Dear Partner School Colleague,
Your school district is a member of the Montclair State University Network for Educational Renewal. This school-university partnership of Montclair State University and over twenty school districts is dedicated to the simultaneous renewal of the schools and teacher education. One of the benefits of membership for teachers and administrators is the opportunity to gain appointment as Clinical Faculty at Montclair State University.Please read the following information carefully.
Clinical Faculty status offers teachers the opportunity to expand their teaching and leadership roles to include being a cooperating teacher or on-site education mentor for student teachers, co-teaching student teaching seminars on campus or on-site, and teaching in the MSUNER professional development series. Clinical Faculty members are eligible to attend the MSUNER Summer Conference at the end of June and all other MSUNER professional development offerings. Clinical Faculty can apply for grants that foster professional development, curriculum development and/or research. Finally, the appointment includes the opportunity to apply for campus privileges including a Net ID, campus parking, library privileges and the use of the ADP Center for Teacher Preparation and Learning Technologies privileges at the University.
If you are an administrator or supervisor in a member district, you are encouraged to become a Clinical Faculty member. Appointment to the University as a Clinical Faculty member enables you to take part in all of the MSUNER professional development programs, receive mailings of all MSUNER events, and apply for campus faculty privileges. The MSUNER is currently in the process of developing professional development opportunities specifically designed to support the work of school and district administrators in this time of changing requirements and responsibilities for educators in public schools and districts.
The overarching themes of the teacher education program at MSU are embedded in the Agenda for Education in a Democracy, and include the stewardship of best practice in school, providing access to knowledge for all students, practicing a nurturing pedagogy, and promoting democratic practice in schools. We hope to place our student teachers with Clinical Faculty in MSUNER schools who practice teaching for critical thinking, see themselves as lifelong learners, and recognize the moral dimensions of teaching.
If you are interested in becoming a Clinical Faculty member, please complete this application and submit a letter of recommendation from your administrator by fax (973-655-7776), e-mail (msuner@mail.montclair.edu), or postal service mail (address is listed below) as well. During your first two years as a Clinical Faculty member, it is required that you take three MSUNER mini-courses: Teaching for Critical Thinking, Culturally Responsive Teaching, and Strategies for Mentoring/Coaching. Please know that all mini-courses are free to educators in member districts and offered after school hours.
In order to facilitate communication and the transmission of forms to Clinical Faculty, it is essential that you provide a current professional email address and frequently used email address as well. All contacts and updates are sent to Clinical Faculty using email. We also encourage you to join www.msuner.org in order to receive updates on MSUNER events, offerings, and professional development opportunities.
Thank you for your interest in the MSUNER and in the preparation of teachers for our schools. In our partnership work together, we all play an important role in the education of future teachers.