DCE Spring 2022 Minutes

Dean’s Circle of Engagement

May 5-6, 2022

The Gladys W. & David H. Patton College of Education

Patton Hall 104 - Ohio University

Summary of Activities

Attendees:Ray Asik, Caryn Bailey, Mary Frances Bryja, Michelle Connavino, Maureen Coon, Linda Fife, Ellen Goldsberry, Chris Hayward (Chair), Sara Helfrich, Marc Houk, Robert Murphy (Vice-Chair), Connie Patterson, Kevin Rice, Helen Watson
Guest:Christine Bhat
Absent:Gail Houk, Joan Motheral, David Nguyen

Thursday, May 5, 2022Dinner at the Ohio University Inn

Friday, May 6, 2022
Greetings, Introduction and Overview of Agenda - Chris Hayward, DCE Chair
Chris Hayward called the meeting to order at 9:30 a.m. and introductions took place

2021-22 College Report and Looking Forward - Sara Helfrich, Interim Dean
Dean Helfrich provided a year-end update beginning with the fall budget forum where the budget model was discussed - the history and clarification.
This year our revenue is just under $15 million. The majority of these funds are provided by the University. Expenses are mostly salaries and benefits. Dean Helfrich presented the budget picture, as well as information on enrollments, and discussed the various recruitment activities taking place now and throughout the summer. She also provided historical enrollment information. A question was posed on how OHIO compares to other universities in Ohio and across the country. Dean Helfrich noted that although this was a big topic last year when numbers were down, now that we are up, there has been no discussion. She went on to provide data on where the Patton College enrollments are up. Regarding recruitment, Mary Frances Bryja asked about fly-in programs where counselors are flown into different high schools to talk about the available programs at OHIO. Dean Helfrich noted that this is currently not happening here but is a great suggestion and could be a possibility in the future. In summary, Dean Helfrich advised the group that we are currently sitting well with undergraduate enrollments for the fall.

Dean Helfrich continued with College updates:

The Patton College of Education has moved up significantly in rankings of the US News and World Report Best Graduate School of Education, from 125th last year to 89th this year – we are 2nd in Ohio behind Ohio State. This is traditional graduate programs, not online. Also, Best Online Graduate Education Programs up from over 100th last year to 60th this year. The Curriculum and Instruction masters program is ranked 21st for veterans. We did exceptionally well in education, not all colleges moved up.
There were two accreditation visits this year within the college.
- The largest was for the Teacher Education (TE) program and took place in the fall.
- The Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) visit last fall. We went into the visit with 18 areas of concern and left with 1. The final report will be out soon.
- Parks, Recreation and Leisure Studies (PRLS) had their accreditation visit in the spring. This is a smaller program, but no less important. We don’t yet have the report but left with very positive remarks.
Nine faculty earned tenure and/or promotion between the Athens campus and regional campuses
Dr. Jaqueline Yahn from the Eastern Campus earned the University Professor Award for Outstanding Teaching.
Over 300 students graduated with their bachelors degree and over 100 with their masters or doctoral. We went back to in-person ceremonies this year and the College had a small reception in the spring that took place in Patton Hall.
The Chapman Clapp Award, an advising award, is given to two individuals each year. Due to COVID, this award has not been given since 2019 so this year they went back to 2020, and the award went to Dr. Bruce Martin, Chair, Recreation, Sport Pedagogy, and Consumer Sciences (RSPCS). For this award, students nominate individuals based on the assistance they receive in advising. A slideshow was shown at the ceremony of others who were nominated and there were 7/8 others that were nominated from the Patton College.

Dean Helfrich then provided information on faculty and staff updates that have occurred since the last meeting of the Dean’s Circle of Engagement; the OHIO Guarantee+ Program that will begin in the PCOE during Fall semester 2022 and our advisors will now be titled as Student Success Advisors; the new Shared Services model that we will be following that will be launched on May 15. The three department administrators will be moving to a central location and tasks will be divided amongst them for all departments within the College; and leadership updates within the College – Dr. David Nguyen, who has been serving as the Interim Associate Dean, Research and Graduate Programs, has been named as the new Dean of University College beginning June 15. Dr. Lisa Harrison will join us as Interim Associate Dean, from Teacher Education, Middle Childhood Education, beginning July 1, 2022.

Moving forward, Dean Helfrich provided the following:

We will be continuing the focus from this year into next on Diversity, Equity and Inclusive Education. She developed a program this year for a Dean’s Fellow for Diversity, Equity and Inclusive Education, and Thom Stevenson from the Department of Recreation, Sport Pedagogy, and Consumer Sciences (RSPCS) was chosen as the first Dean’s Fellow. This is a two-year appointment. As part of this appointment, he also chairs the PCOE Committee on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, which has pulled together three separate college committees into one. The committee is entirely faculty, staff and student driven on what is important to them as a College and community, both small and large, to include such things as how we address inclusion in syllabi – that it is present; the hiring practices - the language used in job postings to be sure we are using inclusive language and that diversity is valued and not just a statement at the bottom of the job description – is it going out to places specifically targeting diverse faculty? The committee has hosted a few different events locally. Some food events took place around Thanksgiving time. A session on policing that was of interest to members of the committee – how police are perceived – and a police officer from Hocking College took part.
We are very aware of faculty and staff wellbeing – striving to help where we can, i.e., considering their commitments to College groups – too many, not enough – being respectful of time and need.
We are making a strategic investment in faculty research – we have made changes on how we spend our money on research and will continue to do this, i.e., supporting faculty with editing funds.
We are advocating for the needs of the College, specifically staffing and the need for more in the College but being strategic about it.
She is being open and communicating everything she knows as she knows it, recognizing that sometimes it is still not enough or very clear, and welcoming questions and feedback and providing answers as they become available.

Update on Dean’s Search – Connie Patterson, Associate Dean for Outreach and Engagement Dean Patterson provided the group with an update on the timeline for the search for the new permanent Dean of The Patton College. She was asked by the Provost’s Office to pull together some information – data points about the College - to help create a prospectus. The document is still being finalized and is not yet public. It will contain statistics about the University, the College, Athens, partnerships, including the DCE, etc., and will provide information to those who may not have knowledge of Ohio University.
The University has opted to use an internal strategic search service as opposed to going with an external search firm. Dean Patterson indicated that she was taken aback at first and wasn’t aware this was happening across campus and with very positive outcomes. We have a representative in Human Resources (HR) who has an incredible amount of expertise in hiring and has been working with our DEI committee on job postings, how we go about getting the word out and to whom and being very strategic about our value of diversity.
Emails were sent to PCOE tenure track faculty from the Provost’s Office to solicit nominations for sitting on the search committee. The Provost makes the selection on who will sit on the search committee from these nominations and others who may have an interest.
The search committee contains tenure-track faculty, as required in the faculty handbook, a graduate student, hoping to get an undergraduate student, and is Co-Chaired by the Dean of Honors Tutorial College, Donal Skinner, and Danielle Dani, Department Chair for the Department of Teacher Education. Members include faculty from all departments - tenure track faculty, some instructional faculty, some center directors - and the schedule is set on a pretty aggressive timeline.
The committee had their first meeting and was provided their charge on April 18; between then and May 2, the committee was to provide feedback for key areas of questioning for preliminary interviews - basically talking with the group on what is important to the College, what do we want to see in applicants, what do we want to see in a Dean, etc. The position will be posted between May 2-July 31 for active recruitment. August 8- September 6, review of applicant materials; committee meeting dates are on calendars and preliminary Teams interviews for candidates that are on the short list have been set. On October 3, University Communications and Marketing (UCM) will announce the finalists and final interviews will take place October 10-14, with final recommendations to the Provost by October 18. Reference checks, offers, negotiations, will then take place with a proposed start date of January 2, 2023.
Dean Helfrich stated that a mid-year start date is not unheard of, although not typical. They are also running a search for the Dean of Health Sciences and Professions, with the timeline running about 2-3 weeks behind that of the Patton College, so as to not be exhausting the university with interviews. She also noted that the dean search for University College was also undertaken by the internal search service. It was limited to internal candidates but was an excellent search of which she was a part of the search committee.
Chris Hayward asked about the names that were submitted to the Provost from DCE of those who were nominated to be a part of the search committee as representatives of the DCE. Dr. Patterson stated that tenure track faculty are required to be a part of the search committee; all other search committee members are selected by the Provost.

2021-22 Development Report and Looking Ahead – Caryn Bailey, Director of Development, Major Giving Caryn provided a little background information on herself which includes 20+ years of fund raising. She formerly lived and worked in Washington, DC, ran her own consulting firm, did fundraising in the public and private sector, and worked with the Mayor of Washington, DC. Caryn has worked for OHIO previously and WOUB in Athens. Caryn is a two-time alum of West Virginia University and will be an OHIO alum – finishing coursework, working on her dissertation, and planning to defend in the Fall. She came back to Athens when 4 | Page her mother became ill. She became the Director of Development for Diversity and Inclusion at Ohio University and now, in addition to Diversity and Inclusion, also for the Patton College of Education, with The Patton College having 75% of her focus, Diversity and Inclusion, 25%.
In terms of plans, Dean Helfrich’s goal is to grow Brothers RISE, the Honors Program, get an endowment named, to name a few.
Caryn thanked members of the DCE for their giving and mentioned other endowments that she is working on with alums.
Caryn then discussed several other items:

This year’s Giving Day and that The Patton College raised $13,345, ranked 5th among Colleges at OHIO.
She and Dean Helfrich will be visiting alums in the near future.
That there are naming opportunities within Patton as well as sponsorships with the Patton tree.
The importance of cementing alumni awards - Nominations can be submitted, and it is not too early to submit. Let Caryn know if you need any assistance.

2021-22 Department Reports and Looking Ahead
Dr. Christine Bhat, Chair, Counseling and Higher Education

Counseling and Higher Education is comprised of graduate programs (Masters and PhD) in Higher Education and Student Affairs and Counselor Education; also the Applied Human Services Program which is an undergraduate online program.
Have had the lowest staffing rate this past year with Counselor Education having only 4 full-time faculty members and Higher Education having 3 full-time faculty members. This was due to people leaving, sabbaticals, illnesses, moves to other areas. Offer letter is out and hoping for positive response for a visiting assistant professor in the Higher Education and Student Affairs program. Hoping to launch a search for an instructional faculty member in Counselor Education starting next fall.
One faculty member was granted promotion and tenure this year.
By summer we will graduate 23 counselor education masters students. There is a 100% placement rate for them.
The College Student Personnel Program graduated 26 students this past spring and also have a 100% placement rate.
The department had 10 PhDs awarded this spring out of a total of 18 awarded.
The Applied Human Services Program continues to grow and serves as a good feeder program to our masters program in Counseling.
Currently have 63 applicants for the Counselor Education masters program, with 37 admitted.
The Counselor Education PhD program has 18 applicants; Higher Education 21. We normally take 6-10 students each year.
International students are having difficulties obtaining Visas, with some students currently not able to be granted appointments until 2025. This is across the university. Discussion ensued on this topic.
The department has been active in applying for and receiving grants, and Dr. Bhat gave several examples.
Looking forward to launching an online School Counseling program; strengthening the chemical dependency capability in this region to provide counseling and support services and will add this specialized service to the Applied Human Services program.
Stress Management courses have been opened up to all across campus.

Dr. Jesse Strycker, (for Department Chair, Greg Kessler), Educational Studies

The Department of Education Studies brings together educational leadership, educational research evaluation, innovative learning, design and technology, and critical studies in educational foundations. Dr. Strycker gave some background on the department and talked about recent retirements and the effect on departmental programs and courses. He went on to discuss some current grants. One that Dr. Strycker is involved in is the 5 | Page “STEM for All” grant out of special education – it is a large, multi-million-dollar, multi-year grant to develop more special education teachers to the state of Ohio with an emphasis on having them be able to teach STEM matter as well as be technology founded and well designed. Another couple of grants he discussed were two US Department of Education grants - one over $200K and one over $300K in funding.
He continued that the Department of Ed Studies serves a diverse student population from many countries throughout the world, mentioning many. There are more international students in their programs than US students. Ed Studies has not seemed to have had the Visa difficulties with their students that other departments have, with just a few extraordinary situations.
Dr. Strycker mentioned a few program highlights:

Graduates who have gone on to have extremely successfully positions and careers – Dr. Strycker mentioned several.
Faculty member, Emmanuel Jean-Francois, serves as the Chief Administrative Chair of the African Educational Research Network (AERN), and is currently working on the groups 30th anniversary celebration and conference.
A certificate that has been developed is the Education Public Policy Leadership Certificate which is entirely online and is a partnership with the Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Services. There has been some success with this but slowed by the pandemic – each year they have a multi-day residency in Washington, DC, where they get to meet people, network, make connections with peers, congressional members, etc., and this gives them a chance to see how policy is handled.
There are several new certificates to be submitted for approval.

Dr. Bruce Martin, Chair, Recreation, Sport Pedagogy and Consumer Sciences

The merger between the Department of Human and Consumer Sciences (HCS) and the Department of Recreation and Sport Pedagogy (RSP) that was mentioned last year has now taken place to form the Department of Recreation, Sport Pedagogy, and Consumer Sciences (RSPCS). This was implemented July 1, 2021. This past year focused on the potential of bringing the two departments together. A lot of work has been done and continues to be done and Dr. Martin gave a couple examples of outcomes of bringing the two together and some collaborations.

As the most diverse department now within the college, we are working to develop a positive group culture.
We had been working on departmental policy in 2020-21 and are closing the loop on some of that.
We recently developed a new annual performance evaluation policy that the faculty just voted on last week.
As for geography, the two departments have been housed in two separate suites but will be brought together late spring on the second floor in what was formerly the RSP suite.
The plan for the Fall Retreat is to come together to develop a Strategic Plan for the department

Departmental Changes - we have lost faculty and staff over the past year to retirements, other positions, etc. Dr. Martin mentioned some of those who have left and that he is hopeful that some of these vacant positions will be filled.

Good work:

Some faculty recently received promotion and/or tenure within the department.
Some people on sabbatical. • Faculty have been publishing in T3 journals
Instructional faculty have also had some successes in various ways.
Dr. Martin was recently awarded the Clapp Chapman Outstanding Faculty Advising Award.
Currently hosting a wilderness first responder course for undergraduates and community members focused on the realm of outdoor recreation and education.
Next week we will begin a month-long outdoor leadership course to include a week-long backpacking, week-long mountain biking expedition, etc.

The group broke for lunch at noon

Unpacking the Critical Race Theory Debates and Bans: A Lexical Analysis - Dr. Laura Harrison, Professor, Counseling & Higher Education; Gaby Casteñada-Gleason, Assistant Professor of Instruction, Linguistics

Dr. Harrison began with a PowerPoint presentation and by talking about what Critical Race Theory is, i.e., Unpacking Critical Race Theory, and defining, as

CRT defies simplistic definitions.
“More a verb than a noun” (Crenshaw, who is widely credited with coining the term).
“A way of seeing, attending to, accounting for, tracing, and analyzing the ways that race is produced” (Crenshaw as cited in Fortin, 2021, para 30).

Origin - CRT was born in the 1970s of the backlash that occurred in response to gains made by the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.“Realizing that new theories and strategies were needed to combat the subtler forms of racism that were gaining ground, early writers such as Derrick Bell, Alan Freeman, and Richard Delgado, put their minds to the task” (Harris, 2017, p.4)

Dr. Harrison then provided information on recent reasons for increased visibility; points of contention in the debate; information on where the CRT conversation is now; research, methods and preliminary findings, which were provided by Gaby Casteñada-Gleason. She went on to discuss the implications and a discussion ensued on the topic.

A short break took place before continuing with the meeting agenda.

Old Business and Review of Fall 2021 DCE Minutes - Robert Murphy, DCE Vice Chair
Minutes will be read by members on their own at their leisure.

New Business: Member Updates & Fall Meeting – Robert Murphy, DCE Vice Chair
Chris Hayward began by mentioning a communication he received from Joan Motheral, a DCE board member. With the recent epidemic and health issues of her husband, she has been unable to attend several of the most recent meetings of the Board and was asking about her ability to continue to serve on the Board. Chris indicated that because of the pandemic situation, policies for board members to attend meetings has been put on hold and no one will be dismissed from the Board for missing meetings.

He also stated that he believes that until we have a new Dean seated, the group should hold off on filling vacant DCE member positions.

The group agreed on both of these points.

Ellen Goldsberry again stated that she would like DCE representation from other programs outside of Teacher Education on the Dean’s Circle of Engagement. Other Board members indicated their support of this. However, with members who were present at this meeting, it was noted that there is no more representation for Teacher Education than other areas. Dean Helfrich also mentioned that student representation is needed on the board, both undergraduate and graduate.

Chris Hayward then mentioned that two names have been brought to him as potential board members; one is the sitting principal at Bullis Middle School in Maryland, Dr. Marilyn Moreno, who has shown interest and is a double graduate of The Patton College of Education. Also, Dr. T. Ramon Stuart, who is a graduate and serving as President of Clayton State University in Georgia. He was to be the Violet L. Patton Lecture Series speaker in the spring but had to cancel. We are hoping to bring him to campus for the fall lecture series. Caryn Bailey indicated that she has had conversations with him and that he has recently stepped down as president.

Once a new Dean is in place, possibly in the spring, we can bring those names forward and any others that anyone may have.

Chris then further talked about CRT and asked what are we doing to get students prepared for going into schools today?
Ray Asik asked if any feedback is requested from graduates – maybe a few years out.
Dean Helfrich answered that we do not request this type of feedback from graduates. What we ask for is mostly about job placement, employers.
Where we are – Dean Helfrich added that we are impressed with our students across the college regardless of what they are studying. How much more critical they are in thinking about things, regardless of the angle they are coming from, the desire to talk about things and engage in conversations, uncomfortable, difficult conversations. She mentioned an incident this spring in one of our school districts that racial slurs were used multiple times - not involving our candidates – and our candidates spoke out. Absolutely what should have happened, and yet also very impressive from these young people. Calling out someone who is your superior. This triggered conversations with department chairs and faculty – that we are doing something right. Additional steps on what to do in similar situations.
We do still have a cultural diversity course – these discussions are interwoven throughout all courses. Dean Helfrich added that in this we are not just preparing students, it makes you a better human. Discussion ensued.

Brothers RISE Updat e – Sara Helfrich, Interim Dean.
Dean Helfrich began by noting that Jason Rawls had planned to be at this meeting to talk with DCE but had another pressing engagement that he had to attend. Dean Helfrich reviewed the PowerPoint presentation that was submitted by Jason.
Getting the word out about the HOPE program. He is exploring the option of turning it into a certificate or a minor which will take some time to move through the process.
There are currently five students in the cohort. There were six but one transferred to the College of Business, but he may be coming back. Some experiences the Brothers have had – a welcome brunch for Brothers and their families before classes started last fall; campus tours; they have met with various people across campus, i.e., advisors, etc.; bi-weekly mentoring sessions with Jason and Traci Robinson, member of the Brothers RISE Committee; they took a spring education break – they prepared a presentation on why they wanted to go to Washington, DC, and what they thought they would get out of it, etc. They then pitched it to Dean Helfrich, some department chairs, and the VP for Diversity and Inclusion, to secure financial support. They spent several days in Washington. Dr. Renée Middleton went, Dr. Dwan Robinson, and her husband, Tracy Robinson. Some of the Brothers had never flown; had never been to Washington; they had never had to tie a tie before, etc. It was a really great experience for them. They went to the African American Museum, an NBA game, and numerous other locations.
In April, at the invitation of the Provost, they presented to the Board of Trustees. They were provided 40 minutes to present and answer questions. The reaction from the board members and those in attendance was phenomenal.
In addition,

$130K has been received in funding.
A graduate assistant will be hired to work with Jason and the students in the future.
They will be provided an early move-in orientation before classes begin in the fall.
Scholarship funding - the College has committed to matching the scholarships for these 5 students and those that are enrolled this coming fall.
Actively recruiting now for the new cohort. Getting word out to high schools and middle schools. What can we do early to get them to apply.

Dean Helfrich and Jason meet monthly to discuss what is happening with the program. It has been a good year and there is a lot of opportunity to move forward next year.
The goal for the Brothers RISE students is for them to focus on being students, graduate, enter the teaching profession and stay in the teaching profession. While they are here, serving as mentors to future cohorts, informally but an extremely important piece. The ultimate goal is that by the time one of these students graduates, they would apply to graduate school and become the graduate assistant that was mentioned previously.
Discussion continued on this topic.

Dean Helfrich then talked about creating a program for women of color. She has talked with faculty about this, and plan to begin next year - both mentoring and recruiting.

Chris Hayward indicated that it would be nice if the Brothers could attend and talk with the DCE. Dean Helfrich stated that this is a possibility – more likely in the fall because the spring meeting occurs after the semester ends.

Chris continued that the Fall DCE meeting is during Homecoming. October 6-7, 2022, and asked about homecoming football tickets and available rooms at the OU Inn. These have all been secured and details will be provided prior to the fall meeting.

Dean Helfrich then asked if members liked the format for this meeting – dinner on Thursday evening and then a day-long meeting on Friday. All board members indicated that they did, so this same format will be followed in the future.

Ray Asik asked about meeting off-campus as has been done in the past, i.e., in a DCE member’s hometown. Chris Hayward stated that this had not happened since COVID began early spring 2020, although plans had been made to meet in Joan Motheral’s hometown of Youngstown that spring. Chris also noted that traveling off-campus could be a deterrent for potential board members joining – the cost associated with traveling. If another purpose for meeting off-site could be found, such as touching base with alums, etc., that would also be good. Most board members acknowledged that they like meeting in Athens.

Closing remarks were presented by Chris Hayward and the meeting was adjourned at 4 p.m.

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