The traditional role of the university supervisor traveling from school to school plying his/her professional expertise may be likened to the early circuit riders of pioneer America plying their skills in the professions of law and religion. Exercising supervisory practices in this fashion may not be as effective as needed or as desired. The purpose of this paper is to present information and arguments for the university supervisor to be a teacher educator, rather than a circuit rider. It is proposed that the major (though not only) role of the university supervisor should be to upgrade and enhance the supervisory competence of the cooperating teacher with whom he/she works. More specifically, this paper presents background on the effects of cooperating teachers and university supervisors working with student teachers, provides a rationale for the university supervisor to operate in a consultant/mentoring/coaching relationship with the cooperating teacher, and desribes one approach for upgrading the cooperating teacher's expertise in working with a student teacher. (JD)