School of Education

A Statement from the Colorado Council of Deans of Education

July 2nd, 2020

The Colorado Council of Deans of Education (CCODE) is a collaborative group of deans and college/university leaders responsible for educator preparation in four-year higher education institutions across the state of Colorado. We meet regularly to address issues and exchange knowledge with each other and our state partners about the preparation of educators. We are a state chapter of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE).

Our institutions share a commitment to preparing educators who promote the values of diversity, equity, and justice in their work. This statement reflects our shared values and our renewed commitment to the development and enactment of policies and practices that address anti-Black racism. We believe a diversified teaching profession – that hold an understanding of and commitment to equity, equality, and antiracist beliefs and practices – is critical to the education of current and future generations of students.

As a community of educator preparation providers, we are committed to moving beyond words to action. We will work to ensure that our schools and colleges are better able to address and to prevent further anti-Black violence. While each institution will take action in different and unique ways, CCODE is committed to just and equitable schooling practices. Over the course of the next year, we will engage with community and education leaders to hear and address their concerns around anti-Black violence and racism. We will also devote time in each of our meetings to share strategies and actions we are taking in our institutions, as well as related outcomes and impacts.

As we move forward, we commit to reflecting on, and when needed, effecting change at the interpersonal, the institutional, the legislative, and the ideological level. 

At the interpersonal level, we commit to anti-racist education that addresses anti-Blackness and other forms of racism and oppression. We will work with our faculty to challenge anti-Blackness and dismantle white supremacy in our research, teaching, daily operations, and community engagement. In doing so, we call for our educator preparation programs to include and center Black voices and Black lives in reading materials and lessons. Resources to educate ourselves and our students on institutionalized racism and white supremacy can be found here.

At the institutional level, as colleges, schools, and departments of education, we acknowledge the existence of systemic racism and commit to continually examine our interactions and to the extent possible, to draw on the framework developed by the Education Deans for Justice and Equity (EDJE). This framework – developed by Colleges and Schools of Education across the US – provides a tool for organizing collective action for justice, from hiring practices to funding strategies and ways of working in solidarity with communities to advance racial justice. We commit to using this framework or a similar tool to help us put our values into practice and engage in ongoing, critical analysis of how power and privilege work in our organizations. We acknowledge the anti-Black racism and daily violence that students experience in our institutions and we commit to listening and working to change the structures that support and sustain a climate and culture of inequity.

At the state and national levels, we will support and advocate for legislation that works to reduce systemic and structural racism that has historically impeded the diversification of the teacher education profession.

At the ideological level, we will develop practices that enable us to center Black voices and perspectives and to appreciate Black brilliance.

We acknowledge that we have a long way to go to reach our collective goal of becoming anti-racist educators and institutions. We are committed to working together and learning from one another to reach this goal.

School of Education

A Statement from the Dean, June 4th, 2020

Elizabeth R. Hinde, Professor and Dean

Like so many of you, I have been, angry, frustrated, and deeply saddened by the events of this past week. Also, like so many of you, I have received and read countless statements expressing condemnation of the actions and people who killed George Floyd and of the perpetuation of outrageous acts that have ended the lives of so many others. We are once again witnesses to the violent disregard for human life that has resulted from systemic racism and the overall systems of oppression that are endemic to our society. While I share the anger and frustration that our students, faculty, staff, families, and other loved ones are feeling, I have found that I am at a loss for meaningful words.

But I am not at a loss for the feeling of a need for action. I am not at a loss for taking ownership of the problem and for owning a sense of personal and professional responsibility for the educational inequities of the past and our failure to truly change the structural racism in education (PreK through higher ed), presently and onward. While I, and the whole School of Education community, condemns the recent violent and shameful acts, and we stand in solidarity with everyone who is working against the racist and oppressive systems that caused the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmed Arbery, Elijah McClain, Marvin Booker, and countless others, the time has come to stop talking and start living the words we speak.

The faculty and staff of the School of Education created a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) statement and we proudly have it posted on our website. It reads, in part:

We acknowledge the present and historical systems of oppression and marginalization that permeate all levels of society and believe these structures of power and privilege need to be deeply understood by all members of our SOE community. We are committed to actively dismantling these systems and barriers within our SOE. We seek to create an environment that invites honest and respectful dialogue, treats community members with dignity and respect, and manage tensions and differing viewpoints with thoughtful engagement, conversation and inquiry.

The time has come to live these words. Now is the time for the “honest and respectful dialogue” and the “dignity and respect” that we purport. I, as dean, and all the other leaders of the SOE have a responsibility to enforce and ensure that these statements are more than lip service. Each one of us has the responsibility to enact these words in everything we do. This is not the time for just the leaders to give lofty speeches and provide deep insights. It is the time for each of us to enact what we say we believe. In our teaching, in our committee work, in our interactions with students and each other, in our phone calls and emails, in our planning for next semester, in our research, in everything. We can make small structural changes to our curriculum and teaching. We can tweak assignments and change textbooks and even provide space to talk about such things in our classes and meetings. All of that is great and encouraged. But all of that is meaningless if we are not the people we want our students to be. We must be the teachers and leaders they need and teach them how to be the teachers and leaders their future students and all children need. Let’s be the people our DEI statement says we are.

Elizabeth R. Hinde
Professor and Dean
School of Education
Metropolitan State University of Denver

3/17/20: Message to Our Students Regarding COVID-19

School of Education Students,

The School of Education faculty and staff are here for you, and please rest assured that the disruption to clinical experiences (field placements, student teaching, residency) will not delay completion of your program as long as you successfully engage with the required coursework and alternate assignments and assessment provided by your course instructor/supervisor(s).

It is important that you are checking your MSU Denver email for important communications relating to the effects of the coronavirus (COVID-19) on course delivery, field experience, student teaching/residency, advising, and other services and components relating to your program.

Between March 11th and March 13th 2020, we sent various communications to specific populations of students admitted to School of Education programs.  Further updates are expected, so please continue monitoring your email.

If you have any questions about your field experience this spring, please contact your field experience course instructor.

If you have any questions about your student teaching or residency this spring, please contact your student teaching or residency supervisor.

If you have any other general questions, please contact us at education@msudenver.edu.

3/16/20 UPDATE: REMOTE SERVICES INCREASED

Beginning Tuesday, March 17th, 2020, our offices will be closed to the public, and only critical employees will be on campus.  All teaching and advising services will be offered remotely until further notice.  Please do not come to campus if you do not need to. 

Visit our page for an update on remote advising procedures. 

Students, please make sure you are checking your MSU Denver email regularly and communicating with your instructors as needed.

3/15/20: NO ON-CAMPUS CLASSES WEEK OF 3/16/20

Dear Roadrunner Community,

I am writing to let you know that beginning tomorrow, Monday, March 16, there will be no in-person, on-campus classes for MSU Denver students. However, online classes will continue and the campus will remain open for limited operations. We believe this action will best support our efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19 by maintaining social distance, and it will allow our faculty and staff more time to effectively prepare for the March 30 deadline to transition to online course delivery for the remainder of the semester.

Students: Please contact your instructors and other faculty members with any questions or concerns you might have, and please check your email frequently. Many faculty have already transitioned to remote course delivery while others are in the middle of this process and will soon be finished. During this time, we also encourage you to check the University’s COVID-19 website and social media for regular updates. The MSU Denver community of faculty, staff and administrators are here for you!
 
Staff and Administrators: On Friday, we also announced a liberal remote-work policy that allows for appropriate social distancing to support the health and wellness of our employees, while still fulfilling the MSU Denver mission. We encourage you to work with your supervisor tomorrow to determine next steps as we strive to further limit our overall on-campus presence in the coming week.

I want to thank everyone for your ongoing patience as we continue to manage and respond to COVID-19. This is an unprecedented situation for our community and the world and no one has all of the answers. But the efforts of our staff, faculty and students during these extraordinary times have been remarkable and I could not be prouder.

Know that the University is committed to placing the health, safety and well-being of our people first. Please continue to take care of yourselves, your families and each other during the coming weeks as we face these challenges together.

Sincerely,

Janine Davidson, Ph.D.
President