UIndy selected for Woodrow Wilson Teaching Fellowship
By Kim Puckett
Staff Writer
The University of Indianapolis has been selected as one of four Indiana universities to pioneer the Woodrow Wilson National Teaching Fellowship, an initiative to improve teacher education in the United States.
The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation selected Indiana as the first state to begin its national teacher recruitment program. The fellowship’s mission encourages college seniors and graduates who hold a degree in math or science seeking a career change to choose teaching as a career.
As the only private school chosen to participate, UIndy will be collaborating with Ball State University, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis and Purdue University. The fellowship seeks to prepare teachers for middle and high school classrooms.
The Woodrow Wilson Foundation will provide a $30,000 stipend for a 12-month master’s degree program to each fellow selected. Selected applicants will meet a benchmark grade point average and have a strong background in math or science.
In the first year, 80 participants will be selected by the foundation. After completing the program, each participant must teach math or science at a high-need Indiana school for at least three years.
Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Deborah Balogh will oversee the project at UIndy, which involves cooperation between the School of Education and the College of Arts and Sciences.
“We want to develop new models of teacher preparation that enhance student learning,” Balogh said. “This is the first step in a much larger revolution for education nationwide.”
According to Balogh, one of the reasons UIndy was chosen to participate was because of its existing education-based initiatives such as the Center of Excellence in Leadership of Learning.
Lynne Weisenbach, dean of the School of Education and executive director of CELL, said the collaborative relationship between the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Education was a determining factor in UIndy’s selection.
“Our departments work closely together,” Weisenbach said. “You can walk through the Schwitzer Center and see our faculty having lunch together. That kind of collaboration just isn’t present at a lot of other universities.”
Angelia Ridgway, associate professor of teacher education, has been coordinating the task force, which is developing the program’s courses of study, experiences in the field and connections with area public schools. Ridgway also coordinates the Master of Arts in Teaching program at UIndy.
“This is another excellent opportunity to prepare secondary [school] teachers for today’s schools,” Ridgway said.
The Lilly Endowment Foundation Inc. will fund much of the Indiana-based program with a $1 million contribution, according to a- New York Times article on the foundation’s recent endeavors.
According to its own Web site, the Woodrow Wilson Foundation is a fellowship created to recruit exceptionally able men and women for careers in high school teaching. With its programs, the foundation seeks to prepare fellows to teach in low-income communities and high-need schools.
Ohio will be the next state to participate in the Woodrow Wilson National Teaching Fellowship.
