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Tulley to lead education master’s programs
February 26, 2004 | |||||
KOKOMO, Ind.—Professor of Education Michael Tulley, Ed.D., has been appointed director of master’s programs for the IU Kokomo Division of Education. Tulley’s three-year appointment begins July 1.
Tulley came to IU Kokomo in 1983 after earning his doctorate in literacy education from IU Bloomington. He served as acting chairman of the campus’ Division of Education for 18 months before the appointment of Dr. Loren Henry in 2001. Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Stuart Green said Tulley’s appointment officially recognizes many responsibilities Tulley has handled for the graduate programs in recent years—coordinating the course schedule, hiring adjuncts, and directing student admissions and counseling. Tulley will continue his work in teaching literacy and preparing the master’s programs for accreditation review by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education. Tulley said he wants to update and market the education graduate programs more aggressively, but not change it. “It’s been pretty well defined by Indiana University in its 36-hour program,” he said. “ And, these are IU degrees. They carry a fair amount of currency.” Currently, the education master’s degree programs have “about 100 students enrolled” and “in various stages of [degree] completion,” Tulley said. The university cannot pinpoint an exact number of current students, Tulley said, because these students are mostly working teachers who “move in and out of the programs.” Most only take classes during summer months, and not all have taken classes in consecutive semesters or years. Because of tight school budgets “teachers often don’t know until May what they’ll be doing in the summer,” Tulley added. This leaves little time for them to choose to enroll in a summer class. Tulley would like to turn this situation around by attracting and working with a cohort, or set group of students, that would start and continue through graduate studies together. “The cohort model is specifically designed to gather up groups of people and move them through school in a more efficient way,” Tulley said. Bachelor of education students normally form cohorts, and many nursing programs use this model, Tulley noted. Students benefit from the support and mutual interest of their classmates, as well as from being able to clearly anticipate the timing and costs of getting their degree. “We could market it as such—‘You can get through [the graduate program] in so many semesters,’ ” Tulley said. Having a set cohort of students all interested in specific course work would make it much easier for the graduate faculty to plan curriculum, Tulley said. “Now, when we schedule a class, we’re casting a net. It’s hard to judge if a graduate course should even be offered. Will it get enough enrollment to hold the class?” Being able to anticipate class enrollments would also make it easier for the graduate program to offer distance learning via the Internet or closed circuit television, Saturday courses, intensive workshops, and some independent study. The broadest issue the graduate programs face is a need for more resources, particularly faculty, Tulley said. The Division of Education has six tenure-track faculty and one tenured position to be filled. Tulley would like to see an eighth position established. He also wants to supplement an already “exceptional” corps of adjunct instructors, with area school principals, curriculum specialists, and other administrators. “Central Indiana is saturated with qualified people who can cover subjects that are very immediate to what’s being taught here,” he said. Stuart Green praised Tulley as “an able and experienced faculty member” in the Division of Education. “I look forward to working with him and Dr. Henry. “As the campus continues to grow and expand its regional commitment to graduate educational opportunities for our students and citizens, it is critical that we have knowledgeable and dedicated leadership to guide and sustain the development and effectiveness of these programs,” Green said. “I can think of no area of study more important to the success of a region that its programs in education.”
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