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References

1. Berman, D. (2007, May 25). MBA programs on the rise in Maryland, across the nation. Daily Record.

Del. Charles Barkley ‘72

Del. Pamela G. Beidle ‘94

Del. John L. Bohanan ‘81

Del. Ann Marie Doory ‘76

Del. Jolene Ivey ‘82

Del. Susan Krebs ‘81

Del. Warren Miller ‘87

Del. Karen Montgomery ‘57

Del. B. Daniel Riley ‘78

Del. Tanya Thornton Shewell ‘70

Sen. Kathy Klausmeier

Text Box: In This Issue •Legislative Alert Update •Alumni Legislators •A Letter from Delegate Barkley ‘72 •Current Bills in Legislation Regarding Higher Education •New in the News •Tiger Tracks •TAP Resources

Current Bills in Legislation Regarding Higher Education

SB49—MHEC, Review of Duplicative Academic Programs—Special Ordered Until 4/4/08

HB184—Housing Code Enforcement—Unfavorable Report

HB538/SB617—Collective Bargaining, Adjunct Faculty and Graduate Student Employees—Unfavorable Report

HB689—Access to Public Records, Permissible Denials, Public Institutions of Higher Education—Passed House, passed Senate

HB1418—Task Force to Study Occupancy Limits on Rental Housing Near University Campuses—Withdrawn

SB146—Higher Education—Tuition Reduction for Non-resident Nursing Students, Service Obligation—Passed Senate, hearing in House 3/25

SB438—Institutions of Higher Education - Plans for Programs of Cultural Diversity – Passed Senate

SB464—MHEC Unreasonable Duplication of Programs – Expansion of Existing Programs – Passed Senate

SB657—College Textbooks Competition and Affordability Act of 2008 – Passed Senate

TU Alumni E-mail Accounts Now Available!

To sign up for your FREE Towson University Alumni E-mail account register on www.tutigertracks.com and click on “Alumni E-mail” to set your account up today!

Legislative Alert Update

SB49 Maryland Higher Education Commission - Review of Duplicative Academic Programs SB49 came up for a vote on the Senate floor. At the request of the sponsor, Senator Joan Carter Conway, SB49 was special ordered to April 4, 2008. Please call your Senator and ask them to vote NO on SB49. General Assembly switchboard 410-841-3000.

Reject the Cut to USM Hagerstown Higher Education Center
$2.1 million cut will jeopardize the Hagerstown Center and Towson University's Nursing Program offered at USM Hagerstown. The Operating Budget Conference Committee is meeting this week to determine the final budget. Please contact House and Senate leadership asking them to keep USM Hagerstown whole.

The House Appropriations Committee has cut $2.1 million dollars from the University of Maryland System budget for the USM Hagerstown Higher Education Center. The committee has directed that the Hagerstown funding be redistributed among the Regional Higher Education Centers that come under the Maryland Higher Education Commission and Hagerstown. This action is grossly unfair to the USM Hagerstown Center and we ask that you contact the House and Senate Leadership to reverse this action and support the Senate position. Please click here to send a note requesting the Leadership to reject the $2.1M cut to the Hagerstown Higher Education Center. http://capwiz.com/usmd/issues/alert/?alertid=11155926

Text Box: A Letter from Delegate Charles Barkley ‘72 Time in the classroom is the best training for future teachers. This is exactly what is happening in the Professional Schools for Teachers at Towson University. After completing education courses on campus, students are carefully placed in one of several sites in Baltimore City and surrounding counties where they teach as part of their degree program. Each student works closely with a university supervisor and a mentor teacher during their “Professional Year”. This actual classroom experience provides them with invaluable knowledge of what it is really like to be the ‘teacher’ in a classroom setting. The Professional Development Schools for Teachers incorporates the ‘hands on’ approach to teaching. Classrooms can be unruly and chaotic. Skills beyond subject knowledge are necessary if a teacher is going to be successful in meeting the needs of the students as well as their own professional growth. Classroom management skills are a requirement and these skills can only be developed while standing in front of a room full of active students. Studies have shown that teachers who have spent time in a professional development school, such as the one offered by Towson, stay longer. Teacher retention is an ongoing challenge to education and providing teacher candidates with more experience in the classroom before they actually get there is priceless. If preparation is the key to success, this program and others like it will be the key to training and retaining future teachers. I had just one semester of actual classroom experience when I began my teaching career in 1972 in Montgomery County Public Schools. While my experience was challenging, it did NOT fully prepare me for the actual day to day challenge of teaching. However, I survived that first year and continued my teaching career for thirty years. The Professional Development Schools for Teachers at Towson prepares new teachers to step into the classroom with confidence and experience. These new teachers will be ready for the challenges that surely lie ahead. Delegate Charles Barkley Class of ‘72 Click here to learn more about the Towson University College of Education and the Professional Development Schools. Click here for information on the Cherry Hill Professional Development School, part of the Cherry Hill Learning Zone.

New In The News

Amid budget struggle, O’Malley ups ‘core’ spending request—Baltimore Sun
Assembly wrapping up budget work—Baltimore Sun
Students & Debt: Marylanders back campus credit card marketing reforms