An additional lab fee of $125.00 will be charged at the time students register for selected field experiences. Educator preparation students must be aware that extra costs such as tort liability, criminal background check, and transportation will be incurred at various times during the completion of educational field experiences.
Below are the policies governing the field placements of students in sites and schools. All students must comply with the prerequisites for placements and the continuing requirement to report any criminal events, and must acquire tort liability as outlined in the sections which follow.
GSU students enrolled in educator preparation programs or in education coursework requiring field-based experiences must fulfill the GSU prerequisites set forth below before the University will initiate field placement efforts. However, fulfilling GSU's prerequisites is not a guarantee of placement for a field-based experience or licensure by the Georgia Professional Standards Commission.1 Field placement sites/schools set their own placement requirements and may have additional requirements before a placement is finalized.
As a prerequisite, students must:
GSU will contact the student if his/her criminal background report indicates prior criminal convictions and/or pending criminal charges. The student will have the opportunity at that point to:
In addition to the continuing duty Georgia State University students have to report criminal events that occur after application to the University per the Georgia State Student Code of Conduct, students enrolled in educator preparation programs or in education coursework requiring field-based experiences must (1) report to the College of Education Office of Academic Assistance any criminal events described below that occur after the criminal background check required for field placements was conducted (notice to COE Academic Assistance must be made within 72 hours of the student's notice of the event); (2) consent to a new criminal background check; and (3) provide written consent for the release of the criminal background report and all information about the criminal event to any field placement site at which the student is currently student teaching or at which GSU attempts to place the student in the future. Failure to comply with the notice requirement described herein may result in sanctions up to and including immediate withdrawal from the University. Failure to comply with the criminal background check and release of information requirement described herein will result in immediate removal from all current field placements and courses and denial of future requests for field placement.
Teacher education and counseling students are required to purchase tort liability prior to placements in field experience courses, practica, or student teaching. Students will be expected to show proof of coverage to program coordinators/supervisors prior to field placements.
1 The Professional Standards Commission was created by the Georgia General Assembly as of July 1, 1991, to assume full responsibility for the certification, preparation, and conduct of certified, licensed, or permitted personnel employed in the public schools of the State of Georgia. The Commission is also responsible for the development and administration of teacher certification testing. The Commission handles the investigation, advisement, monitoring, and due process of cases associated with educator discipline. In 1999, the Georgia Teaching force Center was placed in the Georgia Professional Standards Commission for administration purposes. The Teaching Force Center is one component of the Georgia P-16 Council's Title II Plan for having a Qualified Teacher in every Classroom in Georgia by 2006.
2 Conviction includes a finding or verdict of guilty, or a plea of nolo contendere, regardless of whether an appeal of the conviction has been sought; a situation where first offender treatment without adjudication of guilt pursuant to the charge was granted; and a situation where an adjudication of guilt or sentence was otherwise withheld or not entered on the charge or the charge was otherwise disposed of in a similar manner in any jurisdiction.