Education students who have questions now have a place to go to find answers. The College of Education has developed a program called the “Lighthouse Beacon Initiative,” which is a student support service for education students.
Nancy P. Gallavan, professor of teacher education; Patty Kohler-Evans, associate professor of teacher education; and Angela Webster-Smith, assistant professor of leadership studies, are the founders of this project. It was developed about two years ago to reach students who had questions about the education program.
“We made a lot of progress last year, but this year we’ve really hit the ground running,” Kohler-Evans said.
The participants in the Lighthouse Beacon Initiative have a sign outside their office doors with a lighthouse sign that says “Welcome,” letting individuals know that the people in these offices are there to help. Currently, there are 13 individuals involved in the initiative.
“We don’t see ourselves as necessarily having the answers, but we see ourselves more as truly the lighthouse, we want to point the way to finding the people who can find the answers,” Gallavan said.
These professors want to stress the fact that students can come to them with any type of problem they have.
“Just the fact that it says ‘Welcome’ outside my door, lets students know that it’s a safe place to go,” Webster-Smith said.
The professors in the education department said that they are excited about this new chapter in their department. The education department is working with student support services at UCA to develop this project.
“It’s an attitude of servitude, rather than weeding students out, we are there to serve them,” Kohler-Evans said. – Lisa Burnett