Friday Memo 8/21/15

Welcome Back!

The new school year has begun, and I am excited about what this year will bring. As we have tackled many projects over the last few years, I am looking forward to our continued efforts to develop effective teachers, leaders, and counselors.

Syllabus Project

The summer months were full of work by lead instructors, staff members, and individual instructors to make sure we had our syllabi updated. Thanks again for all of your efforts! I created this graphic following our Dean's Council as there was some confusion among divisions regarding the syllabus project. Hopefully, this will provide some clarity. 

Syllabus Project Update and Clarification

	Policies Included	Alignments Included	Credit Hour Calculator	Creator	Information regarding submission to Provost’s Office	Stored
University	University	Univ, Div, Prog, & Course Objective/Assessment Alignments Included	C.H.C. included for each delivery method	Lead Instructor	One per course submitted by Division Chair	K/Syllabi Folders/Main Campus Syllabi/Division/Year/Term
Student Master	Course	N/A (unless otherwise noted by Division Chair - in the Ed division we include alignments between program standards and assignments)	Not Included	Lead Instructor	One per each delivery method stored by Division Chair – NOT submitted to Provost’s Office	Stored in Department
Student	Course	N/A (unless otherwise noted by Division Chair - in the Ed division we include alignments between program standards and assignments)	Not Included	Course Instructor	One per section being offered each term submitted by individual instructor to Division Chair who then submits all to the Provost’s Office	K/Syllabi Folders/Main Campus Syllabi/Division/Year/Term

Clarification regarding the Alignment portion of the University Syllabus –

University, Division, Program, and Course Objectives should remain the same regardless of the delivery method. Credit Hour Calculators should be different depending upon the delivery method.

Singapore Math Institute

In early August, MBU hosted the Singapore Math Summer Institute. The event was a success and brought about 40 educators to our campus, many of whom had never been to MBU and were not aware of all of our Graduate Education programs. Perhaps this will draw some new students to our institution. It also provided local educators an opportunity to learn about Singapore Math as many local districts are adopting this curriculum. 

Happy Birthday, Ellen & Tina!
We always try to take time to celebrate our beloved staff. Ellen's birthday was  a few weeks ago.Yesterday was Tina Ketterer's birthday - sorry no picture.

DESE Webinars

Thanks to those of you who have been participating in the webinars. Angela, Kathleen, and I were discussing that listening to this past webinar was encouraging because we felt that we already knew almost all of the information. We are finally feeling that we are on top of all of the changes coming from DESE. As more data comes in regarding our students' scores on the new assessments, we will continue to communicate how DESE and MBU are making adjustments. Internship Supervisors and Student Teaching Seminar, Leadership, Counseling, and Library/Media Specialist Instructors are continuing to learn ways we can support our students on the performance assessments for teachers, leaders, counselors, and librarians, which are required for certification this fall. 

Fall Faculty Conference

We experienced a few days of learning about university-wide issues and procedures, along with some instructional strategies. It was a pleasure hearing introductions from our new division faculty members, Susan Hladky and Jeremy Ruckstaetter. Welcome to the MBU Family!

Andragogy Presentation
I was so proud of Tom Smith and Amber Henry for sharing some teaching tips and andragogy research to the entire faculty. We need to always keep student learning as our central focus.

Canvas

You have all done a great job transitioning to Canvas. Change is not easy, but I think we will find that our students will find this LMS much more user-friendly. I believe it won't be long before the faculty realize that it is a better product than Blackboard.
Please note that ALL instructors will be expected to submit a gradebook for each class to the Records Office at the completion of the term. The Records Office staff would prefer the gradebook be in digital format, Excel spreadsheet. If you use the gradebook in Canvas, you should be able to easily export it into an Excel spreadsheet and then send to the records office. If you use a hard copy gradebook, the Records Office will accept a photocopy of your gradebook this term, but please make efforts to move your gradebook onto a spreadsheet. We have plenty of time to worry about this request, but I just wanted to give you all a heads up so you can begin preparing accordingly.

New Faculty Orientation
Dr. Dykstra, Alin Means, and Lydia Theabeau presented an orientation for the new faculty members.

Welcome Weekend!
There was so much excitement in the air on Friday as the students joined us. The weekend was a huge success with our record number of incoming freshmen. Below are pictures from the lunch, President's Ice Cream Social, and the Saturday advising sessions. Not pictured are the events surrounding the adjunct faculty inservice meetings. Thanks to those of you who worked on Saturday.

CEEDAR/AACTE Meeting

I am currently in Indianapolis for a Leadership Institute. The purpose of the CEEDAR Center is to create aligned professional learning systems that provide effective opportunities for teachers to master core and specialized instruction in inclusive settings - and for leaders to establish the conditions in schools that sustain high-quality instruction - to enable students with disabilities to achieve college- and career- ready standards. We are one of 5 states in the 2015 cohort that is receiving technical and intensive assistance from CEEDAR. It is a blessing to be a part of this work, not only because all of the efforts are funded by CEEDAR, but because the collaboration with other institutions and our own state department has been extremely meaningful. I am inspired by the sessions and panel discussions here as I learn how other institutions are developing innovative teacher and leader preparation programs that strive to prepare educators to teach ALL students. I will be sharing a brief update of this meeting at our faculty meeting on Tuesday. Shelton Smith, Susan Hladky, and I will be bringing back more information after our statewide meeting next Friday.

Upcoming Meetings

• All Faculty Meeting               Monday, August 24     3:30pm     Recital Hall
• Division Faculty Meeting     Tuesday, August 25     10:15am     Field Conference Room
• MEES Training for Field Experience Supervisors     Wednesday, Sept 2   8:00am    4433 Woodson Road

As we begin this school year, meditate on the following scripture:

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. Proverbs 1:7

Thank you for the role you play in being facilitators of wisdom and instruction.

Have a blessed and peaceful weekend!

Melanie