Standard 6. Unit Governance and Resources

The unit has the leadership, authority, budget, personnel, facilities, and resources including information technology resources, for the preparation of candidates to meet professional, state, and institutional standards.

Significant Evidence: Professional Education Executive Council, Professional Education Committee, Center Advisory Committee, Superintendents’ Advisory Board, Professional Education Unit Chart, Professional Education Governance Structure

Element 1: Unit Leadership and Authority

Professional education programs, initial and advanced, at Virginia Tech are governed and coordinated at the institution to work in PK-12 schools and other professional settings. The chief officer for the Professional Education Unit is the Dean of the College of Human Sciences and Education. The Unit is comprised of two departments and one Center with other centers, institutes, and programs housed within the departments (see Professional Education Unit Chart). All programs are housed and delivered by the Unit except the undergraduate initial preparation programs in agricultural education, mathematics, foreign languages, and music, which are jointly administered but the authority rests in the Unit. Those programs are collaboratively delivered by faculty in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the College of Arts and Sciences. (See the Professional Education Governance Structure.)

Also chaired by the Dean, the Professional Education Executive Council provides the linkage between the College and the Unit. In addition, the Dean chairs a Superintendents’ Advisory Board, where school divisions share their activities and issues that impact education as well as discuss teacher preparation and advanced program issues. Professional Education Committee is chaired by the Director of Teacher Education and is a forum for communicating among university and school division constituencies about professional education programs.

The Center Advisory Committee provides coordination and communication among Unit programs and activities. Representatives from programs or clusters of programs discuss programmatic issues and regulations, bring issues from programs, develop implementation procedures, etc. This is the committee that also functioned as the NCATE Steering Committee.

Curriculum proposals that impact both initial and advanced programs are developed at the program level and recommended for approval by the department and college level curriculum committees and the appropriate institutional levels, i.e. the Undergraduate Commission and the Graduate Commission. The minutes of these commissions are approved by University Council, which has the prerogative of reviewing Commission decisions.

The Center for Teacher Education provides the licensure services for the professional education candidates and faculty as well as the follow-up of initial candidates. The Center also manages field, practicum, and student teaching placement services, manages the data collection and analysis on candidate performance and other data collection for professional education reporting, completes external reports on professional education programs, assists programs in developing accreditation reports, coordinates a variety of activities for initial preparation candidates, and serves as a central clearing place for programmatic information.

Candidate recruitment materials, including admission practices, are prepared at the institution, unit, department, and program levels. Institution undergraduate and graduate catalogs, application for admission, timetables, and academic calendars are all web based, presenting current and accurate information for faculty, candidates, and the public. Department and Center web sites contain links to program sites that provide advising documents, designed to assist candidates in making program decisions as well as provide guidance for successful completion of programs.

Leadership for professional development activities for the faculty occurs at the institutional, college, department, and program levels. The university provides a highly developed system for developing the technology skills of faculty through the Faculty Development Institute. Faculty development in the area of teaching is the focus of the Center for Undergraduate Excellence in Teaching. The College, in which the Unit resides, provides leadership in areas, such as research and diversity. A graduate research conference is sponsored each spring by the college to encourage candidates in advanced programs to share their research with faculty and other candidates. The college supports the Diversity Committee that meets regularly, sponsors workshops such as the Diversity Summit held in Spring 2003 to discuss faculty retention especially as it impacts our minority recruiting efforts, and has a number of special interest groups. The Center has supported faculty in developing special skills that will serve new initiatives, e.g. attendance at NBPTS training workshops and NCATE workshops. Departments support faculty travel to conferences and provide resources for special projects that faculty propose.

Element 2: Unit Budget

The Center for Teacher Education manages the allocations for clinical faculty/cooperating teacher stipends and travel for supervision of field and clinical experiences. Overhead money from the College has been allocated to the Center for special faculty projects that enhance curriculum development or involve our candidates in PK-12 schools’ special projects or enable faculty to assist classroom teachers in various ways or provide assistance with a research project. For example, an educational psychology class set up a distance mentoring program with a high school near the Chesapeake Bay. When the candidates wanted to meet the students with whom they had worked in an “electronic learning community,” we chartered a bus to take them there to spend the day. Another project was taking social studies candidates to Washington to work with the Digital History project of the Library of Congress. Yet another project involved getting four faculty trained in assisting teachers with National Board Certification (NBC). These faculty worked with local teachers through the NBC process. Now many school divisions have developed a system for assisting their teachers with NBC, but the outcome for us was that the training helped our faculty develop processes and rubrics for our candidates’ electronic portfolios.

In addition, faculty apply for and receive small grants from various sources within the university to carry out curriculum and outreach projects. (See chart of current external grants and internal grants.)

The Unit expenditures and revenue for the past academic year (2001-2002) are below. Click here for the AACTE reports for 2000-2001 and 1999-2000 that include institutional support as well as Unit support.

Item	Amount
Revenue from:
Private gifts, grants and contracts	$1,332,190
Endowment income	10,120
Expenditures:
Instruction	7,701,863
Research	866,951
Academic support	497,562

Element 3: Personnel

Unit faculty members come from a variety of professional and educational backgrounds and hold degrees from outstanding institutions across the nation and abroad. The variety of the faculty’s cultural experiences enriches their teaching and interactions with candidates. To access faculty 2-4 page abbreviated vitae click here. (Comprehensive vitae for all faculty will be available at the on site review.)

Faculty appointment classifications are temporary, probationary, tenured, visiting faculty, adjunct faculty, and part-time.

Provisions for tenure are applicable to those in the ranks of professor, associate professor, and assistant professors in tenure-track appointments. An assistant professor is eligible for tenure after completing a five-year probationary period of continuous full-time service. At the time of initial appointment, an assistant professor may be allowed to count service at another university toward the five-year probationary period if recommended by the Provost and approved by the Board of Visitors as part of the appointment process. Recommendations for tenure and promotion originate in the department in which the appointment resides.

Diversity is both an ethical and educational issue. Virginia Tech is committed to minority and gender equity and the advantages that such diversity will bring to the university. The Unit recognizes the educational value in providing a diverse faculty for our candidates’ programs. The College was the second college in the university to implement search procedures that focused on increasing the diversity of our faculty. Our progress is slow (see chart of Fall 2002 faculty), but we are committed. However, the faculty does represent a good gender balance and offers other permutations of diversity that benefit our candidates. Also, the college has developed a strategic plan for developing more awareness and broadening the opportunities for diverse experiences.

Unit faculty are actively engaged in teaching, scholarship, and service. The usual load is 6-9 hours per semester with 3-6 hours allocated for scholarship activities. The university is now engaged in discussions that will encourage departments to let faculty focus on different aspects of the tri-partite mission, i.e. a faculty member may choose to focus on teaching and teach a 12-hour load rather than attempting to perform equally in all three arenas. The discussions recognize the importance of setting up appropriate evaluation and reward structures for such differentiated performance. The discussions are continuing but seem to be moving toward implementation.

Supervisors of field experiences are usually doctoral candidates, who are considered one-half FTE, or faculty for whom supervision is part of their teaching load. Field supervisors normally have no more than eight to nine student teachers in what would be a two-course load. Many have far fewer. In cases where there may be more, the candidates are clustered in one or two schools, making contacts with the school more efficient and travel less intrusive in time.

Our part-time faculty and adjuncts almost always have terminal degrees as do our regular faculty. Three notable exceptions in Fall 2002 dealt with open positions and the need to offer specialty classes. A doctoral candidate, who is finishing her dissertation this year is teaching graduate qualitative research courses; a classroom teacher with a master’s degree and a specialty in elementary social studies is teaching the methods class for social studies methods in the initial preparation programs for elementary candidates, and a doctoral candidate completing her dissertation is teaching second languages methods as an instructor. Our clinical faculty meet state guidelines developed by the state association for teacher education. All are experienced and teaching in fields in which they hold licenses. (Specific information about the 208 clinical faculty/cooperating teachers will be available onsite.)

Each department and office in the Unit has adequate support personnel to assist faculty and candidates and to enhance the work of the Unit. Classified staff are trained to varying degrees with technology, but in addition there are technology support staff as well as a system called Housecalls to assist faculty with technology problems that are harder to solve.

Faculty are guaranteed non-discriminatory due process through college and departmental employment and merit pay procedures outlined at the university level. The Unit as part of the College adheres to policies, procedures, and practices that provide non-discriminatory hiring, retention, and due process for faculty and staff. The grievance process for faculty is in Section 2.13 of the Faculty Handbook. The process for staff is governed by the state personnel policies.

Element 4: Unit Facilities

The Virginia Tech campus is unique in architectural design in that the Drill Field and Hokie stone reflect the days when the university was a military school. When the university began expanding rapidly in the 1960s, some buildings away from the Drill Field were constructed of brick. After three brick buildings were built, the decision was made to require that all new buildings had to contain some Hokie stone and blend with the character of the other campus buildings. Many buildings have been added under those guidelines and, sitting side-by-side with older buildings, are frequently difficult to identify as new.

The majority of Unit faculty and programs are housed in five locations (Lane Hall, War Memorial Hall, East Eggleston, Smyth, and the Northern Virginia Graduate Center). The Dean’s administrative offices are located in Wallace Hall. The Department of Teaching and Learning (T&L) is in War Memorial Hall and Smyth Hall, and the Center for Teacher Education is in War Memorial Hall. The Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies (ELPS) is located in East Eggleston. All are on the same side of the campus and within easy walking distance. Both departments have programs at the Northern Virginia Graduate Center (Falls Church), the Roanoke Valley Graduate Center, the Southwest Virginia Graduate Center (Abingdon). ELPS also has programs in Hampton Roads and Richmond.

The Unit uses a variety of classroom space but has four classrooms with enhanced technology facilities under its direct control. These classrooms facilitate faculty and candidate use of technology for instruction. Two are located in War Memorial Hall, serving the secondary and elementary education programs. One is located in Smyth Hall and another in Shultz. Both serve primarily T&L classes. A major computer lab is located in War Memorial Hall. In that lab, a computer station has been set up to accommodate various physical disabilities. Another computer lab is in Smyth Hall and serves primarily the technology education program. A science lab and enhanced classroom is in Derring Hall, used mainly by elementary and secondary science education but also other elementary and secondary classes when available. Math education classes are taught in the Math Emporium, a university facility with over 1,000 computers and adjacent classrooms and conference rooms for tutoring.

Unit faculty on regular appointments have private offices. Part-time and adjunct faculty usually share facilities. Space does not permit office facilities for graduate assistants although there are some shared spaces and places with carrels. Graduate assistants who teach usually have access to a space where they can meet with students and access to a telephone. All faculty and graduate assistants have access to good technological facilities.

As a way of providing a place for “learning communities” to occur naturally, we planned the Teacher Education Community Courtyard in War Memorial. This space with tables and greenery, resembling an outdoor courtyard, has wireless Internet connectivity for candidates’ with laptops equipped for wireless. The Center for Teacher Education has wireless cards that candidates can borrow while working there. Whether candidates are meeting, talking, eating, or using a laptop, the Courtyard has become a welcome place among the classrooms, halls, and offices of War Memorial Hall.

Element 5: Unit Resources including Technology

Resources to Meet Standards

Allocations are made directly to each of the two departments for instruction and operation from the Dean’s office. Faculty salaries comprise the largest portion of the budget. All programs have content specific methods courses, a major commitment of resources but an important one in meeting national, professional, and state standards.

The Center for Teacher Education will administer the Unit’s assessment plan. The Center has a director; an administrative assistant, who manages field placements, licensure application processing, candidate records, assists with data collection and correspondence, and assists with candidates’ questions; a graduate assistant who works with the administrative assistant; and a graduate assistant who works with the data bases and preparing the files for analysis. The second graduate assistant was added three years ago to assist with developing the electronic exhibit room and devising the online survey system and program performance assessment data bases. That position will continue as the data collection and analysis system is implemented.

Computer Technology Support

Both faculty and candidates have excellent access to and support for technology. All faculty have up-to-date computers and receive a new one every four years with training through the Faculty Development Institute (FDI). There are four technology enhanced classrooms with computers, Internet access, projection systems, and Smart Boards. Faculty use these classrooms to integrate technology into their instruction often with candidates using the technology for sharing activities performed in class. One large computer lab is located in War Memorial Hall, but candidates have access to computer labs in a variety of locations around campus, e.g the New Media Center that offers consulting services and is open for faculty, students, and the public interested in high end multimedia and software. Faculty are encouraged to use Blackboard for posting course materials and setting up listservs for student interaction and response. Candidates and faculty have access to a wide range of workshops and online assistance, e.g. Element K, to help learn new software.

Other online tutorials are also available to candidates as they develop their electronic portfolios. For example, two graduate assistants through PT3 funds provide small workshops targeted specifically for candidates’ portfolio needs in secondary and elementary. Also there is an online tutorial for portfolios called TEEPS (Teacher Education Electronic Portfolio Support).

Candidates have access to Filebox on the university server, where they post their electronic portfolios. For the 2003 graduates, the university has agreed to allow candidates to keep their portfolios online for an indefinite period of time. Many candidates had indicated an interest in being able to access the portfolios and continue to add to and modify them in ways that will reflect their growth during the first years of their teaching. However, in order to be able to show examples over five years of portfolios as they were rated for Unit evaluation purposes, copies of the portfolios will be housed in another location on the server. Additionally, there are technical support staff for faculty in each department as well as a College-wide system called Housecalls that responds to computer and software problems that staff cannot address.

Library Facilities

In addition to Newman Library, the central library on campus, there is an Art and Architecture Library, a Geosciences Library, a library at the School of Veterinary Medicine, and a Library at the Northern Virginia Graduate Center. Candidates have access to all these facilities as well as Interlibrary Loan and numerous electronic data bases for research.

We believe that our education candidates have excellent access to curriculum materials although we do not maintain a curriculum lab per se. Candidates in programs have direct access to curriculum materials related to their course of study from faculty and program offices as well as the library and the schools in which they have field experiences. TESH curriculum materials, primarily school textbooks, are organized by content and housed on the fourth floor of War Memorial Hall. Additionally, there are science materials in the Derring Hall lab/classroom. The College Librarian for Education provides major centralized support for candidates and faculty. She maintains an office in War Memorial Hall with T&L, the largest department in the College. The librarian’s services include traditional library support such as reference, library instruction, and purchase of books for the University Library’s collection. Additional support includes providing remote, electronic information available over the Internet and through other library mediated tools (ERL Database, FirstSearch, Card Reveal, and Infotrac). Virginia Tech has chosen to move toward technological resources for curriculum rather than the traditional notion of a hard copy curriculum lab. Even some of our public school constituents are exploring non-textbook approaches, i.e. books on CD and web-based instruction. We believe our approach puts us on the cutting edge of managing curriculum resources.

Library Budget for 2000-2001
Serials and periodicals	$3,995,449
Monographs	1,120,462
Microforms	97,996
Miscellaneous (including videos,	397,491
some electronic sources, maps, etc.)
Total	$5,611,398