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The Murray Institute was established at St. Thomas in 1992 in response to a renewed commitment of the University to serve Catholic schools and religious educators of the Archdiocese. The partners in establishing this Institute are the School of Divinity and the School of Education at the University of St. Thomas and the Catholic Education and Formation Ministries of the Archdiocese. Click on the links provided for a detailed historical record of the Institute:
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Roots
In March of 1990, Thomas McCarver, Dean of the Education Department, submitted the results of a five-year study of the Murray Scholarship funds. He determined that enrollment of Catholic school personnel in St. Thomas' graduate programs had dropped from 139 students in 1985 to 37 students in the fall of 1989. (Memo to Monsignor Murphy, March 27, 1990, Archives) McCarver summarized that originally students could receive one tuition-free course per semester for the length of their degree work. Because of rising tuition costs, this remission had decreased to one free credit of one course per semester. With the average teacher's salary at $16,000, there was little or no incentive for the teachers to move beyond a bachelor's degree. McCarver went on to propose, "that we consider delivering full degree programs to Catholic school teachers and principals in cohort fashion, which we (graduate education) have done with our extended degree activity. The Murray Scholarship money would be used to pay for the direct educational expenses incurred in offering the program. The largest part of this expense would be the faculty members' salaries, which could be calculated according to our part-time scale, which would be about $2,800 per course. With about $40,000 available to us through earnings on the Murray Scholarship, this means that we could offer approximately 11-12 courses for Catholic schoolteachers each year. Students would pay no tuition. The College would receive no income from student credit production in these courses. Should students fail to keep this commitment (to pledge at least three years of continued service in a Catholic school in the Archdiocese) they would incur the cost of the entire degree program…" (Memo, March 27, 1990, Archives) In the end of June 1990, Tom McCarver sent a follow-up memo to Murphy reviewing his "go-ahead meeting with Provost Charlie Keffer". The cohort-style delivery program was set to begin in fall 1990 with two cohorts of 30 students. Over 200 teachers attended the information sessions, so McCarver decided to begin with two cohorts instead of one. Another feature of the new design would be "two courses per year for persons serving as principals in our Catholic schools," offered by St. Thomas Educational Leadership faculty at the Archdiocesan Education Center (memo, June 25, 1990, Archives). Dr. Karen Ristau of the Educational Leadership department and Judy Ford, Director of Schools at the Catholic Education Center, determined the application criteria, the curriculum (a Masters in Curriculum and Instruction) and the final selection of cohort members. In the fall of 1990, thirty teachers (29 women and 1 man) gathered at Holy Spirit School in St. Paul to begin their graduate work; another thirty (27 women and three men) assembled at Nativity Elementary in Bloomington to start their study. The applicants were required to have spent at least 3 years in Catholic education and to commit to an additional three years upon program completion. The courses were standard MACI requirements with the exception of ---Purposes and Contexts of Education in Catholic Schools & Religious and Moral Development in Schools. The groups studied one course each semester one evening per week at the off-campus locations. They took two courses on campus in the summers over a six-week session. The student paid for initial testing, registration fees and books, but the program was tuition free. The proceeds from the endowment paid the instructors' salaries--usually an overload course fee rather than one sixth of faculty load. Cohorts I and II finished in 1993 with 48 of 60 students graduating. As of summer 2001, 35 were still in the Catholic system; two of the thirteen who left actually fulfilled their three-year commitment first.
Task
Force on Catholic Schools On November 13, 1991 Fr. John Forliti, at President Dennis Dease's request, called for a task force to "strategize how UST might better serve the Catholic Schools." (Memo, Nov 13, 1991, Archives) The Task Force, on Catholic Education met several times throughout the '91-92 academic year. By February 1992, they had written a draft proposal for "The Murray Institute on Catholic Education." The intent was to "provide degree and non-degree courses and programs which further the professional and personal development of the Church's wide range of ministers. Current needs and priorities which the University can respond to include: assistance in helping the schools survive; assistance in improving the quality of the schools' management and offerings (religious education as well as other disciplines); assistance in improving the quality of religious education in parish and school settings and assistance in improving the quality of other ministries in schools and parishes." (Draft of Murray Institute Proposal, February 12, 1992, Archives)
During June and July of 1992 a polished proposal was circulated to Fr. Dease and Archbishop John Roach for their comments and approvals. The proposal also established guidelines for selection and appointment of an Institute Director as well as a Faculty Committee to meet regularly with the Director to make decisions as to the Institute's activities. The proposal also recommended that the Murray's current principal of $1,200,000 be augmented by a strategy for the Archdiocese and the University of St Thomas to raise $5,000,000 each. (Proposal, July 3, 1992, Archives)
Faculty Committee Work and Vision In August of 1992, Tom McCarver announced the membership of the Murray Institute's Faculty Committee: Dr Miriam Williams, Sr. Carol Rennie, Dr. Gene Scapanski, Sr. Mary Katherine Hamilton, Dr. Margaret Reif, Sr. Nathalie Meyer, Jeanne Klein, and Tom McCarver, Director. (Memo, Aug 13, 1992, Archives) Since its formation, the Faculty Committee has met twice per month for 2 1/2 hours to dream, plan and strategize ways to serve the educators in the Archdiocese as well as to model this program at the national level. The original charter and bylaws were developed in 1993 and statements from committee members' vision documents speak to the heart of the Institute:
Mary Katherine Hamilton was the second Director from 1994 until spring 2000. The Murray Charter and By-laws underwent extensive review and revision during Mary Katherine's final year. (Appendix B) Margaret Reif became director in summer 2000 and in addition to welcoming Cohort X, she monitored the creation of Cohorts XI-XVIII, oversaw the addition of project funding, and wrote the proposal for Murray Scholars, a plan to support doctoral dissertations on Catholic education ($100,000 for five years) and proposed the Murray Think Tanks for summer 2006. In spring 2007, Dr. Reif announced her intent to step down as Director. Dr. Cathy Cory will become the interim Director in September 2007. During the 2000-2001 academic year, the Committee added another direction. It began funding projects, which used alternative-delivery systems for reaching educators in schools and parishes. An example was one proposed and delivered under Ron Krietemeyer's direction. The Institute for Catholic Social Teachings was intended to inspire teachers to integrate Catholic Social Teachings into their classes. The weeklong Institute was successfully offered for the second time in summer 2001. Another example of Murray Institute-funded initiatives was the Brick by Brick conference held at Hill-Murray School in February 2001, for all of the secondary school teachers in the Archdiocese. Over 700 teachers attended and learned about integrating Catholic Social Teachings into their curricula.
During 2001-2002, the Murray Faculty Committee voted to fund $100,000 in support of Hispanic Ministry in the Archdiocese. In 2003 the Faculty Committee funded a series of spiritual retreats for Murray cohort graduates; these were held at the Benedictine Monastery in Maplewood. In summer 2005, the Murray funded a Racism and Catholic Social Teaching course that centered on Archbishop Harry Flynn’s pastoral letter, In God’s Image, on racism. During the 2005-2006 year, the Murray Committee approved $100,000 for a five-year period known as the Murray Scholars Program; the intention is to fund EdD dissertation credits (up to 15) to eligible applicants who are employed fulltime in the Archdiocese and who agree to write and research about a topic related to and beneficial to Catholic education and ministries. To date, one student has received the funding and finished the degree; one will receive the funds beginning in fall 2007, and a third is making application. The Faculty Committee continues to use constituencies' needs as the decision point for new programs and initiatives. It has never based degree initiatives on UST enrollment needs or faculty-load issues. The Faculty committee grew in recent years with the invitation to people from other areas at the University and Archdiocese. The current membership is:
A new call for interested graduate students went out in 1993, and over 150 responded. Cohorts III and IV were established. After holding focus groups with the recent graduates of Cohorts I and II, the Faculty Committee reshaped the curriculum slightly to include more theology. The courses, "Sacred Scripture and the Covenant Community" and "Worship and the Life or the Church" were added to the MACI curriculum. Twenty-six students graduated from Cohort III; nineteen are still in the system, but all seven who left fulfilled their three-year commitment. Twenty-seven of Cohort IV graduated, and twenty-two are still in the system. However, only one of the five who left fulfilled their three-year commitment (Appendix A) Murray degree programs were also delivered to St. Thomas Academy/Visitation teachers, to Totino Grace/surrounding-elementary-feeder schools' teachers and a group of teachers from the St. Cloud and Crookston dioceses. Although Murray-Institute-delivered, these programs were paid for by the schools and dioceses, not by the Murray scholarship monies. The success of these out-of-Archdiocese degree programs has fueled many Faculty Committee discussions on the pursuit of national, Murray-model degree programs for Catholic educators. To date, Murray Faculty Committee members have shared these dreams with educators at national conferences, but no other dioceses or colleges have collaborated to realize this dream. In 1995, the Faculty Committee agreed on an unusual program for Cohorts V and VI: half of the group pursued a Masters in Religious Education while the other half completed an Education Specialist in Educational Leadership (which leads to principal licensure). The Committee surmised that if individuals studied together for three to four years, perhaps they could work well together in the parish community. All Cohort V members were asked to study additional theology courses: DT800 Religion, Theology and Christian Community and DT 530 Nature and Mission of the Church. Of the 30 members of Cohort V, 29 graduated. Twenty-nine are still in the system. Of the 30 Cohort VI members, 25 graduated and twenty-four are still in the system. The one who left upon degree completion, did not fulfill the three-year commitment (Appendix A). Cohort VII was MACI and had four core theology courses. Twenty-four students graduated in summer 2000 and 21 are still in the system; none of the three departing members fulfilled their three years of owed service. Cohort VIII's focus was on diverse learners, although their July 2001 degree was in Curriculum and Instruction. Twenty-three graduated, and one has already left the Archdiocese because of a move out of state (Appendix A). Cohort IX began in January 2000 as a combined MARE and EdS program. The cohort graduated in 2003; thirteen of nineteen EdS students finished and nine of eleven MARE students completed the program. Cohort X, another MACI degree, began with 28 members and finished with 21. Cohort XI, another MARE/EdS combined program, began in September 2001 with 26 members. When they graduated in 2005, 12 of the 14 had earned administrative licensure and 10 of the 12 had achieved their MARE. Cohort XII, a MA in Educational Leadership with a school track and pastoral track, began in February 2002 and met at St. Peter’s in North St. Paul. In summer 2004, all 24 of the original, cohort members completed their graduate program. Cohort XIII was another first for the Murray Institute; it was a cohort entirely dedicated to the MARE degree. Twenty-eight students began the program, and 19 completed their degrees in summer 2006. After a large turnout of interested, potential students for the MACI with an emphasis on Critical Pedagogy, the Institute started two-such cohorts (XIV and XV) in February of 2005. Forty-one students were admitted and 38 are expected to graduate in December 2007. Cohort 16 is a group dedicated solely to the Educational Specialist degree. It began in January 2006 with 26 students; the group is on schedule to graduate in December 2008 and will offer the Archdiocese a fresh supply of potential principals to replace those expected to retire soon. Cohorts 17 and 18 started in February 2007; the first is a MACI degree with an emphasis on Reading Instruction, and the second is a MARE degree. Thirty students are enrolled in the MACI, and 22 began the MARE.
The Institute began with a quarter time secretary and soon hired Mary Roiger to work with Murray. Ms. Roiger became a full-time administrative Assistant in July 1994. In spring 1999, when the program assistant announced her departure, the committee decided to seek a coordinator to replace her. Jane Fennell was hired. Jane maintains the day-to-day operations of the Murray Institute but she also oversees the budget and works closely in program planning and development with the Director. Other than the help of a part-time student worker, Jane Fennell maintained the files, faculty contracts, and acted as the registrar single handedly. During summer 2001, Murray hired a graduate assistant to research the history of the Murray and to follow-up with the Murray graduates of Cohorts I-VIII to determine the impact of the Murray degree on their personal and professional lives. In January 2002, the Murray Institute added a part-time administrative assistant, Randall Toenges. Mr. Toenges left in 2005, and the Institute is currently seeking approval to fill that position.
The Murray Institute operates off of 5% of a three-year average of the endowment. The Institute was exempt from indirect fees; however, in 1994, Tom McCarver, the Director, offered a plan to pay 25% indirects (to cover library use and other costs) (memo to the University, March 15, 1994, Archives). The $1,200,000 endowment has grown to a little over $12,000,000. It has been enhanced by three main sources: capital campaigns at the Archdiocese and at the University of St. Thomas and a gift from the Jerome Byrnes’ estate. The Archdiocese specifically named Murray in its capital campaign; it pledged $5,000,000. One campaign gift came from the McGlynn family. Bert McGlynn pledged three million dollars to be realized half in his lifetime and half upon the death of his surviving spouse. The 1.5 million-dollar gift has been made and is housed at the Archdiocese in the Catholic Community Foundation Fund. Likewise, UST named Murray in its campaign--Ever Press Forward--for $5,000,000 to match the Archdiocese's committed funds. In spring 2001, a major bequest was named in Jerome Byrnes' will for approximately 4.5 million dollars, so the University's portion will be realized. A typical yearly budget for the Murray Institute is $500,000. The cohorts cost between $50,000 and $70,000 per year--the EdS and MARE are more expensive because at times two instructors are hired each semester with the split schedule. Generally three cohorts are running at a time; a new group begins when one has graduated. However, recently—beginning in spring semester 2007, five cohorts are operating at once. Although the original intention was to pay faculty at an over-load rate--about $4200 per course--a more recent trend had been to pay one sixth of a full-time professor's salary when the Murray course counts as load. With the approval of the Deans of the College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Education, and the School of Divinity, a one-year payment trial is in place for the 2007-2008 academic year. Any full-time faculty who teach in the Institute will be paid a flat-rate fee of $4200 plus 8% fringes. That money will be transferred from the MI budget to the faculty-member’s school or division.(July 2007)
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The
Murray Institute ©
2005 University of St. Thomas, Minnesota USA |
