On May 8th, Dr. Rita Jensen joined Argosy University/Chicago and Argosy University/Schaumburg as the Director of Professional Certification. Formerly, Dr. Jensen was the head of education programs for Argosy University/Twin Cities. She brings to the certification position teaching experiences ranging from prekindergarten through the doctoral level, with expertise in elementary education, language arts, education of the gifted, teacher education, assessment, curriculum and instruction, and leadership. In addition, Dr. Jensen has held higher education administration positions, while maintaining an active scholarship agenda. Most recently she coauthored (with Dr. Therese Kiley) Teaching, Leading, and Learning in PreK-8 Settings: Strategies for Success (2005, 2nd ed., Houghton Mifflin), a book that provides a practitioner’s perspective informed by a scholarship of integration and application. The focus of Dr. Jensen’s first six months as Professional Certification Director will be guiding the Chicago and Schaumburg Schools of Education through the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) administrative certification program application process - a process that began long before her arrival. Earlier this year, the ISBE approved Argosy’s conceptual framework document, which describes the knowledge base and theoretical foundation that provides the scaffolding for Argosy’s proposed principal certification and superintendent certification programs. The theme of those programs, whose purpose is to prepare principals and superintendents to lead P-12 schools, will be "Professionals as Learners and Leaders in Action." In March, Argosy submitted its program descriptions to ISBE for their review. The next major step involves developing and submitting an institutional report, which details how the conceptual framework is integrated throughout six main criteria or standards and describes how Argosy University’s Chicago and Schaumburg Schools of Education meet the program standards outlined by ISBE.

In mid-October, a five or six-member ISBE team will visit the Schaumburg and Chicago campuses. This visit will be similar in structure and purpose to the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) continuing accreditation visits. The team members will verify the information included in the institutional report, review exhibits and additional information, interview program faculty and administrators, and communicate their findings in the form of a report to be delivered late in the calendar year. In early June of 2007, the ISBE program application process will culminate with the Illinois State Certification Board’s review of the site visit team’s recommendations. The Certification Board then will forward their findings to the ISBE for final action. Once the School of Education’s principal certification and superintendent certification programs are approved by ISBE and HLC, as well as by Argosy University, they will then begin accepting candidates for a fall 2007 program start. Between now and then, please watch for additional program updates, as well as for informational materials and sessions related to the proposed certification programs - programs designed to prepare P-12 principals and superintendents to be Professionals as Learners and Leaders in Action.