NEW COORDINATORS NAMED & OTHER STAFFING NEWS

The college is very pleased to announce the appointment of two new staff members:

We had a terrific pool of applicants for the position of Coordinator of Teacher Education Field Experiences and Admission (Wham 135), which has had an interim in place since the late fall when Debbi Joseph left for another position in Florida. All of the finalists who were interviewed for the position (several of whom currently work in our college) were highly qualified. The search committee recommended that we hire Jenise Wilson, who has been serving as the interim coordinator, and I have accepted their recommendation. Jenise is a former academic advisor in our college who brings wonderful leadership and management abilities to the position, as well as good listening skills and loads of patience (!). We’re very pleased that she has accepted our offer.

We have also hired a new Center Coordinator. We had three highly-qualified finalists for the position; the person chosen is Karen Lavender. We welcome her to our college and expect that she is already busy making connections with the Harrisburg, Eldorado, Carrier Mills, and Creal Springs school districts and meeting with her students.

I should mention here as well that Cay Grenfell will be retiring as an academic advisor for the college, after working so effectively for the college during the last 18 years. She will be greatly missed by our students, as well as by her colleagues in and out of the Advising Center. We are initiating a search for her replacement, as well as a replacement for Jenise Wilson, who also previously worked as an academic advisor for us.

One of President Poshard’s primary goals for the University is the following: "Build a strong economic and educational outreach which will effectively serve the needs of the southern and central Illinois area."

Our college continues to do outstanding work in addressing this important goal, with a slight modification that I’d like to make: “will effectively serve the needs of the southern and central Illinois area and beyond.” Below is a selection, by no means an exhaustive listing, of the many different ways that we address this goal:

• Master’s degree program in Rehabilitation Counseling in collaboration with El Valor, a Chicago-based Latino human service agency. Offered to a cohort of 15 students in Chicago, the program provides face-to-face instruction on weekends and Internet-based instruction. It is now in its fourth semester.
  
• Master’s degree program in Behavior Analysis and Therapy in Rockford, Illinois, offered to a cohort of 22 students in a combination of weekend courses and Internet-based instruction. It is now in its second year.
  
• Certification training program in Behavior Analysis and Therapy for school personnel in Springfield and Harrisburg. The five-course sequence will begin this semester, with weekend classes offered to an enrollment estimated at 40-50 students.
  
• Certification program in Behavior Analysis and Therapy offered entirely online. The five-course sequence is expected to enroll approximately 80 students from all over the country.
  
• Master’s degree program in Rehabilitation Administration offered entirely online. Beginning this semester, this program is intended for practicing rehabilitation professionals on a management/administration career path. It is based on Executive MBA models.
  
  
• Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders serves as the regional focal point for children with autism spectrum disorders, their families, schools, and other community service helpers.
  
• Bachelor’s degree program in Elementary Education offered at the University Center of Lake County. This program has been in place since Fall 2002, with eight cohorts having graduated and four cohorts in process.
  
  
• Reading Specialist master’s degree program offered in Libertyville School District 70, from Summer 2006-Summer 2008.
  
• Two Teaching Leadership master’s degree programs offered in Whiteside School District 115, the first cohort completed in Summer 2007 and the second taking place from Summer 2006-Summer 2008.
  
• Bachelor’s degree program in Elementary Education offered at Rend Lake College Marketplace in Mount Vernon since Spring 2007.
  
• Professor Kelly Glassett (C&I) consults on content-area literacy for high school teachers in Johnson City.
  
• Professor Lynn Smith (C&I) participates on school support teams for Cairo School Unit District 1 and Dongola School Unit District 66.
  
• Middle School course (C&I 462/802) offered at Southeastern Illinois College in Harrisburg, one of two required Middle School endorsement courses.
  
• Two Early Childhood Education courses taught at Shawnee Community College in Ullin during the Fall 2007 semester, with additional courses planned for the future.
  
• The Southern Region Early Childhood Programs are celebrating their 20th year, serving 1,250 at-risk families with birth to seven year old children in Jackson, Perry, Randolph, and Franklin counties. Recent developments include: collaboration with Memorial Hospital in Carbondale in hosting year-round Baby Talks on Thursday nights for parents and children birth to age three; collaboration with the National Fatherhood Institute in a program (Men Actively Leading by Example) in Murphysboro that focuses on fathers’ involvement with their young children; collaboration with Murphysboro and Benton High Schools in parent education for teen parents and the piloting of the Healthy 4 Moms Program; collaboration with Jackson County Housing Authority in the development of a Family Center where weekly child development and family activities occur; partnership with SIUC Head Start and Giant City School District 130 in serving young children and their families in Preschool for All prekindergarten classrooms; and partnership with Benton City United School District 47 in establishing an Early Learning Center at the elementary school.

• A Women’s Volleyball Clinic is taking place on campus on March 6, with Professor Tony Calabrese (KIN) as the contact person. This clinic is offered by Mick Haley, former U.S. Women’s Olympic volleyball coach and current women’s volleyball coach at the University of Southern California, and should draw many area high school and college volleyball coaches.
  
• The 4th Annual Southern Illinois Physical Education and Health Conference is taking place at SIUC on March 7, with Professor Tony Calabrese (KIN) as the contact person. Approximately 80 area physical educators are expected to attend.
  
• Initial Athletic Training classes are being offered at Rend Lake College in Mount Vernon, in anticipation of students entering the program at SIUC.
  
• Professor Phil Anton (KIN) has offered the Southern Illinois Healthcare Strong Survivor Program Exercise Program at John A. Logan College to cancer patients in the area.
  
• Professor Phil Anton (KIN) has developed collaborations with the Simmons-Cooper Cancer Institute, based at the SIU Medical School in Springfield; American Cancer Society Regional Health Initiatives Council; American Cancer Society Regional Leadership Board; and American Cancer Society Relay for Life Committee. These collaborations involve research studies, grant submissions, fundraising, and increasing the health and quality of life for cancer patients in the Southern Illinois region.

• Education, Training and Development specialization in the Department of Workforce Education and Development offered on weekends at 15 military installations and one civilian site in 10 states. The program is particularly suited to military service members, given the national attention on the need for education and training of a high quality workforce. The 16 sites are: Naval Base Kitsap, Bangor, WA; Riverside, CA; Charleston AFB in SC; Naval Air Station Oceana Dam Neck Annex, Virginia Beach, VA; Fairchild AFB in WA; Naval Station Great Lakes in IL; Groton NSB in CT; Jacksonville NAS in FL; Kirtland AFB in NM; Mayport NS in FL; McChord AFB in WA; McGuire AFB in NJ; Pensacola NAS in FL; San Diego NAS and NAVSTA in CA; Scott AFB in IL; and Tyldall AFB in FL.
  
• Education, Training and Development specialization in the Department of Workforce Education and Department offered on weekends at Rend Lake College Marketplace in Mount Vernon.
  
• Education, Training and Development specialization in the Department of Workforce Education and Department offered to the training and apprenticeship staff of the Illinois Laborer’s and Contractors Joint Apprenticeship Program in Mount Sterling.
  
• Master’s degree programs in Workforce Education and Development delivered at Southwestern Illinois College and the University Center at Lake County. Two courses are offered at each location per semester. One course for each site is done via two-way interactive video and is scheduled in accordance with on-campus courses at SIUC. The other is scheduled over three weekends with an onsite instructor.

• Certified Education program in Social Work being offered in the Middle East (Lebanon) in collaboration with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency.
  
• School of Social Work administers an Integrated Assessment Program in collaboration with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. This $5.2 million project employs 50 social workers working directly with children and families in 84 counties in the Southern and Central regions of the state.
  
• School of Social Work has developed a collaborative relationship with the Hispanic community in the Carbondale/Cobden area, which has included a community education event and focus groups as part of an immigration study conducted in partnership with the School of Law, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, League of Women Voters, and Hispanic Health Advisory Committee. In addition, social work students serve as volunteers for the Hispanic Health Advisory Committee.
• School of Social Work serves as co-sponsor for the Annual International Conference of the College of Social Work at Helwan University in Egypt.

• Special Education program partners with FOCUS of Southern Illinois and Shawnee Community College to prepare special educators for the southernmost region of Illinois. Through funding from the Illinois State Board of Education, this “Grow Your Own Teacher Program” works with individuals who are interested in special education as a career, providing advisement and forgivable loan support to enroll in appropriate coursework at SCC and SIUC.
• Professor Regina Foley (SPED) is engaging in a research project with Carbondale Community High School to examine the impact of co-teaching teams on student academic performance and satisfaction of a diverse student population.
  
• Professors Regina Foley and Nancy Mundschenk (SPED) collaborated with colleagues at SIU Edwardsville on a grant from the Illinois State Board of Education to establish the Alliance for School-based Problem-solving and Intervention Resources in Education (ASPIRE). This Southern Illinois Regional Professional Development Center grant is designed to support schools in 41 Southern Illinois counties in the delivery of research-based professional development and technical assistance, increasing participation of parents in decision-making in schools, incorporating professional development content into the curriculum of future educators, and evaluating the effectiveness of project activities.
  
• Counselor Education faculty are offering two on-campus, all-day workshops in February: Crisis Preparation and Response in the Schools and Seminar in Supervision. These workshops are intended to assist mental health professionals from a variety of fields throughout southern Illinois in keeping current in their disciplines and to provide them with the opportunity to earn CEUs to renew their state practitioner license.

• The Department of Health Education and Recreation offers the Safety Center to the Southern Illinois region. Its mission is to improve the safety of motor vehicle travel by offering a motorcycle rider program, occupant protection (child car seat) program, and emergency response program.
  
• Health Education faculty have been offering the University’s first distance-learning graduate program, a 40-credit master’s program in public health, to students from various locations in Maine. There is an onsite coordinator, with some instruction available at a central location. All students have positions in Maine’s public schools (e.g., school health coordinators).

• Educational Administration and Higher Education faculty conduct the SIUC School Law Conference every fall and the Southern Illinois Educational Leadership Conference every spring, both for dozens of area school administrators.
• Educational Administration and Higher Education faculty provide a First-Year Teacher Workshop every fall for new teachers.
  
• Educational Administration and Higher Education faculty made professional development presentations at 15 different schools in southern Illinois during the 2007 calendar year.
  
• Professors Elizabeth Lewin and Brad Colwell (EAHE) serve as members of the Financial Oversight Panel for the Cairo City United School District 1.
  
• Professor Brad Colwell (EAHE) is University Liaison to the regional chapters of the Illinois Principals Association and the Illinois Association of School Administrators.
  
• Professor Kathy Hytten (EAHE) serves as coordinator/facilitator of the “Diversity, Privilege and Power Professional Development Seminar Series” for Carbondale School District 95.

• The College has been offering the Teachers’ Academy of Life Long Learning (T.A.L.L.) during the last several summers. This one-week workshop series for area school teachers, administrators and other personnel has focused on different topics, such as “Health, Wellness and Safety,” “Differentiated Instruction,” “Diversity,” “Working with At-Risk Students,” and “Living in a Post-9/11 World.” This summer's T.A.L.L. Workshop, coordinated again by Jackie Cox, will take place on June 22 - 27; its tentative title is "What About the Arts?: Weaving Them Into Your Curriculum."

And that’s just a partial listing. Wow!