Reflections from the College of Education & Human Services Dean
Dean’s Korner
January 10, 2009
Happy New Year as we welcome the excitement and surprises of 2009!!
We thought 2008 was intense, but here we go………..DPI’s visit, new programs, new faculty, new budget issues in Wisconsin, new national changes for good and ill – it’s a new year and the College is abuzz with the possibilities. I had the pleasure of speaking to the Student Teachers Orientation a week ago; it always helps me renew my commitment to schools, kids and teaching, but for lots of reasons, this time there was that sense of newness in the air. The new of January 2009, of their excitement to get into classrooms and schools, of their supervisors to engage that commitment, and our constantly renewed motivation to send them out as well prepared as we can imagine. Its frankly fun to remember my own first days as a teacher, a remembrance I know of lot of you can share, and of course, its fun to stand in front and just emote about teaching and its central place in American society. Heady stuff!!
Anyway, 2008 was a year of change, of excitement, challenge, of some nervousness about the economy, some sadness, some loss, and of course much rushing around doing things. That’s one of the great renewable things about teaching and education – there’s always new things to get excited about coming along! We opened the new EXCEL Center last year, we hired new faculty, rowed terribly and got all wet in the 3rd Dragon Boat race, marched in Homecoming, celebrated our 3rd Annual Spring Banquet, received new grants, and worked with old and new friends.
Sadly, we lost a week or so ago one of our closest; Dr. Craig Fiedler (see the article) passed away after a year’s battle with cancer. He left a mark, personally and professionally, that will not be filled, yet we are all better for the connection, as are thousands of students and families in Wisconsin and around the country.
We have spent much of the fall and will spend the spring getting ready for the dreaded DPI accreditation review ritual. The college did decide for numerous reasons to pass on remaining with NCATE, but the DPI review has become a serious program review. Certainly as much or more of a rigorous review process as I have seen in any state I have been in. That rigor demonstrates how seriously the State of Wisconsin and thus us and the public take the job of preparing new teachers. It is a long, hard process, filled with many hours of reviewing, arranging, writing and rewriting of files and reports, and then there is the visit from DPI come April. We will post the self-study on the college web site as soon as DPI has had a chance to review it.
Speaking of the web site, we are in the process of major revisions at this point, but hopefully within a few weeks you will be able to go onto the college’s site and see the evidence of all of our 2008 highlights. I’ll have more about that in the next Korner.
Meanwhile, I hope 2009 finds all of you well and looking forward to the new year. Please be in touch with the COEHS or the UW Oshkosh Alumni Association; we want to hear from you!!
