Transfer Pathways: We need YOUR voice NOW

Do you teach in one of the 12 disciplines below?  Do your courses support a major in one of those disciplines?  Do you advise students?  Do you make transfer happen?  Are you a student interested in one of these programs?  Then we need YOUR voice!
This semester twelve teams have been meeting with the goal of developing a Transfer Pathway that would assist students in the transfer from one of our Minnesota State Colleges to a Minnesota State Universities with the designated baccalaureate degree.  Students utilizing a Transfer Pathway would enter as a junior and be able to complete their baccalaureate degree in 60 credits - without losing time and money or generating excess credits.  

Your colleagues need your help!  Teams of faculty, staff, administrators, and students have been developing Transfer Pathways in the following areas:  Chemistry, Communication, Computer Science, Criminal Justice/Police, Early Childhood Education, Economics, Elementary Education, Kinesiology & Exercise Science, Mathematics, Nursing, Social Work, and Sociology.  The attachment is a roster of team members by institution.  NOW is the time for you to provide feedback on the proposed pathways to the Transfer Pathways Teams (TPTs) before they finalize the pathways in January – February, 2017.

Whose feedback is needed?

Faculty in the above disciplines and in related disciplines

All Registrars

All Transfer Specialists

All Advisors

All DARS Encoders

All CAOs

All CSAOs

All Deans

Students

 

How can you provide feedback?

The Discipline Stakeholders Meetings will occur November 14 – 17 with each Transfer Pathway hosting a 3 hour session.  You can attend either in person or remotely.   The proposed pathways will available by November 11 here.  If you are unable to attend, you will be able to review the recording of the meeting which will be available on the same site.  We are also providing an opportunity to provide feedback via a survey available here November 19 – December 9.

We ask that you register by November 7 no matter how you are attending.  We will send out a reminder plus we want to track the breadth and depth of stakeholders that we reach.

Date	Time	Team	Location	Attend in Person – Registration Link	Attend via WebEx – Registration Link
11/14	8 - 11	Social Work	NHCC	Social Work In Person	Social Work via WebEx
11/14	11:30 - 2:30	Sociology	NHCC	Sociology in Person	Sociology via WebEx
11/14	3 - 6	Criminal Justice/Police	NHCC	Criminal Justice in Person	Criminal Justice via WebEx
11/15	8 - 11	Computer Science	NHCC	Computer Science in Person	Computer Science via WebEx
11/15	11:30 - 2:30	Mathematics	NHCC	Mathematics in Person	Mathematics via WebEx
11/15	3 - 6	Economics	NHCC	Economics in Person	Economics via WebEx
11/16	8 - 11	Nursing	Normandale	Nursing in Person	Nursing via WebEx
11/16	11:30 - 2:30	Chemistry	Normandale	Chemistry in Person	Chemistry via WebEx
11/16	3 - 6	Kinesiology and Exercise Science	Normandale	Kinesiology in Person	Kinesiology via WebEx
11/17	8 - 11	Early Childhood Education	NHCC	Early Childhood Education in Person	Early Childhood Education via WebEx
11/17	11:30 - 2:30	Elementary Education	NHCC	Elementary Education in Person	Elementary Education via WebEx
11/17	3 - 6	Communication	NHCC	Communication in Person	Communication via WebEx

Location Details: 

·         North Hennepin (NHCC) sessions will be in the Center for Business and Technology, Room 195

·         Normandale sessions will be in the Kopp Student Center, Garden Room

More information about the pathways and the work of the teams is available at the Transfer Pathways website.
We appreciate you taking the time to give us your feedback before we move to finalize the transfer pathways!

On behalf of the Transfer Pathways Coordinating Team,

Glenn Merrick, MSCF, Lake Superior College, Co-chair

Gregg Marg, IFO, Minnesota State University, Mankato, Co-chair

Resources available from the MSCF Racial Equity and Diversity Committee

The committee has shared some resources for faculty related to issues of racial equity and diversity.  This information is available on the committee's page at www.mscfmn.org .  It includes a link to the works of Shaun R. Harper, Ph.D. who founded and serves as executive director of the Center for the Study of Race & Equity in Education. He studies topics pertaining to race and gender in education and social contexts, equity trends and climate issues on college campuses, Black and Latino male student success in high school and higher education, college student engagement, and intercollegiate athletics. His research has been cited in nearly 5,000 published studies.

There is also a link to the Center for the Study of Race & Equity in Education that unites University of Pennsylvania scholars who do research on race, racism, racial climates, and important topics pertaining to equity in education. Center staff and affiliates collaborate on funded research projects, environmental assessment activities, and the production of timely research reports.

Judge dismisses lawsuit challenging teachers' due process rights

ST. PAUL, Minn. Oct. 26, 2016 – Ramsey County District Judge Margaret Marrinan dismissed on Wednesday a lawsuit intended to strip teachers of their rights to due process and deny local districts the ability to determine their own layoff policies. 

“Students benefit when their teachers have the freedom to speak out about conditions in their schools without the fear of arbitrary firing, so it’s no surprise this lawsuit was dismissed,” said Denise Specht, president of Education Minnesota. “We thought this ruling was possible when the California Appeals Court dismissed the Vergara lawsuit, on which this complaint was clearly based.” 

Judge Marrinan ruled the plaintiffs could draw no connections between low academic achievement and Minnesota's due process laws for teachers. Judge Marrinan also noted the state Supreme Court has repeatedly recognized the legitimacy of the state's tenure laws, in one case calling them, "wise legislation, promotive of the best interests, not only of teachers affected, but of the schools as well." 

Specht said she hoped the ruling would lead to a renewed focus on more important education issues. 

“One of the biggest threats to the quality of education in Minnesota schools is the shortage of experienced, fully licensed teachers,” Specht said. “We hope today’s ruling will let Minnesota move beyond these insinuations about the quality of its teachers toward developing new strategies for recruiting and retaining great educators.” 

Minnesota's laws on due process for teachers are often described incorrectly. Here are three facts:  

1.              Minnesota statutes already say teachers may be fired for “failure to teach” and “inefficiency in teaching." 

2.              State law already prohibits students from being repeatedly assigned to an “ineffective” teacher. In 2015, the Legislature passed an amendment barring administrators from assigning a student to a teacher on an improvement plan two years in a row. Education Minnesota supported the change. 

3.              Minnesota statutes for due process and layoffs do not dictate where teachers are assigned. Concentrations of inexperienced or experienced teachers are the products of administrative decisions, teacher preferences and some rules that are collectively bargained.

Update from TRA

During a special meeting on Mon., Oct. 24, to address funding issues, the Teachers Retirement Association Board of Trustees opted to hold off on any decision regarding the details of retiree cost-of-living reductions and contribution increases until the board’s Nov. 16 meeting. The delay allows time for groups representing retirees, active teachers and school districts to review and weigh in on revised funding options. 

 

The revised funding options under consideration propose to reduce the retiree COLA to 1 percent for five years and 1.5 percent thereafter. The proposal also includes a 2.5 percent employer contribution rate increase phased in incrementally over several years and offset by earmarking state aid for pensions so as to hold E-12 education funding harmless. Also under consideration is an increase in the active-teacher contribution rate of 0.5 percent, phased in over several years incrementally.

The board plans to finalize details of a 2017 legislative proposal at its Nov. 16 meeting so that any state aid request can be submitted to Gov. Dayton for possible inclusion in his proposed biennial budget.

The TRA board is considering revisions to its proposals because of pressure to lower the fund’s assumed rate of return on investments. Lowering this assumption has the effect of worsening TRA’s funded status and prompting the need for lower benefits and higher contributions.

At its Oct. 24 meeting, the board discussed the investment return assumption, which is used to project TRA’s long-term financial trends. Lowering TRA’s investment assumption from 8 percent to 7.5 percent would increase liabilities and decrease TRA’s funded ratio. 

The TRA board has expressed a preference for conducting a formal study and gathering data from reputable sources before changing the assumption. Included in such a study would be a review of alternative methodologies for changing the assumption as well as a review of alternative governance structures for setting this assumption. Minnesota is one of only three states whose investment return assumption is determined by legislature.  

Minnesota State Board of Investment (SBI) director Mansco Perry has expressed caution about continuing to use 8 percent as an assumed rate of return since it may be optimistic in the short term. Minnesota Management and Budget officials have expressed a preference for the 7.5 percent investment return assumption and for the rate to be consistent among all four retirement systems.

The Minnesota State Retirement System (MSRS) board recently voted to recommend the legislature lower that fund’s assumption to 7.5 percent. TRA and the Public Employees Retirement Association (PERA) boards continue to discuss the issue

Just over two weeks left!

Polling Update

We’ve seen the last of the legislative polls. They show much of what we’ve seen for months. The Senate still looks positive but not nearly over. The House still looks incredibly close.

On the congressional side we saw polls this week in the CD 2 and CD 3 races. In CD 2 our endorsed candidate, Angie Craig, has a five point lead and a big cash advantage over Jason Lewis. CD 3 shows Congressman Paulsen with a large lead over Sen. Terri Bonoff. He has a large cash advantage as well. We had expected to see a public poll in the CD 8 race this week too but nothing has been released yet. http://www.twincities.com/2016/10/17/kstp-poll-angie-craig-up-5-points-on-jason-lewis-in-2nd-district/

Election Night

The DFL will hold an election night party at the Minneapolis Hilton hotel. We’ve decided not to get an Education Minnesota specific room this year, but there will be plenty of TVs and food and the AFL-CIO will have a room that we will help to sponsor. I will plan to do a series of email updates on election night, so if you’re not at the Hilton or a local election night party you’ll still be able to stay up to speed.

Campaign Opportunities

• Education Minnesota Phone Banks for Endorsed Candidates
• Oct. 26 and 27, 5-8:30 at the Coon Rapids office, contact Duane.anderson@edmn.org to sign up/with questions
• Oct. 27, 5-8:00 in Bagley. Contact kevin.young@edmn.org to sign up/with questions
• Oct. 24, 5-8 in Greenway. Contact greg.miller@edmn.org to sign up/with questions
• Oct. 26, 5-8 in International Falls. Contact greg.miller@edmn.org to sign up/with questions
• Oct. 27, 5-8 in Ely. Contact greg.miller@edmn.org to sign up/with questions
• Oct. 24, 5-8:00 at the Southwest Metro office, contact eric.hermann@edmn.org to sign up/with questions
• Oct. 24 and 26, 4:30-8:30 at the Rochester office, contact angel.morales@edmn.org to sign up/with questions
• Oct. 24, 26 and 27, 5-7:45 at the Apple Valley office, contact Cheryl.rosheim@edmn.org to sign up/with questions
• Oct. 25 and 26, 5:30-8:30 at the Family Diner in Faribault, contact scott.allen@edmn.org to sign up/with questions
• Oct. 24, 5pm at the Brainerd EM office, contact doug.nelson@edmn.org to sign up/with questions
• Oct. 25, 5:30-8 at the St. Cloud East office, contact todd.pack@edmn.org to sign up/with questions
• Oct. 24, 25 and 27, 5-8 in Willmar, contact libby.erickson@edmn.org to sign up/with questions (happy to have remote callers from other areas)
• Oct. 25, 5:00-8 at the Duluth office, contact kathleen.adee@edmn.org to sign up/with questions
• Oct. 25, 5:30-8:30 in Forest Lake, contact alyssa.mueller@edmn.org to sign up/with questions
• Oct. 26 and 27 at the Woodbury office, contact tony.vega@edmn.org to sign up/with questions

• Check out the DFL House and Senate online calendars for additional candidate campaign activities all over the state
• Senate: https://calendar.google.com/calendar/embed?src=cogdor0793uqttmvu8nj575des%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America/Chicago
• House: https://calendar.google.com/calendar/embed?src=dflhouseevents%40gmail.com&ctz=America/Chicago

• Education Minnesota Phone Banks for Hillary: Wed., Oct. 26 and Wed., Nov. 2 at the Sherburne office. Starts at 5pm, let jim.meyer@edmn.org know if you’d like to attend

• Nonpartisan GOTV efforts: www.wevotemn.org/volunteer

• DFL GOTV efforts: www.dfl.org/gotv

Fall 2016 Transfer Pathway Discipline Stakeholder Meetings Registration and Location Information

Discipline Stakeholder Meetings:  Transfer Pathway Teams are ready to share their proposed Transfer Pathway!  The teams will present their draft at statewide Discipline Stakeholder Meetings in November.  Who’s a discipline stakeholder?  Anyone who has an interest in the associate degree curriculum pathways being developed.  Proposed pathways will be posted here by November 11.  All those interested in one or more pathway should attend to hear from the teams (in person or via teleconference) about how they developed the pathway and what it will mean for students, faculty, advisors, and others.  It is important to the teams that they get a chance to answer your questions about the draft pathways, and to hear your suggestions and ideas for improvement, as well as for how to ensure successful implementation of the pathways statewide.

Please register to attend in person or online!  Registration is necessary so we can send you materials and track attendance (space is limited).  Register here.

Fall 2016 DSM Registration and Location Information Date Time Team Location EventBright Link WebEx Link 11/14 8 - 11 Social Work North Hennepin Community College, Center for Business and Technology 195 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/discipline-stakeholder-meeting-social-work-transfer-pathway-tickets-28659753093 https://mnscu.webex.com/mnscu/k2/j.php?MTID=tddc45812d4588d03152a5c26944dc5ec 11/14 11:30 - 2:30 Sociology North Hennepin Community College, Center for Business and Technology 195 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/discipline-stakeholder-meeting-sociologytransfer-pathway-tickets-28661066020 https://mnscu.webex.com/mnscu/k2/j.php?MTID=tc7e7bac33cea66554187d73f4ecd81eb 11/14 3 - 6 Criminal Justice/Police North Hennepin Community College, Center for Business and Technology 195 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/discipline-stakeholder-meeting-criminal-justicepolice-transfer-pathway-tickets-28661126200 https://mnscu.webex.com/mnscu/k2/j.php?MTID=t478fa7e267717ddf688256afee9f39f1 11/15 8 - 11 Computer Science   North Hennepin Community College, Center for Business and Technology 195 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/discipline-stakeholder-meeting-computer-science-transfer-pathway-tickets-28669779081 https://mnscu.webex.com/mnscu/k2/j.php?MTID=tc4679e58411c3a69e8c98d9631824236 11/15 11:30 - 2:30 Mathematics North Hennepin Community College, Center for Business and Technology 195 http://www.eventbrite.com/e/discipline-stakeholder-meeting-mathematics-transfer-pathway-tickets-28669850294 https://mnscu.webex.com/mnscu/k2/j.php?MTID=t096a1c31dcbc31c24605e8ac613b5f34 11/15 3 - 6 Economics North Hennepin Community College, Center for Business and Technology 195 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/discipline-stakeholder-meeting-economics-transfer-pathway-tickets-28669990714 https://mnscu.webex.com/mnscu/k2/j.php?MTID=t18ecbb7d47150083ed25e70d81286f2a 11/16 8 - 11  Nursing Normandale, Kopp Student Center, Garden Room https://www.eventbrite.com/e/discipline-stakeholder-meeting-nursing-transfer-pathway-tickets-28670455103 https://mnscu.webex.com/mnscu/k2/j.php?MTID=t344b3a83e57d7bcde0742d505ee73356 11/16 11:30 - 2:30 Chemistry Normandale, Kopp Student Center, Garden Room http://www.eventbrite.com/e/discipline-stakeholder-meeting-chemistry-transfer-pathway-tickets-28670713877 https://mnscu.webex.com/mnscu/k2/j.php?MTID=t97e4bedc0e6efadb27e6c82f68dd94bf 11/16 3 - 6 Kinesiology and Exercise Science Normandale, Kopp Student Center, Garden Room   https://www.eventbrite.com/e/discipline-stakeholder-meeting-kinesiology-transfer-pathway-tickets-28670789102 https://mnscu.webex.com/mnscu/k2/j.php?MTID=t4265ccb293a7c530f2c33713c9c8b9ce 11/17 8 - 11 Early Childhood Education North Hennepin Community College, Center for Business and Technology 195 http://www.eventbrite.com/e/discipline-stakeholder-meeting-early-childhood-education-transfer-pathway-tickets-28670251494 https://mnscu.webex.com/mnscu/k2/j.php?MTID=t3c5520c905b0ec50469f067e1d97eb3b