Our Administration

The Dean's Office

Dr. Howard Smith Interim Dean	Jan Moen Program Assistant

• Installation of Smart Boards in three classrooms in Wenona Hall and integration of this technology into our curriculum.
• Internet connections in five classrooms with LCD projectors and projection screens.
• A cart serving as a wireless hub for our classrooms with LCD projectors and projection screens.
• A cart serving as a wireless hub for our classroom and eighteen laptops with SynchronEyes software and discipline specific software for our classrooms.
• Eighteen Tablet laptop computers have been ordered for all methods classes taught by the content area faculty members.
• Three Teacher Education Faculty members went to training at Dakota STate University to learn how to use the software and hardware that secondary school districts are using in mobile computer schools.
• The computer lab has been equipped with new Gateway Profile computers.

     Other changes have included an increase in our efforts to recruit and retain students going into Teacher Education as the teacher shortage continues to grow.  We have done this by hosting a social event for SDSU students that are majoring in the content areas that are appropriate for middle school and secondary teachers but who have not considered using that content knowledge for teaching.
     We are encouraging our Financial Aid office to "push" the federal Perkins Scholarship program for those students going into teaching and have participated, along with the Mathematics Department, in obtaining a grant from the National Science Foundation for scholarships for students who will go into the teaching of math in schools that have critical need for math teachers.  The grant is titled Rural Enhancement for Math and Science Teaching.  In September, we received word that the $750,000 grant was funded.
     The Aviation Program is moving forward as we had hoped.  We now lease six airplanes and have more than 100 students in the program who are entering one of three specialties in aviation -- aviation education, aviation management, or aviation maintenance management.  With this many students in our aviation program, the Brookings Airport has become the busiest airport in South Dakota regarding take offs and landings.
     Our Counseling and Human Resource Development Department has been focusing primarily on the coming reaccreditation by the Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs.  The visit is scheduled for Fall 2008 and the faculty members are making good progress on collecting the necessary data and finalizing their self-study.  They also continue to be actively engaged in scholarship activities by publishing, writing grants, and making presentations at national conferences.
     The Educational Leadership Department is in the process of completing two cohorts of graduates; one from the Chester and Baltic school districts and one at the Capitol University Center in Pierre.
     The curriculum for these groups of students has been delivered both online and face-to-face, thus maintaining the best of both delivery models.  We get to know our students on a personal basis and at the same time, we are able to economize on their travel expenses by offering courses online.  Enrollment is up considerbly this fall for both education administration and the curriculum and instruction programs.
     In addition, the faculty has continued to enhance the curriculum through following closely the Educational Leadership Constituency Consortium standards.  That has led us to increase the field-based component of the degree, to spread it out through the program, and to initiate some changes into the "end-of-program" comprehensive examinations.  We have also added School/Community Relations to the list of required courses.
     Our West River programs continue to have strong enrollment, and we have been working on recruiting efforts.  The reorganization of the way these programs are administered seems to be working quite well.  The two program coordinators report directly to their respective department heads on campus with the overall administration of the program coming from the office of the dean.
     We owe a debt of gratitude to the many practitioners, both school administrators and mental health professionals, for their willingness to serve as adjunct faculty members.  With their real-life experience and expertise with real issues that are present in the world of practice, they provide an extremely valuable resource to both the West River component of the programs and to the on campus delivery of the programs as well.  All in all, we are off to what looks to be a great year.  We continue to be focused on quality in terms of being national leaders and locally relevant to serve the people of South Dakota

Howard Smith
Interim Dean