     |
       |
Saint Michael’s College
Program Overview
Background
Saint Michael’s College has offered teacher education programs since the early 1940’s. The undergraduate education major was approved in the late 1970’s. Since then, the number of students in teacher education programs has increased dramatically. At the time of the last ROPA-R review in 1996, undergraduate education and graduate education were organized into two separate, independent programs. However, soon after the accreditation visit, President Marc vanderHeyden encouraged a structure in which graduate programs would have stronger connections to their undergraduate counterparts. Serious discussions started among department members and administrators in spring of 1997 and continued throughout the ensuing year, resulting in a plan to merge starting July 1, 1998. The merger created many organizational and physical changes for the Education Department, including the moving of office spaces to a common area. Although undergraduate and graduate education still operate independently in some areas (e.g., fiscal management, some scheduling), now we conduct joint meetings on a regular basis and have made significant progress in sharing internal documents, thereby making the programs internally consistent. Additionally, most faculty members teach both undergraduate and graduate courses. And finally, prior to the merger, faculty in the graduate program were not on fulltime tenure-track lines. Now all new graduate hires are tenure-track and all current faculty have the option to shift to from instructor status to tenured lines.
The merger between the undergraduate and graduate programs has been easier and more successful that we had hoped. In a short period of time, we have started to work collaboratively, and we are optimistic about the future. The collaborative partnerships have been strong and made a better use of our collective expertise and resources.
Current programs offered by the Education Department include:
Undergraduate
Licensure
Elementary Education
Secondary Education
Graduate Initial
Licensure
Elementary, Middle School, Secondary
K-12
Art, Theater, Music, TESL
K-12 Educational Technology Specialist
Special Education
Licensure
Resource Room Endorsement
Consulting Teacher Endorsement
Master’s Degree
Programs
Administration/School Principal Endorsement
Arts
in Education
Curriculum
Educational Technology
Reading/Reading Teacher Endorsement
Special Education
Certificate of
Advanced Graduate Education Programs (CAGS)
Arts
in Education
Curriculum
Reading
Special Education
Educational Foundations
Educational Technology
Vermont State Education Department approval of these programs allows our graduates to achieve Vermont teaching licensure. In addition, program completers are eligible for licensure in an additional 28 states as a result of Vermont’s reciprocal licensing agreement through NASDEC (National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification) and ICC (Interstate Certification Compact).
The Department is a member of AILACTE (Association of Independent Liberal Arts Colleges with Teacher Education.)
As a result of the 1996 ROPA evaluation visit, a five year action plan was developed. While the action plan was worked on continuously, it was formally updated in 1999 and again in 2003. The updated action plan is available in the electronic exhibit room.
Department Relationship to College Mission
The Edmundite order has a strong tie to the field of education. Since the order’s founding, members frequently have worked in school settings. Indeed Saint Michael’s College was founded as a result of Edmundite interest in education. As evidenced in our theme statement, the Saint Michael’s Education Department works for the enhancement of our majors by providing a balance of theory and practice in our courses and by exemplifying our beliefs in our own words and actions. The personal and intellectual growth of our majors is evident in their licensure portfolios which document progress from the first education course through student teaching.
Education majors and faculty members also contribute to the “advancement of human culture.” A large number of our majors and faculty are involved in the community service group referred to as M.O.V.E., service trips, and a variety of independent community service activities. The contribution of teachers has a ripple effect throughout society. Most of our majors and graduates affect children’s lives on a daily basis. One example of social commitment is the fact last 2003-04 year four graduates of our program taught at a school in New Orleans for at risk African American middle school males, and another graduate taught in Selma, Alabama.
Education Students
The department has experienced a significant increase in the number of majors in the past fifteen years. Undergraduate elementary majors have increased from 87 in 1985 to 160 in 1995, to 206 in 1998 and 237 elementary education majors in 2002 (St. Michael’s College Facts, 2002-2003, pg. 38). Accurate numbers of secondary education students are difficult to measure as they are registered under their Liberal Arts major, rather than Education. The department is working with the Registrar’s office to develop a process to track secondary concentrators.
Current graduate figures show over 400 matriculated students with an estimated 4000 non-matriculated students who have taken one or more courses during the past five years. Students were enrolled for approximately 4641 credit hours of course work during the 1997-98 academic year. In addition, twenty-two contract courses were conducted at off campus sites.
An accounting of the numbers of undergraduate and graduate students recommended for licensure between 1997-2003 is available in the electronic exhibit room.
Education Faculty
The department has eleven full time faculty members, nine of the faculty have terminal degrees. One faculty member has earned the rank of full professor, four are associate professors, one is at the assistant professor level, three are graduate instructors. Three teach full time in the graduate program where traditionally tenure has not been an option. In the 2003-2004 academic year those faculty members were given the option to shift their positions from non-tenured lines, to tenured lines with all of the associated privileges and responsibilities. One graduate faculty member chose to switch his line to tenure-track and another chose not to move her line to tenure track. The third faculty member will retire in the 2004-2005 academic year. His replacement was hired on a tenure track and began in September 2004.
Members provide a balance of expertise and skills. We have specialists in reading, math, secondary education, child development; curriculum, foundations, the arts, technology, science, and special education. Descriptions of the range of expertise across the Department is highlighted in Standard 6.
The number of undergraduate faculty members in our department has increased by 1.5 full time FTEs. The full-time position is the one that was added in 2001 (Professor Bang-Jensen) and the half time was acquired as part of the merger between the graduate and undergraduate programs. Four of the faculty members have been at Saint Michael’s since 1981 or before. The fifth started teaching fall, 1995. The longevity has created a strong sense of stability and source of support for the program. Given the three year phased retirement program at St. Michael’s College, a strategic approach is taken when faculty members decide to retire. In 2003 Dr. Toomey retired; Dr. Doyle was hired in 2002 as a replacement. In 2004 Dr. Willis and Dr. Pasco retired; Drs. Nagel and Prairie were hired in the Spring of 2004. One additional national search for an Elementary math position will be conducted during the 2004-2005 academic year. Another national search for a special education faculty member will be conducted in 2005-2006.
In spring, 1996 the number of graduate faculty members increased from three to five with the addition of two full time, temporary positions. The department has started to assign teaching assignments in a more flexible way this year, with five undergraduate courses taught by graduate faculty and several graduate courses taught by undergraduate faculty. We anticipate even more flexibility in the future.
A large number of courses or course sections are taught by adjuncts. 25-30%
of our undergraduate education courses have been taught by adjunct faculty
during the past few years. Any adjunct hired to teach a section of a
course at the undergraduate level is paired with a full-time faculty
member who is teaching the same course. This pairing increases
consistency and affords significant support to the adjunct.
Approximately 80 adjuncts are hired annually
to cover courses at the graduate level. The department has been able to
consolidate some adjunct credits into “super adjunct” positions, which has
helped alleviate some of the problems related to the high number of
adjuncts. “Super adjuncts” are faculty who teach 2/3 time
while participating actively as a member of the Education Department.
They participate in department meetings, offer input into continued
programming, policies and practice. They maintain an office within the
Education Department area. Given their substantial contributions and
presence, they offer students increased continuity and stability when
compared with traditional adjuncts. In the 2004 academic year Professors Marcotte and Wigglesworth will maintain the status of “super-adjunct” each
teaching 2/3 time. As a Department, we are very aware of how fortunate we
are to have been able to keep these two highly qualified faculty- both
have contributed significantly to the community at St. Michael’s College.
The quality of adjuncts we have been able to hire at both the graduate and undergraduate levels has been excellent. We employ several retired principals and teachers, a retired superintendent of schools, practicing teachers (including Vermont’s “Teacher of the Year”), and scholars. Student evaluations of the adjunct faculty are consistently high.
Department Curriculum
Undergraduate elementary education programs offer licensure in the following areas:
1. Elementary Education (K-6);
2. Secondary Education (7-12) in English, language (French, Spanish, Latin), mathematics, science (biology, chemistry), social studies, and theater arts, and art (K-12).
The undergraduate elementary licensure program requires six courses (20 credits) plus a 15 week student teaching semester (16 credits.) The Education major requires an additional 5 credits. The secondary program consists of five courses (17 credits) plus a 15 week student teaching semester (15 credits.) There is no secondary education major. Because all elementary and secondary students have a second major requirement in order to obtain licensure, their schedules are very tight, and the department must offer most courses almost every semester in order to accommodate students needs.
Currently, we offer three electives in our department, two of which are required for the elementary major, not for the secondary major. Majors fill most courses, although occasionally non-majors take Literature for Children and Youth, Early Childhood Education and Intern II and Intern II.
Undergraduate figures are “on target” when compared with norms for the college. Total student credit hours divided by total course credit hours yields an average of 16.7 students for the last two semesters. Graduate enrollments are strong. Most of our courses are labor intensive. For example, most undergraduate courses contain school placement components. Department courses are not designed for a large number of students. We do not have a large introductory course for non-majors that can offset a low enrollment in an upper level required course. Our undergraduate introductory course is designated as our writing intensive course for the department and has a school placement.
The graduate program offers the following:
1. A Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study
2. Several Master of Education Degrees
3. Initial licensure programs for students who have achieved a previous BA or BS degree in all the endorsement areas approved in the undergraduate program, as well as computer science and middle grades education.
4. Various specialized programs which allow students to fulfill competencies for initial teacher licensure in a number of areas outlined above.
Please refer to the graduate section of this document for further information about graduate courses and requirements.
Conclusion
The update of the action plan that resulted from the 1996 ROPA visit is also available in the Electronic Exhibit Room. The remainder of this document is designed to address each of the seven standards and corresponding indicators highlighted in the ROPA-R document. The report is presented in electronic format as a means of efficiently accessing and managing the information. Most of the data are simply a CLICK away. There is also evidence (e.g., student portfolios, class folios, NEASC report) available in the Exhibit Room.