NCATE Review

NMU NCATE
Review Home

Northern Michigan
University:
Narrative Overview

Subject Matter/
Program Table

Institutional
Report

Planning and
Analytical Studies

Student Teaching
Totals 1983-2000

Professional
Education Unit:
Definition
Organizational Chart

Conceptual
Frameworks

Contextual
Frames

STANDARDS

Standard 1
Candidate Knowledge,
Skills and Dispositions

Standard 2
Assessment System
and Unit Evaluation

Standard 3
Field Experiences
and Clinical Practice

Standard 4
Diversity

Standard 5
Faculty Qualifications,
Performance, and
Development

Standard 6
Unit Governance
and Resources

NCATE Report
(Word Document)

Past Reports and
Long Range Plans

EXHIBITS LIST
SYLLABI/OUTLINES

NMU-AAUP
Master Agreement

School of
Education Home

NMU Home

NMU State
Accreditation Website

OVERVIEW OF THE PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION UNIT

Programs
The Northern Michigan University Professional Education Unit consists of the K-12 school personnel programs, graduate and undergraduate, which are in the following colleges:

• College of Arts and Science:  Art and Design, Biology, Chemistry, Economics, English, Foreign Languages, Geography (Earth Science), Geography (Social Science), History, Mathematics and Computer Science, Music, Political Science, Physics, Speech
• College of Professional Studies: School of Education, Health, Physical Education, Psychology
• Walker L. Cisler College of Business: Business Education
• College of Technology and Applied Sciences: Industrial Technology

Faculty Membership
Faculty within the Unit are identified as those faculty members in the programmatic areas who teach courses in the professional education sequence of the undergraduate programs or those courses identified as professional courses in the graduate programs.

Several basic principles related to faculty are used within the Unit to provide exemplary programs.  (1) Faculty within the Unit who supervise student teaching, practica, and internships teach the methods and/or professional education courses; (2) a priority is placed on the use of full-time faculty rather than adjunct for teaching and supervision; (3) over 90 percent of the faculty hold terminal degrees in their area of instruction and supervision; and (4) faculty have K-12 teaching experience in their area of instruction and supervision.

Policy Making
Under the Master Agreement between the AAUP and the NMU Board of Control described in Part I, the faculty of the Unit have responsibility for curriculum policy and practice.  The Professional Education Council (PEC) is the officially designated unit for all professional education programs at Northern Michigan University and is responsible for recommending curriculum policy to two subcommittees of the Academic Senate, the Committee of Undergraduate Programs or the Graduate Programs Committee, for approval by the full Academic Senate.

The Professional Education Council is made up of 20 members with 9 drawn from the faculty of the programmatic areas listed above.  Additionally, the Associate Dean for Teacher Education and Director of the School of Education; the Director of Teacher Education Student Services; the Director of Field Experiences; two student representatives and three public school representatives sit on the Council.  The public school representatives are selected through the Teacher Education Advisory Council (TEAC) which is advisory to the Professional Education Council.  Each school district participating in Northern Michigan University’s student teaching and field experience program has representatives on TEAC.  The Professional Education Council has a standing subcommittee, the Teacher Selection and Retention Committee, which reviews appeals from students who are denied admission to or are dismissed from the Professional Education Program.

The role and function of the Council is to serve as a forum for reviewing and acting upon recommendations submitted by participating districts, the University, or by the State Department of Education and relevant professional associations; to encourage innovative and experimental activities for improvement to student teaching and teacher preparation; to exchange information about local district policies and practices, the University’s program of teacher preparation, and regulations promulgated by the State Department of Education and accrediting agencies; to maintain and reinforce personal and professional relationships between student teaching coordinators, supervising teachers, University supervisors, and other University personnel who carry responsibility for teacher preparation; and to assist the University in evaluation of its teacher preparation program.

Organizational Structure/Administration
The Administrative level of the Unit includes the Dean of the College of Professional Studies; the Associate Dean for Teacher Education and Director, School of Education; the Director of Teacher Education Student Services; the Director of Field Experiences; the Certification Counselor; the Registrar; the Associate Registrar; and representatives from the Degree Audits Office.

Collaborative Efforts within the Unit
The faculty in the professional education unit and faculty from other academic units who teach the specialty studies collaborate in program planning, design, delivery and evaluation of specialty studies.  The Master Agreement between the University and the AAUP defines a structure for collaboration.  Proposals for changes in the curriculum begin at the departmental level.  Curriculum for elementary and special education programs are reviewed by the Education Department’s Curriculum Committee which in turn brings recommendations to the School of Education.  If a curriculum review change affects any other department in the University, that department will also review the proposal.  In the case of secondary curricula, changes in design, deliver, or evaluation generally begin in the secondary department.  Any proposal must then be submitted to the Professional Education Council for approval.  Once the Professional Education Council approves the proposal, the proposal then must be approved by one of two university-wide committees; Committee on Undergraduate Programs (CUP) if it is an undergraduate proposal or by the Graduate Programs Committee (GPC) if it is a graduate proposal.  After clearing the appropriate committee, it must be approved by the Academic Senate before gaining approval of the Academic Vice President.  At every level faculty have the opportunity for input.

Faculty within the School of Education, faculty in other departments who are members of the unit by virtue of their assignments to teach methods courses, supervise student teachers, or teach particular required courses such as Math for Elementary Teachers I, and faculty from other departments who teach specialty course such as Introductory Biology collaborate in program planning and evaluation in a number of ways.  First, the Professional Education Council, which is responsible for designing, approving and continuously evaluating all professional education programs on campus, has representatives from academic units among its 20 voting members.  This body discusses and makes recommendations on such issues as changes in program content, standards, or requirements.  Recommendations may be submitted by academic units or the School of Education.  For example, proposals to change the Elementary Education math major and minor were submitted to this Council by the Math and Computer Science Department.

Second, changes in program requirements often require cooperative effort between the School of Education and academic departments.  For example, the new elementary education program implemented in the fall of 1993 involved many changes.  Among these were changes in the content of the English, Language Arts, Physical Education, Fine Arts, and Social Studies majors and/or minors.  Discussions took place between the School of Education’s Curriculum Committee members and members of the academic departments who taught certain courses or who served as representatives from the departments involved.  Agreements were reached before recommendations were finalized.  In several cases new courses were created and in other cases four-credit courses were split into two two-credit courses to keep the number of required credits for the program at a reasonable level.  In addition the elementary methods are taught in two blocks, with each block being partially based in area elementary schools.  The blocks are illustrated in the attached grids.

A third example of collaboration is how the methods course in the secondary education major has been changed.  As a result of meetings and discussions individually and in groups, there is a field experience component in all subject area methods courses.  In addition, discussions between faculty in the School of Education and the instructor involved have resulted in ED 231: Teaching and Learning in the Secondary School being offered entirely at the two Marquette middle schools and ED 319: Teaching of Reading for Secondary Teachers having a field experience requirement in local 9-12 high schools.

The fourth example is relative to the mission, goals and indicators of the Unit.  Members of the School of Education, specialty studies departments and K-12 educators collaborated in the writing of this document which was endorsed by the Professional Education Council.