School of Education and Human Development
University of Southern Maine
External Advisory Council
Full Council Meeting Minutes
September 27, 2013
Present: Diana Mitchell, Jeanne Crocker, Kathleen Marquis-Girard, Norrie Crocker, KimberlyBlenk, Jamie Cluchey, Jill Blackwood, Tom Lafavore, Jeanne Whynot-Vickers, Joy Halligan, Ruth Dater, Linda Ward, Robert Gross, Betsy Uhuad, Joe McDonnell, Chris Howell, Sara-Jane Poli, Angela Marzilli, Jack Sutton, Sandy Prince, Deb Ledoux, Christen Stande, Allen Lampert, Catherine Martin, Kelly Hasson, Mary Anne Crawford, Kevin Doran, Bethany Connolly, Liz Standen, Jeff Porter, Denise D’Entremont, David Chute and Colleen Pleau.
- Jeanne Whynot-Vickers opened the meeting welcoming everyone and gave an agenda overview.
- Joe McDonnell gave opening remarks
a.)Our challenge is keeping enrollment up. The School of Education is down 12% in enrollment.
b.)The University is reducing their budget each year.
c.)An external committee at the Muskie school has completed a study to try to figure out how we can be fiscally sustainable.
d.)How do we maintain small programs and how do we move across our programs?
- Jeanne stated that the Council likes to learn about one of the SEHD programs at each of their meetings. The School of Education and Human Development is currently hosting a Confucius Institute. (Confucius Institutes are non-profit public institutions aligned with the Government of the People’s Republic of China that aim to promote Chinese language and culture, support local Chinese teaching internationally and facilitate cultural exchanges.)
a.)Joe McDonnell stated that we have three faculty members from Dongbei University and introduced Herb and Cecelia.
b.)They are educating teachers in Chinese language. We currently have ten teachers in our program and the Chinese teachers are teaching in a number of schools.
c.)A tour of the Confucius Institute space was given to the Council members.
- Jack Sutton asked the Council members to brainstorm about some topics of discussion they might be interested in talking about at future meetings. The following are some ideas:
a.)Going up to LAC to see how they are coordinating things.
b.)Perhaps a role in advocacy for the School of Education (presence? letters?)
c.)Recruitment – how do reach out to high school students?
d.)Obtain Southern Maine Partnership information from Glenn Cummings
e.)What are different ways to configure courses in a way to entice students?
f.)How many of our students come from a Community College?
g.)How do we increase USM’s reputation?
h.)Conducting a needs assessment out in the field.
i.)Is it time to offer different courses?
j.)There is a need for Special Education and ESL teachers.
k.)We need to reach people who work in the field and who have specific needs.
l.)Suggest an Advocacy Committee whose first task would be to look at the Muskie report and provide feedback.
- The Council members were asked to choose a sub-committee they wanted to be involved in. The following is the list of members on the three sub-committees of their choice.
Scholarship sub-committee:
Jack Sutton, co-chair
Cathy Martin, co-chair
Jeanne Whynot-Vickers
Chris Howell
Betsy Uhuad
Kim Warren
Deborah Ledoux
Joy Halligan
Kevin Doran
Robert Gross
Next Meeting date: 8:30 – 9:30am on December 2, 2013 at theAbromson Center on the second floor- not sure of room number.
Governance sub-committee:
Bethany Connolly, Co-Chair
Kelly Hasson
Denise D'Entremont
Angela Marzilli
Sandy Prince
Kim Blenk
Jamie Cluchey
Ruth Dater
Linda E. Ward
Barbara Powers
Sarah-Jane Poli, Chair
Meeting date: Friday, December 6 (snow date December 13) in Scarborough from 8:30 a.m. - 9:30 a.m. Tentatively, plan to meet at the Eggs and I restaurant on Route One in Scarborough.
Membership Committee:
Jill Blackwood, Chair
Jeanne Crocker
Jeff Porter
Alan Lampert
Denise D'Entremont
Tom LaFavore
Mary Anne Crawford
Liz Standen
First Committee Meeting at 10:30 on Friday, 1/24/14 (snow date 1/31/14) following The January full council meeting.