In This Issue

To kick off the holiday season, please plan to attend the USM Office Staff Awards Celebration on December 18 at 10 a.m. in the Atrium. We are bringing back our annual service awards and adding  staff achievement awards for USMO employees. Please join us for light refreshments.

Anne Moultrie (communications) and Leonard Raley (advancement) were invited to join the Higher Education Roundtable, an honorary group of professionals who have achieved the highest standards and success in their fields.

Don Spicer (IT), Tamara Petronka (IT), Guy Jones (IT), Chuck Thomas (academic affairs), and MJ Bishop (academic affairs) attended and presented at the EDUCAUSE Annual Conference in Anaheim, CA. MJ also spoke at Philadelphia University in Philadelphia, PA about sustainability models for academic transformation.

David May (academic affairs) spoke on the topic of "Supporting Underrepresented Student Achievement in Science by Partnering with K-12 Teachers and Schools" at the Association of American Colleges & Universities, Transforming STEM Education meeting in San Diego.

Tracey Jamison (academic affairs) presented at the Nebraska Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers Annual Fall Conference in LaVista, NE and the Georgia Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers meeting in Young Harris, GA.

As the USM office's only internal newsletter, the System Insider aims to provide an overview of recent activity at USM, including department news, staffing changes, and key events in which USM is involved. Additionally, the System Insider includes a feature article highlighting USM's impact, either within USM or in the broader community, and a staff spotlight, helping us to know and connect with our USM colleagues.

In this issue, we feature an article on the Teacher Education Summit held at Towson University, championed by USM's academic affairs office. We also highlight P.J. Hogan and Andy Clark from USM's government relations department, who seemed like perfect people to profile as we head into a new legislative session.

Read on and enjoy!

Towson Summit Explores the Future of Teacher Education in Maryland

Changing standards and the emergence of new technologies are giving rise to a new educational landscape for students and teachers alike. The question is, what steps need to be taken to ensure that teacher education programs keep pace with these changes?

This question was at the heart of the Teacher Education Summit held at Towson University on October 11, 2013. Sponsored by the University System of Maryland (USM), Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE), Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC), Maryland Association of Community Colleges, and the Maryland Independent College and University Association, "Shifting the Paradigm: Teaching to Meet the Changing Needs of Students and Society" brought together K-12 educators, administrators, higher education deans and faculty, and policy makers to discuss key issues in teacher education today.

"Our goal," says Dwayne Morgan, a project evaluator in USM's Office of P-20 initiatives (part of the Office of Academic Affairs) and one of the summit's organizers, "was to offer a forum for people to re-think teacher education in Maryland. We wanted to provide the first step in a bigger discussion about the challenges and opportunities that exist, and help to define a collective vision for twenty-first century teacher education programs."

Towson University President Maravene Loeschke and Lillian Lowery, MSDE superintendent, kicked off the event. Keynote speaker Nancy Zimpher, chancellor of the State University of New York System, challenged summit participants to reexamine their assumptions about teacher education and "turn teacher preparation upside down."

The summit's breakout sessions examined a variety of topics, including technology and media, diversity and inclusion, curricular redesign and changing standards, assessment indicators, and clinical field experience. The sessions also provided summit participants the opportunity to share their thoughts on challenges and priorities related to teacher education.

Lunch featured a panel discussion titled "What should the future of teacher preparation look like if it is to meet the changes needs of students and society?" Panelists spoke about the shift from teachers' roles as dispensers of information to facilitators and curators of knowledge, as well as the importance of having strong teacher role models on college campuses.

Additionally, they discussed the challenge of attracting top students to the field of teaching and the steps that higher education institutions can and should take to highlight the value of good teaching on campus.

The day-long summit culminated with remarks by Governor Martin O'Malley, MHEC Secretary Danette Howard, USM Associate Vice Chancellor Nancy Shapiro, and Lowery, who outlined next steps in the process of revamping teacher education in Maryland.

At the top of Lowery's list was the formation of a teacher education task force, to be convened by the Governor's P-20 Leadership Council on Education. The task force would develop recommendations on teacher education policies, curricula, instruction, and resources based on insights gathered at the summit. Already, progress is being made on this front. On November 18, the P-20 Leadership Council approved the formation of the task force, whose first report is due in spring 2014.

As Morgan observes, "It's now up to the members of that task force to take the ideas generated at the summit and translate them into an actionable plan to attract and prepare outstanding educators in Maryland."

The Office is Communications is working on an integrated marketing and public relations strategy to promote the Center for Innovation and Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CIELT). The primary goals of this strategy are to raise awareness of the center and position USM as a leader in academic transformation.

USM's 25th anniversary celebrations continue, with monthly Facebook contests  and new information about USM's positive impact on Maryland and beyond being added to the 25th anniversary microsite. Since the contests began in September, USM has seen its Facebook fan base grow from 300 to nearly 600.

The Way2GoMaryland campaign hosted its first-ever Campus Day at UMBC on November 22, 2013. The event, which drew 300 attendees, enabled seventh- and eighth-grade students to tour the UMBC campus, experience a mock classroom, talk with college students, eat in a UMBC dining hall, and explore other on-campus facilities. Additionally, on December 3, 2013, Way2GoMaryland hosted its first webinar, featuring representatives from Towson University; Frostburg State University; University of Maryland, College Park; and Salisbury University. The hour-long webinar highlighted the importance of a college education and good study habits as well as scholarships and financial aid.

The 2013-2014 USM Profile will be available for distribution starting in January.

The Maryland Open Source Textbook (MOST) initiative, in collaboration with the USM Student Council, will promote the adoption and development of open source textbooks within the state of Maryland.

During the spring 2014 semester, USM's Center for Innovation and Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CIELT) in collaboration with the University of Baltimore (UB) will explore system-wide delivery of an online course titled "Citizenship and Freedom: The Civil Rights Era," delivered by renowned civil rights historian Taylor Branch. The project explores an alternative "system-grown" Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) model, showcasing USM faculty talent, capitalizing on local institutional student support students, and facilitating national distribution of the content.

The Gates/Ithaka Project  is exploring the feasibility of repurposing material from Coursera MOOCs for use in for-credit college courses. Data from the fall semester trails will be available in Spring 2014.

The Minority Student Pipeline Math Science Partnership (MSP)² partnership was honored at Chancellor Kirwan's annual Education Week celebration at Hidden Waters. (MSP)², a partnership between USM, Prince George's County Public Schools, and Prince George's Community College to strengthen the pipeline of underrepresented minorities into science careers through quality programs for teachers and students, is funded by a $12.4-million award from the National Science Foundation and has just entered its final year.

ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCE

campus in California, MD. The building will help meet higher education and workforce needs in Southern Maryland.

USM FOUNDATION

 

Role at USM: I interface with all Maryland state and federal officials on issues relating to the USM and higher education. I work with the Maryland legislative budget committees to help ensure the maximum state funding for USM. I also work with other legislative committees to defeat legislation that will negatively impact USM and pass legislation that will help USM, and perform any other duties as assigned by the chancellor.

Years at USM: 7 

Earliest USM memory: How few restaurants were close by.

Born in: Pittsburgh, PA

Lives in: Montgomery Village, MD

College/university attended: Indiana University of Pennsylvania

Favorite pastime: Adventure races and boating

Best three adjectives to describe you: Impatient, persistent and optimistic

Fun fact about yourself: I am the only Maryland Senator to get elected as a Republican and a Democrat since 1876.