FAC Appendix 07. Bylaws for Teacher Education

Appendix A – Teacher Education Board Bylaws

Name
Teacher Education Board
Purpose of Teacher Education Board
To foster and sustain a quality professional education program at McPherson College by maintaining curricular accountability and by ensuring admission of quality to the program; in turn, to contribute to quality in the educational profession at large.
Composition and Terms of TEB Membership and Criteria for Selection
1. Voting members shall include:
  1. Department Chair, also serving as Unit Head.
  2. Faculty who teach half time or more in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction undergraduate courses.
  3. One representative from each Division of the College, including a representative of Social Science in addition to Department of Curriculum & Instruction faculty
  4. Two students representing the McPherson College student body. One student will be seeking endorsement in elementary education. One student will be seeking endorsement in secondary education or at the K-12 level.
  5. One representative from area public schools, representing K-12 constituents
  6. The College Registrar, as the officer who finalizes graduation clearance and who serves on Educational Policies Committee
2. Ex-officio members may include all part-time faculty of the Department of Curriculum & Instruction
3. Faculty representatives 1 & 2 are expected to:
  Demonstrate an active interest in the procedures and curriculum of the Teacher Education Program of McPherson College; demonstrate an active interest in procedures, curriculum, and instructional development associated with K-12 schools; have a pattern of responsible Undergraduate Council involvement.
4. Representative from each Division 3 are expected to:
  The representatives from each division will report to their respective divisions immediately after each Teacher Education Board meeting. This report will include all business and discussion items, excluding items in executive session. In turn, the representatives will report to Teacher Education Board any relevant discussion or decisions from division meetings.
5. The Student representatives 4 are expected to:
  Demonstrate to the Department of Curriculum & Instruction an interest in the procedures and curriculum of the Teacher Education Program of McPherson College; demonstrate an active interest in procedures, curriculum, and instructional development associated with K-12 schools; demonstrate to the Department of Curriculum & Instruction a reputation of perception and maturity that will ensure fairness and confidentiality in sensitive matters; be of good academic standing at McPherson College.
6. The Public School representative 5 is expected to:
  Demonstrate to the Department of Curriculum & Instruction an interest in the procedures and curriculum of the Teacher Education Program of McPherson College; demonstrate an active interest in the procedures, curriculum, and instructional development associated with K-12 schools; have past or present experience of working with the Teacher Education Program of McPherson College.
7. Membership appointments on the Teacher Education Board are for one year. The TEB shall be reconstituted each year in August at the beginning of the academic year.
IProcess for Selection of Membership
1. Members identified in Section III above as A-1, 2 and 6 all serve by virtue of position.
2. Members A-, 3, 4 and 5 are appointed by the President of the College upon recommendation of the Chief Academic Officer and the Chair of the Department of Curriculum & Instruction, who in turn shall have consulted with representatives of the respective constituencies as well as with fellow Department of Curriculum & Instruction faculty.
Undergraduate Council Officers or Leadership
1. The permanent Chair of the TEB shall be the Chair of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction and serve as the Unit Head. In the absence of the Chair at any meeting, an Acting Chair for the meeting shall be chosen from and by the members present.
2. The Administrative Assistant for the Department of Curriculum and Instruction shall serve as the Secretary for the Board. The Secretary shall keep minutes of all meetings and distribute them to members of the Board not later than the beginning of the next meeting.
Meeting Procedures
1. An initial meeting shall be called by the Chair within the first two weeks of the fall semester. A regular meeting schedule shall be established at that meeting.
2. Meeting procedure shall be governed by Robert’s Rules of Order unless expressly altered by majority vote of the Board. A quorum must be present before voting decisions can be made. A quorum is defined as a simple majority of members. All deliberations dealing with individual students, or with any matter of a personnel nature, including admission to the program and/or student teaching, shall be conducted in executive session.
3. In all decisional matters possible, consensus will be sought. However, after discussion, vote shall be shown in the record for all decisions.
4. All minutes of the Board other than those of executive sessions shall be available to each faculty member who serves as an advisor to a student in the Teacher Education Program upon request.
Undergraduate Council Charge – Responsibilities & Accountabilities
1. To consider any proposed policy for the Department of Curriculum & Instruction or the Teacher Education Program. No Departmental or Program policy will be considered effective until approved by the Board. Policy changes may be proposed by the Department or by any Board member as a representative of his/her particular constituency.
2. To consider for approval any change in a course or in curricular structure at McPherson College which holds potential to affect compliance with accreditation standards for any program in Teacher Education. Proposals may come directly from departments or instructors, or they may be referred from Educational Policies Committee when screening by that committee raises question about the impact of a proposed change on Teacher Education.
3. To approve all applications to the Teacher Education Program. (See the “Admissions and Procedures in Teacher Education” section of the McPherson College Teacher Education Advisor/Advisee Handbook.)
4. To screen all candidates for student teaching and to approve all qualified applicants prior to their placement in a K-12 school assignment. (See the “Admissions and Procedures in Teacher Education” section of the McPherson College Teacher Education Advisor/Advisee Handbook.)
5. To serve as the first step of an appeal process by which undergraduate students may seek review of any Department of Curriculum & Instruction decision or Teacher Education Board decision that affects the status or standing of the student. (See addendum to these bylaws for the procedure for this appeal process.)
Reporting Relationships
1. But for appeals which may arise under guidelines set out in section VII-D above, the Board shall be the source of final decision for matters set forth above in sections VII-A and VII-C.
2. Upon approval by Board, matters specified in section VII-B shall be referred by the Board to next appropriate body in the approval sequence. In the normal course of events, this will be the Division appropriate to the course or curricular change. Any time it is determined that there is a potential impact on compliance with Teacher Education Program accreditation standards by a course or curricular change, approval by the Teacher Education Board is a prerequisite to final consideration of the proposal by the Educational Policies Committee.
Student Appeal Process
1. Purpose of Procedure
  To provide a due process review and appeal mechanism for students who question any decision made with respect to their admission to, or satisfactory progress in, the Teacher Education Program at McPherson College.
2. Issues Subject to Appeal
  1. Reasons (other than GPA or test scores) given for denial of admission to the Teacher Education Program at McPherson College.
  2. Reasons (other than GPA or test scores) given for refusal to authorize placement in student teaching.
  3. Suspension of the student teaching experience.
3. Steps in the Appeal Process
  1. Within ten school days after notice of the adverse decision, student must request, in writing submitted to the Chair, a hearing with the Board (or rehearing if the decision appealed was previously made by this Board). The request shall contain the following information:
    1. Student Name
    2. Precise statement of major, and of minors if any
    3. Any other pertinent personal demographic data
    4. The specific issue on which rehearing is requested, the reason for the request, and as much extended rationale as deemed necessary by the appealing student.
    5. Included with the above rationale shall be evidence that the student has consulted with Department of Curriculum & Instruction faculty, major field advisor, and any other college official who has a role in the matter as an advisor or counselor to the student. To the extent possible, this information should be in the form of original documentation or correspondence. To the extent that is not available, the appealing student should provide summaries of relevant conversations.
  2. After the above information has been submitted, the Board shall meet with the student at a time mutually agreeable. The student may make a presentation to the Board, or the Board may question the student or initiate conversation with the student, as may be agreed at the time the meeting is scheduled. The Board may excuse the student to make its decision on the request for hearing/rehearing. The Board may defer its decision to a subsequent meeting if it elects to search out further information. The decision will be distributed to the student in writing (traditional and/or electronic).
  3. If the decision of the Teacher Education Board is not acceptable to the student, s/he may appeal the decision to the Chief Academic Officer (CAO). Such appeal shall be in writing and shall be made within five school days of receipt of notice of the decision of the Board. The information stipulated in section A above shall be provided with the appeal. The CAO, at his/her option, may consult with the Educational Policies Committee in the course of reaching a decision.
  4. If the decision of the CAO is not acceptable to the student, s/he may appeal to the President of the College, to be submitted in writing within five school days of receipt of notice of the CAO’s decision. Included with the appeal shall be the same documentary information as set forth in section C The decision of the President will constitute final disposition of the appealed action.
  5. In the event a student either fails to appeal any decision within prescribed time limits, or comes to the end of the appeal process with a decision that limits his/her continued participation in the program, that student’s singular option for seeking continued status in the Program is to initiate a re-application.
4. Steps in the Appeal Process for Inadequate C-BASE Scores
  1. Student must submit a formal written request to the Chair of the Education Undergraduate Program. The request shall contain the following information:
    1. Student Name
    2. Precise statement of major, and of minors if any
    3. Any other pertinent personal demographic data
    4. Any specific rational for why she/he should be allowed to student teach without adequate test scores.
    5. Included with the above rationale shall be evidence that the student has consulted with Curriculum & Instruction Department faculty, major field advisor, and any other college official who has a role in the matter as an advisor or counselor to the student. To the extent possible, this information should be in the form of original documentation or correspondence.
    6. Also included in the rationale, student must submit a plan for remediation in the area(s) of inadequacies.
    7. Minimum of three written letters from qualified professionals, supporting the student’s appeal.
  2. After the above information has been submitted, the Board shall meet with the student at a time mutually agreeable. The student may make a presentation to the Board, or the Board may question the student or initiate conversation with the student, as may be agreed at the time the meeting is scheduled. The Board may excuse the student to make its decision. The Board may defer its decision to subsequent meeting if it elects to search out further information. The Board’s decision will be distributed to the student in writing (traditional and/or electronic)
  3. If the decision is not acceptable to the student, s/he may appeal the decision to the CAO. At that time the same procedures as outlined in sections C-E of the Appeal Process in Section IV may be followed.
Amendments; Caveats
These Bylaws may be changed or amended through the following process:
1. The proposed amendment shall be brought to the Teacher Education Board for first reading, and may then be acted upon at any subsequent meeting provided the action item is announced in advance as an agenda item for that meeting.
2. Once approved by the Teacher Education Board, amendments shall be forwarded to the Educational Policies Committee for final approval.
3. Nothing in section VIII, or in this section, IX, shall be construed as impairing the prerogative of College Administration to exercise final approval of policies or decisions as may be set forth elsewhere in college policy.