COE Update - January 17, 2017

Greetings on this Terrific Tuesday. I hope each of you enjoyed a relaxing and refreshing weekend and took some time to reflect on the extraordinary life of a man whose inspirational actions and words ring just as true now as they did during his lifetime. I imagine most, if not all of you have read one of his seminal works, Letters From a Birmingham Jail, but if not or you wish to refresh your memory, the link below connects to an image of the original document and an audio version of Dr. King delivering this powerful message. 

https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/king-papers/documents/letter-birmingham-jail 

It is my intention, beginning with this post, to provide timely and brief updates regarding the events, policies and legislation affecting our college. Please take a few minutes to read the items below and do not hesitate to provide suggestions as to future items to include.

Trees
The removal of trees from around Woodard Hall is the result of the implementation of the University's Tree Management Plan, which includes the planting of around 140 replacement and new trees. The trees, being planted within the next few weeks, should eventually provide additional shade during the hottest months, allow for the growth of grass in the currently barren areas, and exhibit diminished root growth that disturbs the concrete pathways, permitting safer foot traffic around campus. Additionally, an arboretum is planned for the area between Woodard Hall and the parking area servicing the band building and A.E. Phillips.

Dawgs with a Cause

COE Clinical Residents and La Tech Basketball Team Players and Staff

The Clinical Residency Center, a service and research center housed in Woodard Hall, provides training and support to clinical residents completing full-year internships in K-12 educational environments. In addition to being the first full-year clinical residency program in the state and one of the first in the nation, the residents have partnered with Tech athletics to implement a reading and character development program in area elementary schools. Recent, national media coverage (Washington Times, Miami Herald, others) of Dogs with a Cause resulted in an approximate $30,000 value to our college.

Student Travel Fund
$10,000 has been set aside to support student travel to college related events. The process for assigning and distributing these funds will be determined by a currently unidentified committee. More to come...

Search Updates
KINE and PBS are nearing the completion of searches for a combined five new faculty members. In general, both departments have been impressed by the applicant pool. I am very grateful to the committee members and the chairs for their demonstrated professionalism and organizational skills during this very important process.  More news to follow...

College Committees
To achieve the priorities set forth in our COE strategic plan, I will be announcing the formation of committees associated with the six themes delineated in the plan. As a reminder, the six strategic themes are listed below:
1. Scholarship: Expand and enhance the professional body of knowledge;
2. Enrollment: Recruit and retain high quality students;
3. Quality Personnel: Recruit and retain high quality faculty and staff;
4. Impact: Maximize workforce and economic development;
5. Elevate prestige and national prominence; and
6. Operations: Improve facilities and infrastructure

Please contact me if you have an interest in serving on any of the committees.

Louisiana Tech's SciTec Center; Home Grown Science Fun!
As many of you are aware, our own Lindsey Keith-Vincent appears weekly, usually with students from a local school, on KTVE's morning show. The link below accesses one of the recent shows.
http://www.myarklamiss.com/community/louisiana-tec...

Qualtrics
In recognition of the need for a college-wide mechanism to collect, organize, and analyze survey data, we are collaborating with the College of Business to negotiate a joint subscription with Qualtrics. Stay tuned...

Kinesiology Announcement
Most likely you are aware that Dr. Dornier recently stepped down as chair of the Department of Kinesiology. It has been a privilege to co-labor with Lanie, and I know that all of you will join me in thanking her for her 10 years of dedicated leadership to the college and her department. I am very pleased to announce that Dr. David Szymanski has accepted the position of interim chair of the department, and I am excited about the energy and leadership he will provide as the Department, the College, and the University strive to meet the needs of students and faculty while progressing towards increased national and international prominence.

Congratulations!

• AEP Ranks in Top 25 in the State 
• External Funding 
  
• Submitted - Teacher Preparation Residencies Support Needs Request
  - Louisiana Department of Education, $160,640
  - A. Vessel (PI), D. Basinger, B. McCoy, L. Keith-Vincent
• Awarded - Louisiana Center for Afterschool Learning (LACAL),
  - Louisiana Department of Education, $225,000
  - Lindsey Keith-Vincent
• Fall Doctoral Graduates - Thanks to Drs. Basinger, Desselles, Sheets, and Young for their expertise and dedication demonstrated by leading four candidates to earn their doctoral degrees. 

State of the College 
I am planning to deliver a State of the College message on either early afternoon of Feb. 23 or late morning of Feb. 24. It will also be a time to celebrate some of the accomplishments of the college. More to follow soon...

Thank you. Feedback is always invited and welcome.
Don

LACAL and NBA Partner to Make a Difference in Afterschool in Louisiana

The Louisiana Center for Afterschool Learning (LACAL), under the direction of Mr. Andrew Ganacheau and the LACAL Leadership Team, is pleased to announce an expansion of the Fun Math curriculum through a partnership with the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Shavonda Washington Shines Light on the CRRC and TEAM Mentoring Program

Shavonda Washington,5th grade Lincoln Parish ELA teacher and one of the first graduates of the full-year clinical residency program in 14-15, recently representing Lincoln Parish and Louisiana Tech in Baton Rouge, LA, where she shared her personal experiences as a clinical resident at Cypress Springs Elementary School with the Louisiana BESE (Board of Elementary and Secondary Education) board.

Dogs with a Cause

Dogs with A Cause Arrived at Cypress Springs Thursday as the College of Education TEAM Model Clinical Residents and the Louisiana Tech Baseball Team collaborated to make a difference in all 26 classrooms. This is one of two partnerships between the COE and the Louisiana Tech Athletics Program. The previous adoption was the Louisiana Tech Basketball Team and Ruston Elementary School. Both partnerships will continue to visit both Ruston grades 3-5 schools quarterly this year with future partnerships planned for 17-18. Much credit is given to Head Basketball Coach Konkol and Head Baseball Coach Burroughs for their willingness to collaborate and better understand the TEAM model full-year co-teaching experience of our elementary clinical residents. The true winners are the students that get to spend an afternoon with some of Louisiana Tech's finest students! It's a great day to be a DOG!

Thanks to Dr. Amy Vessel for leading this powerful effort and submitting the story!

COE'S SciTEC, NICERC, and CenturyLink host Inaugural NELA RARC

On Saturday, October 22, 2016, at CenturyLink Headquarters in Monroe, LA, SciTEC in the College of Education along with NICERC and CenturyLink hosted the inaugural North East Louisiana (NELA) Regional Autonomous Robotics Circuit (RARC).  There were over 20 teams onsite competing at the middle, elementary, and highschool levels.  The students competed trying to accomplish various tasks in a limited amount of time utilizing their programmed robots. Our own AE Phillips Bullpups placed during the event also, going home with two third place trophies for their outstanding efforts!

In addition to the outstanding teams, volunteers, coaches, and parents, there were also COE partners including Louisiana Tech University Admissions representative Collin Bailey, BASH Booth's Sarah Jeffords, and AXI Education Solutions, Lisa Dick who brought exciting STEM educational tools including Promethean panels, Spheros, and Little Bit circuitry kits. This is the first of three competitions planned for the 2016-2017 academic year. The event was only possible with the help of CenturyLink Vice President Bill Bradley, Mr. Alex Bohl, Mrs. Kristy LaCroix, Ms. Jaicee Choate, Ms. Jo Ann Marshall, and numerous volunteers, coaches, parents, and teams.  To learn more about NELA RARC and how to participate in future competitions, please contact NELA RARC Competition Coordinator, Ms. Jaicee Choate at 3182572866 / jchoate@latech.edu or Lindsey Keith-Vincent at lbkv@latech.edu.

 

 

A Leader in our COE and in our State

Dean Don Schillinger has been very busy since becoming Dean of the Louisiana Tech College of Education in 2014. While serving as dean, he has reorganized the college to encourage not only efficiency during these times of budgetary constraints, but has also emphasized the establishment and implementation of innovative, synergistic, and entrepreneurial efforts among the units and divisions.

In addition to steering the COE ship, Dean Schillinger was recently elected to serve as President of the  Louisiana Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (LACTE), and he serves as the state representative to the American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education, which "represents more than 800 postsecondary institutions" (http://aacte.org/about-aacte).

As President of LACTE, Dean Schillinger, represents other educational leaders from Louisiana institutes of higher education that offer teacher preparation programs. Dr. Schillinger noted that "I am very honored and humbled to be entrusted with this leadership role by representatives of the higher education teaching programs throughout Louisiana, and I will earnestly strive to function as a collaborative catalyst for raising the level of achievement, productivity and prestige of teacher education." We are overjoyed about his selection and grateful for the leadership he provides to our college and leaders across our state! Congratulations, Dean Schillinger!

COE Psychology Student wins Jim Castaneda Postgraduate Scholarship for Conference USA!

Diamond Every
Image from LATechSports.com

Congratulations to Psychology's own Diamond Every on her recent selection as the Jim Castaneda Postgraduate Scholarship recipient for Conference USA!  Dr. Donna Thomas, Psychology Department Chair and Faculty Athletics Representative Presented Every's application to the Conference USA committee earlier this year. Dr. Thomas stated,“I’m so proud of Diamond. She crushes the stereotypes many people hold about student-athletes. By earning this postgrad scholarship, she made her road to becoming a successful helping professional a little easier. Good things come to those who work, and Diamond Every worked hard for this honor. As the NCAA Faculty Athletics Representative for Louisiana Tech, I have the privilege of presenting nominees for this scholarship each year; the fact that she was a Psychology major made it even more special this year.”

Diamond is a graduate of the psychology department and is currently working on her Post-Bac obtaining necessary prerequisites for physical therapy school.  She participates and competes in track and field.  Diamond indicates that she has great interest in being, "a mentor to many young people while inspiring them to be an achieve all they would like to achieve."   Jake Cohen, Assistant Track Coach at Louisiana Tech noted that, "Diamond is an excellent student, athlete, and community member." He further describes her as a, "hard worker, dedicated, and a team leader." Coach LaMonte Vaughn insists that, "Diamond ....was an asset to achieving our team goals." She is a great representative of our College of Education and our  Louisiana Tech University, and we are thrilled about this achievement. Congratulations, Diamond!

 

To learn more about her award, check out the link below:

 

http://www.latechsports.com/sports/c-track/spec-rel/062016aab.html