Education navigates uncharted waters

 
The College of Education program at Southern University of Baton Rouge was one of the chosen few programs that was chosen to be put into the Retrenchment and Reorganization Plan for enhancement at the SUBR campus.
In the Retrenchment and Reorganization Plan, the college of education was chosen because of the following factors: low student enrollment, low number of program majors, low number of graduates, low production of student credit hours, limited ability to attract external funds, limited capacity to meet workforce needs of state and limited possibilities for future growth.
The Retrenchment and Reorganization Plan was implemented due to the struggles with persistent and ongoing budget challenges that have been the main result of the continued state mandated budget reductions, unfunded state mandates and the declining number in enrollment according to the information in the Southern University and A&M College Retrenchment and Reorganization Plan.
According to the plan, immediately after the declaration of financial exigency, which was Oct. 28 of last year, the university began a process for the development of a retrenchment plan that would involve restructuring/reorganizing the entire university to move it to a new level of efficiency, effectiveness and accountability.
With the department of education being a part of the enhancements of the Retrenchment and Reorganization of SU, recruiting new students has taken a new height.
Roy Jacobs, chair of the department of educational leadership in the education program, said that his department attends many meetings at various schools, which is for faculty development days, hold sessions at SU, contact school systems inquiring to set up recruitments for the entire parish and go back and create contact with students who were once a part of the program.
“We always expect more students,” said Jacobs.
According to Jacobs, the department of educational leadership currently has approximately 30-40 students enrolled in the program.
Originally, the department of educational leadership was known as the administration and supervision and was a part of the behavioral studies program but since the department wanted to be accredited, the Board of Regents asked that the program be reformed according to Jacobs.
Jacobs also stated that the primary purpose of the department of educational leadership is to help students prepare that are in education and has a determination to be education leaders in K-12.
“We offer the program in the curriculum so that those people can ​become principals and at the same time acquire certification,” said Jacobs.
In the college of education’s mission statement, it states, “The College of Education develops professionals who think critically and use best practices in diverse educational and clinical environments.”
According to the statements made by Donnie Byrd, graduate student enrolled in the department of behavioral studies, from Monroe, La., the department has reached the goals mentioned in its mission statement.
“The main goal is that we learn our material,” said Byrd.  “They teach us flexibility, we learn many theories and they tell us we shouldn’t just stick to one.”
According to Byrd the program is very good and intense more than any other university.
Byrd also stated that their department encourages them to visit different events with different culture events.
“We are encouraged not only to learn in the classroom, but outside the classroom also,” said Byrd.