education has an exemplary Research Methods program. Currently there are no national rankings for such programs, but based on typical rating criteria, ours would fit comfortably among the top 20 programs in the nation. Our senior faculty enjoy national and international prominence and our junior faculty show great promise. All faculty members have published in top journals and collaborated on funded-research projects with faculty from other units including Special Education, Engineering, Shands, Health and Human Performance, and Nursing. They have edited five major journals in the field and have been leaders in, and have received awards from, top professional organizations. Recent program graduates have found positions at such institutions as the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Georgia.

The research methods faculty teach frequently and well. Social science programs from across the UniversityÑincluding the College of Education, Health and Human Performance, Nursing, Psychology, Business, Journalism, Pharmacy, and several Health Science programsÑrequire our research methods courses. For example, in Fall 2001, 147 graduate students enrolled in research methods courses and 199 in Spring 2002. The program's key service course typically enrolls 40 graduate students or more. Almost every doctoral student in the College has a faculty member from this program serving on his/her doctoral committee. The strength of our research methods faculty has contributed significantly to the College's growing research productivity, grant success, improving reputation, and placement of our graduates from all COE departments in top universities. To move into top-ten contention, the College must significantly reduce the number of undergraduate students faculty teach and the number of dissertation committees on which they serve.

Every top-ranked College of Education has a strong, research-driven Educational Psychology program. Indeed, educational psychology is a core discipline in our field and the most significant research in education is done by educational psychologists or is informed by their work. Top-ten programs serve their own graduate students as well as students from around the university but are careful not to let service work overwhelm their research efforts and doctoral programs.

Our Educational Psychology program currently enrolls graduate students and serves a large number of students from elsewhere in the College and University. Each semester the program typically offers classes to over 1,000 students across the University. Program faculty publish in premier journals and serve on editorial boards. They also have edited two of the leading journals in their field. All recent graduates have found faculty positions in University programs at such institutions as Emory University and Auburn University.

To move into top-ten ranks, the College must strengthen its Educational Psychology program and find a better balance between its graduate and research obligations on the one hand, and its large service and teacher preparation obligations on the other. Because the Educational Psychology program is essential to our College's move into top-ten contention, we recently hired two junior faculty members who have launched promising careers.

The doctoral degree in Curriculum and Instruction primarily serves to prepare teacher educators for the upcoming critical shortage in U.S. colleges and universities. This program, though inter-departmental, is focused in the School of Teaching and Learning. With the increased emphasis on doctoral education, Curriculum and Instruction currently has 86 full-time doctoral students actively enrolled. This program has grown significantly and additions to the faculty have brought the promise of national prestige. For example, Educational Technology is a very new area within Curriculum and Instruction and has already attracted students nationally and internationally. Currently, it has 28 active doctoral students, six EdS students, and more international students than any other program in the College. The faculty, all recent hires, have already secured $1.4 million in external grant funding. This year they submitted grant proposals totaling $3 million. Junior faculty in this program are already achieving national visibility.

Reading Education, another area within Curriculum and Instruction, is arguably the highest visibility area in education in the nation. Problems related to reading achievement are commanding the attention of politicians and educators at every level. During the budget cuts of the 1990s, this College lost several key faculty members in reading education through retirements. These positions were not filled, leaving a gap in this critical area. We have recently added two new senior, highly visible faculty with national and international reputations. Both are nationally recognized and widely cited award winners. Although here less than two years, they have secured a federal grant for $750,000 and worked collaboratively with technology faculty to write grants that could bring an additional $3 million to the College. A junior faculty member has received two major promising researcher awards and a number of small grants, including one from the Spencer Foundation. The College now has the leadership to move quickly to national prominence.

A related area within Curriculum and Instruction with similar promise and similar needs is ESOL/Bilingual Education. It has a history of garnering large federal grants ($3.6 million 1997-2005), is currently supporting 20 doctoral students with external funding, and has strong state visibility and leadership that have led to a thriving graduate program (currently 24 doctoral students and 25 master's students). These three areas, as well as certain others within the School of Teaching and Learning, have achieved national recognition for research and external funding and are on the verge of enhancing the College's overall reputation. In each of these three cases, however, the ranking would improve considerably and quickly if we had the resources to provide clinical faculty to assist with service courses and outreach to schools and senior faculty members to share in the leadership role and in securing external funding.

The Educational Leadership program is ranked 22^nd in the most recent U.S. News and World Report survey. It typically graduates 30 students a year, most of whom enter Florida's public schools or school systems. Top-10 colleges of education have leadership programs that advance research and produce leaders for the region and nation.

The state and the nation face critical leadership shortages at the department, school and school district levels. The need is most acute for school principals who are equipped to lead school-improvement efforts and improve teacher and student performance, especially in Florida's most troubled and troubling schools. Over the next decade, an estimated 40% of principals across the country will retire. School districts in every Florida county report difficulty in recruiting new principals and in finding useful training opportunities for the principals they have, especially in the areas of instructional leadership and school improvement.

At one time, the reach and influence of UF's leadership programs stretched from Pensacola to Key West. Our graduates managed many school systems in the state and were in most education offices in Tallahassee. When UF's service area was restricted to Alachua and adjoining counties, our leadership programs constricted proportionally. The anticipated relaxation of service area boundaries, coupled with the state's pressing needs for educational leaders, will allow us to reorganize the leadership program, refocus its mission, and expand its reach across the state and region.

The Department offers one of only two Higher Education Administration programs in Florida. This program graduates 8-10 students a year who assume leadership roles in community colleges, colleges, and universities. The demand for Higher Education Administration graduates is growing rapidly. We can improve graduate FTE production and the visibility of the College if we expand the size and improve the quality of our offerings.

To move into contention, the Educational Leadership and the Higher Education Administration programs must do several things simultaneously: They must (a) increase the size and scope of current programs; (b) add research and clinical faculty; (c) redesign the program to be field-based and collaborative (e.g., working with the College of Business and school districts); (d) increase research productivity through practice-based research and policy analyses; (e) add certificate and distance-learning components to existing programs; and (f) reduce the faculty's dissertation committee loads.

3. Which units in your College may not have a front line responsibility to make UF a truly great university, but nevertheless are critical components to support other units or play critical roles in teaching or service? Please describe their roles.

Most units in the College of Education support other units in one way or another. Several offer courses required for teacher certification in other divisions; for example, educational psychology, curriculum and teaching methods, social foundations of education, ESOL, and special education. Some offer courses that are widely elected by students in diverse areas; for example, Exceptional People, taught by Professor Stuart Schwartz, enrolls 1,500-1,600 students every year and has won him national acclaim. Some offer courses that are widely used and appreciated by University employees (educational technology, higher education, student personnel services, and counselor education). The Department of Educational Psychology offers research courses that are widely used by many other departments across the campus. However, in no case do these offerings comprise the exclusive or principal focus of the Department, and in no case should these detract from a department's front-line responsibility.

4. In what areas of your College do you feel resources should be most concentrated for maximum impact?

The programs within the College presented in response to Questions #1 and 2 above are already nationally prominent or clearly moving in that direction. They hold a unique place among Florida institutions. We believe, however, that their contributions can be enhanced and their national ranking lifted with moderate increases in resources. If the improvements in our budget that occurred in the few years prior to 2001-2002 could have been continued for another two years, we would have made huge strides. What the faculty and administration of the College now realize is that resources must be concentrated for maximum impact. When we secure additional funding and/or reallocate funds within the College, our primary goals will be to increase support for doctoral students, enhance our research infrastructure, improve faculty through strategic hiring, support outreach efforts, and improve academic technology and distance learning.

Doctoral education is a primary mission of top-ranked colleges of education, and doctoral students comprise the majority of graduate students at these institutions. Financial support for doctoral education enhances the academic reputation of the institution and attracts doctoral students. Additional doctoral students, in turn, expand the College's capacity to deliver the undergraduate program and to produce more research. At the top-ten colleges of education, in Fall 2000, the mean number of fellowships, teaching and research assistantships, and other appointments was 620, and the mean number of fellowships was 193. In contrast, the total number of appointments for graduate students in our College was 160 and the number of fellowships was 37. To increase the quality of our doctoral students and our ability to recruit nationally, we must increase the stipends we provide graduate students. In 2001-2002, we were able to effect a 15% pay increase. At present, the stipend for a half-time teaching or research assistant for an academic year in the College is about $8,600. This is low among units within the University and very low in comparison with top-ten colleges. We are working with the UF Foundation to identify potential donors who might endow graduate fellowships and have had moderate success. The need is still critical, however.

Efforts to expand doctoral training education also must include an effort to increase faculty research productivity. As presented above, the "cultural norm" at the benchmark institutions is that every faculty member will have an active research agenda that supports doctoral students as apprentice researchers. Our doctoral students are primarily funded by teaching and research assistantships.

For these reasons, additional resources are needed to enhance the research infrastructure of the College. An Office of Research would provide a range of services that promote and support faculty research. At Wisconsin, for example, an Assistant Dean for Research and Sponsored Programs develops research-funding strategies, fosters multidisciplinary and inter-institutional research, supports proposal writing and processing, prepares reports, and assists with post-award support to faculty. In addition to the creation of an Office of Research, other desirable resources include (a) a research assistantship program for faculty preparing proposals; (b) a visiting senior research professorship; and (c) one-semester leaves for faculty to intern in Washington agencies to enhance grant-writing capacity.

Strategic hiring within the College will be necessary to maintain the reputation of highly ranked programs as senior faculty retire, move into administrative positions, or leave the University. For the three areas identified in response to Question #2 above (Educational Psychology, Curriculum and Instruction, and Educational Leadership), additional faculty lines will be needed to achieve top-10 ranking. Some of these lines had already been approved this year, but were lost due to the late budget cuts. Compared to most other units of the University, these will be relatively inexpensive hires, but they will contribute to a sure and steady improvement of the College's work and reputation. Additional clinical faculty are needed in several areas to provide service courses and to maintain smooth working relationships with schools involved in outreach programs and field experience for our students. The College will also continue its efforts to increase faculty diversity.

Our political stature through the whole state and our relations with our alumni are much improved when we support struggling schools and address critical needs in the state. The UF Alliance initiative, an outreach program to struggling high schools in Duval and Miami-Dade counties, does this work well and will be expanded to Orange County schools. The program assists low-performing schools, provides research opportunities for graduate students, and opens funding opportunities for the College. The Lastinger Center for Learning, funded by a $4 million endowment, will begin very soon to provide the same kind of services to elementary schools.

The College must follow through with efforts begun two years ago to increase resources for the use of educational technology, to provide faculty development in technology, and to involve faculty in on-line instruction and distance education. We now have a task force planning an International Media Union, which will bring the Education Library and the computer laboratories into a new synthesis. Increased sophistication in this area will require additional and more sophisticated staff.

5. Can you identify areas in your College that should be restructured to improve efficiency, better organize teaching and research, or reduce administrative costs?

Three years ago the College revisited its mission, redesigned its teacher education programs, compared its department structure with that of other AAU institutions, and restructured the College to better serve its mission and improve curriculum and research needs. This year, in response to budget cuts, we are reexamining structures once again. To date, we have not found restructuring options that will improve our organizational or fiscal efficiency; however, we are continuing to examine organizational patterns within and among departments that will improve efficiency. Issues already identified to be addressed include the need to restructure in order to improve graduate recruitment and coordination, fiscal and personnel record keeping, fiscal support for grants and contracts, and the encouragement of cross-disciplinary curriculum and research.

Perhaps even more important is the need to improve and restructure our college-wide support. The current organizational study has revealed glaring needs that cut across all departments and programs and that are essential to our movement into top-ten contention. For example, we must provide adequate support services for faculty research, outreach to public schools, academic technology and distance learning.

6. Are there units that should be reduced, phased out over time, or eliminated so that the recouped resources can be devoted to more critical efforts?

Identifying units within a college that should be reduced, phased out over time, or eliminated, of course, is the most difficult part of a process such as this one. However, recent budget cuts and the need to maximize impact within the College as defined in Question #4 have already persuaded our faculty and administration that such moves must be made in the College of Education. At a retreat of faculty leaders and administrators, one point clearly made was that the College should be doing fewer things and, thus, doing them better. In response to this question, we describe the process and the principles we have identified for prioritizing program areas. Because the process is not complete yet, we are unable to identify targeted areas; however, we provide a timeline for our process.

In order to involve faculty in understanding and influencing ultimate decisions, the Faculty Policy Council was consulted during the Fall semester. It is imperative that faculty understand the rationale for difficult decisions and see that the ultimate consequences will, indeed, provide for improved teaching, research, and outreach. After deliberation, the Faculty Policy Council approved a plan to organize an ad hoc Budget Advisory Committee. Further, they approved a retreat to consider college priorities. All members of the council as well as the Dean's Advisory Committee were invited to this December retreat. Its primary purpose was to identify and rank directions for the College for the immediate future. The retreat initiated a positive and on-going conversation.

The Budget Advisory Committee, composed of five faculty and the five department chairs within the College, has begun its work, influenced by the deliberations on the future of the College growing out of the retreat. This committee has agreed to a process by which faculty will be consulted and informed about budgetary decisions and certain principles that the administration should take into consideration.

The committee has proposed criteria to be used in identifying "essential" programs. These criteria will be used immediately in determining which programs will be reduced or phased out and ultimately in determining which programs will be enhanced.

• National visibility of the program
• Enrollment/student credit hour production within the program
• Political significance/critical need addressed by the program (e.g. educator shortages, outreach)
• External funding for the program (grants, contracts, endowments)
• Uniqueness of the program within the state (nature of the program, quality, leadership roles)
• Service to other programs within the College and the University
• Achievements of the program in advancing knowledge critical to children, families, and schools
• Achievements of the program in advancing knowledge critical to personnel preparation

It is understood that these criteria will not all apply equally to all programs, and a proper balance among elements will have to be maintained. Committee consideration of other budgetary issues is continuing.

The process recommended by the committee was (a) to communicate these priorities to the faculty, (b) to encourage discussion and written response from faculty, and (c) to hold a faculty forum immediately after spring break for discussion and consideration. Thereafter, the dean and his administrative staff will make decisions, keeping faculty ideas and concerns in mind as much as possible. Decisions will be made and announced by Friday, March 29.

7. Are there units in your College that would be more logically placed in other colleges? Are there units in other colleges that would mesh well with your programs and be more logically placed in your College?

The College of Education at the University of Florida has a long history of collaboration with other units and sharing responsibility, especially for teacher certification programs, with other units. In recent years, we have moved toward expanding and intensifying such collaboration, and we are proud of those efforts. For example, the College of Fine Arts, the College of Health and Human Performance, and the College of Agriculture all have certification programs. Most of their students take some state-mandated courses in the College of Education, and we work closely with their faculties and administration in meeting the Department of Education and NCATE accrediting standards. All of our elementary education students take upper level courses in English, mathematics, the sciences, the social sciences, fine arts, health, and speech communication science. For the unified elementary program, CLAS and the College of Agriculture have been particularly helpful in developing courses that will meet our students' needs and maintain academic rigor. Recently, we have worked closely with CLAS in planning and implementing a new program called Pathways to Teaching, a minor that provides education courses required for certification in mathematics, science, and foreign languages. We realize the need to extend that program to the College of Agriculture and perhaps to other areas in CLAS.

The College and University would be well served if we increased the areas of collaboration between (and among) the COE and other University units. The benefits of such cooperation are evident in such current projects as the International Media Union (IMU), a collaboration among the College of Education, the Office of Academic Technology, and the University libraries. The IMU mission is to expand Academic Technology services and meet the information and technology (IT) needs of the College; promote collaborative work in the design, delivery, and study of technology-enhanced instruction and distance education; and infuse IT throughout COE and University programs. The IMU will collaborate with other University units, IT corporations, and school districts to promote better teaching and increased learning among university and public school faculties and students.

Perhaps this is the best point to further explain the most intense collaborative program we have, Secondary PROTEACH. This program has no baccalaureate degree. Students who enter it complete undergraduate degrees in their teaching fields. Hence, the program is already meshed with other departments and units. It allows their graduates to achieve a master's degree and teaching certification simultaneously, as, for example, UCLA and UC-Berkeley do. Similarly, it provides courses that may be elected by post-baccalaureate students and students in other units.

Secondary PROTEACH is clearly identified as a stellar program at the University of Florida. In 2000, it was ranked 17^th among secondary education programs in the nation (U.S. News). Its graduates are highly regarded, highly sought, and recognized as leaders in this state (e.g., a high number of National Board Certified Teachers; frequent Teacher of the Year awards). This program is the only fifth-year secondary education program in Florida and is unique in fulfilling the critical state and national need for highly qualified, content-knowledgeable secondary teachers. The College's reputation in teacher education is clearly supported by work in this program and the national reputation of its faculty. Program faculty have done service and teaching in 30 countries around the world. UF has been home to national journals, such as the English Journal and Theory and Research in Social Education. Teacher shortages are critical in secondary education as are problems of underachievement in schools. Faculty in this program are exerting leadership in resolving these issues through programs like the UF Alliance and Pathways to Teaching.

Furthermore, the program plays an important role in generating FTE and in supporting other programs in the College. Students in this program generate 7% of the graduate student credit hours in the College. Doctoral students are supported each year with graduate teaching assistantships in this program. All the professors engaged in Secondary PROTEACH also work with early childhood, elementary and/or middle school programs. The challenge for this program is that enrollments in math, foreign language and science education continue to be low. Faculty are currently working on recruitment efforts, on Pathways to Teaching, and on program revision to open the program to more students and make it more innovative and flexible.

In conclusion, the College of Education offers exemplary programs that are unique in the state, nationally prominent, and close to top-ten contention. With some refocusing of our programs and modest additional support, we will move steadily to that tier. The things we need to do mirror trends among top-ten institutions. We will increase our commitment to graduate education and improve our support to graduate students; we will enhance and expand our research infrastructure, research productivity, and the percentage of faculty involved in funded research; improve faculty quality, productivity, and diversity through strategic hiring; maintain our exemplary teacher education programs; and enhance our outreach to public schools, community colleges, and other agencies. We will better balance competing demands of teacher preparation, graduate education, research and service, and improve facilities and integration of academic technology, library resources, distance education, and research.

APPENDIX

College Organizational Chart

* Based on data reported in "Distribution by College Major" UF Office of the Registrar (2/13/02)

[1] Top-ten AAU Public Universities based on U.S. News & World Report's rankings of Best Graduate Schools 2002.

[2] Indiana University, Michigan State University, University of Michigan, University of Texas at Austin, and University of Wisconsin at Madison.

[3] Michigan State was an exception in that it requires a 5-year baccalaureate program, in which the 5^th year is a year-long internship.

[4] At Michigan State, for example, a "course assignment" for a faculty member may be to plan a course and supervise multiple graduate teaching assistants who teach in small, personalized sections of 15-20 students following the common syllabus.

[5] Indiana University has a system that allows specially selected undergraduates to intern in 10 different countries under the supervision of clinical faculty.

[6] Indiana opened a $33 million facility in 1992 for its College of Education; Michigan State completed a major renovation last year.

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