Francis Marion University - School of Education

FMU Center of Excellence
Grant Proposal Narrative

2. Proposal Narrative

k. Collaborative Planning Efforts

As mentioned in Section H, discussions about the desirability of a Center of Excellence at Francis Marion University began at a lunch meeting held in December, 2003. Shortly thereafter, a nine-member planning committee was appointed by Ron Faulkenberry, Dean of the School of Education. The members of the planning committee were: Mrs. Ashley Bair, teacher, Royall Elementary School, Florence District One; Dr. Ron Faulkenberry, Dean, FMU School of Education; Ms. Ada Harper, Marion Intermediate School, Marion District One; Dr. Chris Johnson, Chair, Department of English, FMU; Dr. Rainey Knight, Superintendent, Darlington County School District; Dr. Tammy Pawloski, Associate Professor, FMU School of Education, Dr. Tom Truitt, Executive Director, Pee Dee Education Center, Mr. Thurmond Williams, Principal, Henry Timrod Elementary School; and Dr. Lorin Anderson, consultant. The panel met on two occasions, January 30, 2004, and February 6, 2004. Each meeting lasted about 5 hours.

By mid-February, a draft proposal was prepared and circulated via e-mail to all members of the planning committee. Revisions were made based on the feedback received. The revised proposal was submitted via e-mail to 20 people who had agreed to review the proposal prior to tits submissions to the Commission on Higher Education. Seven of the reviewers were FMU faculty: Sam Broughton, Psychology; Ken Dye, Education; Bill Fox, Mathematics; Lynn Hanson, English; Dorothy Harris, Education; Jennifer Kunka, English; and Jeff Lee, Education. Eleven of the reviewers were administrators and teachers from partner and participating districts: Courtney Eshleman, Linda Graham, Henrietta Hall, Valeria Harrison, Elizabeth Jackson, Keli Jones, Anita Maness, Ryan Newman, Joni Tarte, Clint Wills, and Beth Wright. The final two reviewers were Gayle Morris, South Carolina Department of Education, and Kevin Swick, University of South Carolina, Columbia.

Based on input from the reviewers, a third draft of the proposal was prepared. After a final read through when minor corrections were made, the proposal was submitted to the Commission on Higher Education.