college report
College of Education and Human Services
The College of Education and Human Services is distinctive in its commitment to preparing “Educators/Professionals as Caring Intellectuals.” This conceptual framework drives all decisions made by College faculty and staff. The framework focuses on the preparation of the following broad outcomes for educators, human services professionals and counselors: knowledge of content, culture and learning; understanding of pedagogy, diversity and curriculum; and the skills and dispositions of reflective professionals, skillful practitioners, change agents and lifelong learners.
2006-2007 Highlights
Community
- The Accelerated Early Childhood Degree and Licensure Program, part of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, established with Fox Valley Technical College in 2005, had its first successful cohort of 20-plus students. Planning is underway for a follow-on program.
- Given the early childhood program’s success with outreach, the College, the Department of Curriculum and Instruction and two faculty members worked with UW-Sheboygan faculty and administrators to initiate an Early Childhood License and Degree Program to be taught entirely on the UW-Sheboygan campus. Classes in this program are scheduled to begin in fall 2007.
- Students in the College’s Human Services Degree Program continue to teach a unique, independent decision-making course to incarcerated women at area correctional institutions and have reached more than 200 individuals in the past three years.
- The Project Adelante federal grant from the Office of English Language Acquisition (Department of Education) ($1.4 million) continues to support a number of College programs spread throughout the Fox Valley region. The project assists school districts with improving teacher skills in working with language minority students, brings those students to campus, sponsors the highly successful UW Oshkosh Language, Culture and Education Institute and provides a means for new teachers to become licensed in Wisconsin for teaching ESL and bilingual classes in K-12 schools.
- The Department of Special Education has continued to work with CESA 6 to maintain the successful Residency in Teacher Education Program, which helps nontraditional adult career-changers to become teachers in that field.
- The Education Leadership Program in the Department of Human Services and Professional Leadership, developed and kicked off its first off-campus master’s degree program, which provides a cohort of Berlin School District teachers with the opportunity to earn the degree and advance their professional development in a specialized program.
- The Reading Education Department collaborated with other institutions to hold the 25th Annual University of Wisconsin Reading Research Symposium in Milwaukee. This included offering a graduate course in reading taught by Joan Simmons on site.
- The Human Services Program, along with the Division of Lifelong Learning and Community Engagement, entered into a three-year funding collaboration with UW Extension to create, market and teach the Human Services Baccalaureate Degree Program in an online mode throughout Wisconsin.
- The College dean, while serving on the Partners in Education Committee of the Oshkosh Chamber of Commerce, helped to organize the first two business and education summits in the city of Oshkosh.
- The Department of Curriculum and Instruction continued to admit students to its ESL/bilingual Alternative Licensure Program after the supporting federal Title VII (now Title II) grant was completed. Approximately 100 students have earned ESL/bilingual teaching licenses since this program began in 2003.
- Human Services is partnering with United Migrant Opportunity Services, the largest welfare-to-work agency in the state, located in Milwaukee, to offer an onsite certificate program in human services. The certificate involves 18 credits taken over one year and offered in a user-friendly format — one class for five weeks, two nights per week, then one week off and repeat. All credits transfer to a human services degree program at UW Oshkosh. Amanda Coleman-Mason has spearheaded this effort, and the first classes should start in fall 2007.
- The Department of Curriculum and Instruction offered the first courses in a revised master’s degree program at UW-Sheboygan, using both traditional onsite, hybrid and distance instruction methods.
- Judy Hankes, with assistance from other faculty members on campus, continued to offer the summer Intertribal Pre-College Program, the only such program in the state that targets Native and poor students in rural, northern Wisconsin. The program, which is funded by the College, a grant from DPI and private donors, has had much success with steering the students toward college careers. More than 200 students have been served.
- Pat Scanlan and Polly Montgomery collaborated to manage the Reading/Writing Conference in spring 2006 and are currently planning the 2007 conference. The conference typically attracts 200 teachers and 200 pre-service teachers from UW Oshkosh.
- The Department of Curriculum and Instruction developed a series of new courses, some in collaboration with the College of Letters and Science, for the new Space Education Master’s Initiative Program.
- Peter Meyerson, with the Department of Education Foundations, co-directs the Scholarship of Teacher Learning (SOTL) Program. He also helped develop the Center for Scholarly Teaching, which opened in the Pollock Alumni House in fall 2007. Meyerson is working as a co-director, along with Susie Sandrin and John Lemberger, on a Wisconsin Elementary and Secondary Education Act Improving Teacher Quality grant through the Science Outreach Office.
- The College continues to receive and host the National Writing Project grant through which it underwrites the Fox Valley Writing Project. The project, a consortium between local school districts and UW Oshkosh, provides scholarships for students to attend workshops during the summer Young Writers’ Camp and trains teachers to write to enhance student learning.
- Wayne Swanger and the Special Education Department finished a teaching partnership with Lac Courte Oreilles Community College in Hayward that introduced Native teaching assistants, mostly in tribal schools, to licensure and degree issues and preparation to become licensed special education teachers in Wisconsin. The project was funded by a Bureau of Indian Affairs grant.
- Marguerite Parks received a grant from the Southern Poverty Law Center to work with rural schools and multiculturalism: Bringing Banks to Rural America.
- The College received the most grant funds in its history in 2006-2007. Supported by the efforts of grants officer Theresa Duren, more than $1.8 million in state, UW System and federal grants were obtained.
Teaching
- The Global Educator Certificate Program, which was the first of its kind in Wisconsin and one of only a few nationwide, continued to offer students the opportunity to become better global citizens. The program is not just for teachers; people in business and other professions also can benefit. Courses, along with guest lecturers and a study trip, help students understand how they connect to the rest of the world and how other cultures influence American culture. The program also has expanded to assist in educational travel to places like Kenya and Mexico.
- UW Oshkosh is continuing to collaborate with UW-Sheboygan to offer a master of science degree in education, emphasizing curriculum and instruction. The three-year program, designed to develop today’s professional teachers, is accredited by the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education.
- The Special Education Department has developed a new 19-credit undergraduate/graduate certificate program in autism spectrum disorders, which began in fall 2007. The program has been in high demand by leaders in school districts throughout the Fox Valley region.
- John Lemburger, Ava McCall and Steve Rose participated in the UW System PK-16 Teaching Quality Initiative grant. This pilot collaboration with the College of Letters and Science and local classroom master teachers offers a more classroom-oriented methods course for the preparation of new teachers.
- Penny Buckley continues to teach student-teacher supervision courses to teachers in a number of local school districts, preparing them to supervise new student teachers in their classrooms. She also developed an online version of the course.
- The Special Education Department, supported by a special initiative grant, engaged in training for conversion of its curriculum to online and hybrid modes. This included bringing a consultant to campus, training all faculty members on D2L and reviewing all courses and syllabi for conversion. The department intends to market hybrid courses and, potentially, its degree/licensure programs throughout northeastern Wisconsin.
Scholarship
- Area K-12 teachers continue to successfully develop science activities for their classes and get students involved in community environmental science projects in a two-year program at UW Oshkosh. Originally, UW Oshkosh was awarded $61,050 by the Wisconsin Improving Teacher Quality Program for this professional development program. Developed by Michael Beeth of the College of Education and Human Services and Michael Lizotte, Aquatic Research Laboratory director, the project is designed for fifth- through eighth-grade teachers.
- Two faculty members, Amanda Coleman-Mason and Ling Ling Tsao, received $10,000 UW System grants from the Institute on Race and Diversity and one semester reassignments to accomplish research on diversity in their areas.
- Department of Counselor Education faculty are engaged in scholarship and research. Kelli Saginak, Thomas Scofield and recent graduate Amanda Foege are working on perceptions of critical thinking and the best instructional practices to enhance it in students. Saginak also is studying group leadership development stages and, with colleagues from Marquette University and UW-River Falls, comprehensive school counseling in Wisconsin school districts.
- Kelli Saginak and Collette Dollarhide (Ohio State University) co-authored Comprehensive School Counseling Programs: K-12 Delivery Systems in Action to be published by Pearson, Allyn & Bacon.
- Joshua Garrison, a new faculty member in the Department of Educational Foundations, received the 2006 Best Dissertation Award from Indiana University’s College of Education. Garrison also participated in several national and regional conference presentations.
- Peter Meyerson presented at two influential conferences: American Educational Research Association and the North Central Association for Science Teacher Education. He also published an article about using children’s books to facilitate undergraduate learning in College Teaching.
- Tom Fischer and Wayne Swanger, faculty members in the Department of Special Education, continue to produce the Wisconsin Teacher Supply & Demand Report for the Department of Public Instruction. The College is the only recipient of this specialty grant in the state.
- Marguerite Parks published an article about school desegregation in Multicultural Perspectives and another about community acceptance/rejection of ESL/bilingual programs in the International Journal of the Humanities. She also gave several conference presentations, including one in Tunisia.
Partnership
- The new act! program, approved by the Department of Public Instruction in 2005 and coordinated by Michael Beeth, the College’s associate dean, and Tammy Ladwig, of UW-Fox Valley, began its first year with more than 100 applicants and inquiries. The program allows nontraditional adult career-changers to become licensed as new science and math teachers. The program is a broad collaboration with UW-Fond du Lac, UW-Fox Valley, UW-Manitowoc and UW-Sheboygan. It is based at UW-Fox Valley.
- The Reading Department has entered into a collaborative relationship with McGraw Hill – Wright Publishing Group to provide graduate credit for workshops on reading and differentiated instruction in intermediate grades.
- The Special Education Department instituted a new cooperative venture to allow Ripon College students to earn a special education teaching license as part of an extended degree program. The department is investigating a similar arrangement with St. Norbert’s College.
- The Reading Department is a partner in the Fox Valley Writing Project, which will enhance not only the Reading/Writing conference, but also the College and the project’s summer offerings in the region.
- Melissa Stinnett, of the Reading Department, led an international study program to New Zealand in May 2007, to compare the undergraduate and graduate reading instruction programs of the United States and New Zealand.
- In collaboration with the Department of Health and Kinesiology, the Educational Leadership Program developed and obtained approval for a certificate in athletics and exercise leadership to assist athletic professionals in continuing their education.
- The Reading Department extended its partnership with the Fox Valley Reading Recovery Program, which prepares teachers to help students improve basic literacy, by adding several new courses and other partnership benefits to encourage more schools in the region to take part.
Stewardship
- The College of Education and Human Services newsletter — an outreach vehicle for constituency groups and alumni—has continued to reach greater audiences in a primarily electronic version.
- The College hosted two area educators — Teri Wegner (Department of Special Education) and Troy Wittman (Department Human Services and Educational Leadership) — at its annual Professor for a Day Celebration.
- Susan Cramer was one of the self-study co-chairs for the University accreditation and College accreditation committees, as well as a co-chair with Michael Beeth on the College’s National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education Steering Committee. This body has the responsibility for preparing the College for its continuing national accreditation visit in spring 2009.
- Lenore Wineberg, in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, took early childhood students to Milwaukee for the seventh annual Urban Experience, in which students spend a week investigating teaching in urban schools as well as engaging in cultural experiences in area. More than 80 students have participated in this experience; many have gone on to teach in Milwaukee or other urban school districts.
- Bert Chiang (Department of Special Education) and Jupian Leung (Department of Educational Foundations) received the new Penson Faculty Award from the University for their teaching, scholarship and community service.
- Peter Meyerson participated in three major grant projects from UW System that looked at the productivity of student learning in collaboratively taught courses in science, math and social studies and provided assessment for the UW Oshkosh portion of a federally funded Elementary and Secondary Education Act grant.
- The Special Education Department has created a department-based Advisory Council comprised of local K-12 special education directors and teachers to advise it on issues involving special education, school district needs and changes in the environment of teaching that might impact college graduates.
- The Counseling Education Department hosted its continuing accreditation visit from the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs and received reaccreditation with “flying colors” in all three areas of its work. Since CACREP is nationally known for its rigorous accreditation standards, the department’s clean passage and glowing response will be noted across the country.
- Human Services also received its program continuing accreditation after a visit from its national accreditation team. The team was complimentary about the program and encouraged its continued expansion. In particular, the team noted the collaboration between the Human Services Program, UW Extension and the university’s Division of Lifelong Learning and Community Engagement to create an entirely online version of the Human Services degree for statewide and regional marketing.
- Charles Lindsey (Counseling Education Department) is serving as president of the Wisconsin Counseling Association for 2007-2008; Tom Scofield served as president of the North Central Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (13-state regional association) during the 2006-2007 academic year.