DEAN'S OFFICE

From Dr. Susana Bloomdahl:

Board of Regents Teaching Excellence Awards

Each year, each department nominates a faculty/instructor to represent the College for the BOR Teaching Excellence Award. Eligible faculty/instructors must have served two academic years at Murray State University.

Generally, the Provost's Office calls for nominations in February, but I wanted to give you an early reminder. Broad areas for consideration are classroom performance, concern for students, and academic advising. The nomination packet consists of letters of nomination, a letter from the department chair, and an updated CV.

Please consider the opportunity. The deadline is usually in mid-February. Last year, recommendations were submitted to the department by February 14th and to the college committee by February 21st.

From Katie Kriesky:

ATTN: PROGRAM COORDINATORS AND CHAIRS - Fall Schedule Deadlines

Fall semester schedules are due back to me by this Friday, January 27th at 11:00 am.

A Special Message from the Murray State Alumni Association:

MSUAA Young Alumni Network || Top 22 Under 40 Class of 2023

Please send your congratulations to Tamela Darnell! She has been named a member of the Murray State University Alumni Association Young Alumni Network Top 22 Under 40 Class of 2023! 

This honor is bestowed upon only the best and brightest Racer Alumni under the age of 40 - those who are making an incredible impact on the world both personally and professionally, as well as distinguishing themselves amongst their peers. MSUAA had an exceptional slate of nominees for the Class of 2023, the largest to date, but only 22 were chosen. This, of course, is a nod to Murray State's founding, now more than 100 years ago, in 1922! 

From this group of 22, one alumnus/alumna will be selected as the 2023 Distinguished Young Alumni Award recipient and honored as part of the Distinguished Alumni Awards Dinner in April. Send Tamela all the good vibes you possibly can! We are so proud of all that she has done for COEHS, as well as for the impact she has made on the Murray community!

Congratulations, Tamela - the College of Education and Human Services is SO proud of you!

ACS

From Dr. Kemaly Parr:

Updates in Adolescent, Career, and Special Education

ACS will have its first Department Meeting on Wednesday, January 25th.

CDI

From Dr. Stephanie Schaaf:

Updates in Center for Communication Disorders

Andrea Pluskota, Associate Director for Multicultural Practices at ASHA, will be speaking to students on Friday, March 10th about diversity, equity, and inclusion. We will have undergraduate and graduate students, as well as faculty, in attendance. Additionally, we will invite our offsite supervisors to attend and offer ASHA-approved continued education hours. 

CDI Student Diversity Committee purchased over $300 worth of new diverse clinic materials! We will take pictures of the group with the items purchased and share once everything comes in. 

We will have our first official month of free OAE hearing screenings for First Steps families starting Friday, February 3rd. We will be offering these screenings scheduled through First Steps once a month through Friday, May 5th.

Drs. Jennifer Gaylord, Stephanie Schaaf, Laura Liljequist, and Kristie Guffey had an article titled "Structured Ethics Education in Speech-Language Pathology Graduate Students" accepted into Teaching and Learning in Communication Sciences & Disorders!

CLHS

From Dr. Katy Hancock:

Updates in Community Leadership and Human Services

Department enrollment numbers seem to be fairly steady.

The CLHS name change will be on the agenda for the February 24th Board of Regents meeting. The proposal will be to approve the name change to go into effect on July 1st.

CLHS is pursuing a partnership with the local Court Designated Worker (who is a CRJ alumna!) to have CRJ and SWK students work with diverse youth.

The social work program has been expanding its field sites and will be rolling out pilots of new professional and academic advising models.

The CRJ program is pursuing a collaboration with the Exercise Science program to have criminal justice juniors who are planning to take the PAT assessed by exercise science students. Initial meetings have been very positive.

ECE

From Dr. Stephanie Sullivan:

Updates in Early Childhood and Elementary Education

EDU 485 will conduct Mock Interviews with area educators such as Supervisors of Instruction and principals. 

A recruitment event was hosted at Graves County High School with 1-3 year teachers where various college graduate programs were shared.

17 ELE students are scheduled for the February 4th ASK Racer Nation Orientation.

The department is considering revising the math expectation/grade requirement and has invited Dr. Thome from the math department to discuss courses, standards, and more.

Faculty have been encouraged to take advantage of the WKEC trainings, especially those in core subjects, to provide networking opportunities with district educators and to ensure we are “on the same page” with what is being discussed in the schools. 

ELC

From Dr. Samir Patel:

Updates in Educational Studies, Leadership, and Counseling

The Counseling and Assessment Center saw a few clients over the break and has resumed normal operations. The Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders' assessment side will maintain normal operations, and the Early Childhood classroom is reducing its number of students to 1 for the spring semester to alleviate workload. Ed Admin is connecting with UK’s Next Gen Leadership Academy to develop ideas around module learning and CEO.

ELC will have its department meeting on Tuesday, January 31st.

From Drs. Ben Littlepage and Samir Patel:

Discover Korea Study Abroad Information ~ Great to Share with Students!

In May 2023, Drs. Patel and Littlepage are coordinating a 10-day study abroad program to Daegu, South Korea. Attendees will explore how individual wellness is defined, assessed, and supported at the secondary and post-secondary education levels in a Southeast Asian culture. 

In 2018, they realized few opportunities for study abroad existed at the post-baccalaureate levels for graduate students and professionals, so they designed a short (10 day) and inexpensive ($2,500) program centered around the culturally relevant topic of "student wellness."

They encourage students to view the webpage to learn more about the program, cost, scholarships, and itinerary or to complete the short questionnaire to discuss the opportunity further. 

Important Deadlines to Note

-Final Application Deadline - February 1, 2023

-Scholarship Application Deadline - February 1, 2023 

Click here to view step-by-step instructions regarding the study abroad process.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for graduate students - spots are still available! 

KATE

From Dr. Jennifer Earls:

Updates in Kentucky Academy of Technology Education

The rotation is in process. The orders have been approved across the street and sent to the vendors.

The February #eduKATE Community course is ready to go! February’s badging class will be on Google Docs; click here for more info!  

We are offering the Google Level 1 Certification course again this spring; for more information, visit bit.ly/coehslevel1 - the course will be reworked this summer.

Summer Camps are in the planning process. We are not yet 100% sure they will be happening this summer.

KATE has secured John Meehan as the tech keynote speaker for the Summit. Visit https://edrenalinerush.com/ to learn more about him and his work!

Coming soon — Door Sashes!!!!!!!

Technology funding - I am currently working on a proposal. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.  

RRC

From Tressa Ross:

Updates in Recruitment and Retention

Recapture Campaign - Great work by everyone! Only 71 undergrad and 60 grad students not scheduled. The hard work done by faculty contributes to our college's great retention numbers!

Admitted Student Kickoff - 43 students with majors in our college have registered to attend.

Admitted Student Reach Out - CRJ and SWK have been sending letters to admitted students for Fall 2023. Postcards are being filled out by faculty in the rest of the college and are being mailed. 

Campus Visits to COEHS - we have met with 140 potential students, 84 of whom are admitted for fall!

2023-24 Scholarship Awarding - Per Wendy Cain, awarding may begin on February 7th. We will work on awarding scholarships the week of February 13th. Melanie Brooks will be sending out info about meeting and who is serving. This year, you don’t have to take the training if you have done it before, you only will need to sign a release document. She will not hold release of info to a committee if not all members have completed requirements, those not completing just won’t be able to select.

TES

From Dr. Alesa Walker:

Updates in Teacher Education Services

Jeanie Robertson announced her retirement, effective March 1st, 2023.

Initial Graduate Teacher Education Orientation/Student Teaching Orientation has been scheduled.

The TES website has been updated to include information about new passing scores.

Students whose scores meet the new criteria for certification have been contacted to submit their application for certification. 

The Initial Undergraduate and Initial Graduate Sourcebooks have been updated.

The Admission to Teacher Education form has been updated.

Spring 2024 Admission to Student Teaching Orientation dates have been posted.

TQI

From Dr. Susana Bloomdahl:

Updates in Teacher Quality Institute

Debbie Bushart has placed 77 practicum students for this semester.

During the last 2 weeks of January, Debbie Bushart and Scott Terry are going to visit the EDU 480 and Equivalent classes to inform students about the PDS program and encourage them to take the Praxis early.

In February, the TQI staff will be traveling to a Kagan training on Classroom Discipline. They will use this information when working with practicum students, student teachers, SET teachers, and ALT CERT teachers.

The TQI staff will be working with 16 student teachers this semester.

The Student Success Center had an open house on January 17th and 18th, which was successful. Thank you to the Dean’s Office for allowing us to borrow the popcorn machine!

5 ALT CERT students completed their program in the fall and have applied for full certification, and 5 new alt cert students are starting this semester.

CALENDAR HIGHLIGHTS

*Dates are subject to change; these are up-to-date as of January 12th*

February 1st - Fall Schedules due to Academic Affairs

February 3rd-5th - Admitted Student Weekend

February 15th - Graduation application deadline for Graduate Students – May Applicants

February 22nd - Final Proof for Fall Schedule - 118 Wells

February 24th - BOR Meeting

February 28th - Presidential Lecture - W. Earl Brown

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March 1st - Graduation application deadline for Undergraduate Students – August Applicants

March 7th - All Majors Career and Grad School Fair (CFSB)

March 8th - STEM & OSH Career Fair (CFSB)

March 9th - 2nd Half of the Semester begins

March 10th - Teacher Career Fair (CFSB)

March 13th - Midterm Grades Due

March 14th - Agricultural Career Fair (Curris)

March 15th – Graduation application deadline for Graduate Students – August Applicants

March 20th-24th - Spring Break; No Classes. University Closed March 22nd-24th

March 27th - Advanced Scheduling for Summer

March 29th - Racer Day

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April 1st - Fall Textbook Orders Due; December graduation application deadline for Undergraduate Students

April 3rd-7th - Advanced Scheduling for Fall Semester

April 12th - All Campus Sing - 3pm - Quad

April 13th - Faculty Recognition Banquet - 5:30pm - Curris Center Ballroom

April 14th - Racer Nation Orientation/Honors

April 15th - Racer Nation Orientation; Student deadline to upload theses/dissertations into Digital Commons

April 21st - Distinguished Alumni Reception and Dinner - 5:30pm - CFSB Murray Room

April 26th - Senior Breakfast - 8am - CFSB Center; Administrative Professionals Day

April 28th - Dissertations & Theses have signatures and routed to Provost Office for Spring Graduation

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May 13th - Commencement - TBD - CFSB Center

May 15th - 10am - All grades due for Full Term/2nd

May 29th - Memorial Day Observance - No Classes; University Closed

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June 1st - Racer Nation Orientation

June 2nd - BOR Meeting

June 3rd - Racer Nation Orientation

June 14th - Racer Nation Orientation

June 16th - Racer Nation Orientation

June 19th - Juneteenth Observance - No Classes; University Closed

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July 6th - Racer Nation Orientation

July 31st - TENTATIVE - Spring/Winter Schedule Drafts sent to Departments

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August 3rd - Racer Nation Orientation

ALL ACADEMIC DEADLINES - murraystate.edu/deadlines