BOARD OF TRUSTEES Meeting Notice - Nebraska State College ...

2.4.-5
3) While post baccalaureate candidates are not counted in graduation totals/averages,
these educators are serving students, families, schools, and communities in critical
need of qualified special educators. From 2005 to 2010, 32 (unduplicated)
candidates pursued post baccalaureate studies toward earning certification in special
education.
Overall these enrollments are quite strong in comparison to other institutions in the state, region,
and nation and suggest a significant increase in future program graduates.
Justification:
WSC will continue to expand efforts to recruit and graduate highly qualified special educators in
response to growing and critical needs of districts across the state and region. In recent years
the program has been led by a single faculty member due to the elimination of one full-time FTE
position. In spring 2011 a qualified faculty member in EDFL was internally reassigned (.5 FTE)
to assist in monitoring and assessing the program and advising the 103 majors in the program.
We believe it is also critical to note that special education faculty support the burgeoning Early
Childhood Education Unified program – an endorsement requiring approximately 1/3 of its
content coursework in special education courses. Enrollment in that major has increased from 1
(07-08), 8 (08-09), 12 (09-10), to 24 (10-11) and is likely to continue growing at a significant
pace. Additionally, NDE requires that all education majors complete a 3 hour course in
educating children with exceptionalities. While we have been able to hire several highly-qualified
adjunct faculty to meet these burgeoning needs, it is necessary to have full-time special
education faculty members to monitor and assess our offerings to ensure we meet the
increasing requirements for state and national accreditation.
In conclusion we believe the loss of this program would be disastrous for districts throughout
Nebraska that are struggling to serve a growing population of students requiring special
education services and who rely on WSC special education graduates to fill increasing position
vacancies.
Special Education (MSE) – Eliminate the program.
Clearly the need for highly qualified and certified special educators continues to outpace supply
and critical shortages exist in our state, region and nation. WSC is seeking to address this
urgent need by focusing attention on recruiting and preparing increasing numbers of
undergraduate majors and serving post baccalaureate candidates seeking to add SPD
certification. Unfortunately, graduate special education enrollment and degree completers have
remained low for the past several years.
As a result of continuing low enrollments, we believe it best to discontinue the current MSE in
Special Education.