Two new staff members recently joined the Neag School Dean’s Office, and the Department of Educational Psychology also welcomed new staff and faculty.

Agnieszka Petlik ‘16 6th Year, a kindergarten teacher in Simsbury, Connecticut, and graduate of the Neag School’s UConn Administrator Preparation Program (UCAPP), knows this transition all too well. “When COVID hit, I had to make some choices because my parents live downstairs, and they’re [immuno] compromised,” says Petlik. “I was very nervous, just like the rest of the world, as to what is going on and what we are going to do.”

Mark R. Shibles of Wilton, Maine, a former dean and professor emeritus of the Neag School of Education, was a highly respected scholar and leader in educational leadership and policy. With his passing on Aug. 24, 2021, at 83, the Neag School honors Shibles’ impact and his legacy.

A new book co-authored by Neag Professor of Educational Policy Casey Cobb is the latest installment in a series that examines controversial claims surrounding major political and cultural issues in America.

Throughout the academic year, the Neag School is proud to share the latest achievements of its faculty, staff, students, and alumni. Explore their most recent promotions, awards, retirements, publications, and more.

In a newly published journal article, Neag School Professor and adult learning expert Robin Grenier examines, with colleagues including Neag School alumna Kristi Kaeppel ’20 Ph.D., the use of book clubs and literature as a tool for enhancing the professional learning of employees across various organizations — from the military to nonprofits to health care. Voluntary, fiction-based book clubs, the researchers say, offer employees a nonformal setting for learning while critically raising consciousness within an organization.

The Neag School of Education received a $400,000 gift from the Neag Foundation to establish the Neag Foundation Scholarship for the Integrated Bachelor’s/Master’s (IB/M) Program at UConn’s Neag School of Education. The scholarship will support fifth-year IB/M students with demonstrated financial need.

Two long-running educational programs at UConn for Supplemental Nutrition Assistant Program (SNAP) recipients are combining under a new $4.2 million USDA grant. Neag School Professor Jennifer McGarry in the Department of Educational Leadership and executive director of Husky Sport is the PI on this grant.

The Neag School of Education, the Connecticut Writing Project, and the UConn Department of English invite your students to enter the 29th annual Letters About Literature contest.

As a psychologist and a parent of children participating in youth sports, it has been exciting for me to witness the increasing media attention on mental health and athletics. Mental toughness has long been a central topic within sports circles, but the current discussions are different. The past year has brought the mental health and well-being of athletes into mainstream conversation, whether it be as a plotline in season two of Apple TV’s “Ted Lasso” (promise, no more spoilers!), professional athletes’ stories highlighted during World Mental Health Day, or Simon Biles’ withdrawal from events at the Tokyo Olympics.