04/06/2009
Even school principals and superintendents must go back to school sometimes. With that in mind, SUNY Cortland is launching a new program to help those educational administrators gain five years of New York state-mandated continuing education credits after they have earned their Certificate of Advanced Study in Educational Leadership (CAS).
"Our mission is to create a learning community for educational leaders that enhances and supports the success of all students and stakeholders through ongoing professional development, refinement of leadership skills and networking," said Kevin Mack, coordinator of the College's newly created Continuous Professional Development Program (CPDP).
A 12-member advisory team composed of Mack, an assistant professor of educational leadership at the College, and 11 regional school leaders drafted the program's mission statement and are developing seminars to help principals and others refine their abilities.
The College's Educational Leadership Department will begin hosting annual summer conferences as well as fall and spring breakfast seminars, explained Mack, who has served the department since 1997 and has a doctorate in educational administration from the George Peabody College for Teachers at Vanderbilt University.
"In creating this program, we wanted to continue to provide learning opportunities for these people, not only those who went through our program, but for administrators in the area and for those who want to become administrators," explained Mack, himself a former superintendent in the Spencer-Van Etten Central School District and the Sidney School District. He also was principal at Marathon Junior Senior High School and has 10 years of teaching experience. "There are different avenues for the administrators to get this training, but as the Educational Leadership Department, we can have a positive role."
The department, which is part of Cortland's School of Education, currently oversees the CAS program, whose graduates complete requirements for New York state certificates in the areas of school building leader, school district leader, school building and district leader or school district business leader.
The new CPDP program expands the department's program offerings and promises to give the school's leadership training greater visibility.
"The program also brings people to the College," Mack said. "It's good public relations, it makes people aware of our programs we offer here. If people are aware of what we're offering, maybe they will decide to select Cortland over another school."
School of Education Dean Gerald Porter has been very supportive of the program, Mack said.
"He has given us funds to get it off the ground, but we anticipate that it will be self-sustaining," Mack said. "But, at the same time we will try to keep the price of the seminars affordable for the educators. The money we generate from the seminars will pay for our speakers."
Each year, the program will feature one topic of current interest as the focus for its gatherings.
The first CPDP summer conference will be a "Seminar on Proactive Discipline: Strategies that Build School Communities for Student Success," on Wednesday, Aug. 12, in Sperry Center on the SUNY Cortland campus. The program, which costs $65 per person, will feature as presenters Colleen Zawadski, a principal of alternative education programs for Onondaga-Cortland-Madison BOCES at the Liverpool campus; Janet Duncan, director of SUNY Cortland's Institute for Disability Studies; and Maria Fallarcaro Smith, an 18-year veteran of the elementary and secondary classroom who is currently an elementary principal and director of technology with the Adirondack Central School District
Co-hosted by the department and the Center for Educational Exchange (CEE), the event involves interactive learning sessions from 8 a.m.-2:30 p.m. The seminar is geared for school administrators, building administrators, special education directors, school resource officers and administrative interns enrolled in the CAS program. For more information or to register, contact the CEE at (607) 753-4214 or cee@cortland.edu.
In addition to Mack, the advisory team includes: Gary Astles, middle school principal in Trumansburg Central School District; Chantal Bailey, assistant middle school/high school principal and athletic director in Fabius-Pompey Central School District; John Durkee, high school principal in Marcellus Central School District; Madalyn Stowell, assistant high school principal, and Jeffrey Evener, social studies supervisor, in Auburn City School District; Cathy Griggs, middle school principal in Newfield Central School District; Zane Mahar, incoming principal in Sauquoit Valley Central Schools; Becky Marzeski, assistant elementary principal in Rome City School District; and Denise Cook, elementary school principal, Barbara Phillips, middle school principal, and Dave Richards, high school principal, all in Deposit Central School District.
For more information on the program, contact Mack at (607) 753-4781.