News & Notes
A review of selected highlights of activity within and at the College of Education since November 2023.
College News
Online programs continue to increase access, meet needs
Addressing student access as well as the needs of school districts, the College of Education continues to press forward in growth of itsonline programming.
- In April 2024, the college announced new online coursework options thatprovide a flexible pathway toward endorsements as instructional strategists in special education, including mild/moderate, intellectual disabilities and behavior disabilities/learning disorders classifications.
- In February 2024, the Board of Regents approved a new fully online early childhood education program for
transfer students. The unified, blended curriculum prepares students for teacher licensure and an endorsement in inclusive early childhood education settings (Endorsement 1001). Placebound students in all 15 Iowa community colleges can now achieve their BA through UNI upon completion of their associate degree.
“This (early childhood online transfer) program now gives placebound learners flexibility so they, too, can gain the knowledge and skills to support all young learners, building upon their strengths and backgrounds to maximize each child’s potential as they learn and grow,” says Robin Dada, head, curriculum and instruction, and interim head, special education.
New COE leaders
Assuming new leadership roles for College of Education:
- Sohyun (Soh) Meacham, named associate dean of graduate studies and research, effective January 2, 2025. She previously served as interim
associate dean of research, scholarship and faculty excellence and is an associate professor of literacy education. - Amanda (Mandie) Sanderman, assistant dean of assessment and clinical experiences. Sanderman joined the COE in this newly-defined role after
serving the Central Rivers Area Education Agency - Jim Stichter, interim department head, Department of Teaching. This 25-year faculty member succeeded the late Curt Nielsen in January 2024.
Amy Nielsen, special education faculty member who served as the interim associate dean of graduate studies in 2023-24, has moved to her new role as associate provost for faculty.
New faces bring varied experiences, fill key roles
Among the new faces since November 2023 to the College of Education:
- Dawn Mollenkopf, Averyle Westphal Ehrle Professor of Early Childhood Education, a newly-endowed professorship. Mollenkopf previously served
as professor at the University of Nebraska at Kearney. - Sharon Dentlinger, assistant professor of practice, superintendency, former superintendent at the Interstate 35 Community School District in
Truro, Iowa. - Tara Tedrow, assistant professor of instruction, special education, previously with University of Iowa
- Katie Simpson, clinical assistant professor, teaching, with the Central Rivers AEA previously.
In addition, Allison Pattee, is now the coordinator, Online Transfer Program, and clinical assistant professor of elementary education. She previously coordinated early childhood education and directed the Child Development Center.
Key new instructional and staff roles include:
- Hannah Jaros, director, National Program for Playground Safety
- Cheryl Meller, graduate recruitment and event coordinator
- Amber Dullard, academic advisor
- Anjuli Myers, Regents Alternative Pathway to Iowa Licensure (RAPIL) coordinator
11 faculty advance through promotion and tenure
Earning promotions and/or tenure in the past year were:
- Full Professor: Wu-Ying Hsieh, Special Education
- Associate Professor with Tenure: Matt Townsley and Eva Chen, Educational Psychology, Foundations and Leadership Studies
- Associate Professor of Instruction: Magdalena Galloway, Curriculum and Instruction (C&I)
- Clinical Associate Professor: Megan Balong, Shelly Bromwich, Carrie Elser, Leasha Henriksen, Ashley Jorgensen, Kim Miller, Teaching
- Associate Professor of Instruction: Denise Tallakson, C&
Transitions
Curt Nielsen, head, Department of Teaching, passed away in December 2023 after succumbing to cancer.
Nielsen served the University of Northern Iowa for more than 20 years. As an associate professor in the College of Education, he taught
and provided field experience supervision in the Department of Teaching prior to being named interim head in January 2023. He earlier taught at the Malcolm Price Laboratory School where he headed the Department of Social Studies and held several administrative roles. He began his career in teaching as an elementary teacher and interim principal at Lincoln Elementary School in Cedar Falls.
Nielsen received four degrees from UNI – two bachelor’s degrees (‘86 and ‘89), MAE (‘97) and EdD (‘12). He was also a graduate of the lab school and its high school. He was granted posthumous emeritus faculty status by UNI in recognition of his career as a consummate educator and leader.
With support from memorial donations, the Nielsen family established the Dr. Curt Nielsen and Janet Nielsen Endowed Scholarship for pre-service teaching students.
Bob Brown, co-founding member and co-chair of the College of Education Dean’s Advisory Council, died in April 2024. Brown, 93, had “retired” from the council in March 2024. In addition to his support of the college, he was well known in the Cedar Valley for his civic and business contributions.
College announces first Holmes Scholars
University of Northern Iowa is now a Holmes Scholars institution, a designation reflecting a professional development program of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) which supports students from historically underrepresented communities enrolled in graduate programs. The first two scholars named were:
- Tiffiany Evans, who is working on her dissertation in curriculum and instruction and currently serves as a teacher-
librarian in the Waterloo Community Schools - Nimisha Joshi, a second-year doctoral student in educational leadership who currently serves as adjunct faculty at the UCDS (University Child Development School) Graduate School of Education in Seattle.
As part of the program, the two attended the national AACTE conference in February and its premier advocacy conference, Washington Week, in June. Two scholars will be named yearly.
Summer fellowship funding builds expertise
Eleven faculty were awarded up to $4,000 in Dean’s Summer Fellowship for summer 2024. They include: Curriculum and Instruction: Joan Bessman Taylor, Robin Dada, Sunah Chung, Karla Krueger, Sarah Vander Zanden; Educational Psychology, Foundations and Leadership Studies: Scott Ellison, Shelley Price-Williams, David Schmid; C&I and Jacobson Center for Comprehensive Literacy: Lori Norton-Meier; Special Education: Sherry Petty and Amy Staples.
Innovative ideas lead to support for continued research
Two Curriculum and Instruction (C&I) faculty earned $500 cash prizes and university support to move forward with their research for their innovative ideas as part of the Intellectual Property and Innovation Disclosure Competition II.
Beth Dykstra VanMeeteren, director of the Iowa Regents’ Center for Early Developmental Education, will further explore the idea that weight distribution and symmetry vary by the child. She is working on developing a set of learning tools and table-top prototypes for preschool through second grade for children to explore balance and symmetrical distribution of weight.
Taraneh Matloob Haghanikar’s proposal involves an online system that allows users to create their own narration of a story through custom-made characters, actions, emotions, scenes, dialogues, music, sound effects and plots. Partnering with the University of Chicago’s Data Clinic, the outcome will be an AI-equipped demonstration of the emotional patterns of characters in award-winning multicultural fiction books.
Funding supports student projects using avatars and animation
Taraneh Matloob Haghanikar was also awarded $5,000 from the Veridian Community Engagement Fellowship and the McElroy Youth Leadership Fund for a project titled “Building Students’ Capacity for Cultural Competence using Diverse Avatars.”
She collaborated with teachers at the Waterloo Career Center (WCC) on the project. High school students from two WCC classes read a multicultural book and then retold the story using an animation production app. They showcased their efforts at the UNI Community Engagement Celebration Day in
April 2024.
COE research paper leads record 5 million global downloads for ScholarWorks
One download at a time, scholarly works from COE faculty are equipping educators with valuable resources. A graduate research paper attributed to the College of Education and the College of Graduate, Research and Online Education, “The effects of blended learning on K-12th grade students,” written by Laura Hesse, (‘17, MA) currently tops ScholarWorks individual references with over 68,000 total downloads. Of the record total, the COE accounts for 1.7 million downloads. For more, go to scholarworks.uni.edu.
New 'DOT' musical activities include honor for late teaching alum Shay
The College of Education, Gallagher Bluedorn Performing Arts Center and Richard O. Jacobson Center for Comprehensive Literacy sponsored two full days centered around premiere showings of “Dot Dot Dot: A New Musical” which engaged more than 3,200 people in various events featuring creativity.
In addition to the musical, a highlight was recognition of the late Terry Shay, a former North Tama School District music teacher and UNI alumnus and
founder of International Dot Day. Peter H. Reynolds, author/illustrator who created the trilogy of books that are the basis of the musical, presented Shay’s family with a brass statue featuring “The Dot” created at the UNI Metal Casting & Foundry 4.0 Center.
Football pre-game at SEC draws alumni
A pre-game social at Schindler Education Center gave alumni educators the opportunity to tour the building renovated in 2017 and enjoy refreshments
and other goodies as part of an Elevating Educators Alumni Weekend sponsored by UNI Athletics and the UNI Alumni Association. The tours were
held prior to the North Dakota State football game in November.
Events
Social and Emotional Learning Conference continues to build
Nearly 600 attendees at the third Social and Emotional Learning Conference participated in keynote sessions and more than 20 breakout sessions in April. Keynote speakers were: Mark Sander, senior clinical psychologist for Hennepin County, Minnesota, director of school mental health for Hennepin County and Minneapolis Public Schools, and co-director of the Midwest Center for School Mental Health; and Todd Parr, renowned author and illustrator of more than 60 books who is known for his inclusive storytelling.
“Mark has been navigating the complex partnerships needed to bring mental health systems and services to schools. I am excited to bring his expertise on trauma-informed schools to our audience,” said planning committee and faculty member Nicole Skaar, school psychology.
This conference is supported by a generous donation to the UNI Foundation from a longtime friend of the College of Education who wishes to remain anonymous.
First Standards-Based Grading Conference
More than 200 participants from school districts across Iowa attended the first Standards-Based Grading Conference in June, sponsored by the Institute for Educational Leadership.
Matt Townsley, assistant professor, educational leadership, led with a keynote on: 4Ps Of Sustainable Grading Reform (Purpose, Principles, Pilot and Probe). The conference offered two tracks focused on getting started and sustaining this approach to assessment.
Elementary STEM Expo encourages integrating STEM into classrooms
A “new and improved’ pre-service STEM conference returned as the “Iowa Elementary STEM Expo for Emerging K-6 Educators” in April 2024.
This year’s focus was intentionally on elementary education where coordinator Dana Atwood-Blaine, associate professor and Jacobson Science Fellow, says both need and opportunity remain great. This event connected students with local teachers and STEM resource providers, with a special focus on the new elementary OpenSciEd curriculum and integration of STEM into the elementary classroom.
Brenda Kaufmann (‘21, MAE), second grade teacher at North Tama County Community School District, was a featured presenter on a STEM panel and also led a “Live from the Classroom” observation via Zoom for participating students the Friday before the event.
AI spotlight attracts interest at Carlton-Mellichamp Lecture
An estimated 100 faculty, students and professional colleagues attended the Carlton-Mellichamp Lecture in Education on February 29-March 1. From
the keynote session to faculty and student dialogues, guest speaker Selin Akgün, PhD, raised both ethical and practical questions for all to consider in
K-12 classroom settings. Akgun presented “Fostering Artificial Intelligence (AI) Literacy in Education: Cultivating Critical Consciousness Towards Ethical AI” in her keynote address. She also led conversations with faculty on AI in teaching, learning and research, and, with students, on AI in PreK-12
classrooms.
Donations to the UNI Foundation from Suzanne Carlton Mellichamp (‘63, BA) and Duncan Mellichamp support the event.
Tubbs Teaching Connections a resounding success
The return to campus of the 2023 Bill and Linda Tubbs Teaching Connections last November attracted nearly 225 attendees. Classrooms and the Budke auditorium were filled with insightful discourse as participants focused on LGTBQ+ inclusivity in education from multiple perspectives.
Particularly well received were the keynote address on “The Power of Being Seen,” by Andy Hansen, lead teacher with Lou Henry Elementary in Waterloo, legislative updates and a session on dealing with challenges in books and materials, led by Johnnie Blunt, Rod Library, and Keenan Crow, One Iowa. This annual event is supported by generous donations from Bill and Linda Tubbs (‘69, BA) to the UNI Foundation.
African American Read-In draws 3,000
The 18th African American Read-In was a state-wide success, stretching virtually across Iowa in first grade classrooms from Mason City to Ottumwa, Dubuque to Sioux City, and, close to home, in Waterloo, Cedar Falls and Hudson. More than 3,000 participated, setting a new record.
University of Washington’s Michelle H. Martin, the Beverly Cleary Endowed Professor of Children and Youth Services, kicked off the hour-long program with music and movement, then read the book “Where’s Rodney?” by Carmen Bogan. Children’s book illustrator R. Gregory Christie led a draw-along.
Taraneh Matloob Haghnikar, associate professor, curriculum and instruction, coordinated the read-in, continuing the tradition begun by Gloria Kirkland Holmes, who died in 2022. Through a Facebook private social media group, Matloob Haghanikar partnered with Johnnie Blunt, Rod Library, to engage interested in-service teachers, faculty and students in lesson planning featuring diverse readings.
“This year’s read-in aimed to inspire both educators and students to explore the world of African American literature and enjoy the wonders of reading,”
says Matloob Haghanikar.