Educator Preparation Provider Council
Purpose: The primary purpose of the EPPC is to review courses and programs and to define those policies and procedures that ensure educator preparation programs at Missouri State University (MSU) meet state and national guidelines for preparing qualified school personnel. The EPPC represents the EPP (Educator Preparation Provider) as a governing body that is part of the Faculty Senate. Missouri State University is organized such that educator preparation programs are offered in each of the six academic colleges. The EPP was established to encompass all educator preparation certification programs across the various colleges.
Membership: A) An EPPC member who represents the faculty must be a member of the EPP. Faculty/staff who teach one or more EPP courses, advise or supervise educator preparation students, or administer educator preparation academic departments/units* or colleges must be members of the EPP.
(*The term “unit” here refers to any group of faculty members who collectively controls the curriculum of one or more academic programs and resides outside of the administrative structure of any single academic department. The only educator preparation entity that fits this description is the MSED-Secondary Oversight Committee. If additional educator preparation units are formed which fit this description, they shall receive voting membership on the EPPC automatically without additional amendment to the Bylaws. The BSED-Secondary Oversight Committee does not fit this description because each of the BSED-Secondary programs is controlled by its respective department.)
All faculty serving on EPPC must meet all Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) and Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) accreditation standards regarding members of the EPP. These standards include being actively involved in teacher education and having a five-year plan on file in the respective academic department and the EPP. This five-year plan must detail the faculty member’s direct and periodic involvement with the public schools.
B) The EPPC shall include at least one EPP faculty member from each academic department, and from each entity so identified in Academic Entities, that has one or more education programs. All department are required to have at least one representative. Departments with more than 250 combined graduate and undergraduate teacher education majors have the option of electing one representative per 250 majors in teacher education. If an academic department or entity so identified in Academic Entities has three or fewer EPP faculty members, then its head may serve as an ex officio EPPC member without voting privileges.
Eligible members from the faculty shall be elected for a two-year term and shall be eligible to serve to consecutive terms but following the second term shall not be eligible to serve until after the lapse of an intervening year. Exception to this rule: A person elected chair-elect during the fourth consecutive year as an EPPC member may serve a fifth year as chair-elect and a sixth year as chair. Upon completion of a term as chair, that person will not be eligible to serve on the EPPC until after the lapse of an intervening year. A second exception shall be those academic departments in which only one or two faculty meet EPPC membership requirements. These faculty may be reelected without limit.
C) Three school teachers (elementary, secondary, K12) from the community and one full-time school administrator from the community shall be elected to the EPPC by the EPPC and shall be eligible to serve two consecutive terms of two years each, but following the second term shall not be eligible to serve until after the lapse of an intervening year. These members shall be full voting members except they shall be excluded from discussions and decisions regarding confidential personnel matters.
D) Membership shall also include two Missouri State University undergraduate students and two Missouri state University graduate students. Student members shall serve a term of two years as full voting members. They shall be excluded from discussions and decision regarding confidential personnel matters.
E) The Head of the EPP and the Secretary of the Faculty shall be ex officio members to the EPPC without voting privileges. The administrator responsible for DESE and CAEP accreditation process shall also serve as ex officio member to the EPPC without voting privileges.
Melanie Carden-Jessen, GG, CNAS (Chair)
TBA (Chair-elect)
William H. Darr College of Agriculture
James Hutter, AG, 2026
Reynolds College of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities
ART Steve Willis, 2026
No Election, COM 2025
Amy Knowles, EN 2025
Tonia Tinsley, FL, 2026
Vicky Scott, MU, 2025
Carol Maples, TD, 2026
Jeremy Neely, HI, 2026
College of Education
Bonnie Behrend, CL, 2025
Rhonda Bishop, TL, 2025
TBA (rplc Kay Lewis, TL)
Rim Pfeil, GL, 2025
Debra Price, FACS, 2025
McQueary College of Health & Human Services
Kirsten Hatz, HR, 2025
College of Natural & Applied Sciences
Bryan Breyfogle, CH, 2026
Melanie Carden-Jessen, GG, 2025
Gay Ragan, MA, 2026
Evan Roderman, PA, 2026
Chris Craig, COE, Head of EPP, ex officio
Updated September 11, 2024