6a. Unit Leadership and Authority
6a1. How does the unit manage or coordinate the
planning, delivery, and operation of all programs at the institution for the
preparation of educators?
The unit is very effective in coordinating the planning,
delivery and operation of all programs that prepare teacher candidates or other
school professionals. The 127 professional education faculty (tenure and
academic staff together) work closely with content faculty in the other three
colleges on campus (Business and
Economics, Arts and
Communication, and Letters and
Sciences). This delivery and design necessitates ongoing communication and
collaboration throughout the institution. The Dean of the College of Education
serves as the unit head and has the authority to make decisions in the unit.
The unit head works effectively with other deans and administrators across
campus to resolve issues related to the preparation of educators and other
school professionals. The College of Education also has a full time Associate
Dean, a Director of the Office of Field Experiences, and a Student Status
Examiner. Please refer to our organizational chart in the support section that
provides an overview of the structure within the college including the eight
departments, and Academic Advising Center. The Dean of the School of Graduate Studies and
Continuing Education also works closely with the unit to support programs
at the advanced level. Leadership of the unit ensures that:
- All undergraduate and graduate course syllabi pertaining to licensure in the unit reflect the conceptual framework “The Teacher is a Reflective Facilitator.”
- All undergraduate and graduate course syllabi pertaining to licensure in the unit specify required performance assessments
- All undergraduate and graduate licensure courses in education have been linked to the Wisconsin Teacher Standards, to the Wisconsin Model Academic Standards, and to the NCATE standards
- All undergraduate and graduate content courses pertaining to licensure have been linked to the Wisconsin Content Guidelines and, in some cases, to the Wisconsin Model Academic Standards
- All candidates have been provided information about the conceptual framework, the standards and about the unit assessment plan.
- The Committee for Program Review and Accreditation helps to coordinate data and assessment on whole-unit analyses
- The members of the College Assessment Committee have a responsibility to assist the Associate Dean in data analysis and to communicate issues back to primary teacher education department constituencies and to solicit information from department members.
- The College of Education Academic Affairs Staff (CEAAS), the College Curriculum Committee, and the Teacher Education Committee also provide vital links in the delivery, review and ongoing improvement of the teacher education program. Minutes from these committee meetings are found in the appendix.
6a2. What members of the professional community
participate in program design, implementation, and evaluation? In what ways do they
participate?
All programs in the unit have advisory councils. The Office
of Field Experiences also has an advisory council. A list of advisory board
members can be found in the appendix. There is a close working relationship
with Cooperative Educational Service Area (CESA) number 2, the regional
education center serving 72 surrounding school districts. Foro more
information on the ways advisory boards are integrated into the program, please
see minutes of meetings in the electronic documents room.
6a3. How does the unit ensure that candidates
have access to student services such as advising and counseling?
All students (except those in music, art and theater) begin
with an assigned advisor in the Academic Advising and
Exploration Center. This advisor helps students in their first 24 credits
of coursework and helps students who have not yet declared a major. In this
phase of teacher education, students are helped to explore their academic interests
as they pursue the General Education
Program. After the first year, students who have declared a major are
assisted by an advisor within their college or by a faculty advisor in their
major department. Elementary and special education students are advised by the
coordinator of the COE Advising
Assistance Center, until they are admitted to Professional Education at
which time they are assigned a faculty advisor for the remainder of their
programs. Secondary education majors are advised first by an advisor in the
content major, and later by an advisor in the COE upon admission to
Professional Education.
6a4. What are the unit’s recruiting and
admissions policies? How does the unit ensure they are clearly and consistently
described in publications and catalogues?
UWW’s Admissions Office provides
every applicant with a comprehensive review when evaluating a file. Following
the Supreme Court decisions in the Michigan cases (2004), the entire UW System
implemented a conscientious commitment to assure students that both race and
diversity are important to the long-term success of our students. The
comprehensive review process we’ve instituted formally since then provides for
a complete review of all the materials and contents in a file before making a
decision to offer admission to a student. As always, the traditional academic
variables are most important, though there are not magical threshold markers on
performance that we require students to surpass to be admitted. Instead, we
seek out academic performance that would predict future academic success.
Beyond the academic markers, students include a tremendous amount of additional
information related to personal interests, priorities and accomplishments that
all help influence a decision. Additional information is also gathered related
to ethnicity, fiscal disadvantage or a possible existence of a disability in a
candidate among a thousand different elements that might be included that make
an individual applicant unique when provided. At that point, when everything
is received, a thorough review of an application’s contents will help describe
how serious, committed, and prepared a candidate is for admission.
This information is provided consistently in the UW-Whitewater Viewbook, which is handed out to prospective students each year, as well as the UW Systems Introduction to the UW System, which is distributed by a central unit for the entire System. All the admission requirements across the System are included, and almost all phrase their admission expectations in a similar context. Admission information is not as clearly provided in the university catalogue, because by the time this book is involved in university business the students are beyond the admission processes.
6a5. How does the unit ensure that its academic calendars, catalogues,
publications, grading policies, and advertising are accurate and current?
Academic calendars are set by the university each year.
Online catalogues are updated each month as changes are approved by the campus
curricular process. Units and sub units are given the opportunity to review all
proposed changes. Changes in grading practices are announced in advance of
implementation dates. The schedule of classes, course catalogues, academic
catalogue, important dates, and grading information is published and updated
online through the Registrar’s Office website. The curriculum procedure
handbook, with links to forms relating to all curricular issues is
published and updated online through the Associate Vice Chancellor’s office.
