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University deans brief board on teacher‑prep enrollments, faculty and recruitment; call for outreach support
Summary
Deans from Alabama colleges and universities described education-college enrollments, faculty levels and recruitment efforts in a round of introductions and asked for continued state support for recruitment, grow‑your‑own and dual‑enrollment teacher pipelines.
Representatives from multiple Alabama institutions of higher education appeared at the board meeting to introduce themselves and give brief updates on teacher‑preparation programs.
Deans and program directors from Jacksonville State University, Talladega College, Troy University, the University of North Alabama (Florence) and Miles College introduced program leaders and summarized enrollments and faculty counts. Reported program sizes ranged from small, focused programs (tens of education majors at some private colleges) to larger programs (roughly 700–800 students reported at some public institutions). Faculty counts reported by deans ranged from about four full‑time education faculty at smaller programs to about 15–40 at larger university colleges of education; programs said enrollment trends vary by subject area and level (elementary, secondary and graduate programs).
Deans described recruitment efforts, grow‑your‑own initiatives and dual‑enrollment strategies aimed at building pipelines into the teaching profession. Several deans asked for continued state partnership and suggested the department work with campus colleges of education to publicize teaching as a career and to better coordinate recruitment with local districts. Board members and department staff noted previous collaborations and invited further outreach and coordination to tackle teacher shortages in math, science and special education.
Board members suggested working more closely with local chambers, high school counseling programs and regional teacher‑recruitment events, and they asked colleges to share information about faculty counts and program growth. Several deans said they were expanding recruitment and retention work and emphasized partnerships with local districts.
