CU’s Board of Regents (BOR) recently approved three new graduate level certificates for the UCCS School of Education, and they also discussed a potential on-campus concealed carry ban at their Feb. 9-10 meeting.
The BOR is made up of nine members, seven of which are elected from each congressional district. UCCS is located in Congressional District Five.
According to their website, the BOR oversees the entire CU system and focuses mainly on directing funding, integrating diversity and providing high quality education to students with affordability in mind. A lot of their work is done in committees that are specific to these focuses.
Three new UCCS School of Education certificates
The regents approved the addition of a Special Education Added Endorsement Certificate, Alternative Licensure Program Certificate and a Special Education Initial License Certificate to UCCS’ Education Program.
These certificates will be for current teachers or students who want to gain expertise in a more specialized form of teaching. Each certificate can be completed in 24-42 credit hours.
Ken Montera, the CU Regent for District Five, works on the University Affairs Committee that passed these new certificates. According to Montera, most or all of the classes a student takes for these certificates can be applied towards earning a graduate level degree.
“It’s really about options. What we’re trying to do is prepare people for a career, prepare them for whatever next step it is in their life … In my mind, it’s really kind of expanding your quiver, giving you more of an opportunity to be recruited and, once you’re within an educational capacity, to expand what you can offer that school district,” Montera said.
Here are the unique requirements for each new certificate:
Special Education Added Endorsement Certificate requirements and designations:
- Students who have a valid Colorado teaching license can apply for this program.
- Students who complete this program will be recommended to receive the added endorsement of Special Education Generalist.
- The program will teach future educators how to meet the needs of students with disabilities.
- It follows a cohort model that begins in the fall and requires students to complete designated courses for each semester in a specific sequence.
- Students are required to participate in one field experience.
- This certificate takes 24 credit hours to complete.
New Special Education Initial License Certificate requirements and designations:
- This program is available to students who do not yet have a teaching license.
- Students who complete this program will be recommended to receive initial licensure of Special Education Generalist.
- It will teach future educators how to meet the needs of students with disabilities.
- It follows a cohort model program that begins in the fall and requires students to complete designated courses for each semester in a specific sequence.
- The program requires a significant amount of time spent working in the field (a four-week course and one day a week of field experience in addition to student teaching).
- The program takes 43 credit hours to complete.
Alternative Licensure Program Certificate requirements and designations:
- This program is available to students who have an undergraduate degree but have not completed an educator preparation program.
- Students interested in seeking a teaching license in one of these areas will benefit from this program: English language arts, mathematics, science, social studies or world languages.
- Students are required to maintain a 3.0 GPA and must receive a grade no lower than a B- in any course.
- Students are required to be in a teaching position if they are not already in one.
- This program takes 33 credit hours to complete.
Students must take additional courses to receive a master’s degree in any of the three programs.
On-Campus Concealed Carry Ban
Following a resolution passed by CU Boulder’s student government to ban concealed carry on campus, the Board of Regents heard students from CU Boulder, CU Denver and UCCS voice their concerns about campus safety regarding on-campus concealed carry.
The regents were prompted by the amount of support for the ban to continue the discussion in a broader context of campus safety in the future.
“It’s a much bigger issue if we’re going to address it. We want to make sure, above everything, that our students are safe on our campuses — that’s what’s most important to me. If a student doesn’t feel safe on our campuses, then I don’t know how they can study [or] how they can focus and feel comfortable walking to classes,” Montera said.
The discussion will continue in their next University Affairs Committee Meeting on April 18 where the BOR will hear experts in risk management and law enforcement talk about concealed carry and campus safety in general.
Montera explained that the April meeting will primarily be informational to get a better understanding of what safety looks like on all CU campuses, noting that a ban may happen for all campuses or only a select amount.
“The committee would determine, if it even gets to that point, how significant the situation is because one of the issues we’re trying to understand is — have we had issues with concealed carry on campuses? How many people even have concealed carry?” Montera said.
If the committee feels there’s enough change needed, the issue will be brought to either the Governance Committee, who works on policies and procedures, or to the full Board of Regents.
Montera is waiting to learn more about the situation before coming to any conclusion.
“I believe that campus safety is paramount. I really believe we need to do everything we can to keep our students safe. So, is concealed carry one of those issues that is problematic? I don’t know yet. I want to see what our experts tell us, what the heads of our police departments on our campuses tell us,” he said.
Students can visit the Board of Regent’s website to stay up to date on their activity and learn more about their role in the CU system.
Photo from regents.cu.edu