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							                                   VALDOSTA STATE UNIVERSITY
                          Department of Early Childhood and Special Education
                                      Faculty Meeting Minutes
                                         November 13, 2009



Faculty present:
Lynn Minor, Shirley Thompson, Evan Ortlieb, Gina Doepker, Janet Foster, Alicja Rieger, Lucia Lu, Tonja
Root, Seungyoun Lee, Sheryl Dasinger, Cindy Kovach, Catherine Daughtery, Kelly Heckaman, Diane
Judd, Patti Campbell, Bob Campbell , Ann Unterreiner, James Ernest, Inez Heath, David Hedgepeth and
Paulette Taylor.

The meeting was called to order at 9:01 am with Dr. Lynn Minor presiding.

Approval of minutes:
The October 23, 2009, faculty meeting minutes were approved.

Celebrations:
Dr. Minor expressed her appreciation for all the hard work of the Promotion and Tenure
Recommendation Committee (Shirley Thompson, Janet Foster, James Ernest, ME Dallman)

GOML Program Revisions:
Dr. Minor handed out a copy of the NCATE and PSC definitions of Clinical Practice and a copy of the
Request For Curriculum Change form for the Graduate MAT, Special Education Program to every faculty
member.

Discussion was held extensively concerning meeting clinical practice requirements, internship/release
time at the high school level, professional role of the Special Education educator, the differences in the
area of responsibilities between a paraprofessional and a teacher of record, and revision of the adapted
curriculum syllabi to include reading modules for adolescent students.

It was decided to have an item vote on each of the Proposed Requirements on the Request for A
Curriculum Change form and ask COE Executive Committee to vote on this separately from the
proposals for the Adapted Curriculum revision.
Request For Curriculum Change, Proposed Requirements:
         #1 – passed as written.
         #2 – passed as written.
         #3 – a motion was made, seconded and passed to omit “in special education” and add
“throughout fall and spring semester”. It will now read: Serve as the teacher for students with
disabilities appropriate for the candidate’s selected area of certification (i.e., general or adapted), with a
non –renewable certificate. Teachers must have a minimum of 20 contact hours per week throughout
fall and spring semesters with students who have disabilities appropriate to their selected area of
certification.
         #4 – passed as written.
         #5 - passed as written.
         #6 – the is a Graduate School requirement, no vote was held.
         #7 – a motion was made, seconded and passed to add the word “may”. It will now read: Any
student who does not meet the admissions requirements may submit an admissions appeal to the Initial
Preparation Policies Committee. Students admitted on appeal will be admitted with probationary
status.
         Further discussion concerning the proposals for the Adapted Curriculum revision were tabled
until Dr. Minor could bring more information into the discussion at the end of this meeting.

Independent Study Request:
Dr. Julie Lee is requesting an Independent Study course be added for Spring 2010 semester in the form
of a SPEC 5000 for the Physical and Health Management of Students with Disabilities course for a
nursing student. A motion was made and seconded to add this course and the vote passed.

PCA Donation:
Packaging Corporation of America has donated $500.00 to the ECSE Department in thanks for the past
partnership and cooperation of our faculty members, David Hedgepeth, Shirley Andrews and Julie Reffel
and the Project Learning Tree workshops and in hopes of future partnership. Dr. Minor asked the
faculty members for ideas on how best to utilize this gift. Discussion was held and decided on that these
funds would go to support a student and faculty member to present at an upcoming environmental
conference, held in the state of Georgia.

Flexibility:
With our blended program set to be reviewed, Dr. Minor wanted the faculty members to be aware that
there has been a push for more flexibility concerning required degree program hours. She felt confident
that the justification submitted for this program: a five year program to a four year program and
students earning a dual certification, would stand, but wanted everyone to be aware of this possibility.

Also there will be other changes in all Areas for lower hours of programs with consistency working
across all the Colleges at VSU.

Waiver:
Dr. Minor has acquired special permission for students who have taken or are taking ISCI 2001 & 2002 to
waive the ISCI 3000 course requirement since there was a lack of ISCI 3000 sections for spring semester.
Students in the old Area F or who transferred in have to take the ISCI 3000 section this spring.

If the ISCI 3000 course is waived, the students will still have 3 hours that can be substituted. If they do
not have 3 extra hours, a waiver for these hours can be submitted and if approved, they will not need to
take an additional 3 hours.

Math and Science Endorsements:
Math and Science endorsements for kindergarten teachers are being developed by the Board of Regents
and this will involve the Early Childhood and Special Education Department at VSU.

Other Announcements:
Annual Faculty Evaluations for the ECSE faculty members will be due by January 8, 2010.
Graduate Assistants: Dr. Minor passed out new assignment sheets for Spring 2010 semester for the
faculty to complete for graduate assistants. Also she requested that the faculty members set their GAs
up in their offices as there are not enough stations in the conference room for them to work.

Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl: Gina Doepker announced that the Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl will begin at
12:00 noon on February 6, 2010.
Dr. Minor has not heard about the University Forum Mini-grant Proposal yet. Will keep everyone
updated.

Orientation for new and transfer students is January 7, 2010 from 2-4 pm. Dr. Minor is requesting all
faculty members to attend and be available on Friday as well, to assist with advising.

The next department faculty meeting will be Friday, January 8 at 9:00 AM, unless notified otherwise. Dr.
Minor requested all faculty members to once again note the meeting dates for next semester - every 2nd
and 4th Fridays at 9:00 am and not schedule anything that would interfere with these important
meetings.

November 18, 2009, Georgia’s 2010 Teacher of the Year, Ms. Gwen Desselle, alumnus of VSU’s Dewar
College of Education and College of Arts and Sciences, will be speaking with our student teachers at the
Dewar College of Education, in EC 2130 from 2:00-3:00 pm. Faculty members are invited to attend as
well. This event will be videoed.

Grant Reports:
Shirley Thompson handed out the revised Committees Listing to all the faculty members.
All committees reported their progress.

Discussion was held about the Integrating Content in Practicum Committee report concerning the
release time for the SEEC and ECE majors during their 2 weeks of full time in the school classroom. A
motion was made, seconded and passed that the ECSE Department proposes to extend class time to 90
minutes for the LITR, ECSE and ECED method classes.

SEEC Grant Meeting is December 4, 2009 at 9:00 AM. Dr. Thompson will email members when the
meeting room is assigned.

Student Teaching Orientation is Friday, January 8, 2009, in the morning then the ECSE faculty members
involved will meet with them in the afternoon.

Dr. Minor acquired the added information she needed to continue the discussion on the proposals for
the Adapted Curriculum revision that was tabled earlier. After much discussion concerning the inclusion
of the Reading modules in the Adapted Curriculum syllabi/courses specialized to teach Reading to
students with significant disabilities - a motion was made, seconded and passed in favor of “adjusting
the curriculum to accomplish whatever we need to do to met the PRS standards” and submit it with the
already approved curriculum.

The meeting was adjourned at 11:15 am.