Cornell Will Not Renew Masters Program in Teaching for Agricultural Education

The following content was a series of 2 emails sent out to Cornell's "Ag Ed List-serve". They were co-authored by Dr. Travis Park and Dean Kathryn Boor. 

After reading this email, if you would like to contact these individuals, please make sure you email both individuals the same message so responses can be tracked.

Plus, the following link is from the Cornell Daily Sun: Cornell Will Not Renew Masters Program in Teaching.

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Dear Alumni and Friends of the MAT Program and Education Minor,

Below you will find an email that has been shared with our students yesterday afternoon. As you can see, this decision is the result of an ongoing dialogue between the college and the program, and we are confident that this outcome will continue to serve the needs of our current students and future students who are interested in pursuing education as a career choice.

Please let us know of any questions or concerns.

Thank you,

Travis Park (tdp9@cornell.edu) 

Associate Professor

Director, Cornell Teacher Education

Kathryn J. Boor (kjb4@cornell.edu) 

Ronald P. Lynch Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

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Dear students,

 
Through collaborative discussions between CALS leadership and faculty within the MAT/education minor programs, a decision has been made to not pursue reaccreditation when our current accreditation expires. The College has reached an articulation agreement with Ithaca College for the MAT program; the popular Education minor will remain, and continue to be developed, as will a majority of the courses in the minor. Thus, students interested in educational studies at Cornell will be able to complete the minor with challenging and relevant courses. Further, completing the Education minor will prepare students to complete teacher certification through the Ithaca College Master of Arts in Teaching.

We are committed to ensuring that our current students have every opportunity to certify as teachers. Students currently enrolled, or soon to apply to the MAT, have the opportunity to certify if they graduate by December 2013. We have requested an extension of our current accreditation to July 31, 2014, so students able to complete by that date will be able to certify if we receive an extension. We are pleased with CTE’s recent growth. We will continue to support students and maintain our nearly 100% placement of graduates. Our faculty have a strong commitment to consistently and successfully serving our students.

We are proud of our Cornell Teacher Education program, one of the few in the nation that focuses solely upon the preparation of science teachers. This summer, CTE was awarded a National Science Foundation Robert F. Noyce Capacity Building grant to recruit science teachers and build capacity within the program. However, we will be modifying the activities associated with the grant to focus on further developing the education minor, recruiting science teachers, and building strategic alliances with other teacher preparation programs.  

The decision to not seek reaccreditation follows the 2012 CALS announcement to close the Education Department.  This decision was made as part of the university-wide strategic effort, Reimagining Cornell. With the closing of the Education Department, the majority of professors have either relocated to other academic departments or left Cornell University; two retired and two obtained positions at other universities. Given the departure of core teacher education professors, and the intention of no replacement hires, reaccreditation will not be pursued.

We will continue to work to provide excellent learning and encouragement for Cornell students who wish to find challenging and rewarding careers in all fields of education. If you have any questions or concerns, please direct them to Travis, Bryan, Jeff, or Bobbi. We will keep you informed about the extension of our current accreditation.

 
Thank you,

 Travis Park

Associate Professor

Director, Cornell Teacher Education

 Kathryn J. Boor

Ronald P. Lynch Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences