Author: Academic Computing Services
Last saved by: ASE
Company: Cal State Long Beach

CSULB Academic Senate Teacher Preparation Committee
Meeting Minutes, 9/18/02

Present: K. Polakoff, S. Turley, M. Fayek, L. Farmer, L. Forrest, L Reese, C. Barrett, A. Moloi, G. Pickett, R. Moreno-Alcaraz, J. D’Amicantonio, D. Hamm, D. O’Connor, M. Wiley, C. Copp [Members unable to attend: C. Nieto, L. Madding, P. Burn]

The meeting was convened in LIBE 112 at 8:10 a.m. by Chair Lesley Farmer. The meeting began with introductions. Minutes of the 8/30 meeting were approved with one correction noted. The agenda for 9/18 was approved. Thank you to Laura Forrest for the refreshments.

History of the Committee (John D’Amicantonio):
The Teacher Preparation Committee was formed 20 years ago as a result of concern from both the public and the Chancellor’s Office about the quality of California teachers. Similar committees were formed on all CSU campuses as mandated by the Chancellor’s Office. This is an Academic Senate committee, although the bulk of the members of the committee are drawn from the College of Education. The committee serves an “oversight” function, making sure people all over campus are informed about the goals and current undertakings in teacher preparation.
	 Originally the committee was a council, which has more authority than the committee. There has been some thought about returning to council status; however, this would lessen the participation by the College of Education, since each college would have only one representative.
	An example of Committee’s work in the past was the elimination of the policy that all teacher candidates had to take test in oral English skills in the speech department. The introduction of the ITEP program was another topic looked at by the committee. Last year the committee developed a Philosophy of Teacher Preparation under the leadership of Greta Nagel.
	Lesley Farmer suggested “infusion” as a topic for a future meeting this year.

Membership (Gaylen Pickett):
	Committee membership is currently 4 from the College of Education, 1 from each other College and Library Services, 1 from Health and Human Services. Business is not represented; rather, there is representation from Colleges/Departments with teacher preparation responsibilities. Gaylen proposed that the Department of Science Education have a place on the committee in addition to the 1 College position.
	The Academic Senate defines who is on the committee. The Senate Executive Committee is planning to create a task force to look at committee composition (which has not been addressed since 1987).  A memo to the Senate Chair would be necessary to request changes in committee composition.
	A question came up about Art Education and  Math Education, which do not have separate department status but nonetheless share the responsibility for teacher preparation. It was recommended that all committee members look at their areas and see if others would be interested in participating on the Teacher Preparation Committee. This topic will be taken up next meeting.

Philosophy of Teacher Preparation (Lesley Farmer):
	The topic of how the philosophy statement can be used and disseminated was addressed. The Philosophy statement was presented to Faculty Council last spring. Suggestions for dissemination included:
Distribution to Academic Senate Executive Council; once formally accepted can be put on university website
Use as conversation piece in department meetings
Include in Faculty Handbook (Laura will follow up on how to accomplish this)
Use as part of orientation for new faculty 
Include in catalog so that students can see it as well (Deborah will check on this)

Center for Faculty Development (Mark Wiley):
   	Last summer Mark worked with ITEP on in-servicing MS and HS teachers on writing across the curriculum. He found that many teachers felt less competent teaching writing, to some extent because they didn't write much themselves. He said that writing competency may play a greater role in undergraduate requirements. There was a strong interest among the group to initiate a writing support group within the Center. Mark also talked about peer support in teaching through the PEN project in the Center. He hopes to offer more workshops and institutes for faculty; emphasis has been on new faculty. He welcomes ideas from the committee.

BeachBoard (Crista Copp):
 	Crista presented information about BeachBoard and its impact on teaching and learning. This fall about 20,000 students participate in 1060 (out of 4500) courses using BeachBoard; about 25 % of the faculty use BeachBoard. 94% use BeachBoard to supplement course delivery, but 70 courses are hybrid, and 18 courses are online (also offered through University College Extension Service). Hybrid courses are particularly attractive to CSULB because they can promote greater learning, address issues of impacted classroom space, and respond to student demand. BeachBoard can also be used by organizations (both faculty and students); about 260 student groups have been approved. Each department has BeachBoard capability in order to improve communication with their program students. The writing initiative could use BeachBoard as their forum, for instance. To make those groups available, Crista needs to know who will serve as the monitor. Crista noted that no policies exist relative to hybrid courses or intellectual property; it is a major issue for discussion, and will be addressed by the Academic 
Senate (including the fall retreat). In terms of teaching impact, BeachBoard requires more work than traditional course delivery the first semester, the same amount the second, and improved/less work by the third semester. The biggest change is the curriculum itself since the 
teacher cannot simply mirror the "old" curriculum/syllabus onto BeachBoard.

The next Teacher Preparation Committee meeting will take place on Oct. 16 in LIBE 112 at 8:00 a.m. Agenda items so far include: Steve Turley and Single Subject Credential Program efforts, Conrad Barrett and writing issues, membership issues, and infusion model issues (i.e., special populations, technology, speech, etc.). Lesley will bring refreshments. 

The meeting was adjourned at 9:30 a.m.

Respectfully submitted,  Leslie Reese