This is a second in a three-part series in Connections providing an update of projects and issues regarding research, outreach and technology. The focus of this column is outreach.
The college outreach efforts include the many ways that faculty, staff and students connect to projects throughout the world. Administratively, the outreach efforts that connect most closely with the Dean’s Office are our World Campus programs, Conferences and Institutes, and Continuing Education. The institutional work of outreach involves my participation in University-wide committees such as the Digital Learning Academic Council and the Administrative Council on Engagement. Within the college, we have connections to Pennsylvania educational leaders through the Educational Outreach Advisory Board and the Pennsylvania School Study Council.
I have worked with the department heads, program faculty and World Campus personnel to advance our online presence over the past few years. I continue to hold college-wide program coordinator meetings dedicated to conversations across a variety of topics (administration, curriculum, capstone projects, enrollment management, finance and doctoral program) to communicate knowledge and build strength in the college.
Our World Campus programs are flourishing. We have built new programs and extended current programs in each of the four departments. Our results for World Campus programs have shown strong and rapid growth, doubling in five years to more than 4,000 Budget Academic Year course enrollments in 2016-17 across all four departments in eight different programs.
Throughout the past academic year, I have been working with college faculty and staff to develop plans for a college-wide online doctorate. Under this model, students could receive a D.Ed. degree in education from participating graduate programs. Key components of the degree would be completion of a master’s degree, common core courses, series of elected cognate area courses, and the completion of an innovative, research capstone experience. We have many details to decide and I look forward to this ongoing conversation.
The College of Education has been able to host a number of important conferences. Working with the assistance of Penn State’s Conferences and Institutes we have held the following: Reconceptualizing Early Childhood Conference (2012); Reforming STEM Education–The Central Role of Practices (Waterbury summit, 2013); Education and Civil Rights: Historical Legacies, Contemporary Strategies and Promise for the Future (2014); and the Education Summit: Re-Inventing Tomorrow’s Schools: Innovations in Pennsylvania through Community-University Partnerships (2016). The program in Higher Education also has run the annual Academic Leadership Academy to great success.
As we advance with our World Campus programs, and seek new opportunities for Conferences and Institutes, I plan to:
- Continue to work across the programs and with our partners in World Campus to maintain a quality education product, while maintaining efficient management and use of resources.
- Address issues around graduate faculty status, faculty capacity, and how to manage growth while maintaining quality across our online portfolio.
- Continue to work with online associate deans at Penn State to learn and problem-solve issues related to World Campus programs.
- Create models for instructional design that support faculty innovation, freedom and control, including better integration of online and residence instruction.
- Advance the idea of a college-wide online doctorate (iDEd) that provides educational opportunities for educators, leaders and counselors to advance their careers through knowledge.
- Continue to support faculty initiated ideas for conferences.
There is much happening through outreach in the college. I welcome continued dialogue about the ways to improve our connections and relationships with other institutions and service providers.
My next Connections column will address technology.