{"id":129003,"date":"2017-08-30T09:54:43","date_gmt":"2017-08-30T13:54:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?post_type=school-college-post&p=129003"},"modified":"2017-08-30T09:54:43","modified_gmt":"2017-08-30T13:54:43","slug":"suzanne-m-wilson-named-curriculum-instruction-department-head","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2017\/08\/suzanne-m-wilson-named-curriculum-instruction-department-head\/","title":{"rendered":"Suzanne M. Wilson Named Curriculum and Instruction Department Head"},"content":{"rendered":"

Neag Endowed Professor of Teacher Education Suzanne M. Wilson<\/a> has been named head of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction (EDCI) at the Neag School. She takes over for Mary Anne Doyle<\/a>, who served as department head for 17 years and returned to a faculty role to focus on literacy research.<\/p>\n

Wilson, who arrived at the Neag School in 2013 from Michigan State University, was one of 17 new faculty members recruited to the Neag School as part of the University of Connecticut\u2019s ambitious hiring plan<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m filling big shoes, taking over for Dr. Doyle,\u201d says Wilson. \u201cDuring her tenure, she built a strong department, and I\u2019ll be building on those strengths and taking advantage of the good work that\u2019s been done before.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to being a University Distinguished Professor at Michigan State University (MSU), Wilson also previously served as chair for MSU\u2019s Department of Teacher Education, where she was a faculty member for 26 years. While at Michigan State, she raised millions of dollars for grants with colleagues.\u00a0Most notable was a $2.5 million National Science Foundation grant for a research project with the American Museum of Natural History. When she arrived at the Neag School, she secured a grant<\/a> for another $2.9 million for a project focused on moving the Next Generation of Science Standards into practice, along with several other grants to study mathematics and science teacher learning in early career and professional development programs. She will continue her grant work for another two years and wrap up a book she has been working on about teacher preparation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are excited to have someone with Dr. Suzanne Wilson\u2019s national prominence and insightful perspectives on education join the Neag School of Education leadership team,\u201d says Del Siegle<\/a>, Neag School associate dean for research and faculty affairs. \u201cHer appointment to department head benefits the entire School, in addition to the Department of Curriculum and Instruction.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOne mission of the University is service, and being a department chair allows you to support faculty in pursuing their interests while also working on program development and new research and\/or outreach collaborations.\u201d\u00a0\u2014Suzanne M. Wilson<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Wilson\u2019s Vision
\n<\/strong>Wilson says she sees the role of department chair as institutional and professional service. \u201cOne mission of the University is service, and being a department chair allows you to support faculty in pursuing their interests while also working on program development and new research and\/or outreach collaborations,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Using her experience leading a large department at MSU, Wilson says she will work to advance the Neag School\u2019s strategic plan, including continuing the substantial faculty-led revisions of the Teacher Preparation Program, and work focused on equity and social justice, STEM initiatives, creativity and innovation, and educator quality.<\/p>\n

\u201cUConn has a very highly regarded teacher education program, so my experiences being supportive of faculty and staff, and working toward having strong teacher preparation, will hopefully help,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Wilson\u2019s concept of leadership focuses on enabling the work of others. \u201cI\u2019ll be trying to nurture a departmental culture,\u201d she says, \u201cthat is attracting, exciting, and supportive, and a home for students \u2014 doctoral, master\u2019s, and undergraduates \u2014 and faculty alike.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since arriving at the Neag School, Wilson says she has enjoyed getting to know the faculty \u2014 long-time and newer additions\u2014 and developing cross-generational relationships. \u201cA lot of the new faculty come from different backgrounds and perspectives, and learning from them is very exciting and invigorating,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Wilson says she looks forward hearing from EDCI faculty and students, and learning about their interests and concerns. She also notes the importance of keeping an eye on the political, intellectual, and economic environment, and anticipates helping the department think about new kinds of programs and services that respond to pressing needs in public education. \u201cI\u2019ll be looking at how we can develop programs and resources that are relevant and appealing to the larger Connecticut public to whom we\u2019re responsible,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Wilson earned her Ph.D. in education and her master of science degree in statistics from Stanford University, and her bachelor degree in American history and civilization from Brown University.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Neag Endowed Professor of Teacher Education Suzanne M. Wilson has been named head of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction (EDCI) at the Neag School. She takes over for Mary Anne Doyle, who served as department head for 17 years and returned to a faculty role to focus on literacy research.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":129004,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1855],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[1879],"class_list":["post-129003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-neag"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-08 20:05:06","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=129003"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129003\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":129005,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129003\/revisions\/129005"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/129004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=129003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=129003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=129003"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=129003"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=129003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}