Masterful BY JEN COOKE Thinking
Methodist University adds Education to its list of Masters programs
M
ethodist University in north Fayetteville has provided the city and the surrounding counties with masters-degree equipped professionals in the medical, criminal justice and business fields for several years. Now, it has opened its doors to a fourth masters program.
The Master of Education Program (M.Ed.) was born from local educators' desires to pursue advanced degrees. With many of the students planning to stay in the area, their advanced learning will benefit both the local students they teach and their paychecks. The university conducted two rounds of surveys among teachers in Cumberland County and surrounding counties before choosing to offer the degree, and students can choose be- tween literacy/reading or special education, said Lori Brookman, who is both professor of biology and dean of the school of graduate studies.
"We saw there was a need, and the graduates of our own undergraduate education program have been asking their professors for a master's program saying, 'I'd rather come back here and get it,'" Brookman said.
"Once we completed the surveys and learned what would complement our program and was needed in the schools, we formed a Professional Community Committee made up of prin- cipals, teachers and assistant superintendents," said Dr. Sue Godwin, director of the M.Ed program. "They helped us design what we felt was important for the program." After the surveys were completed, the University spent a year-and-a-half to develop the program, in which Godwin visited and researched other programs in the region.
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