- \n
- Equity and social justice<\/li>\n
- STEM education<\/li>\n
- Creativity and innovation<\/li>\n
- Educator quality and effectiveness<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Actualizing these goals is Schwab\u2019s top priority.<\/p>\n
![\"Schwab_headshot-for-web-256x300\"](\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\")
\u201cEducation is at the heart of all the of the goals outlined in the University\u2019s strategic plan, because education is at the heart of every job performed in this country,\u201d said Schwab, who chaired the university-wide Academic Vision Committee that designed and produced UConn\u2019s five-year strategic plan. \u201cWithout the best educators, we don\u2019t have the best lawyers, engineers or policy makers. Even more fundamental than that, if we don\u2019t have effective, vibrant K-12 teachers, we don\u2019t have vibrant students who believe in their abilities, want to go on to college and make a difference in the world. So ensuring that the Neag School jumpstarts and actualizes its plan is my top priority.\u201d<\/p>\nAmong those working with Schwab to, ultimately, improve the way students learn is a team of new and existing faculty members brought together as part of an ambitious hiring plan launched in 2012 by UConn President Susan Herbst. Tasked with re-envisioning how both the Neag School and scholars in the field of education can best improve educational practices and policies, that team includes\u00a017 new faculty members<\/a>\u2014all of them proven or emerging leaders in their areas of expertise\u2014working alongside already exemplary, existing faculty members.<\/p>\n
Included within this highly energized and committed group are experts in school change, education equity and access, large-scale measurement and evaluation, STEM education, and educator preparation. And for Melinda George, president of the Washington, D.C.-based National Commission on Teaching & America\u2019s Future, there is no person better than Schwab to lead them.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Neag School is so fortunate to have Dr. Schwab return as dean, and I have no doubt his leadership will bring the school to the next level,\u201d George said. \u201cHis vision for teacher preparation is one that is modern, effective and needed. He understands not only what is needed on a university campus, but also the current environments that his students will enter as novice teachers.\u00a0 He is building a program that will graduate teacher leaders\u2014new teachers ready to address the challenges of a 21st<\/sup>\u00a0century education, and who will make a huge difference in the lives of future students.\u201d<\/p>\n
That understanding George refers to comes from Schwab\u2019s more than 40 years in education, which started as an eighth-grade history teacher in Chelmsford, Mass., after earning a bachelor\u2019s degree from Boston University. Earning master\u2019s and doctorate degrees from UConn followed, as did 10 years serving on the education faculty at the University of New Hampshire. He spent the next eight years at Drake University in Iowa, where he served three years as head of its Department of Educational Administration, and then five as dean of the School of Education. In 1997, he returned to his alma mater to serve as dean of the Neag School of Education, where he remained until returning to the classroom in 2009. He was later invested as a Raymond Neag Endowed Professor of Educational Leadership in 2012 in recognition for his leadership and \u00a0dedication to the Neag School.<\/p>\n
This past July, he returned as dean to lead the Neag School in implementing its strategic academic plan, which aligns imperatives related to diversity, equity, access, and public engagement with those established at the state level by Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy and at the national level by President Barack Obama.<\/p>\n
Someone who has known Schwab for over 10 years has high regards for his ability to take the Neag School to the next level. \u201cI met him when he first came to the Neag School of Education and for all the time during which he was in a leadership position at Neag,\u201d\u00a0said Dr. Joseph J. Cirasuolo, executive director of the CT Association of Public School Superintendents. \u201cI was continually impressed with his knowledge of what it takes to prepare educators for teaching and\/or leadership positions and his ability to put that knowledge into practice in the policies and program offered by Neag. I am very pleased that he is back in a leadership position at Neag. Given what he has done in the past, I am confident that Dr. Schwab will make major contributions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cirasuolo sees Schwab as a leader catalyst for efforts to build upon an already strong Neag program so that it becomes what is known that preparation programs need to be. \u201cThey need to be programs that credential participants not based on the number of courses that are passed but instead on demonstration of the competencies that are needed to be successful educators and educator leaders.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat Neag will become under Dr. Schwab\u2019s leadership will make the school a national beacon for educator preparation programs,\u201d he said. \u201cI am excited about what is about to happen at Neag under Dr. Schwab\u2019s leadership and I look forward to working with him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Like the academic plan, Schwab stresses his belief in the necessity of developing children\u2019s and adult\u2019s critical thinking skills, creativity and desire for innovation, along with ways for them to access information that will allow them to make informed decisions about themselves and their communities.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs someone who received a scholarship from UConn as a graduate student, the chance to give back to the school in this way is a great honor,\u201d Schwab said, adding that he hopes to accomplish many things during his tenure. \u201cI\u2019d like to see us steadily increase the quality and amount of research we do. I\u2019d like to see that we\u2019ve increased the number and academic qualifications of our graduate students. I\u2019d like to see that we\u2019ve created new, vibrant undergraduate minors and interdisciplinary programs that allow students from other areas of the University to grow and benefit from our expertise. I\u2019d like to see our rankings continue to rise.\u201d<\/p>\n
UConn\u2019s Neag School of Education is\u00a0currently ranked as the #1 public graduate school of education<\/a>\u00a0in the Northeast, and within the top 10 percent of all graduate schools of education in the United States.\u00a0U.S. News & World Report<\/em>\u00a0ranks the Neag School #33 among private and public education schools, as well as ranks three of its programs among the nation\u2019s top 25: Special Education (#12), Educational Psychology (#16), and Secondary Teacher Education (#18).<\/p>\n
Widely-known and well-respected for its professional education programs across all departments, including preparing highly sought-after sport management professionals, the Neag School\u2019s rankings and reputation were part of the reason it was selected to join the prestigious Carnegie Corporation Teachers for a New Era network. Schwab predicts more great things to come.<\/p>\n
The leadership team of new Associate Dean Casey D. Cobb, PhD, and Associate Dean for Research Sandra M. Chafouleas, PhD, are part of the reason why. Cobb takes over for Marijke Kehrhahn, Ph.D. who returned to faculty, to pursue a research agenda in adult education.<\/p>\n\u201cThe opportunity to work closely with such bright, talented people that share a common vision, and possess skills that in some cases you don\u2019t have, makes you and your work stronger,\u201d said Schwab, who for 12 years taught for the\u00a0American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education<\/a>\u2018s New Deans Institute. He\u2019s also past president of AACTE\u2019s Connecticut chapter. \u201cOne of our goals during the next couple of years is to make all of us better, me included. In some way, all of us can be mentors to each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
Setting internal benchmarks and assigning accountability will be key parts of that process, Cobb said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy top priority is to serve our faculty and students and to support them in ways that allow them to do their best work,\u201d continued Cobb, who accepted his new role after four years serving a department head of Educational Leadership. It was a challenge and opportunity to have an even greater influence on the Neag School. \u201cI plan on becoming acclimated to the new position by learning all about the good work being done by our faculty and academic programs school-wide. I want to be able to make a difference and enhance Neag\u2019s standing worldwide, as well as locally in our own state.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Neag School\u2019s Academic Plan also matches Cobb\u2019s professional interests and background, in particular in regard to the expansion of the Neag School\u2019s\u00a0Center for Education Policy Analysis<\/a>\u00a0into a world-class research center. \u201cThe other strategic area that especially excites me is our desire to promote social justice and educational equity through our programs, practices, and scholarship. I would like Neag to take the lead in developing a \u2018social tech park,\u2019 which is an idea named in UConn\u2019s Academic Vision.\u201d<\/p>\n
Plans to increase the number of full-time graduate assistantships in doctoral programs, develop a coordinated outreach strategy and promote the \u201cfantastic work\u201d of faculty, staff, and students also excites him: \u201cI want to help the Neag School grow in areas where we have burgeoning expertise and can make a real difference in our world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chafouleas, whose role is a new position, has a similarly impressive agenda, beginning with leading the Neag School\u2019s research enterprises and efforts to maintain organizational accountability. \u201cMy top priorities include enacting the Academic Plan in relation to research and scholarly productivity. This means working to strengthen the research infrastructure, including both pre- and post-awards and faculty development.\u201d<\/p>\n\u201cI\u2019ll be focusing on building the research infrastructure and associated operational procedures, so all can efficiently understand and work with our systems,\u201d Chafouleas continued. \u201cI would like to end the first year with a good start building the infrastructure and operational procedures, as well as have clearly articulated goals to be accomplished over a three- to five-year period.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chafouleas said she accepted the associate dean for research position to be part of this \u201cvery exciting, yet very important,\u201d time at UConn. She believes her expertise matches the Neag School\u2019s and University\u2019s ambitious plans for growth and achievement. \u201cGiven my prior role as associate dean of The Graduate School at UConn, I have good understanding as to how Neag can play critical roles in facilitating the success of the University Academic Plan, particularly with research and scholarship,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Even while at The Graduate School, Chafouleas served as a faculty researcher at the Neag School, overseeing projects funded by more than $6 million from the\u00a0Institute of Education Sciences<\/a>, along with additional proposals.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s important to me personally to see the outcomes related to research infrastructure and growth realized,\u201d added Chafouleas, who will continue her work as a research scientist with the\u00a0Center for Behavioral Education and Research<\/a>\u00a0in addition to advancing the Neag\u2019s School\u2019s priorities.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are excited to be working together to do whatever is needed to accomplish the vision,\u201d Chafouleas added. \u201cWe collaborate to set smart goals, we divvy up the work and then attack it. As Dean Schwab said, our focus is to move in one direction.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Schwab_headshot-for-web-256x300\"](\"https:\/\/media.education.uconn.edu\/aurora\/neag\/2014\/08\/Schwab_headshot-for-web-256x3001-e1410981298985.jpg\")
\u201cEducation is at the heart of all the of the goals outlined in the University\u2019s strategic plan, because education is at the heart of every job performed in this country,\u201d said Schwab, who chaired the university-wide Academic Vision Committee that designed and produced UConn\u2019s five-year strategic plan. \u201cWithout the best educators, we don\u2019t have the best lawyers, engineers or policy makers. Even more fundamental than that, if we don\u2019t have effective, vibrant K-12 teachers, we don\u2019t have vibrant students who believe in their abilities, want to go on to college and make a difference in the world. So ensuring that the Neag School jumpstarts and actualizes its plan is my top priority.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Casey](\"https:\/\/media.education.uconn.edu\/aurora\/neag\/2014\/08\/Casey-C-web-301x400.jpg\")
The leadership team of new Associate Dean Casey D. Cobb, PhD, and Associate Dean for Research Sandra M. Chafouleas, PhD, are part of the reason why. Cobb takes over for Marijke Kehrhahn, Ph.D. who returned to faculty, to pursue a research agenda in adult education.<\/p>\n![\"Sandy](\"https:\/\/media.education.uconn.edu\/aurora\/neag\/2014\/08\/Sandy-C-web-291x400.jpg\")
Chafouleas, whose role is a new position, has a similarly impressive agenda, beginning with leading the Neag School\u2019s research enterprises and efforts to maintain organizational accountability. \u201cMy top priorities include enacting the Academic Plan in relation to research and scholarly productivity. This means working to strengthen the research infrastructure, including both pre- and post-awards and faculty development.\u201d<\/p>\n