Institutional Report - Overview of the Institution
Last Update: 7/17/07 *

History and Mission

Purdue is a public university, one of 68 land grant institutions enabled by the Morrill Act of 1862.  By this act, the federal government offered to give public lands to any state that would use proceeds from the sale of that land to establish and maintain a college to teach the agricultural and mechanical arts.  In 1869, proceeds from the sale were augmented with funds given by John Purdue, Tippecanoe County, and land donated by local residents.  In appreciation of John Purdue's generosity, state legislators named the newly established institution Purdue University.

Growth and progress have marked the more than 130 years of Purdue's existence.  The institution has grown from an initial enrollment of 39 students taught by six instructors at West Lafayette to one of the 25^th largest universities in the nation, with approximately 68,000 students who are taught by nearly 4,000 faculty on four campuses and at 11 Statewide Technology locations.  Reflecting a strong historical commitment to engineering and science, its 2003 enrollment profile on the West Lafayette campus was 59% men and 41% women.

Sources of pride concerning the student body include the facts that Purdue University (PU) has graduated more women engineers than any other university in the country, Purdue alumni/ae are the largest group of astronauts (22), and Purdue has one of the largest international student populations in the U.S. with students enrolled from more than 126 countries.  Famed aviatrix Amelia Earhart was a Purdue staff member where she began her ill-fated journey from the Purdue Airport.  She was reputedly a fine educator; and a local elementary school and a Purdue residence hall have been named in her honor.

Throughout its history, Purdue has been dedicated to the mission and spirit of land grant universities through the conduct of significant outreach to the citizens of Indiana and beyond (initially by technical units such as agriculture but now by all academic units that comprise the University).  In addition, Purdue is committed to the discovery and dissemination of knowledge, a mission reflected not only in its land grant status but also in its Carnegie classification as a Research Extensive institution.  As a land-, sea-, and space-grant institution, Purdue expends well over $300 million annually for research.  With over 38,000 undergraduate and graduate students on the West Lafayette campus alone, the university's mission also is heavily oriented toward teaching and learning.

Significant Purdue affiliations include membership in the 62-university Association of American Universities (AAU), the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges (NASULGC), and the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC) (academic consortium of institutions in the Big Ten Athletic Conference, plus the University of Chicago).

Organization of the University

The University is governed by a 10-member Board of Trustees, with one member being a full-time Purdue student.  The Board is responsible for major policy, selecting the president, and approving fiscal matters and personnel recommended by the president.  In turn, the president administers the University and carries out policy approved by the Trustees.  President Martin J. Jischke, Purdue's tenth president, has served since July 2000.  Among the top administrators who report to the president are:  the provost, the executive vice president and treasurer, and the chancellors of the regional campuses.  Among those reporting to the provost are the vice presidents for engagement, information technology, research, and student services, and the deans of the ten academic schools, the graduate school, international programs, and libraries.

Purdue University's complex configuration features the West Lafayette campus as the main campus and flagship of the system.  There are more than 6,100 courses in about 200 specialties taught at the West Lafayette campus, which occupies 145 principal buildings on 650 acres.  Recreation areas, two golf courses, and the Purdue Airport add more than 900 acres to the West Lafayette total.  The academic schools are:  Agriculture, Consumer and Family Sciences, Education, Engineering, Liberal Arts, Management, Pharmacy, Nursing and Health Sciences, Science, Technology, and Veterinary Medicine.

The regional Purdue campuses enjoy varying degrees of autonomy (i.e., each is accredited separately by the North Central Association but reports to the president or provost at West Lafayette).  These regional campuses are Purdue Calumet (PC), Purdue North Central (PNC), and Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW).  A fourth regional campus-Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)-has Purdue programs in engineering and science.  The chancellor of IUPUI reports to the president of Indiana University.  The relation of teacher education at West Lafayette and PNC for accreditation purposes is described at the end of this overview.

 The Purdue University North Central (PNC) campus opened in 1967 and is located in Westville, a growing area of the state near Lake Michigan.  Its academic configuration currently includes the Education department with five dedicated faculty lines filled by tenured/tenure-track faculty.  Undergraduate education degrees were earned through study at PNC but awarded through West Lafayette until 1985 when approval was obtained for offering the bachelor of arts program in elementary education.  At that time, the campus also began offering the master of arts degree in elementary education.  Currently, there are 378 elementary education majors at PNC and 36 FTE master's degree students.  The Education department is housed in the recently constructed Technology Building and includes excellent computer, classroom, and office facilities.  All of PNC's 3,828 students are commuters.

History and Organization of Teacher Education at West Lafayette

Purdue University began preparing secondary teachers in 1908, building upon the strengths of campus programs in arts, sciences, and agriculture.  Consistent with the belief that the most qualified secondary teachers should be experts in their content areas, secondary teachers at Purdue always have earned bachelor's degrees in their content disciplines.  Graduate study for teachers began on the West Lafayette campus in 1920 and culminated in 1950 with Graduate School approval for granting the Ph.D. degree.  In 1958, the State Board of Education approved the granting of elementary education degrees by Purdue, in response to strong community support for this endeavor.  Degrees in special education were awarded to elementary and secondary teachers beginning in 1965.

In 1989, with the leadership of former President Beering and the Board of Trustees, Purdue established the College of Education (COE) from the previous Department of Education located in the School of Humanities, Social Science, and Education on the West Lafayette campus.  The mandate given the COE was to establish itself as a dynamic College of Education whose teaching, research, and outreach/service would be exemplars at both the undergraduate and graduate levels among peer schools and colleges of education.  Soon thereafter, the old Education Building was razed and an 110,000 square foot building was constructed in its place (now named the Steven C. Beering Hall of Liberal Arts and Education, which houses the entire COE, as well as three departments and the dean's complex in the School of Liberal Arts).

The locus of responsibility for teacher education at Purdue University is the College of Education (COE) at West Lafayette, which is the Unit.  The dean of Education is officially designated as the head of the Unit.  In fall 2003, the COE had 1,100 undergraduates enrolled in its three majors (elementary education, social studies education, and special education), and another 550 students in its master's, education specialist, and Ph.D. programs.  An additional 150 post baccalaureate students were enrolled in COE programs leading to initial teacher licensure.  The College of Education houses two departments, Curriculum and Instruction and Educational Studies.

Another important responsibility of the Unit is to provide the professional core courses for secondary majors across campus, as well as some service courses for those majoring in early childhood education in the School of Consumer and Family Sciences.  Secondary students major in the disciplines they will teach and receive bachelor's degrees from the academic schools that house their disciplinary majors (i.e., School of Agriculture, School of Consumer and Family Sciences, School of Liberal Arts, School of Science, and School of Technology).  This model, characterized by strong collaborative preparation both in content and in pedagogy, is valued highly throughout Purdue.  Presently, there are approximately 918 candidates preparing for initial entry into the education profession in academic schools at Purdue other than the COE.

Collaborative preparation of education professionals, then, is a hallmark of Purdue.  This cooperative endeavor is viewed as a unique historically important configuration and is facilitated  by a variety of organizational strategies, including joint and courtesy appointments of arts and science faculty with the COE.  At any given time, approximately 15-20% COE faculty hold joint appointments (ranging from .15-.75 FTE) in other academic schools on campus.  In addition, collaborative teacher preparation is facilitated by approximately 40 faculty from other Purdue schools and from the K-12 sector holding courtesy or adjunct appointments in the COE.  These will be described in more detail under Standard 5.  Finally, close collaboration occurs in teacher preparation at this institution because the secondary education committee in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction and the University-wide Teacher Education Council (TEC) have broad representation by faculty outside the College of Education.

Configuration of Teacher Education across Two Campuses for NCATE / IPSB Accreditation

The configuration of teacher education across the Purdue campuses includes undergraduate programs and graduate programs.  The graduate programs include master's, education specialist, and Ph.D. programs at West Lafayette and the master's program in elementary education at Purdue North Central.  Purdue Calumet will now be accredited separately by NCATE at both the initial and advanced levels.  Master's degree programs at Purdue West Lafayette and Purdue North Central are closely linked by curriculum, accountability procedures (e.g., approval of part time staff at PNC by West Lafayette faculty) and faculty/staff interactions on departmental committees.  By design, some modifications have been created in the delivery of curriculum to accommodate the needs of the part time and non-residential student population at PNC.  However, bachelor's programs preparing teachers at Purdue North Central will be accredited separately by NCATE.  This unusual accrediting pattern arises from the fact that PNC is autonomous at the undergraduate level, but not at the graduate level.

In other words, this accreditation visit includes the Purdue University West Lafayette (initial and advanced) and the North Central (advanced only) campuses.

Table 1 includes the Purdue University teacher education programs at the initial level.  Table 2 includes the Purdue University teacher education programs at the advanced level.

Table 1. Purdue University Initial Teacher Preparation Programs

Table 2. Purdue University Advanced Preparation Programs

* Name used by Indiana Professional Standards Board for approved programs.  Purdue program name in parentheses when different.

B = Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree
C = Certification only - graduate professional education option - Initial License
M = Master's degree
Ed.S. = Education Specialist degree
Ph.D. = Doctoral program

Evidence

* Please note, this site was prepared for the March 6-10, 2004, NCATE/IPSB Board of Examiners visit. The information posted here is available to the public and every attempt is being made to ensure its completeness and accuracy. If you have any updates or corrections, or have difficulty accessing or locating any documents, please contact T. J. Oakes, NCATE Coordinator, at oakest@purdue.edu or 765-494-5486, or contact Richard Frisbie, Assessment Coordinator and WebMaster at rfrisbie@purdue.edu or 765-494-2360.