April 7, 2016

Present: William Holmes, Larry Allen, Donna Azodi, Heidi Bardenhagen, Gayle Butaud, Cindy Cummings, Kimberly Gauthreaux, Joana Hyatt, Charlotte Mizener, Jeanne Mullican, Karyn Neuhauser, Joe Nordgren, Jim Sanderson, Marleen Swerdlow, Vanessa Villate, Michael Wallace, Jim Westgate, MaryE Wilkinson, Norma Zarzosa

Dr. Bill Holmes, Associate Dean of the College of Education and Human Development, thanked those in attendance for being present. 

Dean’s Comments.  Could not attend.

Report from Alternative Certification Program. Megan Hale stated that program numbers are down. There are approximately 175 active students in the program. The program has 11 interns placed this semester in various regions of the state. Ms. Hale also mentioned that the state test has changed in that students are only allowed to take the test five (5) times. If the test is not passed on the fifth try, students can appeal to take the test one more time.  She also stated that due to this new rule, it is crucial that review sessions be available to students for their content areas in order to help them pass. 

Dr. Mike Wallace mentioned that there is a 45 day wait period between the time when students can attempt the same test over again.  He also stated if a faculty member from another academic department would like to review the Lamar content test in order to become familiar with the content for tutoring purposes/review sessions, he is available to assist them with that.

Dr. Cindy Cummings noted that all academic programs across campus that have teaching certification routes, need to work on implementing a process of what can be done to help students pass the test if they fail. It is likely that TEA, in the near future, will require Educator Preparation Programs to show what measures are being taken to help those students who failed the test (i.e. Review sessions, tutoring, etc).

Report from the Office of Field Experience.  Dr. Gayle Butaud stated they have placed 53 clinical teachers in 15 districts on 30 different campuses for the spring semester. There are approximately 141 students currently enrolled in field courses. She also mentioned that TEA is considering implementing a new requirement that all field supervisors must be certified in the content area in which they will be supervising students.  This is something that will greatly affect the Field Experience Office if implemented.

Update from Director of Assessment. (Handout) Dr. Wallace distributed a handout detailing the various data collected from all programs in the COEHD. The handout covers enrollment by program area, certification exam pass rate, as well as Title 2 information concerning number of students enrolled by certification content area.

Update on EDLD Program.  Dr. Cummings shared that field observations required in the program are currently be conducted online; however, the state is considering implementation of a new requirement that at least one observation be conducted face-to-face. If this new rule is implemented, it will create a hardship for many of the students in the program. Dr. Cummings stated that this could cause the program to have to exclude some students who live outside of the region that could reasonably by serviced by supervisors. Dr. Cummings noted that the EDLD program has received their letter of accreditation from TEA in February. Dr. Cummings also mentioned the new Master’s in Digital Learning program, which is a partnership between Microsoft and Lamar University, is doing very well. There are currently 55 students enrolled in the program.

School Counseling Program.  Dr. Holmes shared that the counseling program continues to thrive. He noted that the school counseling program has recently increased the number of required hours from 36 to 48.  Dr. Holmes also stated that the CACREP visit for the Clinical Mental Health Program will occur April 17-19^th, 2016. 

As a side note, Dr. Holmes mentioned that the Doctoral Program is currently not admitting any more students at this time. There are 358 students currently enrolled in the program.

Educator Preparation Assessment Steering Committee.  Dr. Donna Azodi stated that the committee is looking at assessment data and how that data can be used to improve programs. She also stated that the committee will be contacting various academic programs in regard to obtaining help and information for the upcoming CAEP accreditation visit in fall 2019. Dr. Holmes also mentioned the importance of the work of our SPA committees and support from content areas in other colleges at Lamar.

 Meeting was adjourned.

 Megan Hale (Staff)