I.  OVERVIEW OF THE INSTITUTION

Introduction

The Service Area
Alabama State University (ASU) is a historically African American, public, coeducational institution of higher learning located in Montgomery, the capital city of the state of Alabama.  Known as the city of Civil War and Civil Rights, Montgomery today is an urban center of commerce, culture, entertainment, and recreation.  It is also the home of three public higher education institutions.  According to the 2000 census, the city has a population of approximately 200,000 people.     The racial makeup of the city is 47.67% white, 49.63% African American, and the rest are mostly Native American, Asian, and Hispanic.  ASU enrolls students from this population in Montgomery and surrounding areas, from other urban and rural communities in Alabama and bordering states, from throughout the United States, and from some foreign countries.

A Brief History of the University
Alabama State University is one of the oldest institutions of higher education founded for African Americans after the Civil War. In 1867 former slaves in Perry County, Alabama established the Lincoln Normal School of Marion, the institution which became Alabama State University a century later.  The American Missionary Association (AMA) and the black people of Marion operated Lincoln as a teacher-training school with support from the Freedman’s Bureau. In 1874 Lincoln was reorganized as the nation’s first state-supported institution for training African Americans to be teachers. As a normal school, Lincoln awarded teaching certificates, not college degrees.

The institution was moved from Marion to Montgomery in1887.  In 1928 the school became a four-year teacher’s college.  The first baccalaureate degrees were conferred in 1931.  The graduate program in education was authorized in 1940, and the first master’s degrees were awarded in 1943. The college underwent several name changes, as the scope of its academic program was broadened to include more areas in the liberal arts, the sciences, and business as well as in teacher education. On June 26, 1969, the institution was granted “university status.” Alabama State University operated under the governance of the Alabama State Board of Education until October 1975 when the legislature authorized a separate board of trustees.

 Located only a short walk from the Alabama State Capitol, the state government complex, and downtown Montgomery, Alabama State University has experienced rapid growth.  Importantly, this growth includes a new facility for the College of Education which is currently under construction.  Much of the current growth in academic programs and in the physical plant is due in part to the Knight vs. Alabama desegregation lawsuit. The 1995 remedial decree in this case has enabled ASU to implement degree programs, including the Ed.D. in Educational Leadership, Policy, and Law housed in the College of Education.  This program was accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) in spring 2003.  The remedial decree in Knight vs. Alabama also helped to strengthen the university’s commitment to diversifying the student population through the provision of “diversity scholarships” designed to attract a larger number of non-black students.

University Mission
Alabama State University serves the surrounding community through human, cultural, and physical resources.  Instruction, research, and public service are central to the mission of the university.  The university maintains a commitment to serve students from diverse academic, social, economic, ethnic, and geographical backgrounds and to develop responsible leaders who are capable of and willing to seek solutions to human, social, and technological problems.  In the official documents of the university, the mission is stated as follows:

Alabama State University is a regional, comprehensive, historically African American, state-supported university.   In carrying out its mission, the university serves the city of Montgomery, the state, the nation, and the global community. Its major commitments are quality programs of undergraduate and graduate instruction, residential life, continuing education, public service, and research provided at the most reasonable cost to individual students and taxpayers. The university will continue to strengthen its academic programs in education, business, and the liberal arts while giving even greater emphasis to the science programs at the graduate and undergraduate levels.  The science emphasis is in recognition of the gross under-representation of minority professionals in this broad and important field throughout the nation.  The university will also expand further its public service programs through strengthening service to local and state political leaders, providing them with research-based guidance on policy, program approaches, and initiatives for addressing community problems.

The university aims to develop and pursue these programs in a manner to ensure that eligible students who desire to develop and expand their scholastic skills for personal, occupational, or professional growth have the opportunity to do so, regardless of socio-economic status. Respect for the intellectual potential and dignity of students as individual human beings, without regard to age, sex, race, color, cultural background, national origin, or disability shall be paramount.

The university’s mission is extended through a statement of its role and several objectives.  These statements may be found, along with the mission statement, in the Alabama State University General Undergraduate Catalog, pages 4 and 5.

The Organization of the University
The Alabama State University Organizational Chart details the general administrative structure of the university.  The central administration is led by the president who has direct responsibility to the board of trustees. The central administration comprises senior-level administrators including five vice presidents who report directly to the university president. The vice president for academic affairs, along with the assistant vice president, manages the academic program of the university through the colleges and school and related support units.

Accreditations
The university is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).  Many individual university programs are accredited by their relevant professional organizations and associations.  Teacher education programs in the College of Education are accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) in partnership with the Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE).   NCATE and ALSDE conduct joint continuing accreditation reviews of the unit’s programs.

The Mission of the College of Education
The College of Education (COE) seeks to prepare teachers, instructional support personnel, and other professionals to be decision makers who are equipped with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary to ethically and effectively integrate theory and practice in carrying out their professions.  These professionals will possess the understanding of our diverse culture, the technological capabilities, the intellectual rigor, and the critical thinking and problem solving skills required to make informed and responsible decisions, to engage in reflective assessment, to implement positive change, and to pursue learning as a lifetime endeavor.

As an integral part of the total university, the COE is committed to serving the communities in Alabama through assistance to their educational programs and related activities.  As it works to carry out its mission, the COE is careful to ensure that initial and advanced programs for the preparation of teachers and other professional education personnel are aligned with the expectations of national, state, professional, and institutional standards.

Professional Education Faculty
The college employs 48 full-time faculty members.  In addition, adjunct faculty are employed to teach courses and supervise internships.  The following table provides information about the academic rank of professional education faculty.

Table O.1:  Academic Rank of Professional Education Faculty
For Academic Year 2006-2007

Program Overview
The College of Education (COE) offers 19 programs at the baccalaureate level, 17 at the master’s level, 11 at the post-master’s, education specialist level, and 1 at the doctoral level.  An alternative fifth-year program leading to the master’s degree in education and teacher certification is designed for candidates who did not complete a teacher education program at the undergraduate level.  Some courses in the unit’s programs are offered on-line.    Table 2 lists all programs offered by the college that prepare candidates for careers in P-12 schools.  As previously indicated, Alabama is a NCATE partnership state; therefore, the Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE) and NCATE jointly review and approve College of Education programs for accreditation. 

Programs in the COE are administered through four departments: the Department of Curriculum and Instruction; the Department of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation; the Department of Foundations and Psychology, and the Department of Instructional Support Programs.  Each department is headed by a department chair who reports to the dean of the college.  The Department of Curriculum and Instruction offers programs in early childhood education, elementary education, secondary education, and special education/collaborative teacher.  The Department of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation offers teacher education programs in health education and physical education and non-teaching programs in recreation management and recreation therapy.  The Department of Foundations and Psychology offers educational foundations courses for teacher candidates and non-teaching programs in psychology.  The Department of Instructional Support Programs offers graduate programs in education administration, library education/media, general counseling and school counseling, and a doctoral program in educational leadership, policy, and law. Initial and advanced programs in music are offered in the College of Visual and Performing Arts. 

The director of off-campus sites, the director of professional laboratory experiences, the certification officer, the director of the Teacher Education Center, the director of the Early Childhood Center, and the director of the Central Alabama Regional In-service Center report directly to the dean of the college. Currently, graduate courses are offered at three official off-campus sites-- Birmingham, Alabama; Brewton, Alabama; and Mobile, Alabama.  Candidates enrolled in these courses must meet the same academic requirements and deadlines as candidates attending classes in Montgomery.  Degree-seeking candidates can take no more than 50 percent of their required courses in any program at off-campus sites. 

The Early Childhood Center provides social and educational experiences for children 3 ½ to 8 years old while serving as a setting for observation and participation experiences for undergraduate and graduate candidates. The Teacher Education Center is a key support unit for the college.  It manages activities associated with the preparation of prospective candidates for admission to teacher education, and provides assistive instruction and other support for candidates. The Central Alabama Regional In-service Center provides professional development activities for teachers and administrators in the service area.  The college’s Curriculum Resource Center is located in the Levi Watkins Library and Learning Resources Center.

The organization of the college is reflected in Figure 6.1, page 87.  The status of programs in the college is shown in Table O.2 which follows.

 Table O.2: College of Education Professional Education Programs (as of Spring 2007)

Candidates enrolled in COE programs are from urban and rural communities in Alabama and bordering states, from throughout the United States, and from some foreign countries. In the fall of 2006, the college enrolled 1110 candidates pursuing baccalaureate degrees and 796  pursuing graduate degrees on campus and at the three off-campus sites. Programmatically, the highest undergraduate enrollment is in elementary education and the highest graduate enrollment is in administration. The college awarded 204 baccalaureate degrees and 280 graduate degrees during the 2006 spring and summer commencements. 

The COE dashboard 2003-2007 presents an at-a-glance profile of some college characteristics.

Although becoming more and more diverse, ASU’s student population and faculty are still majority African American.  The same holds true for the College of Education.  During Fall 2006, 93% of the college’s undergraduate enrollment was African American; 84% of the graduate enrollment was African American while 16% was mostly white, with a few other ethnicities. The college has the second largest faculty of the degree-granting colleges.   Fifty-seven percent is African American, 28% white, and the remaining 15 % includes Chinese, Korean, Indian, and African, among others.  COE faculty provide important leadership for campus and community initiatives and are increasingly active in state and national settings to develop their expertise as professionals and to further the university and college missions.

Major Changes, Accomplishments, and Trends Since the Last NCATE Review

The college’s last NCATE review was in November of 2003.  The following major changes have occurred since this review:

·         In accordance with the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, ALSDE rules now require candidates to complete an academic major in the teaching field as well as in education. This requirement was begun in 2005 and means that ASU teacher education candidates in secondary education now graduate with a stronger content area specialization.

·         The School of Music has been re-organized as a department in the newly established College of Visual and Performing Arts.  COE music education majors complete courses in this unit.

·         The Praxis II content examinations have been adopted as a requirement by the ALSDE. Candidates who complete their degree program in spring 2006 and thereafter are required to take and pass the Praxis II exam prior to internship.  

·         Through federal and state grants , the College of Education has an extensive outreach program which meets the needs of specifically identified target groups.  Since the 2003 NCATE review, the COE has received funding for several additional grants.

·         In April 2006 the Early Childhood Center received accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).