Overview of the Institution and the Unit

Purdue University North Central (PNC) is a regional campus of Purdue University West Lafayette.  Following World War II, Purdue University began offering courses in facilities loaned to the University by the Michigan City and LaPorte Schools, and in 1948, the Barker Welfare Foundation made the John Barker mansion in Michigan City available to the University and classes were held there beginning in the spring of 1949.  Through the 1950’s, enrollment at the Barker Memorial Center continued to grow, as did the population of the north central region of the state.  In May, 1962, Purdue University through the Ross-Aide Foundation, purchased 160 acres south of Michigan City near Westville at a location that could best serve the residents of LaPorte and Porter counties.  The new permanent campus opened in the fall of 1967.  Since then, the campus has undergone many changes, indicative of the rapid growth and educational demands of the area.  In 1986, the Indiana Commission for Higher Education (ICHE) designated PNC as a general purpose institution and it is accredited as a baccalaureate granting institution by the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.  In recent years, several academic programs including Education have received academic autonomy from Purdue West Lafayette, and on February 3, 2006 the Purdue University Board of Trustees granted Purdue University North Central full autonomy from the West Lafayette campus.  This was a momentous occasion for the campus.  The student population of 3500 reflects the diversity found in north central Indiana and is made up of traditional and nontraditional students many of whom are the first members of their families to attend a university.  The primary focus of our campus and its faculty is to provide excellent teaching, public service and research to our service area.

In 1968, the first courses were offered in Elementary Education under the supervision of the Education Department in West Lafayette (WL).  By the mid-seventies the entire baccalaureate program was offered with the exception of student teaching.  PNC students registered for student teaching in West Lafayette, but actually completed it in Northwest Indiana under the supervision of PNC faculty.  In 1983, authority was given by ICHE to offer the entire program at PNC under the aegis of the WL Department.   In December, 2002, PNC requested academic autonomy for the elementary education program and this request was granted in March 2003. 

Since 2003, the elementary education program has evolved and continues to evolve into a dynamic program based on the conceptual framework developed by the PNC faculty and its constituents.  Our goal has been to examine our program, develop a mission, vision, philosophy, core beliefs, and knowledge base that reflect this campus.  We have created an assessment system that provides a continuous data stream that will drive change in the future.  PNC is committed to the development of the Education program, and continues to support our efforts to revise and refine our program.    Table 1 presents an overview of the institution for the fall, 2005.  Additional information about PNC can be found at the campus website at www.pnc.edu and in the campus catalog at www.pnc.edu/catalog (Exhibit Overview 1: PNC Catalog)

Table 1: Institutional Profile*

Distinguishing Characteristics of the Education Department

The Education Department at Purdue University North Central is seeking initial accreditation by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) and the Indiana Department of Education Division of Professional Standards (DPS) although we have been accredited by both in the past with Purdue University West Lafayette.  The Education Department offers one baccalaureate program and licensure in Elementary Education.  Purdue University West Lafayette offers a Master of Science in Elementary Education on our campus.  While this program is offered at PNC it is a West Lafayette program and was reviewed by NCATE and the DPS with West Lafayette in 2004.  On January 18, 2006 the Indiana Department of Education’s Division of Professional Standards approved a new program in Reading.  This will allow qualified elementary education candidate’s to add reading as an area to their teaching license.  This program will begin during summer school, 2006. 

Fall 2002 admissions to Elementary Education were capped at 60 candidates.  This was done because we were not able to adequately serve all of the students who had interest in our program.  The Pre Education classification was also dropped in 2002 because of the enrollment cap.  Before 2002, students who were not directly admitted into Elementary Education, but who had interest in our program were admitted to Pre Education.  They were able to transfer into Education once they had met certain conditions such as taking classes in mathematics, science and English or proving that they could maintain a GPA of at least 2.5/4.0.  These factors caused a temporary drop in enrollments.  In the fall 2005, it was determined that there were a small number of students seeking admission who could be better served through a Pre Education status.  These students were very close to being admitted as a full major and it is believed that most of them will be able to become full majors if they so desire, so the Pre Education classification was reinstated. 

Alternative Route Programs

The Indiana Legislature mandated that every public and private higher education institution with a teacher education program must also establish an alternative route to teacher licensure called Transition to Teaching.  It was determined that universities within a geographic region could collaborate to develop these programs.  A consortium which includes Purdue University North Central, Purdue University Calumet, Indiana University Northwest and Valparaiso University was created to offer the mandated Transition to Teaching programs.  

Program Review Status

Table 2 provides information related to the program review status for Purdue University North Central.

Table 2: Program Review Status Spring 2006

Number of Faculty

Table 3 provides information concerning the number of faculty who provide services to education candidates.

Table 3: Academic Rank of Professional Education Faculty for Academic Year 2005-2006