Bulletin board

Minneapolis welcomes the National Middle School Association conference

This November 4-6 will mark the first National Middle School Association annual convention and exhibit to be held in Minnesota! The Minnesota Middle School Association, local host to the conference, invites ALL area educators to take advantage of the great staff development opportunities with little transportation cost. The National Middle School Association is a unique organization in that its membership is inclusive, welcoming administrators, teachers, and school staff members who work together to enhance middle level learning for preadolescent students.

The University of Minnesota's Dr. Lynn Scearcy, North Region Trustee Elect to the Board of Directors of the National Middle School Association, promises star quality staff development, and camaraderie like no other conference!

Conference highlights include keynote addresses by J. Howard Johnston, renowned middle level expert, who kicks off the conference on Thursday, and on Friday morning, Henry Winkler, aka "The Fonz," will share his deep commitment to improvement of education from his perspective as a learning disabled student.

We invite all interested educators, including elementary, middle and high school teachers, staff, and administrators, to come to the Convention Center and conference hotels for literally hundreds of breakout sessions in critical theme areas. Local schools and staff will be featured, and the exhibit hall is one of the nation's best.

For conference information, go to www.nmsa.org.

Minnesota Board of School Administrators update

This year the Minnesota Board of School Administrators, which includes administrative licensure director Ann Werner, is currently seeking rule-making authority to modify MN Rules Chapter 3512, Qualifications and Licensure of School Personnel. A task force will be formed by the Board to gather specific input for rule change.

Two new members were appointed to the Board. Robert Wendel, Hutchinson replaces Eric Bartleson as the superintendent member. Ram Singh, Burnsville, fills a new Board position as the community education director.

The Board's Web site, www.msbsa.org, provides information regarding administrative licensure renewal, requests for administrative CEU's, code of ethics, and requests for administrative variances.

Panelists needed

All licensure students are required to be assessed by a panel prior to their endorsement for licenses in administration. The panel must consist of members representing the University and currently licensed and practicing or recently retired administrators from the metropolitan or greater Minnesota community.

Serving as a panelist requires a few hours of time in a single visit. As a panelist, your role is to listen actively, ask questions, debrief with other members, and determine if the candidate has met the required competencies. A University administrator will lead the process.

For their time, panelists receive CEU hours as well as mileage and parking reimbursement. Please share your knowledge and expertise with an aspiring administrator by serving on their panel. For more information, contact Lynn Scearcy, administrative licensure and leadership program coordinator.

Minnesota Department of Health seeking educators

Education experts are needed to assist on an exciting project currently underway at the Minnesota Department of Health.

Help contribute to the development of Minnesota policy by volunteering a few hours to read and analyze 2-3 very short articles for a study of medication administration in preK-12 schools. After reading the articles, meet with others to discuss them and what key concepts you recommend be included in the statewide standards. This project, requested by the Minnesota Legislature, is being led by the Minnesota Department of Health, in conjunction with the Minnesota Department of Education and the Minnesota Board of Nursing.

If you are interested, please contact Gwen Willems, wille002@umn.edu, 651-646-8854, as soon as possible, and she will organize a meeting for you and your colleagues at a convenient time and place. Thank you!

Community education 2-day finance and law class

Leadership in Community Education Finance and Law
EdPA 5080, sec 051 (call number 19341), University credit or CEU option

MCEA Fall Pre-Conference Session
Madden’s Conference Center, Brainerd, MN
Sponsored by: University of Minnesota, Department of Educational Policy and Administration

To be an effective director of community education the leader must have a deep understanding of the interplay between finance and laws directly applicable to community education. In this course participants will study MN Statute 124D and its relationship to each of the categories of community education such as early childhood, family education, adult basic education and ALC funding. Revenues and expenditures will be addressed along with UFARS and how to access information. Also discussed will be how to organize financial and legal information to present it to advisory and school boards as well as the community at large. The course will be approached from the frame of resource development.

Participants may enroll in the workshop for one credit or 12 CEUs.

Individuals participating in this session for credit will be required to complete outside readings and be assigned projects that provide the learner with authentic practice in the topic areas.

Dates and times:
October 19, 2004, 9 a.m. – noon, 1 p.m. – 4 p.m., 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
October 20, 2004, 8 a.m. – noon

Instructor: Terilyn Turner, Ph.D., recently retired area superintendent for community education, St. Paul Public Schools

Cost and registration
Workshop CEU option
Cost: $198.00, payable to the University of Minnesota.
Registration: Mail or fax the workshop registration form [PFD] and payment to Katherine Lindsay at the address below.

One-credit option
Cost: $326.00 tuition charge, plus University and technology fees.* Tuition and fees are billed electronically after registering.
*University fee: $40 per credit for students taking 1-9 credits; $400 for students taking 10 credits or more. Technology fee: $40 for students taking 1-5 credits; $80 for students taking 6 credits or more. Tuition and fees are subject to change without notice. Go to www.onestop.umn.edu/Finances/tuitionrates for the latest tuition and fee information.

Registration: If you are a current University of Minnesota student, register online at www.onestop.umn.edu/onestop/registration.html. Or contact the administrative licensure program office at 612-625-9087.

Meals and housing arrangements must be made by the individual participants.

Contact for more information:
Katherine Lindsay
College of Education and Human Development
104 Burton Hall, Pillsbury Dr. SE
Minneapolis, MN 55455
Fax: 612-626-7496
Phone: 612-625-5060
E-mail: linds059@umn.edu

Minnesota school leaders will see significant change in the next few years

Reprinted with permission from Minnesota association of school administrators.

The job of CEO/Superintendent of public schools is often held by long term, skilled and mature leaders. However, the demographics at present are indicating that we will see significant turnover in the educational leadership ranks within the next few years.

In analyzing the ages of members of MASA we find that over 2/3 of the members are over fifty years old. The breakdown by ages is as follows:

MASA members include school superintendents, assistant superintendents, central office administrators, special education directors and service coop directors.

We must continue to prepare the new generation of leaders as our maturing leaders move toward retirement.

Web-Based technology courses, fall 2004

As part of the School Technology Leadership Initiative a number of technology-related courses will be taught entirely online this spring and summer. These 1-credit classes will be taught by Scott McLeod.

EDPA 5325—Analytical Tools for Educational Leadership (1 credit)
On campus, Wednesday evenings, first one-third of semester
Scheduled not to conflict with EDPA 5374, Leadership for Staff Development

EDPA 5326—Data Analysis for Educational Leadership (2 credits)
On campus, Wednesday evenings, last two-thirds of semester
Scheduled not to conflict with EDPA 5374, Leadership for Staff Development
Prerequisite: EDPA 5325—Analytical Tools for Educational Leadership or instructor permission

EdPA 5374—Leadership for Staff Development, fall 2004 – spring 2005

This 4-credit graduate-level course is designed for educators involved in designing, implementing, and evaluating staff development in preK-12 settings. The course is grounded in research and focused on effective practices that promote continuous learning and development of preK-12 staff in order to increase student achievement. Topics include assessing staff learning needs, designing powerful adult reflection and learning opportunities, facilitating and presenting skills, mentoring, and evaluation.

Educators from all over Minnesota and western Wisconsin, including principals, teacher leaders, staff development, and curriculum specialists, special education coordinators should consider enrolling. Anyone with at least a bachelor’s degree is welcome to enroll.

Location:
District 287 Service Center, 1820 Xenium Lane, Plymouth (just east of I-494)

Dates and times:
Wed 9/22/04; Sat 10/2/04; Wed 10/27/04, Sat 11/20/04, Wed 1/19/05, Sat 2/26/05, Wed 3/16/05, Sat 4/16/05, Wed 5/11/05.
Saturday classes are held from 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.; Wednesday classes from 4:30-9:30 p.m.

For more information
To learn more about the course: Nancy Nutting, nnutting@rr.mn.us or Jennifer Kunze, kunz0026@umn.edu

Directions to District 287 Center: www.int287.k12.mn.us/gifted/DSC/_Map.pdf

To enroll: cpstudy@umn.edu ($326/credit plus fees). Note: Current U of M graduate students can register online.

Student billing

The University no longer sends paper bills to students' homes via U.S. mail. Rather all billing is done via the University e-mail account. Students must set up their e-mail accounts.

University-assigned student e-mail accounts are the University’s official means of communication with all students. Students are responsible for all information sent via the University-assigned e-mail account.

All students must set up their e-mail address and e-mail account. They do this by accessing the University web page at https://www.umn.edu/initiate.

Students will receive an e-mail when their bills are ready to be accessed. To get access to ebill from the UMTC Web site the adddress is: www.onestop.umn.edu/Finances/ebillinfo.html.

To avoid late fees, students must pay their bills on time. Anyone who is not able to access their bill online should contact the Office of the Registrar’s One Stop Student Services Centers in 200 Fraser Hall or 612-624-1111 for information on how to secure an exemption from the electronic billing.