PRESENTED BY:
Lou Qualtiere, Chair, Planning Committee
DATE OF MEETING: Nov. 21, 2002
SUBJECT: Principal’s Diploma
DECISION REQUESTED:
That Council approve the Principal’s Diploma program.
SUMMARY OF PROPOSAL:
The Principal’s Diploma is a 15-credit-unit post-graduate diploma contract program, to be offered over the next four years by the Department of Educational Administration to approximately 800 school principals from Jamaica. The program will consist of EDADM 816.3, 821.3, 829.3, 892.3 and 895.3. The students admitted will have an undergraduate degree and several years of teaching and administrative experience. They will meet the PGD graduation requirements of at least 60 per cent in each course and an average of at least 65 per cent in all courses.
RATIONALE:
The program will improve the quality of leadership in Jamaican schools.
IMPACT AND RELATIONSHIPS:
The program will enhance internationalization and bring additional resources to the university. The department will work with the University of Calgary and Mico Teachers’ College and it is anticipated that Educational Administration graduate students and faculty will be provided with international experience and increased research opportunities.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES REQUIRED:
All costs will be covered by the contract, funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB).
COMMITTEE COMMENTS AND RECOMMENDATION:
Proposal submitted from Graduate Studies and Research on May 14, 2002.
Academic Programs Committee
The Academic Programs Committee reviewed several aspects of the proposal and gathered additional information from the department and from the College of Graduate Studies and Research. At its May 29, 2002 meeting, the Academic Programs Committee approved the following motion:
That the Principals’ Diploma proposal be approved.
It is also noted in the minutes that the Committee agreed some guidelines for contract teaching should be developed.
Budget Committee
The Budget Committee established a subcommittee to review this proposal which made the following recommendations:
1) Approval of the proposal on condition that the College of Education accepts responsibility for cost overruns if any resulting from the contract.
2) The Proponents consult with Corporate Administration/Insurance Services unit as soon as possible to ensure that legal and general liability issues are addressed.
3) The Budget Committee initiate discussions with the Planning Committee to establish a process and guidelines for dealing with contracts of this nature.
At its Oct. 10, 2002 meeting, the Budget Committee approved the following motion:
That the Budget Committee receive and endorse the Report of the Subcommittee on the Jamaica Proposal and recommend approval of the Jamaica Proposal subject to the conditions indicated by the subcommittee.
Attached is a letter from the Dean of Education regarding the first condition.
Planning Committee
At its Oct. 21, 2002 meeting, the Planning Committee approved the following motion:
That the Planning Committee recommend approval of the Principal Diploma.
The Planning Committee is also reviewing the issues raised by Academic Programs and by Budget relating to the development of additional contracted programs such as this one, which are degree-level programs available only to the students designated under a contract but which have beneficial impacts on research and teaching for other students and the university community.
ATTACHMENTS:
Proposal documentation.
1. PROPOSAL IDENTIFICATION
Title of proposal: Jamaican Principals’ Diploma
Degree(s): Principal’s Diploma Field(s) of Specialization: Ed Admin
Level(s) of Concentration: Post-graduate (5 graduate-level courses) Option(s): --
Degree College: CGSR Department: Ed Admin Home College: ED
Contact person(s) (name, telephone, fax, e-mail): Dr. L. Sackney, phone 7626, larry.Sackney@usask.ca
Date: May 14, 2002
Approved by the degree college and/or home college: May 13, 2002
Proposed date of implementation: Jan. 1, 2003
2. Type of change
XX A new Degree-Level program or template for program.
3. RATIONALE
The Department of Educational Administration responded to a Request for Proposals (RFP) called for by the Government of Jamaica under a loan (#1264-OC/JA) secured from the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB). The project was designed to support the development and implementation of activities aimed at improving the delivery of primary level education in Jamaica.
The Department had previously worked in the Caribbean region helping governments with institutional strengthening. We, therefore, saw the RFP as an opportunity to continue internationalizing the department and also as an opportunity to bring additional resources into the department. The department submitted the RFP and was recently awarded the contract to train 800 primary school principals (100 tenable at the University of Saskatchewan and 700 tenable in Jamaica). The program is designed to provide training in educational administration and leadership to be certified at the level of a Diploma.
This request is therefore to provide a special Principals' Diploma to the 800 principals. It responds to the department's attempt to internationalize and to increase the resources within the department as SPR recommended.
4. DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM CHARACTERITICS
The training of teachers and school administrators in Jamaica follows the British model.
Most of the primary principals would have a major in a subject area such as mathematics , history, or some other subject. Those individuals identified as excellent teachers would have been promoted to the Primary School Principalship. In order for the Jamaican government to improve the quality of education offered to its students, it is anxious to improve the quality of leadership in its schools.
The plan is to train 100 principals at the University of Saskatchewan and 700 on-site in Jamaica. We will be working with Mico Teachers' College so that at the end of the project they will be in the position to provide continuous training for school principals. It is anticipated that a small number of individuals from Mico College will come to the University of Saskatchewan to obtain their Ph.D. in Educational Administration. Furthermore, those school principals who are qualified in the first instance may wish to complete an M.Ed. in Educational Administration; they will follow the standard registration format. At present Mico Teachers' College is associated with a university in Florida. Nine faculty members are currently enrolled in a doctoral programme with the Florida University. Of the remaining staff complement, five have doctorates and the balance have a Masters degree. Mico's College's plan is increase the number of Ph.D.'s on staff; they are enthusiastic about working with the University of Saskatchewan, Department of Educational Administration.
For the majority of the principals, their interest will be in obtaining the Principals' Diploma as specified in the contract. The programme of studies for the primary school principals calls for five graduate classes being offered in Saskatoon and Jamaica. The courses identified for these participants are as follows:
EDADM 829.3 - School Improvement
EDADM 821.3 - Perspectives on Organizational Behaviour
EDADM 816.3 - Instructional Leadership and School Management
EDADM 892.3 - Trends and Issues in Educational Administration: Jamaican Case
EDADM 894.3 - Practicum in Leadership and Management
All of the above courses are currently listed in our graduate calandar. However, EDADM 892.3 (Trends and Issues in Educational Administration) class will integrate Canadian and Jamaican issues. The issues course will be team taught by a faculty member from the Department of Educational Administration and from Mico College. The topics to be covered in this course will include financial management, using technology as a management tool, legal issues, improving school attendance, value-based management, and using data as the basis for school improvement.
The department will coordinate the Practicum in Leadership and Management with students spending time in Saskatoon and district elementary schools. For those students receiving their training in Jamaica, this course will be with school principals who have had the Saskatoon experience.
All course requirements will be similar to those offered in our regular graduate programme. It should also be noted that the University of Calgary will provide assistance with this project. They will, however, be teaching our courses and the students will be registered at the University of Saskatchewan.
In summary, the Principals' Diploma calls for principals to take five graduate classes or 15 credit units. This programme is designed for this project and will not be offered to any other students.
5. RESOURCES
No new resources will be required as the contract, which is funded by IDB, covers all programme costs for the four years. In fact, the contract will bring additional resources to the department. The students will make use of the library and one classroom for instructional purposes. However, it should be noted that the project would purchase resources (e.g., books, paper, etc.) for the programme as needed.
The project will have a Project Coordinator (Professor L. Sackney), a Site Coordinator in Saskatoon and one in Jamaica, and secretarial assistance. The department is currently advertising for three faculty--one tenure track and two term positions. These additional resources will assist with work on the Jamaican project and with the regular graduate programme.
6. RELATIONSHIPS AND IMPACT OF IMPLEMENTATION
This programme will enhance the internationalization of the Department and the College of Education. It will bring additional resources (human and fiscal) to the department and increase the number of doctoral students from foreign countries. As well, the project will allow for the department to work with another Canadian university (University of Calgary) and Mico Teachers' College on a collaborative basis. We anticipate that it will result in our graduate students being provided with international experience and additional research opportunities. We also see this as an opportunity for faculty to engage in collaborative and cross-cultural research as a result of this project.
7. BUDGET
This has been previously described under item 5. There will be no financial costs to the university. All costs are covered in the contract. The University and Department will benefit from this project.
8. SUMMARY COMMENT
As previously mentioned, this special Principals’ Diploma is designed to meet the terms of the IADB contract and is not available to other graduate students. It represents an option within our existing Postgraduate Diploma. The diploma consists of 15 credit units of coursework with a field experience component.
Date: Thu, 09 May 2002
From: Tom Wishart
Subject: Re: Principals' diploma program option
To: Cathie Fornssler
Cc: Larry Sackney, Lillian Dyck
I support the proposal. I have confidence in the Department of Educational Administration and in the quality of instruction offered to its students. The new program utilizes currently existing courses with modifications to incorporate issues pertinent to the local conditions in Jamaica where appropriate. I accept that the department will appoint well-qualified instructors to teach these courses locally and in Jamaica. In my mind there is no question that the students will receive a good quality experience.
As you will appreciate, the proposed program is a subset of courses normally offered to graduate students in Educational Administration. Consequently, the graduates of the program will receive a newly-created certificate. I'm comfortable with this; the new certificate cannot, by itself, be used like the Postgraduate Diploma to gain entry into our graduate programs. Those students completing the Principal's Certificate program and who wish to go on to complete a graduate degree must meet normal admission requirements by completing additional course work at acceptable standards; in effect they would then complete the equivalent of our Postgraduate Diploma program.
Moreover, the discussions I have held with Professors Sackney and Scharf have led me to conclude that the contract they have signed will provide significantly more resources that will enable the Department to meet the demands of the contract but also will be used to support the regular graduate program and its students.
As many will know, there are abundant opportunities for units to become involved in these types of projects through CIDA, the World Development Bank and other agencies. To-date, the U. of S. has not been much involved in these kinds of activities and we really don't have much experience. This contract is time limited and will lapse August 31, 2006. It offers an opportunity for the Department and College to ‘test the waters' on this sort of initiative with minimal risks and will provide us all with a unique opportunity.
The College of Graduate Studies and Research will monitor the progress of students in this program and report back to Council upon the completion of the contract.
Tom
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