Qualified Faculty

Faculty, both full- and part-time, who teach and/or supervise for all three of the unit’s programs are highly qualified and committed to the unit’s endeavors of preparing highly qualified and motivated teacher candidates.  Members of the faculty not only model best teaching practices, but consciously reflect on these as part of peer observation efforts and individual self-assessment reports.  Faculty members’ qualifications, scholarship and service efforts are reflected in tables that follow.

Full-time faculty members have varied and extensive experiences and expertise in the areas in which they teach.  There are eight full-time faculty, who serve the unit.  Of those, three are tenured faculty, each with more than ten years at the college; three are tenure-track faculty; and two are lecturers, with one-year appointments.  Three of the faculty members have earned doctorates, two are completing their dissertations, and three have master degrees.  All have significant expertise in the areas they teach.

The education unit also employs highly-qualified part-time faculty, who bring the experiences of current practice to the preparation of its teacher candidates.   Each of these individuals holds at least one graduate degree.  Table 5.2 identifies the part-time faculty and field experience supervisors, their roles, and their P-12 experiences.

Cooperating teachers are approved as such for student teaching placements only if they hold a valid teaching certificate in the areas in which they will supervise teacher candidates.  Additionally, these teachers must have at least three years teaching experience.  In determining student teaching placement assignments, the field experience directors or coordinators work closely with school administrators to ensure that that cooperating teachers who will host student teachers are well qualified.

Several of the full-time education faculty members also supervise teacher candidates, as part of their teaching load.  The unit hires many more adjunct field experience supervisors to supervise teacher candidates during their student teaching internships.  Both full-time faculty and adjunct field experience supervisors have extensive professional experiences in a wide range of school settings, making them highly qualified to provide field experience supervision.