Members of the Education Department Student Board are student leaders who desire to support and serve the Education Department.
Board members are education majors and minors who are elected by their peers in their junior and senior years. Terms are one year, running January to December. Responsibilities of board members are intermittent; weeks or months may pass with relatively little required activity. However, when duties arise, they are very important and must be assigned a high priority.
Selection
Student board members are nominated and chosen by their peers. Students should vote for someone they feel
- embodies the values of the Education Department,
- can fulfill the responsibilities described below, and
- respects honesty and confidentiality.
Responsibilities
- Participation in Faculty Evaluations
Student board members are expected to provide evaluations of departmental faculty members up for review in that academic year. These evaluations, conducted by the Faculty Personnel Committee, are instrumental in determining whether professors are granted a contract for another year of employment, granted tenure (job security), given promotions in academic rank, or awarded merit raises (a pay bonus for being in the top 50% of OWU professors). To carry out this duty, the Faculty Personnel Committee gathers a great deal of information from the faculty member concerned, from other faculty members, and from students. The student board evaluations are an important part of this process. The Faculty Personnel Committee holds a training session that Student Board chairs are expected to attend.
- Participation in Faculty Searches
Whenever the department is authorized to recruit a new faculty member, a national search is launched. Finalists for a position are brought to campus for formal interviews, typically lasting one or two days. Members of the search committee regard student input as very valuable, and the student board has a crucial function (though students do not have an official vote). Students play a dual role: (a) they assess the qualifications of the candidates by meeting with them and by attending their teaching presentations, and (b) they serve as representatives of the OWU student body, showing the candidates what kind of students they would be interacting with here.
- Participation in Admissions Events
The OWU Office of Admissions and the Education Department host several events for prospective students, typically in the spring semester. One or two student board members are expected to attend each event to welcome prospective students and their families and share their experiences at OWU and in the Department.
- Organization of Elections of New Board Members
Board members solicit nominations, publicize the event and conduct the elections. Board members from the previous year are eligible to run again.
- Organization of Social Gatherings and Service Activities
Board members coordinate a fall meet-and-greet to welcome new freshmen interested in education, and any other desired social or service events.
