Unit Leadership and Authority
The unit governance structure portrayed in Figure 6.1 grew out of the conclusions from a series of meetings convened to address weaknesses related to Standard 6 as a result of the Fifth-Year Review in 2000. Specifically, the 2000 team noted that “all initial teacher preparation programs were not included in the Educational Studies Unit.” To address this weakness, Provost Steven Kapelke set in motion a conversation to address the issue of defining the professional education unit. As a result, all initial teacher preparation programs are now housed in the same physical unit, and the name of the merged unit is now the Education Department.
In the area of course development and program changes, the unit’s graduate and undergraduate curriculum committees provide ultimate authority within the education unit. These committees are made up of faculty and academic staff, including the Certification Officer. Proposals for such course and program developments or changes go to the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences’ graduate or undergraduate curriculum committee for review and approval. From those committees, new undergraduate program proposals go to the College’s Academic Affairs Committee for review and approval, while new graduate program proposals go to the Graduate Policy Council. Recommendations are then made to the Vice President for Academic Affairs. Ultimately, new programs are approved by the College President.
At the graduate level, all recommendations for admissions related to individual applicants are made within the department by the Chair, Certification Officer and graduate faculty. Similarly, at the undergraduate level, all recommendations for admissions are made by the Program Director in consultation with the Academic Manager and full-time faculty.
As illustrated in Figure 6.1, there are also two Advisory Committees. While these committees do not participate in decision-making processes, their input and guidance are critical to the decisions made regarding policies, programs, courses, and candidates. The Advisory Boards consist of local P -12 principals and teachers; program alumnae; and current teacher candidates. There is at least one board meeting each year. Minutes are shared with faculty.
The unit’s curriculum committees work collaboratively to ensure that all candidates are prepared to meet standards. In addition, faculty meetings to design and plan for the implementation of key assessments serve to further coordinate the programs’ efforts to prepare teacher candidates.
The Graduate Office at Columbia maintains a web page that offers complete information on general requirements for admission, and details specific requirements for individual departments. For prospective MAT students, this includes information on taking the Illinois Test of Basic Skills and access to the disposition rating sheet that recommenders are asked to complete for MAT applicants. Prospects can also access course offerings and descriptions via the web site. Because the majority of prospective graduate students look for education information electronically, the web site (www.colum.edu/graduate) currently substitutes for a graduate catalog. The MAT general education requirements are provided to students seeking information from the department, and a transcript review is offered for those seriously considering Columbia’s programs.
The Undergraduate Admissions office works collaboratively with the Early Childhood Education program to ensure accuracy in recruiting. The Admissions staff meets with program faculty annually to discuss the program and appropriate recruiting strategies; and faculty and Admissions staff work together in the field when appropriate. The program supplies the Admissions Office with materials that reflect the unique nature of certification at the undergraduate level. The college website lists formal application, the ICTS exams, and minimum grade requirements for the program which differs from Columbia’s open admissions policy at the undergraduate level.
The following is found on the web site under the College Mission Statement:
Columbia College Chicago complies with all local, state, and federal laws and regulations concerning civil rights. Columbia College e Chicago does not discriminate on the basis of race, color national origin, sex, disability, age, religion, or sexual orientation in its programs and activities. Inquiries regarding the non-discrimination policies should be directed to the Equity Issues Office of the Dean of Students.
In addition to the information available on the College web site, prospective and entering candidates are provided with an academic calendar updated yearly. The MAT Program Handbook and the MAT Student Teaching Policies and Procedures manual are updated and distributed to each member of an entering cohort. Portions of the Graduate Policies and Procedures Manual that contain overall graduate policies are reprinted in the program handbook, and the full document is available for those who request a copy. The grading policy and scales are included in each syllabus for graduate professional education courses.
Undergraduate students receive The Informer, the college calendar/student handbook and the Early Childhood Education Program Handbook each fall. They are required to attend a series of orientation sessions upon enrolling at Columbia and an Annual Meeting each fall in the program. The Program Handbook is distributed and discussed at this meeting along with other program policies. Grading policies and scales are included in each syllabus in the undergraduate program. Students in the undergraduate program are invited to attend one of a number of meetings held each spring for those interested in applying for candidacy. Once admitted to the methods sequence, candidates are given a Handbook for Clinical Experiences each fall.
Columbia College maintains a well-staffed counseling service available to both graduate and undergraduate students who wish to deal with personal issues. Graduate students are advised of this service at a formal graduate orientation as they begin their first semester and receive periodic reminders from the department.
The MAT program advisor supervises the sequence of courses taken by each candidate and monitors grades and completion of any general education requirements. The MAT program advisor is available for consultation on a variety of issues. Each candidate also meets with a specific faculty advisor twice yearly to review the candidate’s progress and professional development. The faculty advisor and the program advisor often collaborate to help students facing academic or personal difficulties.
Each undergraduate student is assigned a faculty advisor who follows that student throughout the Columbia experience. Students are required to meet with their faculty advisor at least once a term for purposes of course selection, but are encouraged to seek out their advisor as frequently as necessary. Students experiencing difficulty may be required to meet with their advisor on a more regular basis and/or advised to seek out other available counseling. Undergraduate students with particularly complex academic or other issues are assigned to the Program Director as an advisee. “Student Concerns” is a regular topic at each weekly faculty/staff meeting.
Considerable input on program design, implementation, and evaluation of the unit and its programs is provided by different internal and external constituencies. Internally, at the education unit level, faculty members, along with the certification officer and academic program manager, are involved in program and course design as members of the graduate and undergraduate curriculum committee. At the subsequent college internal level—the school level—faculty from different departments are involved with the review of course and program proposals, upon submission of these to one of the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences’ curriculum committees. Members of the college community also provide evaluation input on program outcomes. Both graduate and undergraduate programs submit an annual report on assessment of the programs’ learning outcomes. These reports are reviewed by faculty from various departments. External constituents who contribute include the advisory board members, who provide feedback on the annual assessment data, as well as on proposals for course or program changes and for ways to work with the P-12 community.
All of the unit’s faculty and staff are housed in the same facility, which makes collaboration between faculty of the different programs much more likely. In addition, there are department-wide meetings which are attended by all full-time faculty and academic staff. The unit is also part of the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences, which has a Dean’s Council. Both the department chair and the undergraduate program director are members of the Dean’s Council, which meets twice each month. These meetings facilitate conversations with the chairs of the English, Liberal Arts, and Math and Science departments, all of which provide the great majority of the general education courses taken by the undergraduate teacher candidates.
