Bonnie Wilcoxen Beach

Q: Why did you decide to volunteer with CAEP? 

A: I was a member of the Board of Directors of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) 2009-2012.  AACTE recommended me to serve as an AACTE representative on review teams for NCATE in 2011.  Although a lot of work, I enjoyed visiting other institutions.  I viewed the experiences as tremendous professional development opportunities.  It seemed reasonable to continue as a site visitor when NCATE transitioned to CAEP. I believe in “learning by doing” and I like seeing what others are doing.  Serving as a CAEP volunteer is the best (and least expensive) professional development opportunity available to me. All it costs my institution is my time. 

Q: Why did you choose to become a site lead?  

A: I didn’t really plan to but there seemed to be a need and so I just jumped in.

Q: What has been the best part of your CAEP experience? 

A: I really enjoy meeting new colleagues (both team members and faculty/staff at other institutions).  I’ve missed actually visiting campuses, but we can still connect virtually.  I also like seeing what other institutions do.

Q: What has surprised you about your experience? 

A: There are a variety of practices to accomplish the same goals.  It’s amazing how different each institution is.

Q: What would you tell someone who was thinking about volunteering at CAEP?  

A: It is a lot of work but well worth it when one considers what one learns from others. One does need to plan time to isolate oneself from other work and family to concentrate on the visit.  

Q: What would you advise someone who was thinking about taking their EPP through the CAEP Accreditation process? 

A: Truly someone from the EPP should volunteer for CAEP – it’s the best way to learn.  Also, organization is the key…make it easy for the team to find what they need to determine that standards are met.