Updates on SoE Strategic Plan Progress

Student Success

• New Accelerated Master’s Programs (AMPs) in Secondary Education and Higher Education and Student Affairs (HESA) were approved in May 2024. The Secondary Education AMP is designed for students in a variety of disciplines who wish to become licensed secondary education teachers with an advanced degree. The HESA AMP enables students enrolled in the School of Education’s Counseling and Student Services (CASS) major to also earn a master’s in HESA.

• The new Factor Future Educators Program will create a seamless pathway for students from diverse backgrounds to explore careers in teaching. Partnering with high school Cadet Teaching programs, students will gain insights into the teaching profession and an understanding of best practices through real-world observation and experiences. By fostering these connections, the School will not only enrich the educational landscape but also address the pressing need for ethnic, gender, and socioeconomic diversity among educators.

• The Undergraduate Teacher Preparation Scholarship helps juniors and/or seniors who are student teaching offset the costs related to their field experiences such as background checks, CPR training, testing fees, and travel expenses, so they can complete class requirements and engage in their learning with as few barriers as possible.

• With funding from the Provost’s office, a new Master’s Advisor has been hired. This professional will serve as an academic advisor for our online master’s and certificate program students. They will also assist with program recruitment and onboarding as well as help foster students’ engagement and program completion.

Service, Leadership, and Outreach

• The new P-12 School Engagement office, part of the newly integrated Office of Community Engagement, was established in July 2024. This office is dedicated to developing and nurturing meaningful, reciprocal, and long-term relationships between the School of Education and Indiana's P-12 Schools. The aim is to identify, develop, and disseminate expertise and resources that enable students to thrive academically, socially, and emotionally through just and equitable learning opportunities.

• Since it was re-launched in 2022, the Center for Evaluation & Education Policy has produced 20 policy briefs, a half dozen major reports and data dashboards, and garnered well over $1 million in externalfunding.  Its experts have consulted with policymakers such as state legislators, courts of law, and the United Nations, and worked with major media outlets including CNN, Newsweek, the Chicago Tribune, Salon, TheNew Yorker, The Nation, as well as discipline-specific publications like Education Week and Chalkbeat.

• Since January of 2021, the Global and International Engagement unit has fostered partnership activities with 7 overseas institutions such as Hamburg University and Universitas Indonesia; supported the Dean in international student recruitment; facilitated 57 visiting scholars; developed short-term overseas study and technical assistance involving 25 faculty and staff; and promoted international awareness through webinars, newsletters & cultural activities. These initiatives received internal, university and external funding including from USAID, State Dept, DAAD and TECO.