SCSD CTE Advisory Board

Prior to 2014 each of our separate programs had its own advisory board. We would meet as needed, and found that we were often combining the meetings. Sometimes the meetings would be 'working' meetings where we would be conducting a self-study or external review. Often that would mean having our needed materials on hand in a binder, and reviewing the states questions line by line while the members searched through the binder for the supporting evidence. These were very time consuming meetings that often resulted in people quitting our boards because of the inefficiency and archaic model.

We decided we needed to make some changes. We combined boards into one school advisory board. This originally started with just the SCLA campus, but when we got it to a point where things were going smoothly, we invited in the programs from the main campus. We also decided to get rid of the binders and put them with the chalk tablets and mimeograph machines. We still use the state guide to put all the materials together, but we do it on the web through Google Sites. This made it much easier for us, while at the same time made it much more accessible for the self study-teams and the advisory boards by giving access to our materials well in advance. Board members can now come to the meetings with questions, or even, as is more often the case, send us their questions for clarification before the meetings.

We feel that this model has been very successful and transparent. We also know that the organization that works with State Ed to get programs approved liked our model. One of their original employees, Steve Russel, who was a member of our board of education as well as our advisory board, told us that they would give out our URL to other districts looking to get programs approved. The best part of this new model is that unlike the printed binder, we do not have to wait for new printed versions for revisions. As we update and work on our curriculum, we can add it for all to see. It is much more dynamic, responsive and transparent.

A couple of years ago, the federal department of education audited the state, and as a part of their audit they looked at our programs. The auditor liked the site a lot. At this point, there is a separate website for the Main Campus. We will be interlinking their site to this site this year, and making it one URL for all information about Schenectady CTE programs.

This site is always in a state of flux and is always 'under construction'. Our advisory board is a valued part of our programs. Each year there are suggestions from them that we try to make happen. One of the suggestions was to make the information from the meetings more available. To help with that suggestion, this page will serve as the portal to the advisory board. Membership, Agendas, Past Presentations, and Minutes will all be available through this page.