At 6 p.m. on Friday, March 7th, Gator Nation U participants were invited to celebrate the Class of 1989’s 25-year reunion and induction into the Silver Society. The Silver Society Induction Ceremony was followed by an evening of dancing. The reunion hosts were Mr. Pat Cousins, Ms. Pegeen Hanrahan, Mr. Dan Kirby, and Ms. Cindy Pekrul.
College of Education attendees: Karyn & Dennis Moses, Diane Brown, Nancy McCabe, and Cathi Overton.
UF College of Education alumnus Brian Dassler (MEd ‘02, English Education) has been named the Florida Department of Education’s deputy chancellor of education quality for the Division of K 12 Public Schools.
Dassler received the college’s Young Alumni Award two years ago and also is pursuing an Ed.D. degree in educational leadership at UF He is considered by many to be an emerging thought leader in his field. He has co-authored several opinion columns on important education issues for the Tampa Tribune and St. Petersburg Times.
Dassler said he hopes his new position will enable him to make an impact on the quality of public education in Florida.
“Florida’s children deserve a skillful teacher in every subject, every year,” he said. “And we owe Florida teachers the preparation time and support necessary to deliver the quality of teaching that students deserve.”
He said his education at UF has helped him to prepare for his new challenge.
“I’m excited to advance an important agenda on behalf of students and educators,” Dassler said. “The ability to ask tough questions of myself and my colleagues — and to follow the answers wherever they may lead — is the critical thinking encouraged at UF.”
Linda Eldridge, Dassler’s doctoral faculty adviser who heads UF’s educational leadership program, said she isn’t surprised by his success.
“Brian has been a leader in every role he has undertaken,” Eldridge said. “He is one of the most outstanding doctoral students I’ve ever worked with in his field. His leadership ability will be an asset in his new role with (the Department of Education).
Dassler previously served as the chief academic officer at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, and as principal at KIPP Renaissance High School, also in New Orleans. He was named Broward County Teacher of the Year in 2007 while at Stranahan High School in South Florida, and was recognized as the 2001 Florida College Student of the Year by Florida Leader magazine.
Dassler also has demonstrated his dedication to public education by serving on the FLDOE’s FCAT bias review and writing and design committees. During his UF education master’s studies, he was recognized as the 2001 Florida College Student of the Year by Florida Leader magazine.
This year’s Education Career Night was a success! A panel of four dynamic College of Education alumni offered career advice and talked about the distinctly different career paths they each have followed—quite successfully—after earning their education degrees at UF. The event was held at Norman Hall, Room 250 on the evening of February 20th.
This year’s panel included Dr. Wendy Drexler (a Chief Innovation Officer), Dr. Carl Hite (the recently retired President of Cleveland State Community College), Mrs. Melissa Kicklighter (a Florida PTA Vice President), and Dr. Christopher Mullin (an Assistant Vice Chancellor for Policy & Research).
For more photos of Career Night, click here.
The UF Institute of Higher Education held an Alumni Celebration Reception in Orlando, FL on January 26, 2014. Dean Glenn Good, Dr. Dale Campbell (IHE Director), and Dr. Will Holcombe (IHE Steering Committee Chair) hosted the event for the unveiling of the UF IHE Strategic Plan and to celebrate the contributions of the nationally recognized alumni in the field of higher education.
For more photos from the event, click here.
Carl Hite (PhD ’75, Education Leadership), the former president of Cleveland State Community College, was recently honored when the college renamed their Math and Science Building to the “Carl Hite Math and Science Building.” According to the Tennessee Board of Regents, the naming of buildings and other facilities or programs after individuals who have made significant contributions to society is considered “an honored tradition of higher education.”
Hite served as the campus vice president/provost of both the Tampa and Brandon campuses of Hillsborough Community College. Along with his professional leadership, he has served as chair of the National Alliance of Community and Technical Colleges, past chair of three chambers of commerce, and currently serves as the vice chair on the executive council of Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC).
Hite has a B.A. in history from Florida State University, plus an M.A.T. in history and a Ph.D. in higher education administration from UF. He is a recipient of the UF Institute of Higher Education’s Outstanding Graduate Award, and recently served on a blue-ribbon focus group assisting the IHE in development of its strategic plan. Dr. Hite will be a panelist at this year’s Education Career Night on February 20th at Norman Hall, Room 250.
For the entire CSCC article, click here.
Amanda Kraemer (MED ’09, Mathematics Ed.) is an AP Calculus teacher at Freedom High School in Orlando, FL. She is part of a new program that expands Advanced Placement course offerings to enroll more students into college. The program creates study review classes sponsored by a nonprofit group, Advancement Via Individual Determination, that works to help prepare disadvantaged students for higher education. Kraemer’s approach seems to be working, because last spring, more than 90 percent of her students received passing grades on their math exams.
Click here to read the entire article in the New York Times.
Amanda Kraemer and a few of her students
Congratulations to our 2013 UF Distinguished Educators! The Educators were recognized at UF’s Commencement on Saturday, December 14th. After the ceremony, a luncheon was held at the President’s Suite in the stadium and the Educators received golden apple awards for their teaching accomplishments. This year’s award recipients are: David Murphy, Chris Wilson, Nancy Hunter, Derita Pinkard, and Kristen Rivas.
David Murphy and his wife, Tiffany. Chris Wilson and his wife, Kelli.
Dr. Tom Dana and Nancy Hunter
David Murphy and Dr. Tom Dana
Dr. Tom Dana and Derita Pinkard
Kristen Rivas and Dr. Tom Dana
Chris Wilson and Dr. Tom Dana
Deborah Douma (EDD ’12, Higher Ed Admin) received the Campus Impact Award as the 2013 Grants Professional of the Year at the National Council for Resource Development Conference. The event was held in Washington, DC, last month. Dr. Douma is currently the Dean of Institutional Effectiveness and Grants at Pensacola State College.
We had a successful Grand Guard event this year, celebrating the 50th class reunion of 1963. The alumni and their guests had the opportunity to have lunch at Norman Hall with Dean Glenn Good, Associate Dean, Tom Dana, and Assistant Dean, Theresa Vernetson. The former education students were able to spend time with other classmates and listen to some of the new research and highlights that are taking place with the College of Education today. The Grand Guard members also participated in a presentation in the new technology teaching lab.
To see more pictures, click here.
Left to right: Karen Lahey, Dorothy Witt Thomas, Vanda O’Neill, Phoebe Raulerson, Carol Kelley, Martha Carter, Albert Strickland, Jacquelyn Kline, Robert Askren, and Francis Spera.
James May, a “double EduGator” with two advanced degrees from UF’s College of Education, was named one of this year’s Top 40 Innovators in Education by the national Center for Digital Education. The center is a national research and advisory institute specializing in K-12 and higher education technology trends, policy and funding. May earned his bachelor’s degree in Spanish literature in 1993, his Master of Education in ESOL curriculum and instruction in 1999, and his doctorate in teaching and learning in 2007, all from the University of Florida. He currently is a professor of English as a second language at Valencia College in Orlando, where he has pioneered the use of cell phones and computer-assisted learning in his classes. He is also the faculty fellow for innovation and technology at the college.
“We live in a world where just about everything that is known can be found by way of a quick Google or YouTube search,” May said. “Teachers who aren’t willing to embrace this digital reality are robbing future generations of what we could know tomorrow. Learning has become on-demand or just-in-time and our teaching methods should to adapt to this truth.”
For May, there is no one technology that serves as “the solution.” Instead, technologies like smart phones, Google Goggles, QR codes and Evernote (a note-taking and archiving app) provide him and his students with more efficient and engaging strategies that can be used to identify solutions to authentic problems.
“This technology allows me to model life-long learning strategies that students can use long after they have forgotten about me,” May said. For example, May teaches his students how to use Google Chrome to perform voice, image and text searches and how Google Drive could be used for collaborating learning and writing.
“Professor May’s success stems from pushing boundaries and engaging both faculty and students through various technologies and innovative digital and communications strategies,” a Center for Digital Education spokesperson said. To watch May in action, follow this link for a video by Valencia College.
May has been recognized in the past for his “eclectic” teaching strategies and use of technology in the classroom. In 2010, he was named the Association of Florida College’s Professor of the Year, and in 2011 he was selected as the CASE/Carnegie Foundation’s Florida Professor of the Year. In 2012, he won the Sloan Consortium Effective Practice Award for his presentation, “Cellphones in the Classroom: Collaborative or Calamitous?”
UF College of Education alumnus and professor James May, second from left, uses classroom technology to teach his ESOL students at Valencia College. (Photo by Don Burlinson, Valencia College)
