How does the unit ensure that its professional education faculty contributes to the preparation of effective educators through scholarship, service, teaching, collaboration and assessment of their performance?
5.1a. Qualified Faculty

Unit faculty are highly qualified to provide exceptional educator preparation at the initial and advanced levels. The unit engages in effective hiring and evaluation processes for tenure-track positions that include the earned doctorate, licensure in teaching, counseling, or leadership field, experience in P-12 schools or closely related agencies, and knowledge, skills, and commitment to excellent teaching, research, and service. The faculty handbook (I.5.a.2.4, p. 221) contains detailed information on hiring procedures (as well as Exhibit 5.4.f.4) Unit faculty are committed to best professional practices in teaching, scholarship, and service as demanded by our rigorous teacher, administrator, and counselor preparation programs.

Recruitment, hiring, and evaluation of tenure-eligible faculty is a shared process that includes faculty, department chairs, and the Office of Academic Affairs. The faculty search process is defined in the AAUP Collective Bargaining Agreement and is supported by Human Resources Hiring policies. Processes for hiring, evaluation, and renewal of part-time faculty are also explained in the WCSU UPBC Contract, with the primary criteria for renewal being teaching effectiveness as evaluated through student surveys and classroom observations (see sample observation form in Exhibit (5.4.f.2). Currently there is no digital form for evaluating instruction or course content in online courses, but this issue has been raised with the Faculty Senate’s Distance Education Committee and is recognized in the new WCSU Online Education Policy (5.4.h.1).

Adjunct faculty members are selected for their teaching and supervisory skills, relevant professional expertise, experience (and licensure where appropriate), and general recognition as highly competent practitioners. Qualified individuals submit a resume and official transcripts to confirm they hold at least a Master’s degree in their field. Faculty members being hired to teach or supervise programs are recommended by the Program Coordinators and the Department Chairs, with final approval by the Dean of the School of Professional Studies.

Unit faculty are evaluated annually in the areas of teaching, scholarship, and service leading to tenure and, once tenured, every 5 years as WCSU Policies and Procedures for Faculty Evaluation describes. Content area faculty are reviewed by their respective Department Evaluation Committee (DEC), and their Department Chair documents their contributions in their departments’ annual report. Rigorous peer evaluation is demonstrated through annual reviews by the Education & Educational Psychology (E & EP) Department’s DEC (I.5.a.2.4) and through the department’s annual report that documents faculty accomplishments and contributions. Faculty reflect each year on what they have accomplished in the classroom, on their scholarship, and other professional development, and share ideas with the Chair and the department for improvement. In order to see their performance from a broader lens, faculty also review student performance data retrieved from the Tk20 data system via Educational Review Committee data retreats and discuss ways to improve their instructional practice.

University Supervisors are appointed by the Unit’s director of student teaching. Qualifications include formal training in the State of Connecticut’s required teacher induction and mentoring program, Teacher Education and Mentoring (TEAM) (5.4.h.2) and experience in P-12 schools teaching or other professional experience (5.4.e.1). As part of the Unit’s continuous improvement efforts towards the target level of Standard 5, all university supervisors, cooperating teachers, and unit faculty teaching methods courses are required to hold licensure in the areas they supervise. All cooperating teachers are TEAM-trained (5.4.h.2).

5.1. b. Modeling Best Professional Practices in Teaching

The Unit focuses on modeling best instructional practices for our initial and advanced program candidates. Faculty attend national and international conferences, workshops and training series sponsored by the Connecticut State Department of Education,such as TEAM and Connecticut Accountability for Learning Initiative (CALI), department meetings with guest speakers, and a wide variety of professional development opportunities in local school districts  to learn about innovative technology in the K-12 classroom. Not only do faculty attend the WCSU Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT) events throughout the year, several faculty members have presented at the CELT workshops and share their knowledge about teaching and learning with a university-wide audience.

5.1. c. Modeling Best Professional Practices in Scholarship

Full time facultymust find a balance between scholarship activity and time needed for instruction and service commitments. Scholarly activity at WCSU has three components: research, scholarship, and creative endeavor.
Faculty scholarship endeavors are strongly supported by professional development policies and practices at WCSU, and are part of the promotion and tenure process (5.4.f.1).There are other sources of professional development support for faculty as detailed in exhibit (5.4.g.1).The Faculty Development and Recognition Committee is responsible for recognition of excellence in faculty scholarship. A specific list of the scholarly activities of WCSU Education &Educational Psychology department faculty can be found in Exhibit 5.4.d.2. For the WCSU definition of faculty scholarship, see the WCSU Faculty Handbook  (p. 172).

5.1. d. Modeling Best Professional Practices in Service

The Conceptual Framework  (I.5.c.1) makes it clear that service to our community is a priority for faculty members, stating that strengthening our partnership with the people and institutions of Connecticut is a benefit to both the University and the State and endows our teaching and scholarship with a special vitality and dedication.
Numerous examples of ways that faculty provide service to the university and the profession by serving on university-wide committees, community boards, and participating in other ways to the P-12 community can be found in the WCSU Faculty Handbook  (p. 172). University guidelines stipulate faculty members must engage in service to the university, community, and the profession to be eligible for tenure and promotion. Further evidence of faculty engagement in service is provided in the program reports (AIMS). Faculty are also actively engaged in a number of grants and partnership projects that provide service and support to area practitioners, schools, and agencies as demonstrated in Exhibit 5.4.e.1.

5.1. e. Unit (Policies, Procedures, and Practices for Faculty Evaluation (including Promotion and Tenure) and Summaries of the Results in Areas of Teaching, Scholarship, and Service)

Faculty continue to pursue high expectations in the areas of teaching, scholarship, and service. TheWCSU Promotion and Tenure Committee is the university level body for evaluating non-tenured faculty scholarship progress as well as teaching performance that occurs after the 5th year of tenure-track, full-time employment. Leading up to that review, there is a yearly evaluation coordinated by tenured faculty who sit on the Department Evaluation Committee (DEC). Faculty scholarship activities, service, and teaching evaluations are reviewed at this annual juncture. For specific policies and procedures in these reviews, see the WCSU Faculty Handbook, Faculty Evaluation. Further evaluation of faculty effectiveness includes a student opinion survey that is completed at the end of the semester. Undergraduate and graduate candidates complete, anonymously, a student opinion survey for each course, rating the effectiveness of the instructors. Results of the survey are used to improve instruction.

5.1. f. Unit Facilitation of Faculty Professional Development 

The Unit provides professional development as indicated by data analysis, district feedback, changes in regulationssuch as implementation of the Common Core State Standards and the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) assessments, SmartBoard training, and presentations by PhiDelta Kappa. An Education Department book group meets every other month at a faculty member’s home. The WCSU Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT) provides professional growth opportunities for faculty. These include New Faculty Orientation sessions, a Faculty Mentoring Program, and workshops on how to integrate technology into the college classroom (part of the CELT Technology Grant Series which distributes up to two $2,000 awards per year).These professional development opportunities are described in more detail in Exhibit 5.4.g.1. Support for professional development is contractually mandated.  In each academic year, funds up to $1,200 are available to faculty for research endeavors such as conference travel (5.4.h.3).Faculty may also apply for reassigned time for research (p.72). Sabbatical leaves may be granted to tenured faculty who have served seven years or more at the University.