Fall 2024
Premier Magazine
Stories of our students persevering through an unimagined disruption. A commonality of focus across academic programs. Early childhood curriculum adapting to times and needs. Finding education in the outdoors. A new program with impact just two years after its initial announcement.
Those are the lead features for the 2024 issue of Premier, the College of Education alumni magazine. But that's not all. Come along and learn:
- how their own passion for learning and discovery is making a difference in the classrooms of two alumni;
- the story of a donor whose commitment to UNI brings new opportunity thorugh an endowed professorship;
- the contributions to education by the college's own scholar-authors; and,
- the accolades and accomplishments of faculty, staff, students and alumni over the past year.
Read along online as we capture just a few of the never-ending stories that reflect the legacy of the College of Education and the quality of our communty.
From the Dean
Dear Friends,
As you read this, we’re fully immersed in another dynamic and vibrant academic year. While we’re eager about our goals for this year, I’m thrilled to take a moment to look back and recognize the hard work and dedication of our faculty and staff, who made last year’s achievements possible. As this issue shares, we have plenty to shout about:
- Our first Purple Pathway for Paraeducators graduates – all 62 of them!
- Increased access to a unified early childhood education major, including (another) new online option for placebound students.
- A recreation, tourism and nonprofit leadership program extending education outdoors while refining its master’s program.
- An overachieving Our Tomorrow: The Campaign for UNI – whose impact for the college includes a newly-endowed professorship.
- A literacy initiative that’s making a difference in classrooms across Iowa.
- Steady enrollment bolstered by the impact of innovative new programming.
This year also involved the detailed work of curricular revision for 40+ majors and minors throughout all of UNI Teacher Education, an effort that began in spring 2022. This entailed intensive collaboration among faculty, department heads, deans and academic support offices across campus — and our work continues.
That brings us to this coming year. The final phase of our curricular work is now underway, concentrating on implementation as we finalize approvals for the curriculum. We are excited to share with our educator preparation alumni the significant changes designed to enhance student accessibility to the teaching profession, starting in the 2025-26 school year.
So we’ve been busy! And, we are ready to re-engage the dialogue within the college about our organizational structure following the re-alignment of health-related programs in 2023. We’re now primed to find the synergies within our structure that will elevate and strengthen the future of the college.
We also expect:
- Intensified efforts to build our research capabilities and create positive synergy in graduate recruitment among a new COE Office of Graduate Studies and Research and our academic departments, programs and faculty.
- Completion of the final phase of the TEACH (Teacher Education and Collaboration Hub) project, leading to a transformation of the Instructional Resources and Technology Services space (IRTS) to house the UNI youth collection in a hub for teacher preparation and classroom experimentation.
These highlights from the 30,000-foot-view reflect just a slice of the commitment, passion and dedication emanating from every corner of the college. They support our vision to foster a thriving culture, elevate the college internally and externally and build and sustain enrollment growth for long-term success.
Importantly, we do this work together. Whether you’re among our alumni, donors, friends, faculty, staff or students, our connections matter. As we continue to chart our future and help others achieve their dreams, thank you for being part of our story, our legacy and our tomorrow.