Center for Early Care & Education, Professional Development and Research2

Children’s Campus Advisory Council Meeting Minutes

February 1, 2016

Attendees: / Absentees:
Patti Solomon-Rice
David Anderson
Elaine Musselman / Charlotte Ferretti
Alison Baroody
Jeff Cookston / Mina Kim Elizabeth Post Musgrove Anna Tobin-Wallis Marjorie Weiss / Nichole Gangitano
Topic / Discussion / Action /
Welcome, and Call to Order / Patti Solomon-Rice, Chairperson, called the meeting to order at 3:05 PM.
Approval of Agenda / Jeff Cookston made a motion to approve the agenda as presented. Charlotte Ferretti second the motion. / The motion to approve the agenda as presented was approved unanimously.
Approval of December 7, 2015 Meeting Minutes / The minutes from the December 7, 2015 meeting were reviewed. Charlotte Ferretti made a motion to approve the minutes as presented. David Anderson seconded the motion. / The motion to approve the December 7, 2015 meeting minutes as presented was approved unanimously.
Research Committee Report / Alison Baroody reported the Committee will be meeting Friday, February 5 and that the parent survey is expected to launch in mid-March.
Jeff Cookston reported on his preschool research from Fall 2015 semester, which included 18 children. He will return in the spring to thank parents for their participation and some students may complete some missing data collection. Over the past five years, data have been collected on more than 90 children.
David Anderson reported that the Spring 2015 study on squatting has been presented and the student has graduated. Data is needed on three younger children in order for the study to be published, so the graduate student may recruit additional children this Spring.
Family Report / No report.
Director’s Report / Anna Tobin-Wallis summarized the Director’s Report that was included in the meeting packet.
·  PFA designation is complete and 14 children enrolled in PFA. These families tuition credit will be retroactive to 9/1/15. Through voluntary parent donations, approximately $3,000 is being donated to a child scholarship fund, half through PFA half through SF Foundation.
·  2016-17 Tuition and Fees were approved by the University, as recommended by the Advisory Council.
·  We have begun the 2016-17 enrollment process for returning families and new families will begin enrolling in April.
·  We reviewed preliminary drawings for the Toddler play yard last week and expect a second rendition soon
·  A full time teacher resigned in late January and we are using a substitute and TAs to fill this until a replacement can be hired; a recruitment to fill the position is in the approval process. Jeff Cookston offered assistance from colleagues in Industrial Psychology if the center wants to incorporate exit interviews when staff leave. Alison Baroody encouraged posting the job at CAD.
·  Approval to open recruitments for Ops Manager and Director is in process.
·  Enrollment – three part-week children left end of December and were all replaced by part week children moving to full week.
Charlotte announced that Children’s Campus is in the process of being placed within Student Affairs and Enrollment Management (SAEM), under the Office of the Dean of Students. This is a good fit due to the level of student support we provide through internships and student employment. SAEM is fully committed to the academic mission of the center. Patti Solomon-Rice shared org charts for SAEM and Office of the Dean of Students. Charlotte will remain on Advisory Council and it is hoped Mary Ann Begley, the Dean of Students, will also attend Council meetings.
Discussion – Program Quality / A.  QRIS
Marjorie Weiss presented information on the San Francisco Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS), which is being developed by First 5 San Francisco in conjunction with five other Bay Area counties. This is a pilot of a quality rating system that is being developed through a Federal Race To the Top Grant. QRIS systems are designed to monitor the quality of child care centers and family child care homes and support them in achieving the highest standards of quality. There are other pilot QRIS systems being developed throughout the state and eventually, the State will develop a single QRIS model.
The 7 measures on the San Francisco QRIS system were reviewed and discussed, including how children’s Campus will score on the QRIS. Down the road, as the move to SAEM is completed and the new Director and Ops Manager in place, and once City and State system finalized, the program can examine whether program changes are needed to increase the center’s QRIS ratings, particularly in relation to the priorities we identify for quality programming based on our mission and educational philosophy.
Discussion – Program Quality
(continued) / B.  Children’s Campus Mission and Educational Philosophy
Anna Tobin-Wallis summarized the current educational philosophy of Children’s Campus, which emphasizes relationships, teacher-child interactions, and active learning. We have specific interaction guidelines that form the foundation for the teacher-child relationships. The curriculum emphasizes active learning and choice, and is emergent based on children’s interests. Children’s Campus has a strong emphasis on supporting children’s social/emotional development and creating a pro-social environment.
Ann Tobin-Wallis has been training staff on inquiry based learning and would like to integrate CSEFEL into the center and strengthen math and science learning.
The Center’s mission was reviewed/ and discussed, and all elements of the mission were affirmed. / Once a Director is hired, re-frame the educational philosophy, and how this is implemented, so this is explained clearly and concisely.
Immediately, modify the mission so the statement about supporting and training pre-service early childhood education students is listed first, and reframe this statement to address training of future teachers.
Once a Director is hired, the entire mission statement can be edited to ensure all statements are clear and concise, particularly the fourth statement about supporting professionals in the field. In addition, language emphasizing Children’s Campus as a lab school and training site should be included.
Other Business / Due to scheduling conflicts, it was agreed the Council will assess the feasibility of moving the meeting time to 2:30-4:00 PM. / Patti Solomon-Rice will survey members about changing the meeting time.
Next Meeting / The next meeting will be March 7, 2016 / Meeting adjourned at 4:30 PM.

Children’s Campus Advisory Council Meeting Minutes – February 1, 2016 3