Fall 2023

Dear Friends,

Another full year has passed since we connected, and we’re well on our way in our new academic year. You’ll find highlights and more in this issue of Premier, but a few I’ll point out: 

• Continued growth of our online programs, which played a part in steady enrollment this fall 2024. 
• Scholarly and research endeavors in areas as unique as the use of artificial intelligence to highlight implied biases within fiction to securing federal funding to help us triple the number of school psychologists educated through our “Grow Your Own School Psychologist” program.
• Planning for the TEACH project with the Rod Library, which will create a hub for teacher preparation and classroom experimentation in the instructional resources and technology services space in Schindler Education Center. 
• Our participation in the successful launch of the public phase of the Our Tomorrow campaign led by the UNI Foundation. 
• The transition of our health-related majors, programs and faculty to the new School of Health and Human Sciences, effective July 1, 2023. 

The latter initiative, announced last fall, included adding a bachelor’s degree in nursing and bringing together the majority of health-related programs. Many of our departing degrees and disciplines were longstanding programs within the college – particularly physical education, which traces its beginnings back to 1896. We wish only the best to everyone in their new home. 

For the College of Education, this structural change represents an exciting opportunity which will guide our future growth. Moving forward, leadership, faculty and staff are working together to best align the college for tomorrow. Where is the synergy among our departments and disciplines? Are there opportunities to elevate and strengthen our focus? We plan to spend much of this year answering those questions and more. 

We remain equally focused on three additional goals: fostering a thriving culture, elevating the college internally and externally and, as always, seeking to build upon new and existing avenues for enrollment growth for the long-term. 

Overall, we continue to adapt to the needs of our potential and current students, alumni, faculty and staff. Undergraduate initiatives include completion of programming to support a deaf or hard of hearing teaching endorsement, situating UNI for its seven-year state review visit in 2024 and (continued progress) in transforming our teacher education curriculum. We are re-envisioning our graduate programs to make them more flexible, nimble and responsive to today’s adult learners, including plans for the addition of a Master of Arts in Teaching. 

As a college, we seek to intentionally engage – as faculty and staff, as leaders within our educational, civic and professional communities and with our students, alumni, donors, campus and community partners. This past year, I have had the privilege of engaging with many alumni and friends. Each time, I walk away with such an appreciation for the quality of the people and the impact represented by our proud Panther nation. Thank you, as always, for your support.   

With warm regards,

Colleen S. Mulholland, EdD
Dean, College of Education