Meetings/Events

Aug 31, Mon	- ASU-Partnership Governing Board, 1-2:30, Broyhill
Sept 1, Tues	- RCOE Administrative Council, 10-12, Greene-Oakes
Sept 2, Wed	- Training Workshop on Electronic Submission of Payroll, 9-10, Rm. 215
Sept 7, Mon	- Holiday—no classes
Sept 10, Thur	- Convocation—Speaker: Greg Mortenson, author of Three Cups of Tea; 10 a.m.; Convocation Center. Academic regalia required for faculty; classes canceled until 1 p.m. - Dean candidate for College of Health Sciences and Allied Professions on Campus: Dr. Shirley Richmond
Sept 11, Fri	- Board of Trustees meeting—all day - Board of Governors Teaching Award Ceremony, 3-5, Turchin Center
Sept 14, Mon	- Dean candidate for College of Health Sciences and Allied Professions on Campus:” Dr. Kelli Brown - Doctoral Program Policy Committee, 12-1:30, Doctoral Seminar Room
Sept 15, Tues	- RCOE Administrative Council, 10-12, Greene-Oakes
Sept 17, Thur	- Dean candidate for College of Health Sciences and Allied Professions on Campus: Dr. Fred Whitt - University Teacher Education Council, 3:30-5, 03 - University Graduate Student Recognition reception, 5:15-6; Student Center Solarium
Sept 19, Sat	- Admissions Open House, Convocation Center; RCOE Open House 10:30- 11:30, O3
Sept 23, Wed	- Curric-Net training 3-4:30 IG Greer 224 - Teaching Fellows Advisory Board, 4-5, Greene-Oakes
Sept 29, Tues	- RCOE Administrative Council, 10-12, Greene-Oakes
Dates to Save	- Oct. 15-16 Fall Break: Thursday & Friday—no classes - Oct. 27: Annual Swing for Scholarships Golf Tournament, Rock Barn (information: Dolly Farrell, Advancement Officer - Nov. 7: Education Day (football game and recognition of Education alumni as well as student winners of the Mountaineers Reading Program)

Sympathy

The mother of Susan Phipps recently passed away. Susan is an adjunct in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction; the RCOE community extends its sympathy to Susan and her family at this difficult time.

Faculty Recognition

At the college’s opening meeting, the following faculty received   awards: Outstanding Teaching—Tracy Goodson-Espy, C& Outstanding Scholarship—Larry Kortering, LRE; Outstanding Service—Allen Bryant, C&I; Outstanding Community of Practice—Ann-Marie Clark; C&I Outstanding Adjunct Teaching—Mary Ferrell, C&I.

Staff Apology

It was my unintentional oversight that I did not call attention to our wonderful staff in recognition of their efforts while we were also honoring faculty performance at the opening meeting. Staff did not receive any recognition this past year because of the budget limitations. Ordinarily, we show our appreciation by providing them with a gift certificate to the restaurant of their choice. I am hopeful we can find some way to re-instate that practice this year. In the meantime, remember that without our staff, we would not be able to do the work we do. Give them a smile and a pat on the back—they all deserve our support and appreciation.

Dolly Farrell

As most of you know, Dolly Farrell, our college advancement officer, has begun working from her location in Salisbury, NC. If you need to contact Dolly for any reason, please continue using her email farrelldm@appstate.edu or the phone number 828.719.7979 (cell). Her address is: 1030 Edgedale Drive, Salisbury, NC 28144.

Parking

We have an update on the parking situation (e.g., when the construction along Rivers Street will be completed). Within the next couple of weeks, the remaining parking slots on the Rivers Street side of the building will be closed off. Projected completion of the overall project is December, early January. In the meantime, as a reminder, if you have people coming to campus, it would be a good idea to give them advance warning about the scarcity of parking near Duncan and suggest they use the Parking Deck on Rivers Street, the stadium lot (has anyone timed it yet as to how long it takes to walk down from there?), Library Parking Deck—very limited access, Broyhill and the shuttle, etc. Let’s hope that all this upheaval will result in appropriate heat in the winter and cooling in the summer—well, one can hope, right?

Professional Travel

Without an operating budget, we are at a disadvantage in terms of determining if we can afford to fund professional travel; as a general rule of thumb, if your travel is not until second semester, sit tight for now; if your travel is for a conference this fall, you can fill out a travel request with estimated expense and submit to your chair; however, chairs have been alerted that without knowledge of what funds may be available, they should be wary of sending on requests, since all requests now have to be approved by the Provost and he, in turn, has indicated that in most cases if a department chair’s signature and a dean’s signature are on the request, he will assume we have the funding—Catch-22 situation at the moment. Help us out here, if you can, by holding onto requests as long as you can. We anticipate budget information by mid to late September. Again, we are looking only at professional travel here; travel to teach extension courses is covered.

Reminder about Printing/Copying

Allocations for copying/printing are for the year, not the semester. Printing/copying for off-campus is included within the overall allocation. Check with your department chair if you have questions.

Online Syllabi

We would like to see all course syllabi online as soon as possible; if you have your syllabus on ASULEARN, please also send a copy to Justin Cervero (cerverojj@appstate.edu) for posting for archival purposes. We attempt to maintain an electronic file of all syllabi each semester, for both student and historical reference. Send the information in Word or PDF format to Justin and he will take it from there. Many thanks for helping us have an accurate record.

Reading Groups

Normally we have formed reading groups for the fall semester, focusing on readings dealing with diversity; due to the uncertain budget picture, I am holding off on this activity for fall, but would like to renew the activity for spring if at all possible. Those who have participated in these groups in the past (faculty, staff, and students), have found the activity very worthwhile. In the meantime, if you have a book suggestion that you think might be of interest to others, please send me title and author. We will compile the suggestions and then make our selection from there. We are looking primarily for reading that provides for educators particular insights into contexts dealing with diversity and since the RCOE has an inclusive definition of diversity, we ought to find some interesting titles out there that we would enjoy reading and discussing.

Professional Core Call

You should have received by email the call from the Professional Core Task Force inviting participation in the development of courses and related topics (i.e., common assessments, field experiences). We invite you to join others in shaping the Professional Core. If, for some reason you did not receive the call, please let me know and we will provide you with the information.

Update on Building

I am attending monthly construction meetings with members of the construction team—main contractor, sub-contractors, ASU Design and Construction reps, plus individuals from the architectural firm. As of this past week, we are pretty much on schedule. Steel is being fabricated and should arrive probably by late September. Pouring of concrete should begin with in the next couple of weeks. The actual building process will go in four phases, beginning at the far end of the site away from the parking deck and then progressing back toward the deck; this is a somewhat different kind of process than is commonly used, but it is necessary due to the tightness of the site. The sign is up announcing that the site is for the Reich College of Education; check the webcam via our home page (incidentally, I have found the webcam is also a good way to check how traffic is moving on King Street before you venture forth.)

SALT Grants

Several of you have inquired whether SALT grant funds will be available this year. I believe we may receive some funding from the GA but have no idea at this time the amount. We will have to give careful consideration as to where this funding may be of the greatest use within the guidelines that GA will provide.

Impact of 421 Widening

If you are interested in the widening of 421 and its impact on the present entrance to town, check out this site—fascinating and just a bit scary;

http://www.ncdot.gov/projects/US421Widening/

As a postscript, those who must travel 421 to teach classes will want to pay close attention to traffic patterns getting in and out of Boone during the time 421 is under construction; presumably there should be movement most of the time but at peak hours, be prepared for some significant delays.

H1N1

We do not know at this time how the campus will be affected by the H1N1 virus, nor do we know what impact the virus may have on school closings. The university should be issuing some general guidelines shortly. In the meantime, remember that University Health Services does not issue medical excuses to students; certainly, however, if students have symptoms, they should not be in class or in offices. The same would go for faculty or staff. Also remember that Health Services on campus is not set up to treat faculty or staff; you will need to go to your usual medical provider for treatment, verification, vaccination, etc. We will be trying to work out some general policy for student teachers; students who are engaged in early field experiences should not attend those experiences if they have the flu symptoms. Overall, because of the nature of the virus, we will have to be somewhat flexible in terms of absences and make-up work.

New Partnerships

We are involved with a project on anti-ageism with the High Country Area Agency on Aging, the Senior Tarheel Legislative Group, and the ASU graduate program in Gerontology along with several school districts in the area; the purpose of the project is to explore ways of integrating into school curriculum, information about the aging process, the substantial increase in the aging population of both the country at large and, more specifically, within North Carolina. There clearly will be implications for teacher preparation and teacher staff development emerging from this initiative.

We also are in the process of becoming a partner in the New Schools Project, funded in large part by the Gates Foundation; we will be working with the Early College at Caldwell Community College which is one of four such programs in North Carolina to be selected to participate in a special initiative calling for closer working relationships between these model schools and university partners. We are at the very preliminary steps of establishing the partnership but there appear to be excellent opportunities for field placements, campus visits, early field observations, etc.

Jay Leno moments

Whether you are a fan of Jay Leno or not, this series of video clips should provide some humor and at the same time scare you a little bit—of course, these could not be any of our students☺

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“Change is a Journey, not a Destination.”
—M. Fullan