{"id":237524,"date":"2025-11-05T07:11:15","date_gmt":"2025-11-05T12:11:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=237524"},"modified":"2025-11-04T18:12:53","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T23:12:53","slug":"jason-g-irizarry-reappointed-to-second-term-as-dean-of-uconns-neag-school-of-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2025\/11\/jason-g-irizarry-reappointed-to-second-term-as-dean-of-uconns-neag-school-of-education\/","title":{"rendered":"Jason G. Irizarry Reappointed to Second Term as Dean of UConn’s Neag School of Education"},"content":{"rendered":"

The University of Connecticut has reappointed Jason G. Irizarry to a second five-year term as dean of the Neag School of Education, effective August 23, 2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince his appointment in 2021, Dean Irizarry has led the Neag School of Education with vision, integrity, and an unwavering commitment to equity, access, and excellence,\u201d Interim Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Pamir Alpay said in an announcement. \u201cUnder his leadership, the School has advanced its academic programs, expanded student support, deepened community engagement, and strengthened its national profile as a top 30 public graduate school of education.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alpay also commended Irizarry for leading the Neag School\u2019s gains in student success and access, including the expansion of the School\u2019s Early College Experience (ECE) enrollment from 201 students in 2021-22 to over 900 students across 25 districts in 2024-25. In addition, the Teacher Certification Program for College Graduates<\/a> (TCPCG) and the UConn Administrator Preparation Program<\/a> (UCAPP) have been redesigned during Irizarry\u2019s tenure to improve affordability, quality, and alignment with workforce needs. Scholarships for students have doubled, and application fee waivers have supported the recruitment of a more diverse doctoral student body.<\/p>\n

\"Dean
Dean Jason G. Irizarry congratulates a graduate of the Neag School of Education at the Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts in May 2025. (Sydney Herdle\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cTo be reappointed as dean of the Neag School of Education is a tremendous honor,\u201d Irizarry says. \u201cI always say there\u2019s no place like Neag and that is truly thanks to the dedication of our students, faculty, staff, alumni, donors, and community partners. I am humbled to lead such a remarkable group of individuals who seek to create equitable and inclusive learning and professional environments. The past few years have been a tumultuous time for education, from the COVID-19 pandemic and its lingering effects to new technologies and shifting student needs. Through it all, the Neag School has continued to innovate and prioritize support for students \u2013 both our own and the state\u2019s K-12 population \u2013 and the needs of educational and social systems as a whole. I look forward to expanding on this important work in my second term.\u201d<\/p>\n

Irizarry has also championed excellence in academic and research initiatives. Since 2021, the Neag School has launched the Center for Connecticut Education Research Collaboration (CCERC), introduced the Neag School of Education Journal<\/a>, and supported the creation of Rapid Research Briefs<\/a> for Connecticut\u2019s Alliance Districts, which are the lowest-performing and lowest-resourced school districts in the state.<\/p>\n

The Neag School\u2019s extramural funding portfolio continues to grow and now stands at roughly one-third of its operating budget. Irizarry\u2019s leadership was praised as instrumental in enhancing research infrastructure, promoting faculty scholarship, and securing the largest individual philanthropic gift<\/a> the Neag School has received in 25 years.<\/p>\n

\n

Under [Dean Irizarry’s] leadership, the School has advanced its academic programs, expanded student support, deepened community engagement, and strengthened its national profile as a top 30 public graduate school of education. — Pamir Alpay, Interim Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/blockquote><\/span><\/p>\n

With an emphasis on equity and inclusion, the Neag School has prioritized diversifying the educator workforce, expanding outreach efforts, and embedding equity throughout its strategic priorities. Under Irizarry\u2019s leadership, the Neag School became a member of the National Holmes Scholars Program to support underrepresented doctoral students.<\/p>\n

Irizarry is widely recognized as an equity-driven, collaborative leader who fosters a culture of transparency, shared governance, and community. Across the University and state, he is known as a respected partner and advocate, cultivating meaningful relationships with K\u201312 educators, policy leaders, alumni, and donors to strengthen the Neag School\u2019s impact and elevate its visibility.<\/p>\n

Irizarry is consistently described as an \u201caccessible, principled, and innovative leader who brings compassion and strategic thinking to the complex challenges facing education today,\u201d Alpay said. \u201cPlease join me in congratulating Dean Irizarry on his reappointment. I look forward to our continued work together to advance the mission of the Neag School of Education and to support the faculty, staff, students, and partners in making education more effective, equitable, and just for all.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Interim Provost Alpay praises Irizarry\u2019s vision and leadership in guiding the School\u2019s expanded community engagement and student success<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":141,"featured_media":199426,"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":[2275,2426,2427,2428,2460,1855,2235,2233],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2217],"class_list":["post-237524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academic-affairs","category-curriculum-instruction","category-educational-leadership","category-educational-psychology","category-faculty","category-neag","category-today-homepage","category-university-news"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-30 07:59:49","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\/237524","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\/141"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=237524"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237524\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":237551,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237524\/revisions\/237551"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/199426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=237524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=237524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=237524"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=237524"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=237524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}