Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Thankful for a Great Fall Quarter and a Record-Breaking Number of Students

Our COE is grateful for a wonderful fall quarter and a record-breaking enrollment for Louisiana Tech University for 2015! We are thankful that the COE was able to contribute significantly to both the graduate and undergraduate enrollment of Louisiana Tech University which totaled 12414 students. Our three departments, Kinesiology, Psychology, and CIL  had a total of  1345 undergraduate students enrolled for the fall, according to data from Mrs. Lori Theis. Of the 1345, more than 450 enrolled from our rapidly growing Department of Kinesiology alone. The total number of graduate students for the entire University totaled 1718. Of the 1718 students, 935 graduate students were enrolled in our College of Education. That is over 1/2 of the total university graduate enrollment for fall 2015!

Our graduate numbers for new students also soared with 513 new graduate students students being officially admitted and enrolled for the 2015 fall quarter by the ninth class day.  In fact, of the 695 total new graduate student enrollment for the University, according to data from the LATECH Graduate School, 74% were enrolled through the COE. Of the 513 new students admitted and enrolled in the college, 387 students were enrolled through the Office of Professional Education Outreach (OPEO) in the Science and Technology Education Center (SciTEC) .  The LLLE and LLL COE combined enrollment total for new and returning students for the University for the quarter equaled 446, just over 1/4 of total University graduate enrollment.
New collaborative extension efforts were critical to the success of our College of Education this  quarter and included projects in Caldwell, Morehouse, Livingston, Caddo, Ouachita and Bossier parishes, to name a few. Even teachers in Michigan engaged in the online opportunities through coursework on the MOODLE platform. Doctoral cohorts were also established  through the TLLI program, processed through the OPEO unit, and lead by the Department of Curriculum Instruction and Leadership. Leaders in the extension efforts for the 2015 included  Mr. Jody Purvis, Drs. Randy Parker, Mr. Randy Moore, Dr. David Gullatt, and Dr. Carolyn Talton, with each enrolling between 30-80 students each for the custom coursework. Interdisciplinary partnerships with faculty and staff in biomedical engineering as well as local and national agencies including the Department of Natural Resources also contributed to the figures and served as foundational partnerships for new large-scale efforts planned for the academic year.

The continued success of the COE is also a direct result of the outstanding caliber of students we have and currently served. Psychology boasts the highest number of graduate teaching students who continually deliver high quality instruction and research to supplement the efforts of the outstanding faculty. The competitive positions are sought nationally.  Innovative programs such as, orientation and mobility through PDRIB, and custom professional development courses through AE Phillips, one of the highest ranked K-8 schools in the state of Louisiana, also are integral factors in annual enrollment success. While all faculty, staff, students, administrators, and alums in our College of Education are responsible for the high quality programing, strong reputation, and numerous successes in our division; we wanted to highlight a few of the key contributors that lead the way in terms of program development, enrollment, and outreach for the 2015 quarter. During this season of thanks, we plan to share a few of their stories and successes! Thanks to you for your contribution to the success of the College of Education. We wish you and your loved ones a very Happy Thanksgiving!




Friday, November 20, 2015

Adopt-A-School Partnership Leads to Science Stars Shinning

In addition to the two events this week through the Adopt-A-School partnership (See initial blog for 11/20), the SciTEC's IDEA Place team also  took students from the Science Club at Dubach School to do demonstrations on the morning show on NBC's KTVE in West Monroe, LA, last week. This is the second year that Dubach School has partnered with SciTEC for the STEM TV experiences. Mrs. Kimberly Franks and Mr. Matthew Vincent sponsor the Science Club group. The demonstrations will be aired on Friday's during the 2015 winter on both NBC'S KTVE and FOX 14.
The students toured the studio and offices of the station. Pictured is Justin sharing how the digital magic happens on live television!  The tour was followed by a tour of ULM where students were able to "Feed the Turtles" and earn a shirt describing the experience. SciTEC's IDEA Place also received a donation to provide lunch at a restaurant of the students' choice. They selected Willie's Duck Diner where some enjoyed alligator, duck, and other fixings. Pictured below are the students following their academic adventures, making a Bulldog with one hand and a Warhawk with the other, in front of the Louisiana Tech Bus. Thanks to Mr. John Price for providing transportation for the experience. Collaborating with ULM and encouraging students to find the best fit for them for post-secondary studies helps our kiddos as individuals and our larger community on the I-20 corridor. Thanks to Seth in ULM admissions for his time and willingness to show the students another great Louisiana university. Of course, students also received goodies from our SciTEC Center in the Louisiana Tech University College of Education for participating and being "Star Scientists" for the day.

If you would like to participate with SciTEC's IDEA Place in the College of Education and help out our local schools, or if you are at a local school and have a specific need with which we can help you; feel free to email lbkv@latech.edu. Thanks to Cathi Cox-Boniol and Ivana Flowers for their hard work organizing the initiative.To learn more about the Adopt-A-School program, you can visit the following link: http://www.rustonlincoln.org/pages/Adopt-A-School .  To learn more about SciTEC and our many outreach programs and branches, check out this link: http://education.latech.edu/departments/science_technology_education_center/ .
In the event you need something to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, be thankful for the great kiddos in our parish. They are amazing and on their way to accomplishing great things!

SciTEC Partners with Lincoln Parish Schools through the Adopt-A-School Program

The Science and Technology Education Center's (SciTEC) IDEA Place at Louisiana Tech University is a proud partner with each of the Lincoln Parish public schools for the 2015-2016 school year through the Adopt-A-School Program. The program is directed by the Ruston-Lincoln Chamber of Commerce in conjunction with Project ACHIEVE. As described on the Ruston-Lincoln Chamber of Commerce website, "The Adopt-A-School program aims to bring more community involvement to Lincoln Parish public and private schools through pairing schools with community partners – businesses, churches, civic groups, even individuals."  Through the Adopt -a-School program, the SciTEC IDEA Place team has had the opportunity to meet great young people and amazing educators at Ruston Junior High School and Choudrant Elementary School this week for the interviews for Student of the Year and the Annual Book Character Costume Competition and Parade. We had the opportunity to interview six stellar junior high candidates all deserving of the Student of the Year honor. Thanks to Assistant Principal, Mrs. Keisha Osborne, for the invitation to meet these awesome young people. The caliber of students at RJHS and in our district is absolutely amazing!  While the students and costumes were also absolutely amazing at Choudrant Elementary, it should be noted that the teachers also did a fabulous job dressing the part! Pictured is Mrs. Moore as Doc McStuffins! Thanks to Mrs. Johnnie Simone and Ms. Brenda Brister for the invitation to be a part of the day of fun and learning!

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Psychology's Dr.Latoya Pierce Receives the RusTony Award!



On August 27, Dr. Latoya Pierce received the prestigious RusTony award at the 25th Annual RusTony Awards Ceremony in Ruston, LA. The event was held at the Dixie Center for the Arts on North Vienna. Dr. Pierce has participated in many productions with Ruston Community Theatre including her outstanding portrayal of Calpurnia in "To Kill A Mockingbird," in the spring of 2015.

Monday, November 16, 2015

COE Kinesiology Student Named 2015 Outstanding Young Professional of the Year!

Our COE Department of Kinesiology was well represented in early November at the Louisiana Association of Heath, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance! Ms. Kimberly Paker, Ms. Smiley Reeves, Dr. Lanie Dornier, Dr. Tammy Schilling, Dr. Jean Chen and Ms. Victoria Arnold attended the event and celebrated Ms. Parker's being named as the Louisiana Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance Outstanding Young Professional of the Year for 2015, a prestigious statewide honor!


Monday, November 2, 2015

Connect with our College of Education through "TECH"nology this 2015 Homecoming!

Homecoming 2015 festivities will begin today, Monday, November 2! We are so excited about what is taking place campus-wide and in our College of Education. We invite our LATECH Family to join us in the College of Education for some great fun (in person and electronically). Our COE schedule of face to face and E-festivities are below as are related Twitter handles and webpages. We look forward to celebrating Homecoming 2015 with you and connecting our LATECH COE Family with "TECH"nology!


Monday, November 2 -Door Design and Decorations -Documenting the Designs (As the College of Education prepares for the week of Homecoming festivities, we encourage participants to document by uploading pictures and videos of the events online).

Tuesday, November 3 -Door Decorating Judging (This will occur at 10 am in Memorial Gym and Woodard Hall. Our winners will be posted electronically). -Thanks to Tech... (Our COE family is encouraged to share one reason they are thankful to be part of the LATECH family on one or more forms of social media).

Wednesday, November 4 -Where are you now, and what are you doing? (Alumni are encouraged to connect and share where they are and what they are up to after receiving a world-class education at Louisiana Tech University's College of Education).

Thursday, November 5 -Throwback Thursday (Faculty, friends, Alumni, and students are encouraged to post homecoming pictures / memories as Tech students or as high school students before they became Louisiana Tech Bulldogs).

Friday, November 6 -Friday COE Homecoming Fun (Faculty, friends, Alumni and students are asked to post pictures and notes related to the Distinguished Alumni of the Year event in Memorial gym at 8:30 am where will be honoring Dr. William Ware and Mrs. Pamela Kiper Ware, the College of Education Showcase/ Open House from 10am to 11am, the AOY luncheon at noon at the DAC, and all other Homecoming-related activities.)

Saturday, November 7 -GAME TIME! All students, faculty, friends, and Alumni are to post pictures and tags during Breakfast with Champ, the COE tailgate hosted by the Department of Psychology and the Professional Development and Research Institute on Blindness, the 2015 Homecoming Parade, and the ballgame as our Bulldogs beat North Texas!


COE Webpage: http://education.latech.edu/

COE Blog: http://latechcoe.blogspot.com/

COE Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LATechCOE

COE Homecoming Twitter Handles: #WEARELATECH #HOCO2015 #COE

COE Instagram:https://instagram.com/latechcoe/


We are looking forward to a great week! GO DAWGS...Past, Present, and Future!

Thanks for joining us in celebrating,

The College of Education Special Initiatives Team