CROOKSTON, Minn. – The University of Minnesota, Crookston has been granted full-continuing approval from the Minnesota Board of Teaching to prepare individuals for Minnesota teacher licensure through June 30, 2019. UMC currently offers a licensure program in Early Childhood Education and is seeking to add a licensure program for Elementary Education beginning in the fall 2012 semester. The Board took the action during their February meeting and also commended campus leadership for their expeditious response to the findings report and for evidencing full compliance to the required standards. Full-continuing approval has a seven-year interval and is determined by the Board of Teaching.
The approval follows a visit by an assessment team in October 2011, when the campus hosted a three-day visit to review data gathered since 2007 related to the 54 standards established by the Board. These standards are meant to ensure that teacher candidates have the opportunity to learn, develop, and demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and dispositions required for teacher licensure. The evaluation team, chaired by Teacher Education Specialist JoAnn Van Aernum, delivered a report to the campus in early December 2011, and a recommendation by the team was sent to the Board for consideration in their final decision.
“This current action taken by the Board of Teaching to provide UMC its full 7-year continuing approval clearly affirms the quality of our faculty and curriculum,” noted Jack Geller, Ph.D., head of the Liberal Arts and Education Department. “Equally important, it sets the stage for the addition and growth of the Elementary Education licensure program here at UMC,” he added.
The Board of Teaching, created in 1973, provides leadership for improvements in teacher education programs in order to assure that the state has well-qualified, professional teachers. The Governor appoints eleven members to the Board of Teaching: six classroom teachers, one higher education faculty member, one school administrator, and three members of the public, two of whom must have spent some time on a local school board. The Board determines the standards and practices that will serve the state's teachers and teacher preparation institutions. For more information, visit http://education.state.mn.us/mde/index.html.
Today the University of Minnesota, Crookston delivers 26 bachelor’s degree programs, 18 minors, and 36 concentrations, including 10 online degrees, in the areas of agriculture and natural resources; business; liberal arts and education; and math, science and technology. With an enrollment of 1,600 undergraduates from 25 countries and 40 states, the Crookston campus offers a supportive, close-knit atmosphere that leads to a prestigious University of Minnesota degree. “Small Campus. Big Degree.” To learn more, visit www.umcrookston.edu.
