The Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis has decided to close the Master Administrator Capstone Certificate (MACC).

Transcription

1 Page 1 of 6 ~ducation~leadership &. Policy Ana~ysis University of Wisconsin-Madison August 12, 2013 To: Paul M. DeLuca Jr., Provost From: Julie F. Mead, Chair, Educational Leadership & Policy Analysis IV)' RE: Master Administrator Capstone Certificate (MAC C) VJ The Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis has decided to close the Master Administrator Capstone Certificate (MACC). CC: David Rosenthal, School of Education Jocelyn Milner, Academic Planning and Institutional Research Daniel Kleirunan, Graduate School Wendy Crone, Graduate School Kelly Haslam, Graduate School Martin Cadwallader, Graduate School Katherine (Katy) Duren, Division of Continuing Studies 253 Education Building tel.: 608/ Bascom Mall fax: 608/ Madison, WI website: ucation.wisc.ed u/elpa/

2 Page 2 of 6 December 11, 2012 To: Julie Underwood, Dean, School of Education From: Paul M. DeLuca Jr., Provost RE: Master Administrator Capstone Certificate (MACC) Status Update I am writing to thank you for Adam Gamoran s November 30, 2012 memo updating us on the status of the MACC program and Julie Mead s November 29, 2012 response to my June 18, 2012 memo. Our exchange about MACC has been addressing the status of the program, which has not enrolled students since We understand your explanations that there is potential for this program to be revived and serve state needs, and that more planning time is needed. Professor Mead s report gives August 15, 2013 as a deadline for obtaining DPI approval for licensure and identification of partners or a decision to suspend or discontinue the program. I will expect a report by August 15, That report should either provide a plan to reopen the program that addresses the concerns raised in the December 2011 review and the October 23, 2012 memo from the Graduate School, or it should provide a short proposal to formally suspend or discontinue the program. Thank you for your attention to this issue. Attachments Copy: Julie Mead, Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis Adam Gamoran, School of Education David Rosenthal, School of Education Jocelyn Milner, Academic Planning and Institutional Research Daniel Kleinman, Graduate School Wendy Crone, Graduate School Kelly Haslam, Graduate School Martin Cadwallader, Graduate School Katherine (Katy) Duren, Division of Continuing Studies Office of the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs 150 Bascom Hall University of Wisconsin-Madison 500 Lincoln Drive Madison, Wisconsin Fax:

3 Page 3 of 6 November 30, 2012 To: Paul M. DeLuca Jr., Provost From: Adam Gamoran, Acting Dean RE: Master Administrator Capstone Certificate (MACC) Review In your memo of June 18, 2012, you requested a written plan from the program faculty of our Master Administrator Capstone Certificate (MACC) program, administered by the department of Educational Leadership & Policy Analysis, regarding the program review conducted in spring Since your June memo, the program review was discussed by the Graduate Faculty Executive Committee (GFEC) at its October 12 meeting. I am writing now in response to your memo of June 18 as well as the GFEC letter of October 23 (attached for your convenience). The program faculty members have provided the attached plan for the future, as you have requested. The plan lays out a process for conferring with officials in the Department of Public Instruction and with professional organizations of school and district administrators to identify the optimal time for resuming admissions to the program, hopefully in either Fall 2013 or Spring I have reviewed the program faculty s plan and find it thoughtful and appropriate. I am sympathetic to the university s desire to eliminate outdated, unnecessary programs, but I concur with the faculty s judgment that this program does not fall under that category. It is a unique program that has provided a service to the state and may do so in the future. Program faculty members are taking deliberate steps to ensure its viability before enrolling new students. In summarizing the GFEC review, Dean Cadwallader has stated that the Graduate School will respect ELPA s determination about how to proceed, and we stand willing to work with ELPA. Our faculty members appreciate the opportunity to work with GFEC and with your office as they move the MACC forward. Attachments c: Dean Martin Cadwallader, Graduate School Jocelyn Milner, Academic Planning & Institutional Research Julie Mead, Educational Leadership & Policy Analysis School of Education Office of the Dean 377 Education Building University of Wisconsin-Madison 1000 Bascom Mall Madison, Wisconsin / Fax: 608/

4 Page 4 of 6 Educational Leadership &. Policy Analysis University of Wisconsin-Madison November 29, 2012 To: Paul M. DeLuca Jr., Provost From: Julie F. Mead, Chair, Educational Leadership & Policy Analysis RE: Master Administrator Capstone Certificate (MACC) Review ~ I J ~ This memo responds to your request of June 18 to address the Master Administrator Capstone Certificate (MACC) program. Your memo requested a plan for moving forward with either reopening or closing the program. Since receiving your memo, we have also received a letter from Dean Cadwallader summarizing the review by the Graduate Faculty Executive Committee (GFEC) of our program review report. GFEC accepted our report and recommended the program be discontinued. They also stated, however, that they will abide by the faculty wishes regarding the future of the program and that they are willing to work with us on moving the program forward. For your convenience, let me summarize key aspects of the MACC and its chronology. The MACC began in It is a self-contained 12-credit sequence of 4 special topics courses designed to meet the professional development needs of individuals serving as administrators in elementary and secondary schools throughout Wisconsin. Between 2004 and 2008, the MACC admitted 4 cohorts of students. As the external review documents, the program had significant positive outcomes, both for the individuals involved and the Department. It is also important to note that the Department also launched the Wisconsin Idea Executive Ph.D. Program during the same period. As such, once the last MACC cohort completed the program, we decided to complete the program review as a means to gather information about the MACC and inform our deliberations about how to meet the needs of practicing administrators through this and all our programs. It is also important to note that as we began the self study process in 2011, the Department had four faculty members retire, including two professors who served as core faculty in the k-12 leadership program. In addition faculty re-designed the core Master's degree program for aspiring k-12 school leaders. Although we continued and completed the MACC program review, it was conducted in the context of significant Departmental activity related to faculty searches and programmatic re-design. We remain committed to the MACC and have actively continued to pursue its development while ensuring that we are good programmatic and fiscal stewards of Departmental resources as applied to this and all programs. 253 Education Building tel.: 608/ Bascom Mall fax: 608/ Madison. WI website: sc.edu /elpal

5 UAPC Doc Page 5 of 6 After careful examination of the report of the external review committee, its acknowledgement of the program's quality and service to the field, the ELPA faculty does not intend to close the program as recommended by GFEC. Instead, we are engaged in a thorough consultation with personnel from the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) in order that future iterations of the MACC will allow students to achieve both individual development through an advanced course of study and submission of materials for review for the master administrative license from the State. In addition, the Department is working with state professional organizations of administrators (e.g., the Association of Wisconsin School Administrators and the Wisconsin Association of District Administrators) to consider the needs of the field and the potential market for the MACC. Our long history with cooperative and other programs that serve professional administrators in the state shows that we carefully consider each of the issues addressed in the GFEC memo and are always careful to ensure that "sufficient faculty resources" are marshaled to implement any program we deliver. As such, we have developed a plan for future delivery of the MACC that protects our core Master's and Ph.D. programs while still being innovative in providing a means for practicing school leaders to develop their knowledge and skills. We intend to build on the MACC's successful history and to attend carefully to the issues raised in the external review as we do so. We expect to re-launch the program within the next calendar year, but are committed to ensuring that the MACC will be successful when we re-initiate it. We understand the University's interest in clearing the books of programs that are no longer viable, but we submit that the MACC is not one of them. Given the investment of faculty time in the development of the program, shepherding it through the approval process, successful delivery, program review, and subsequent discussions with DPI and various administrator groups throughout the state, we believe the MACC merits continuation. We believe the needs of our constituencies are best served by keeping the MACC in our programmatic toolkit, to use when those needs suggest the timing is right. We see no harm to the University or the Department by having this program on the books even if temporarily not enrolling students. Indeed, closing the program at this juncture runs counter to the current educational innovations initiative on campus. The MACC is a novel program that should remain as it provides an innovative and flexible means for our Department to respond to the needs of the field of school leadership in the State of Wisconsin. Accordingly, the Department faculty intends to continue to proceed with our plan for the MACC's next successful launch. We will continue to work with DPI and the Dean and hope to welcome the next group of MACC students after careful examination of all the factors that will best position the program to successfully operate on a cost-recovery basis. Steps in the plan include: Finalize the program approval with DPI so that preparation and submission of master administrative licensure materials is an outcome of the MACC. Those conversations are

6 Page 6 of 6 progressing nicely, but it is not possible to predict with complete accuracy when the DPI approval process will be completed. Continue to meet with local school district leaders in order to locate and enter into agreements with school districts or associations as partners, including, when possible, using the special tuition pricing overseen by the School ofeducation's Office of Education Outreach and Partnerships. Consider timing in relation to other departmental initiatives, including efforts to recruit students to core programs. Careful assessment ofwhat, if any, additional resources are needed to deliver the program. If progress continues as anticipated, it is our intention to admit students to the MACC in either Fall 2013 or Spring Ifby August 15,2013 our efforts to obtain final DPI approval for licensure and to identify district and association partners for candidate recruitment have not been successful, we will take the steps necessary to formally suspend or discontinue the MACC. If you would like to discuss this matter in more detail, I am happy to meet with you at your converuence.