The University of Wisconsin-Parkside has 60 days to fix what Department of Public Instruction investigators ruled “serious deficiencies and non-compliance issues that have impacted students” in its teacher education program

Failure, according to the DPI report delivered Wednesday to Parkside officials, will risk State Superintendent Elizabeth Burmaster making a formal visit to the campus and withdrawing DPI approval of the program, potentially affecting more than 300 students currently enrolled in it.

“It’s a serious matter, and we’re taking it seriously,” Interim Parkside Chancellor Lane Earns said. “We have 60 days to remediate some of the deficiencies and 60 days to provide to DPI a plan to correct others that the DPI will review.”

The school’s former director of teacher education, Kelly McFatter, tendered her resignation effective at the end May.

“This complaint the DPI is reacting to was a complaint directed at the director of teacher education, and she has resigned,” Earns said Wednesday. “I think there are both structural and personnel problems that are highlighted here. That’s why we’re looking at a different structure and bringing people in.”

The DPI report said students were being inaccurately advised as to requirements for courses, assessments, portfolios and credits. “As a result, it appears that numbers of students may be at risk of not completing program requirements,” the report said.

The DPI inquiry stemmed from six complaints leveled at McFatter by a Parkside employee in the teacher education program , including allegations that some students did not complete required course hours before being approved to do student teaching.

The complaints also cited students being admitted into the teacher preparation program without first passing required proficiency exams or meeting other admission requirements.

DPI rules allow such exceptions but only if there’s a waiver policy. Investigators found no evidence of such a policy at Parkside and noted “the number of students admitted on exception at UW-Parkside exceeds 10 percent, the (statutory) exception limit for each student admission period.”

In addition, the report cited students improperly being given credit for independent study courses that didn’t meet the course requirements for which they were substituted.

“We need to take all the complaints seriously,” Earns said. “I think we have to look at all of them and look at each student to see whether they’ve met all the DPI requirements. I think they have, but a few may need to take a class or two before certification. I do not believe we have anybody out there teaching who should not be certified.”

Earns said he is confident the problems will be rectified within the required period.

“It took us awhile to understand all of the issues of the complaint,” he said. “As this process moved forward, we discovered more with each step.”

Earns came aboard last August as interim chancellor at Parkside and returns in July to UW-Oshkosh, where he serves as provost. He released a message to university faculty and staff Wednesday regarding the DPI report.

In addition to removing McFatter, he listed five measures being taken to address DPI concerns:

— The appointment of professor emeritus Dwayne Olsen as teacher education consultant. Olsen retired after 30 years on the Parkside education department faculty. Earns said Olsen will serve as an ombudsman for students in the program, while also working with department faculty to “forge partnerships with area schools.” Starting June 3, Olsen will work with the program to ensure all DPI licensure requirements are met.

— Making Associate Professor of Teacher Education Linda Crafton the department chairwoman as of July 1.

— Creating a “campus leadership team” to respond to the DPI report, with Francine Tompkins, the UW System senior academic planner, serving as its adviser.

— Convening a “community advisory group” with representatives from area school districts and higher education institutions to assist Parkside with DPI compliance.

— Hiring a new, senior-level faculty member as coordinator of teacher preparation who will report directly to Crafton.

In 2005, the same Parkside teacher education program also ran afoul of DPI standards,

The school was given conditional approval for a year, while taking corrective action involving policies and practices, department leadership, its institutional assessment system, the student-teacher program, and institutional evaluation of its program performance and outcomes.

In July 2006, the DPI reviewed the actions taken and again approved the program after a follow up campus visit determined satisfactory action was taken.