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Dean Wixson Travels to Antartica
Icebergs, seals. penguins, and a bit of seasickness during the trip through Drake Passage between the tip of South America and the immense frozen continent of Antarctica: these were a few of the sights and experiences of a recent UM Alumni Association cruise. Joining others from such institutions as Penn State and Notre Dame, UM grads and administrators spent nearly two weeks exploring Buenos Aires, Argentina and the numerous islands and landing points around the northern tip of Antarctica that were once part of the landmass connecting the two continents.
SoE Dean, Karen Wixson and her husband, Wiley Massingill, traveled with the group as UM hosts. Dean Wixson described the trip “As an expedition in a part of the world where the weather changes from moment to moment, this trip demanded maximum flexibility on everyone’s part.” That flexibility included scheduling and rescheduling landings at the crack of dawn or as the sun was setting.
The UM travelers came from all over the U.S. and represented many units from within the University including a number with ties to the School of Education. Dean Wixson said, “You can’t beat an experience that combines a unique, once-in-a-lifetime adventure with a wonderful group of UM traveling companions.”
Graduate Student Community Organization
It might have been called just the GSO, or the “Council” or “Assembly.” But the students who gathered during 2002 to form the Graduate Student Community Organization purposely included that third word because of all of the meanings it implies.
"'Community' means human connections and shared responsibility," says GSCO Co-Chair Eric Fretz, Ph.D. candidate in the Combined Program of Education and Psychology. “Our goal is to strengthen relationships among graduate students within and across programs in the SoE.”
All graduate students in Education are considered members of the GSCO, which is coordinated by a 13-member leadership committee representing all SoE programs. They are a support network, helping one another navigate the sometimes convoluted road to an advanced degree. Their mission centers around the constant improvement of graduate student support – academic, financial and social.
A key activity is GradShare, a twice-yearly event in which students have an opportunity to present their latest research findings, often as a practice run for presenting at national research conferences. The group also hosts a welcome kick-off for incoming grad students at the beginning of each semester, and a Summer Social. Did we mention the softball team?
All of this momentum, endorsed and supported by the Dean’s office, won the GSCO the 2003 Outstanding Student Organization Award on campus in February, 2003.
“We started the GSCO for students like myself, who came to Michigan not knowing a soul and wanting to learn about what other research people were doing,” says GSCO founding member and Co-Chair Jane Coggshall, Ph.D. candidate in Educational Administration and Policy. “I also wanted to know about those hundreds of things that your advisor can’t tell you, like where to go on a Saturday night.
“I hope that incoming students and current ones find our gatherings a way to connect with future colleagues and lifelong friends.”
Staff Advisory Council
Your plane crashes on a desert island, leaving you with 15 belongings, among them sunglasses, a compass, matches and water. What is the single most important item for your survival?
It’s difficult enough to decide on your own. What if you needed to reach consensus with all of the other passengers?
Some 50 SoE staff members took part in the exercise called “Shared Decision Making and Group Success,” led by Assistant Professor Roger Goddard at February’s Staff Advisory Council retreat. The program fit right in with the council goals, which are to:
- increase communication among staff
- provide a forum for discussing staff ideas and concerns
- advise the Dean on issues and make recommendations
“Staff” in SoE includes about 95 support staff, student lecturers, admissions and counseling staff – basically, everyone who isn’t faculty, says SAC Co-Chair Bonita Kothe, Administrative Assistant with the Study of Instructional Improvement.
A leader group of about 10 members serving two-year terms has met regularly since 2000, laying the groundwork and building a sense of community as its core objective.
It doesn’t occur automatically in a large building like the SoE, where staff are geographically separated by walls and floors.
Among the solutions: bi-monthly informational brown bag lunches featuring various speakers; coffee breaks on alternative months, appropriately called “10 O’Clock Recess;” and quarterly potlucks. Walking groups have formed, and more educational programs such as computer skills workshops are planned.
“One of our current goals is to identify staff who are skilled in different software applications and are willing to serve as a resource to others,” says Co-Chair Erika Beck, Academic Secretary in Educational Studies
But along with the planned activities, SAC charts its success by the increase in informal connections: people going to lunch together and forming friendships outside of work. “It’s giving us an opportunity to be more aware of each other and appreciate one another. The Council identified a need,” Beck concludes, “and is fulfilling it.”
Introducing Stephen Bates - School of Education Director of Advancement
In January, Stephen G. Bates assumed the position of Director of Advancement just in time to lead the School of Education’s “World of Difference” fundraising campaign, which kicks off May 13 and 14. A major focus of the campaign is to fund new scholarships and add at least one endowed faculty chair, Bates said.
Bates returns to the University after serving for seven years as Associate Vice President of the Eastern Michigan University Foundation. Prior to that position, he worked in the UM’s College of Literature, Science, and the Arts. His career in development spans a broad range of fundraising experiences, including lead positions in directing annual giving, major gifts, development publications, and corporate and foundation giving. He has served with the Milwaukee Ballet and the University Musical Society and on several local boards in support of arts and social service organizations. Bates received his BA from Lawrence University, in Appleton, Wisconsin, and his MBA from the University of Michigan.
“I feel that we are fortunate to have someone of his background and experience in this role,” Dean Karen Wixson said. “He has made remarkable strides moving our campaign forward in the short time he’s been here.”
Bates said he is pleased to be back at the University of Michigan for a number of reasons. “The University is embarking on this great new fundraising effort, and building a lot of excitement and enthusiasm around it,” which makes it a great time to be involved, he said.
Bates said being at such a highly ranked institution and School of Education is important him, especially given its wide sphere of influence. “We train educational personnel to work at the local, state, and national levels. Our research projects affect the national debate on K-12 and higher education. We even have programs that work with school administrators from as far away as Mongolia and Kyrgystan.” Bates said he hopes to expand and build upon this broad reach as the campaign moves forward.
School of Education Alumni Wins NARST Outstanding Dissertation Award
David Fortus, Ph.D. ’03, has received this year’s National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST) outstanding dissertation award. He was honored at the group’s annual meeting on April 3.
His dissertation, entitled “Design-Based Science and the Transfer of Science Knowledge and Real-World Problem-Solving Skills,” provides a new perspective for fostering, identifying and assessing transfer in science education. Joseph Krajcik, Professor of Science Education, and Ronald Marx, now Dean of the College of Education at the University of Arizona, co-chaired the dissertation committee.
“Design-based science (DBS) helps students develop new scientific knowledge and problem-solving skills in the context of designing artifacts and products, such as a cell phone,” explains Fortus, Assistant Professor of Science Education at Michigan State University.
His dissertation describes DBS in detail and demonstrates that: (1) appropriate learning environments can foster transfer, (2) transfer performance can improve over time, and (3) it is necessary to rethink and redefine the procedures for identifying and assessing real-world transfer.
Fortus holds a B.S. in aeronautical engineering and an M.S. in theoretical physics from the Technion, Israel Institute for Technology. He is a member of the U-M Center for Curriculum Materials in Science, funded by the National Science Foundation.
