Program/Date Early Childhood Studies / 2015-16 TWO YEAR PLAN FIVE YEAR PLAN REVIEW RECOMMENDATIONS PROGRAM CITATION AND RATIONALE RESPONSIBLE PARTIES RESOURCE IMPLICATIONS DELIVERABLE DELIVERABLE PROGRAM PURPOSE AND UNIVERSITY GOALS Program Mission and Operating Practices In examining the operating practices of the ECS Program the reviewers point to the volume of advising and field placement work undertaken by the faculty of the ECS program, and make suggestions for alleviating the pressure and for developing a database as a more efficient method of tracking students and their progress. No sustainable systems are in place for advising, permitting, tracking of prerequisites, and field placements which are current done on paper and by hand, by faculty. Faculty are not provided with adequate assigned-time to accomplish these tasks for the number of majors (300+) in the department. SOE Dean; ECS Chair; ECS Advisor Staff/Administrator: Full time, Santa Barbara; Full time, Channel Islands. Via collaborations with CSU Fullerton and CI Enrollment Services, a database system will be chosen and an implementation schedule set. Full implementation of database system for ECS majors. Program Relation to University Mission We have been designing and ECS Chair; ECS Santa Reassigned time The process actually began in
It is commendable that ECS faculty have utilized grants and community partners to help develop core GE curriculum and to address articulation with, and support transfer from the community colleges. ECS students are involved in local community and service learning is integral to many ECS courses and the program as a whole. Continue work on the pilot grant projects to develop lower division GE courses for math and written language to facilitate success of native freshman and potential transfer students. ECS is remarkably engaged in the community and should continue to prove these beneficial service learning opportunities to students. submitting for approval lower and upper division courses that are highly specific for young children from birth through 8 years over the past 3 years. The process is complete with the exception of two courses that have been written and are scheduled for review by CI's Curriculum Committee in Fall 2017. This will facilitate the review of student learning outcomes for the overall program as well as at the course level. Barbara Advisor; ECS tenure track faculty. 2013. It is complete except for two courses to be reviewed in Fall 2017 by CI's Curriculum Committee. Dissemination of Program Mission and Goals The ECS faculty are held in very high regard by the ECE agencies with which ECS tenure-track and adjunct faculty are very ECS Chair; ECS Santa Barbara Advisor; Ongoing
they work. They should receive commendation from the university for their contributions. active in local, statewide, national, and international organizations serving the ECE field which positions them to offer their expertise on behalf of CSU Channel Islands to inform critical policy discussions that impact the ECS field. ECS tenure track faculty ACHIEVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES/ASSESSMENT Curriculum Requirements and Expectations for Learning ECS the criteria for an accredited baccalaureate program from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). However, pursuit of that accreditation would require that the CSU Channel Islands' ECS has blended the signature elements of a CSU Channel Islands degree with statewide and national mandates for early childhood professionals to produce an SOE Dean; ECS Chair; MS Chair. Reassigned Time Ongoing
Multiple Subject Credential be accredited by the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP). CSU Channel Islands is encouraged to pursue both accreditations to document the quality of their offerings and increase the marketability of their graduates. The Dual language Learner of the program as well as the incorporation of leading research, polity and practice should be recognized and showcased as an exemplar program. exemplary program of study. ECS program’s particular focus of Dual Language Learners is a unique and important contribution to the early childhood field, going beyond most teacher preparation programs to equip teachers to serve California’s large DLL population. Course content related to DLL includes cutting edge ECE research findings and practices. The ECS DLL Curriculum is an important model for higher education in the state, and professional development practices at the
local, state and national levels. Course and Program Learning Outcomes the global and potentially subjective language of the program SLOs, ECS is encouraged to develop more detailed and concrete explanations of these SLOs and clear evaluation rubrics for them. This is likely to be required to meet WASC Requirements. Rather than dividing the supervision and feedback responsibilities among many adjunct faculty, ECS is encouraged to consider hiring one full time faculty to provide supervision service. It is essential that this faculty be a fully qualified ECS professional, with both academic credentials and field experience in the environment which they are supervising. It is recommended that this be a tenure track position to The ECS student learning outcomes mix knowledge, skills, and dispositions, which is appropriate for an applied field and matches the California Early Childhood Educator Competencies. As the program grows and larger numbers of faculty are required, it will be essential to ensure a standard foundation and criteria for these assessments. The ECS program utilizes many field experiences. These are ECS Chair; ECS Santa Barbara Advisor; ECS tenure track faculty Faculty hire. Reassigned time. Ongoing
ensure coherence of the program. evaluated by designated faculty supervisors. As currently funded and maintained, this design does not seem sustainable for a program of 300+ students. Learning Outcome Data and Analysis Program Learning objectives should be systematically analyzed via ECS has historically been a small program, ECS Chair; ECS Santa Barbara Advisor; Ongoing
to make a compelling case for additional full time tenure track faculty. Involvement of students in Curricular Activities ECS faculty should continue their successful strategies for engaging students in fieldwork, research, and professional activities. This is likely to be challenging if the program maintains it’s current headcount or continues to grow, unless faculty and staff grow similarly. faculty are extraordinarily engaged in their community and encourage and support their students to be similarly engaged. Students experience professional activities and are also directly connected to local policy organizations and discussion. These activities ensure that students are well informed about quality practices and expectations and are to the large EE field ECS Chair; ECS Santa Barbara Advisor; ECS tenure track faculty. Tenure track faculty hire and support staff Ongoing
outside of the university, including local, state, and national discourse on policy and practice. Advising and Academic Support For Santa Barbara cohort, there is a clear 2-year plan for transfer students. A similar 2-year plan should be developed and disseminated for students at the main CI campus. While not all students will follow this plan, it should be available to expedite graduation for those who seek it. WE DO HAVE THIS and it is available on request. From its inception through Fall 2013, ECS was a small program which could provide as-needed individual advising and referral services to its majors. Yes, and I STILL DO THIS, but it is too much without more systematic advising procedures and data systems. ECS Chair; ECS Santa Barbara Advisor; ECS tenure track faculty. Reassigned time and staff support Ongoing Articulation and Transfer Given that there are 5 lower division courses in the ECS major, it seems odd that only two are articulated ECS is primarily a transfer degree program (becoming less ECS Chair; ECS Santa Barbara Advisor; Reassigned time and staff support Ongoing
with the 8 Common courses in ECE programs at California community colleges. ECS may want to review their lower division classes to better match the CAP-8 reorganizing some topics. NO, we intentionally have integrated, content according to the Channel Islands Mission and according to current research recommendations (EQ). so). Program has been carefully designed to ensure that a student transferring to CI with 60 community college units can complete the degree within 60 units at CI. ECS tenure track faculty. Retention CI may want to adopt the model of other programs/campuses, hiring a staff person who is responsible for tracking and facilitating retention and graduation. The staff person could communicate with student and monitor GPS for students a risk of academic probation. As noted above, retention for this program appears to be lower that the CSU average (THIS IS NOT ACCURATE.) ECS Chair; ECS Santa Barbara Advisor; ECS tenure track faculty. None Ongoing DEVELOPING RESOURCES TO ENSURE SUSTAINABILITY
person and should immediately fill the already approved position. In addition, as mention above, a specialized staff person may need to be hired to provide advising and tracking services. the position has not been posted and neither a permanent nor temporary staff person ahs been provided to the department. Faculty Workload and Evaluation Additional full time faculty are needed to meet the requirements of the ECS program. In the meantime, current ECS faculty should be compensated for assigned overload responsibilities. As described in the self report, faculty workload is standard to the CSU (with full time faculty teaching 12 WTU per semester and receiving 3 WTU assigned time and part time faculty teaching up to 15 WTU per semester). However this does not reflect the actual workload of the faculty in ECS when grant work, advising, and other responsibilities SOE Dean; ECS Chair; ECS Barbara Advisor; ECS tenure track faculty. Tenure track faculty hire
Faculty Development It is unclear how faculty select their professional development experiences. If PDPs are being used, they should be better documented. If not, criteria for selection of professional development may help the RTP process. Assigned time or other compensation should be given for involvement in intensive professional development experiences. Faculty are extensively involved in professional development activities, both on campus and in the community. Faculty do no appear to have PDPs (YES, WE DO HAVE PDPs) SOE Dean; ECS ECS Santa Barbara Advisor; ECS tenure track faculty. None Ongoing Fiscal and Physical Resources Use of existing faculty funds should be evaluated to see if some funds currently used for part time faculty can be applied to tenure track positions, increasing program efficiency and coherence. Additional faculty and staff funding will clearly be necessary, as the program is growing rapidly. As CSU Channel Islands continues to develop its campus, it should explore possible The extent of the department budget is unclear. The practice of uncompensated overload assignments must be discontinued. ECS has developed an innovative program to meet community needs by offering the full ECS degree (for transfer students) at a SOE Dean Realignment of funding. Full time support position hire. Ongoing
sites for research and teaching labs. satellite location in Santa Barbara. However, this program lacks staff support, assigned faculty time and other infrastructure. Teaching faculty are responsible for all tasks, including arranging facilities and evaluating student transcripts. Developing External Resources Faculty should continue their impressive grant activities and community engagements. As discussed previously, improved infrastructure will allow better tracing of current and past students, increasing alumni engagement. the faculty are active and successful at seeking external grant funding for their teaching, research, and community activities, there is no system for tracking or contacting alumni to solicit their ongoing involvement with and gifts to the university. SOE Dean SOE Dean Ongoing
Information Technology As discussed above, ECS is encouraged to develop a program specific database system until such times as CSU Channel Islands is able to remedy the infrastructure issue. There is a systemic issue at Channel Islands regarding computerized data infrastructure, which has been discussed and which takes a significant toll on faculty time and students’ access to appropriate advising and coursework. SOE Dean SOE Dean Ongoing Community Involvement and Liaison ECS should continue its excellent community involvement and develop an outreach system for alumni. ECS has an appropriate advisory board as part of the School of Education. The faculty have strong ties with the community an engage in regional professional development and planning. They are particularly invested in encouraging and supporting student transfer ECS Chair, ECS Santa Barbara Advisor, ECS tenure track faculty None
from the community college. CREATING A LEARNING CENTERED ORGANIZATION/STRUCTURE Program Planning Faculty should continue their process of course/program evaluation and revision. The faculty meet regularly to assess the match among their program, the needs of the community, and the goals of the university. ECS Chair; ECS Santa Barbara Advisor; ECS tenure track faculty. None Ongoing Integration of Planning Resources Resources for the department should be evaluated and more transparent system of budgeting should be implemented. Approved staff positions should be funded. SLOs should be defined in concrete, objective terms and program level data should be aggregated. ECS was granted a full time staff person in the prior academic year has not yet been able to hire. This suggests a breakdown of the budgeting/funding process. ECS is dedicated to providing a program that student and community needs, and this includes SOE Dean Full time support staff hire. Ongoing