Framework of Teacher Education Governance Unit (TEGU) Minot State University

Purpose of the Governance Structure
The Teacher Education Governance Unit (TEGU) develops and monitors requirements and policies in support of the theme “Teacher as a Reflective Decision-Maker, and conceptual model, ARK: Action, Reflection, Knowledge, for Teacher Education programs across the university. Minot State University provides a teacher education program that meets NCATE, state, and other appropriate university and program accreditation requirements.

The Teacher Education governance structure has been created Minot State University to allow for efficient and effective functioning of TEGU with maximum faculty participation and input. TEGU is described below.

Organization of the Teacher Education Unit
The Teacher Education Unit is not an academic department or division as such. Rather, is comprised of Teacher Education faculty and administrators from the College of Education and Health Sciences, the College of Business, and the College of Arts and Sciences. The Teacher Education faculty serve the Unit in their capacities as teacher educators while they are officially housed in the departments and divisions across the campus which deliver course work and programs in elementary or secondary education. All Teacher Education programs lead to the Bachelor of Science in Education degree (BSE).

The Dean of the College of Education and Health Sciences serves as the unit head of TEGU. The following chart delineates the flow of responsibility in TEGU:

The Dean has responsibility for the development and approval of policies and procedures through two representative bodies, the Teacher Education Administrative Council (TEAC) and the Program and Policy Committee (P&P). TEAC is the approval-granting body and the P&P Committee is the recommendation-making “think tank” for TEGU.

Duties and Working Procedures of Teacher Education Administrative Council TEAC serves as the review and approval body for TEGU. The members of TEAC approve students for admission to Teacher Education, and serve as the appeal board for students who seek waivers for admission or retention requirements. This body seeks input from and reviews and approves / disapproves recommendations for program requirements and policy changes by the Program and Policy Committee. TEAC also approves program and curriculum changes from all Teacher Education programs. TEAC meets at least twice each semester for the above purposes.

TEAC’s membership includes the Dean of EHS, the Dean of Arts and Sciences, the Dean of Business, the Dean of the Graduate School, the Chair of the Department of Teacher Education and Human Performance, and the Chair of the Department of Communication Disorders and Special Education. Any of these members may designate a representative to stand in their stead.

Duties and Working Procedures of Program and Policies Committee (P&P) The P&P Committee is a representative Teacher Education faculty committee responsible for recommending policies and procedures on teacher education issues. Recommendations generated by P&P are forwarded for review and/or approval to TEAC. Agenda items may be generated by the P&P committee itself or in response to requests from TEAC or from other departments or the Stakeholders Advisory Committee.

The P&P Committee is comprised of co-chairs, two elementary education faculty, and one representative from each academic department or major program offering a Bachelor of Science in Education (BSE) and/or at least one of the courses in the Teacher Education Professional Sequence. To be eligible to serve on the P&P committee, faculty must have teaching responsibility for Teacher Education course work and/or supervisory responsibility for student teachers. Faculty representatives are selected by their representative departments and serve at the discretion of their departments.

The P&P committee is co-chaired by two of its members: one co- chair will be the Chair of the Department of Teacher Education & Human Performance; the second co-chair will be an elected representative from a secondary or K-12 Teacher Education program. When a P&P committee member rises to co-chair, that person ceases to be a voting member for their department. That department will appoint another person to be the department representative.

The rotation for the election of the co-chair for the P&P committee is as follows: The co-chair is to be elected from TEGU membership representing secondary or other K-12 Teacher Education programs; this co-chair will be elected by a simple majority of the P&P committee membership from a ballot. The co-chair will serve a three- year term.

Policy Decisions
All program and policy changes recommended by the P&P committee must be approved by TEAC. If changes impact courses, programs, or graduation requirements, they must be approved by TEAC before following other university approval procedures.

In P&P Committee meetings, a quorum is one more person than half the present Membership. Members may send a voting proxy if they are unable to attend. Motions are passed by a simple majority vote of members present at the meeting. Motions containing program, policy and/or procedures recommendations passed by a P&P Committee vote are forwarded for approval to TEAC.

The P&P Committee meets at least twice each semester, or at least four times per academic year. Additional meetings may be scheduled on an as-needed basis. The co-chairs are responsible for scheduling all meetings.

Standing Committees
Four P&P standing subcommittees exist. The Steering Committee is responsible for setting agendas for the P&P committee meetings. It is comprised of the P&P committee co-chairs, the Director of Advisement and Field Placement, and two additional representatives, one from elementary education and one from a secondary or K-12 department. The Professional Development Committee, appointed by the co-chairs, is responsible for organizing professional development activities for TEGU faculty. The Assessment Committee, appointed by the co-chairs, is responsible for designing and managing an assessment system for TEGU. The Practical Experiences Committee is chaired by the Director of Advisement and Field Placement, with one elementary, one secondary, and one K-12 member; this committee is responsible for developing and recommending policies for the field placement of students in the Teacher Education program.

The P&P Committee may constitute ad-hoc subcommittees as needed. Representation on ad hoc subcommittees is self-selected, unless otherwise specified. Once formed, an ad hoc subcommittee selects one of its members to serve as chair. All P&P subcommittees examine teacher education issues, then draft and revise program and policy recommendation documents as needed.

Teacher Education Stakeholders Advisory Committee The P&P Committee and TEAC are supported by the Teacher Education Stakeholders Advisory Committee. This group meets yearly or more often as needed. This committee is comprised of school and community representatives who provide feedback to TEGU regarding the strengths and weaknesses of the program as perceived by the groups they represent. They are asked to assess and advise TEGU regarding proposed changes in the delivery of the program and to assist in the communication of these changes back to their respective constituencies. This committee of 17 is comprised of the following representatives:

2 Elementary Education Student Representatives
2 Secondary Education Student Representatives
1 Elementary Education Alumni Representative
1 Secondary Education Alumni Representative
1 Elementary Education Student Teaching Supervisor
1 Secondary Education Student Teaching Supervisor
1 Elementary School Administrator
1 Secondary School Administrator
1 Representative of Minot Public School Board and/or Central Office Administrator
1 Representative of an area School Board
2 Community Members selected by MSU Alumni Association
2 Co-Chairs of P&P Committee (ex-officio chairs)
Director of Advisement and Field Placement (ex-officio)

Accepted: January 30, 2002
This document will be updated as needed.