POTSDAM — SUNY Potsdam will be hosting a series of education seminars this spring.

Dr. Bette S. Bergeron, college provost, vice president for academic affairs, will open the Spring 2017 Disciplined Inquiry in Education Seminar Series, with a presentation at noon Wednesday, Feb. 8, in the Rebecca V. Sheard Literacy Center Balcony, located in Satterlee Hall.

Bergeron will offer a presentation titled "Higher Education's Role in Public Charter Schools: Past Practices and Future Implications," which focuses on the rapid emergence of public charter schools.

This presentation will include an overview of public charter schools, including the current context in New York State, and SUNY's specific role in authorizing the schools. Bergeron will present a case study of a unique partnership between Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and an urban charter high school in East St. Louis, Ill., through which the college's school of education assumed increased responsibility for the charter school's operations. The presentation will also examine the current and future political context, including an overview of what the Trump administration's response might be to the proliferation of charter schools nationwide.

The Disciplined Inquiry in Education Seminar is sponsored by SUNY Potsdam's School of Education and Professional Studies. Since 2007, the School has hosted more than 100 presenters through the series.

All seminar meetings are offered on Wednesdays in the Literacy Center, from noon-1 p.m. These events are free, and the public is welcome to attend.

The Spring 2017 schedule for the SUNY Potsdam Disciplined Inquiry in Education Seminar is as follows:

• Feb. 8: Bette S. Bergeron, "Higher Education's Role in Public Charter Schools: Past Practices and Future Implications"

• Feb. 22: Fadi Bou-Abdallah, "There's What in my Drinking Water?"

• March 15: Nancy Dodge Reyome, "Research and Grant Services Available at SUNY Potsdam"

• April 12: Sheryl Scales, "How Common Core Got It Right?!: Let's Explore the Lesser-Known Stories"

• April 26: Ronald Bretsch, "Basic Concepts for Beginning Teachers"

For the full schedule of Disciplined Inquiry in Education events, visit www.potsdam.edu/academics/SOEPS/education/seminar.