Report of Regents Cultural Education Committee to The Board of Regents
Your Committee on Cultural Education Committee had its scheduled meeting on June 15, 2015. In attendance were committee members: Regent Tilles, Chair, Regent Brown, Regent Bendit Regent Chin*, Regent Cea, Regent Ouderkirk*, Regent Cottrell*, Regent Johnson*. Absent: Regent Finn. * Present for the first portion of the meeting only. Regents In addition to CE Committee Members, in attendance were: Chancellor Tisch, Regent Norwood and Acting Commissioner Berlin.
ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION/ACTION
Chair’s Remarks: Regent Tilles welcomed everyone and opened the meeting at 5:45pm
Appointment of a State Paleontologist
The State Paleontologist is a Regents appointment, per Education Law section 235. After a national search, Dr. Lisa Amati has recently been hired as the Curator of Paleontology and is a staff member of the State Museum. Prior to this position Dr. Lisa Amati was an associate professor of geology at SUNY Potsdam.
Dr. Amati will make an outstanding State Paleontologist with the ability to educate, and inform public and professional communities about New York’s rich and abundant paleontological record. Dr. Amati has an understanding of the roles of museums in K-12 and higher education, and is adept at public programming for all ages.
Motion to appoint Lisa Amati as State Paleontologist:
Motion by: Regent Johnson
Second By: Regent Cea
Unanimously passed.
Update from Public Broadcasting Stations
Elizabeth Hood, Director of Educational Television and Public Broadcasting introduced a panel consisting of:
Robert Altman, WMHT, Albany
Jon Rubin, WNET, New York
John Craig, WNED, Buffalo
Rebecca Bustelos, 2nd Grade Teacher Giffen Elementary School, Albany
Andrew Wheelock, WNYRIC/Erie 1 BOCES, Buffalo.
The panel presented an update report to the committee regarding the development and use of PBS Learning Media in New York during this school year. PBS LearningMedia New York is an online resource for direct access to over 100,000 classroom-ready, curriculum-targeted digital resources. PBS LearningMedia New York builds on the strength of public media and is designed to improve teacher effectiveness and student achievement. Resources are aligned to Common Core and national standards and include videos and interactives, as well as audio, documents, and in-depth lesson plans. Panel members reviewed how content is developed, aligned to the curriculum standards and used in the classroom. There are over 62,000 users of PBS LearningMedia in New York.
Near the close of the meeting, Chancellor Tisch remarked that this presentation was of sufficient value and interest to present to the full Board of Regents at the September 2015 meeting of the Board and directed that this same item be placed on the agenda for that meeting.