APSU among 32 educator prep providers recognized for leadership in continuous improvement

CLARKSVILLE, TN – Earlier this month, the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) announced that Austin Peay State University is one of 32 providers from 16 states, Puerto Rico and Jordan to receive recognition for its leadership and commitment to continuous improvement. The recipients of the 2022 Frank Murray Leadership Recognition for Continuous Improvement provided evidence and data trends to achieve accreditation with no stipulations or areas for improvement.

In November 2021, APSU President Mike Licari received a congratulatory letter from the CAEP, announcing that the Eriksson College of Education was now accredited for another seven years. The letter stated that “No areas for improvement or stipulations were identified in this report.”

“This recognition is the culmination of a lot of work from a lot of people — our staff, faculty, our district partners, and academic units across the university,” Dr. Prentice Chandler, dean of the APSU Eriksson College of Education, said. “This was truly a team effort, and this is a team win. This accolade shows that we are among the top educator preparation providers in the nation. Not only have we earned CAEP Accreditation, the gold standard for educator preparation, this recognition provides validation that our students and their families are investing in an education program that is second to none. Excellence in teacher education lives at Austin Peay State University.”

The Frank Murray Leadership Recognition for Continuous Improvement is named after the founding president of the Teacher Education Accreditation Council (TEAC). CAEP was created by the consolidation of the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education and TEAC. Murray was the founding president of TEAC, served as chairman of the Board for TEAC and was also an initial member of the CAEP Board of Directors. He was a key advocate for a single set of educator preparation standards to unify the profession and was instrumental in the merger that created CAEP. He also served as the dean of the College of Education at the University of Delaware from 1979 to 1995.