Neag School of Education to Host 15th Anniversary Celebration

Posted on September 22, 2014July 8, 2022 by

Ray and Carole Neag in a classroom — Carole and Ray Neag are among the most prominent figures in UConn’s 138-year history, next to brothers Charles and Augustus Storrs, who donated the land and funding in 1880 to start the University.

A celebration marking the 15th anniversary of the naming of the Neag School of Education will take place during UConn’s “Huskies Forever Weekend” at the Storrs campus.

Also known as “Alumni Weekend,” Friday, Oct. 24, and Saturday, Oct. 25, will feature an honors ceremony, keynote speaker, panel presentations and a luncheon to commemorate the Neag School and its accomplishments.

“Fifteen years ago, I promised Ray and Carole Neag that their gift would be transformative,” said Neag School Dean Richard L. Schwab, “and our faculty, staff and students have worked hard to make that occur. We have become one of the top 30 public graduate schools of education in the nation, we award close to 175 scholarships a year, we have some of the most talented faculty in the nation, and we generate over $11 million in annual grant productivity.”

Kicking off the weekend will be an Investiture and Medals Ceremony on Oct. 24 at the Konover Auditorium at the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center, where Provost Mun Choi and Dean Schwab will honor the latest Neag endowed professors and educational psychology professor Scott Brown, who is this year’s UConn Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor–the highest honor given to a UConn faculty member.

On Oct. 25, Brown and endowed professors Preston Green, Jonathan Plucker, Sally Reis, Joseph Renzulli, George Sugai, and Suzanne Wilson will facilitate a series of breakout sessions and panel discussions. Topics will range from exploring current happenings in the field of education and analyzing academic research findings to discussing school culture and teacher-student classroom dynamics.

“These distinguished professors produce scholarship that answers critical questions on a range of educational issues, from literacy to student behavior,” Dean Schwab said. “The celebration is an excellent venue to share this knowledge with alumni, students, practitioners, policymakers and all others who attend. We’re very proud of all we’ve accomplished and the level of expertise we have to impact education’s future.”

RoigBW130711a151 The Neag School is also honored to have Sandy Hook Elementary School first-grade teacher and Neag alumna Kaitlin Roig-DeBellis present the keynote address on Oct. 25. Roig-DeBellis, who earned a master’s in 2005 and a bachelor’s in 2004, saved the lives of her students during the 2012 shooting tragedy at the school. She also created a non-profit organization called Classes 4 Classes that helps elementary schoolchildren provide educational gifts to other classrooms.

Praised as a hero by President Obama and Former First Lady Laura Bush, Roig-DeBellis was named one of Glamour Magazine’s Women of the Year and a “L’Oreal Paris Women of Worth” as one of “10 Inspiring Women Making Beautiful Differences in their Communities.” Roig-DeBellis also spoke at the 2014 Neag School of Education Commencement Ceremony

“Kaitlin is a perfect speaker for the event, as she both benefited from the Neag gift as a student and has distinguished herself as an alum,” said Dean Schwab. “She embodies the spirit, tenacity, and love of students that the Neag School works so hard to nurture.”

After the speaking program on Oct. 25, there will be a group photo of Neag School alumni and current students at noon in the Laurel Hall atrium. Participants will be given a complimentary event T-shirt at check-in and are encouraged to wear their T-shirt for the photo-op.

The event-filled weekend will conclude with a luncheon in the recently revamped Student Union Mall for alumni, faculty, staff, students, and their guests.

The 15th anniversary celebration comes at an exciting time for the Neag School. U.S. News & World Report’s 2014 rankingsagain list the Neag School as the #1 public graduate school of education in the Northeast and #24 among all public graduate schools of education in the nation. It also ranks three Neag School programs in the top 20 nationally.

UConn’s School of Education was renamed to honor Ray Neag in 1999 after he donated $21 million to the school. At the time, his generous donation was the largest gift any school of education in the country had ever received. Mr. Neag also established the Neag Chair in Gifted and Talented Education and the Neag Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development.

“I am a product of public education. My gift to the School of Education is a way to acknowledge and repay what teachers and schools have done for me,” Neag said when he announced his intentions. He described his donation as a “strategic investment” to ensure that the School of Education would become one of the top schools of education in the country.

The Neag School’s recently released “Our Time: UConn’s Path to Excellence” strategic plan was designed to help achieve that goal. Dean Schwab said: “Our plan is to elevate the Neag School of Education to new heights, making it a state, national and global leader in how educators are taught, as well as how educational policies and teaching methods are developed and implemented. This weekend will celebrate both the great things we’ve done, and the great things ahead.”

For more information on the events and to register, visit Regonline.com/neag15.

For Talented High Schoolers, Summer Fun Includes an Academic Challenge

Posted on September 22, 2014November 7, 2017 by

A course in the mathematical field of topology was one of many choices for students in the Neag School of Education’s Mentor Connection summer program. (Peter Morenus/UConn Photo)

For some high school students, summer means a choice between working at a local farm stand or burger joint, or choosing to sleep late and then maybe hitting the beach. But for academically talented students, UConn offers a more challenging option.

The Neag School of Education’s Mentor Connection program attracts some of the nation’s best and brightest high school students to the Storrs campus each July. Once they arrive, they plunge into such diverse topics as nanoparticle-based drug delivery, making memories in the mammalian brain, and the mathematical field of topology – described by Patrick Dragon, assistant professor-in-residence in the Department of Mathematics, as being “like geometry, but squishier.”

Asked why he chose to spend precious summer weeks studying one specialized aspects of mathematics, Nicholas Serrambana from East Hartford, Connecticut and a student at the Classical Magnet High School in Hartford said, “I didn’t see a course offered [in any other program] that would be as obscure yet as important as this one. It’s unique for a high school student to be able to study topology. I can’t tell you exactly what my expectations were, but this program has a college environment, and I feel it has given me the skills to problem solve – to work collaboratively when I need to and also to work on my own.”

Mentor Connection was established in 1996 with the goal of bringing gifted high school students to UConn for a summer program where they would work side by side with faculty, graduate students, and research assistants on current research initiatives. Housed in the Neag School of Education’s Neag Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development, the program has so far reached more than 1,000 students, who have traveled from around the country and even overseas to attend.

Patrick Dragon, assistant professor-in-residence of mathematics, worked with high school students who hailed from as far away as California, during the Mentor Connection program. (Peter Morenus/UConn Photo)

Mira Varma is a rising junior at Greenwich High School in Greenwich, Conn. For her, enrollment was a tossup between a course on the theory of relativity at Brown University, or Dragon’s course on topology at UConn.

“I really wanted to do a summer course,” she says, “and I felt Mentor Connection had fewer kids in class and it offered the opportunity to work closely with professors. I want to become a cosmologist and that involves math and that’s why I came here. I’m really glad I did.”

But it’s not just students who benefit. Dragon, who was voted Honors Faculty Member of the Year for 2013-14, says this is the third year he has participated in Mentor Connection, and every year is both different and rewarding. “The goal of the program is to give these students a research experience similar to what they would get on an undergraduate level in college but while they’re still in high school. The students I have this summer are great, they’re all talented and they all know the [math] terminology fluently, to a degree I would expect from an ‘A’ student. They’re fun to teach.”

As she was wrapping up her three-week experience, Ilana Freeman who attends Dougherty Valley High School in San Ramon, Calif., said, “I took AP calculus [in high school] which is supposed to be college level, but they don’t teach it like Dr. Dragon teaches. He really makes it interesting and challenging at the same time. This has been a great experience.”

Freeman will be making college visits on her way home from UConn. Chances are, this future math major will be using the lessons learned in Mentor Connection when she makes her final selection.

Neag Alum and Best-selling Author Wally Lamb Heads to the Big Screen

Posted on September 22, 2014December 7, 2021 by

Wally Lamb served as executive producer of a forthcoming feature-length film based on his novel Wishin’ and Hopin’, which was filmed locally in Willimantic, Jewett City, and Norwich. (Angelina Reyes/UConn Photo)

Even best-selling fiction writer Wally Lamb ’72 (CLAS), ’77 MA admits he never could have envisioned it: The house in which he spent roughly 16 years penning several of his celebrated novels is now part of a movie set for a forthcoming feature-length film based on one of those books.

Lamb’s fourth book, the comic novella Wishin’ and Hopin’ (HarperCollins, 2008), is the first of his works to be adapted for the big screen. Filmed in Connecticut by Rocky Hill-based Synthetic Cinema International, the movie – slated for limited release across the country later this year – was shot in part just minutes from the UConn Storrs campus, in a quiet, residential neighborhood in Willimantic. There, inside the same unassuming, three-story home where the UConn alum had for many years rented space as a writing sanctuary, his characters will now come to life on film.

Among the stars cast are Molly Ringwald, Meat Loaf, and Annabella Sciorra. Lamb himself will also make a cameo appearance in the movie, playing the role of a school janitor.

“I still scratch my head sometimes and say, ‘How did all of this happen?’” Lamb says. “I have a pretty good imagination, but I couldn’t have imagined a life for myself that has become this cool and this interesting and this challenging.”

Leap of faith

Set at Christmastime in 1964, Wishin’ and Hopin’ tells the story of 10-year-old Felix Funicello, a parochial school student growing up in the fictional town of Three Rivers, Conn. Lamb – who is more well-known for his lengthy, powerful, often heartrending novels – refers to Wishin’ and Hopin’ as his “comic-relief novel.”

“I wanted to try to remind myself that you can walk on the sunny side of the street,” he says of writing the book, which followed The Hour I First Believed, a novel based on the 1999 Columbine massacre.

The lighthearted, nostalgic story of young Felix is not only a departure in style for Lamb, but also a marked shift for the production company Synthetic Cinema, which has traditionally developed horror movies. Yet Lamb says it didn’t take much convincing to get him onboard with the project. Andrew Gernhard, president of Synthetic, is one of Lamb’s former students from Norwich Free Academy, a high school in Norwich, Conn., where Lamb taught for 25 years. Gernhard approached Lamb with the idea for the film.

“I wanted to take a leap of faith with this company, not only because it’s a Connecticut company and because I had personal connections with the producer, but also I wanted to see what moviemaking was like,” says Lamb, who serves as executive producer for the film. “I wanted to study the process, and they invited me into that process.”

Although the movie rights for several of his other novels had been sold previously, none of those deals has yet led to the development of a feature-length film. “Suddenly, this project was a go,” Lamb says. “It’s been a very fast sort of turnaround, and I have nothing but praise for this company, the crew, and the casting of both the major stars and the kids. It’s really been a peak experience for me.”

Bringing the story home

Throughout the 23 days of filming, interacting with the young members of the cast was among the highlights for the former high school teacher and university professor.

“I got along famously with the kids,” says Lamb, who spent time between scenes entertaining the child actors with his skills as a caricaturist. On the cast’s occasional days off, Lamb also took the children and their parents on area field trips – from the UConn Dairy Bar to a Chinese restaurant’s karaoke night, where he joined the children in singing “Wishin’ and Hopin’,” the Dusty Springfield classic after which the book and film are named.

The movie, which wrapped up filming last month, was shot in the Connecticut towns of Willimantic, Jewett City, and Norwich – another source of excitement for Lamb, who was born in Norwich and still lives in Connecticut.

“One of the delightful things for me about this experience was the chance to bring the story back to home port,” says Lamb, who had suggested to the film’s producers the idea of using the house in Willimantic as one of the movie sets. The interior of the house was subsequently transformed into the Funicello family home, and the office in which Lamb wrote the novel Wishin’ and Hopin’ became Mr. and Mrs. Funicello’s bedroom in the film.

“It was kind of surreal,” says Lamb, though he believes the late owner of the home, his friend and former landlady Bernice “Bunny” Bennett, would have approved. “I knew she would have gotten a kick out of using her house,” he says.

With the film now in post-production, Lamb is looking forward to its theatrical release this November. He hopes to have one of the movie’s premieres scheduled at a nonprofit performing arts theater in Connecticut to help raise funds benefiting charitable organizations in the area.

Meanwhile, he continues to write, with work underway on a prequel to Wishin’ and Hopin’, titled Vote for Miss Rheingold and slated for release next year through the publisher eBook Extreme. According to Lamb, this latest work promises to offer a multimedia experience for the reader, incorporating narration and some documentary-style elements, as well as some original filming. Whether or not this will lead to another Lamb cameo appearance, however, remains to be seen.

Three New Graduate Certificates Offer Innovative Ways to Prepare Educators

Posted on September 22, 2014February 17, 2023 by

Click onto the recently expanded Neag Online Programs home page, and proof of the Neag School of Education’s commitment to finding new and innovative ways to prepare the next generation of educators and leaders is clear. The Neag School has doubled the number of online professional development programs it offers to include 12-credit graduate certificates in School Law and Gifted Education and Talent Development, as well as a 12-credit graduate certificate in Leadership and Diversity Management in Sport.

It’s also revised its 12-credit Postsecondary Disabilities Services graduate certificate program, which in recent months has led to inquiries from potential students living as far away as way as California, Texas, Louisiana, Nevada and India.

Coupled with the Neag School’s existing two-summers Educational Technology and three-summers Gifted and Talented Education online master’s degrees, these programs represent two of the of five online master’s degrees and four of the eleven online graduate certificates offered by UConn overall.

“Finding ways to meet emerging needs and providing ways for educators who want to further their professional learning, but can’t come to campus, is part of the Neag School’s overall mission,” said Director of Neag Online Programs Jae-Eun Joo, EdD.

It’s also part of the Neag School’s recently released “Our Time: UConn’s Path to Excellence” strategic plan, which outlines how the school can and will become a state, national and global leader in how teachers are taught, as well as how educational policies and teaching methods are developed and implemented.

Online classes that eliminate geographic or transportation barriers and allow busy professionals a flexible schedule are a significant part of that.

“Online courses and programs turn obstacles into opportunities,” Joo continued, “and make it possible for people who might not otherwise be able to learn from the Neag School’s outstanding faculty, or earn a UConn degree, to do so.”

Discussion boards, blogs and other online learning tools also provide students and faculty members with the ability to have extended and deeper dialogues, capture thoughts, allow ideas to grow over time, and share information in a way that can’t happen in a traditional classroom.

Submitting work online also allows a student to assemble a portfolio of work that they can save and, if desired, share with others. The fact that discussions take place in writing, and that students have the opportunity to read and respond to each others’ ideas, also means that more thought and consider is put into responses, leading to greater leaning. Plus, recent developments in synchronous virtual conference tools such as Skype and FaceTime offer free and easy access to the teacher and fellow students.

Indeed, studies prove that online students tend to be more engaged, Joo said.

“Sit in a traditional classroom with 15-20 other students, and there’s no way to involve everyone in an in-depth conversation. But online, when properly designed and facilitated, it can happen, and it’s not just faculty-to-student conversations, but peer-to-peer. Our faculty routinely tell us that online classes give students the opportunity to delve into issues they’d never have time to explore in the classroom because of the strict time schedule. But online, the conversation is always there.”

The added plus of online documentation and sharing is it allows data to be captured for faculty doing research and connects educators with each other, creating opportunities for networking and ongoing support.

Expanding opportunities for K-12 educators to share ideas and learn from each other is also part of the Neag School’s mission. Agreeing with the need for greater professional collaboration is Connecticut’s State Department of Education, which recently contracted the Neag School to develop a series of online modules for teacher professional development on the new CT Educator Evaluation System, which will be piloted this fall.

It’s a huge opportunity, Joo said, as well as one that well-illustrates what collaboration can achieve. Although her title is “director” of Neag Online Programs, she by no means works alone.

Close collaboration with the eCampus, which provides the central gateway for all online courses and programs at UConn, has been critical in conceptualizing and developing the three new online certificate programs with Neag faculty members. The 13-member Neag Online Learning Committee—consisting of Neag faculty, staff members and eCampus leadership—has aso worked together to develop the upcoming Neag Online Teaching Readiness Survey to assess individual faculty members’ familiarity with online teaching and to collect their particular needs for Neag faculty development.

“The Neag Online Committee worked last year to support the growth of the Neag School’s online offerings, and also to explore additional ways that online strategies can support progress toward the goals in the new strategic plan,” said Professor Jonathan Plucker, PhD, chair of the Committee. “In addition, the Committee has worked to help Neag capitalize on a range of external relationships, with groups such as eCampus and the Connecticut State Department of Education, to collaborate on new programs and initiatives.”

Central to Neag’s online program offerings is the Neag Online Programs website, which in addition to providing students with detailed course descriptions and admissions and registration information, provides Neag faculty with a listing of enrichment seminars, such as how to incorporate iPad and Twitter into teaching. It also provides information about the online course and program development process that eCampus leads.

“One of the key projects this coming year is to collect and analyze data from some of our online classes to better understand how students learn online, and then use that information to refine the online courses we offer. It will be also great to continue our partnership with the CT State Department of Education to expand the Neag’s reach to the K-12 educators by leveraging online learning opportunities. My role is to both help educators of all levels see the big picture about online learning and then walk them through the steps of making their quality online teaching as effective and innovative as possible, to meet their learners’ needs and expectations. To achieve this, the shared vision and ongoing collaboration is vital.”

Are Creativity and Mental Illness Linked?

Posted on September 22, 2014December 7, 2021 by James Kaufman

James Kaufman, professor of educational psychology and an internationally recognized expert on creativity. (Peter Morenus/UConn Photo)

Robin Williams’ suicide was a staggering blow to the multitude of fans who recognized and praised his tremendous talents on stage, television and in film. While the disconnect between Williams’ effusive positive energy – his public persona – and the shocking details of his death stirred many emotions, it is also a potent reminder of the struggles creative individuals endure and the sad history of suicide among the writers, performers and other artists among us.

But is there a link between creativity and mental illness? The trope that has emerged of the sad clown or, more broadly, the creative genius tormented by inner demons may not, in fact, be true. Decades of research has not unequivocally established a link between creativity and mental illness. As an educational psychologist, I’ve thought and written a lot about creativity and mental illness over the last 15 years. It is a topic at the center of my professional life. I have come to find it is also a topic that fascinates and enrages; what psychologists often consider to be data points are also human lives. People identify with being creative and people identify with mental health. But merging the two is a different matter altogether. And it is hard to discuss the nuance of specific scientific studies in the face of actual suffering.

What we are left with are two very significant questions: Are creative genius and mental illness related? And, what does this mean for me if I am creative? The answers are quite different.

Scientists argue both sides of the first question. Some scholars say that not only are creativity and mental illness related but it’s undisputed fact. Others claim there is not a shred of evidence connecting the two concepts. I fall somewhere in the middle; much of the classic work is unbelievably flawed, but there’s too much of it to dismiss it completely. This question has great importance if we want to understand the workings of a genius like Robin Williams.

The second question relates to the average person. Many people see creativity as an integral part of their life, and it can take many shapes. Maybe you play guitar or tinker in your garage or make fantastic lasagna or can tell the best jokes at a party. This everyday creativity – the joy from the process – is something all of us have felt and enjoyed.

Yet, if I am creative, am I also at greater risk for mental illness? If Robin Williams, with such amazing creative gifts, was unable to keep perspective, then what does that say about the rest of us and our own paltry attempts at contributing something new and original to the world?

The key is not to make that leap. Creative genius, or what researchers call the “Big-C,” is a different beast from everyday creativity, or what we like call the “little-c.” Microwaved chicken nuggets and baked Chicken a la King at the fancy restaurant in town are both chicken, but their nutritional value and their taste are radically different. It’s the same thing with “Big-C” and “little-c.” Whatever researchers conclude about Big-C and mental illness – and any connection, if there is one, is more nuanced than we like to admit—there is no association between little-c and mental illness. Everyday creativity is linked to higher resiliency, being in a better mood, having less stress, and better physical health.

Ruminations about Robin Williams, Sylvia Plath, or Ernest Hemingway may turn our thoughts to the connection between creative genius and mental illness. But the subject – if not the people – is still an open book.

James Kaufman is a professor of educational psychology at UConn. His book Creativity and Mental Illness just came out and is available on Amazon.com.

Challenging Others to Support Excellence

Posted on September 22, 2014July 19, 2017 by

Johneilia Bariffe (on the right) conducts cell testing with Alyssa Matz during their Mentor Connection research work at UConn. Photo credit: Shawn Kornegay

Linda and David Glickstein believe so strongly in the value of UConn’s Mentor Connection enrichment program for talented high schoolers, they established a challenge grant to encourage others to help support it.

The Glicksteins will match dollar for dollar any pledge up to $1,000 per donor for a total of $15,000. Their goal is to raise at least $30,000 for the program by next summer when another cohort of talented teens arrive to work with faculty, graduate students and research assistants on current research initiatives. Housed in the Neag School of Education’s Neag Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development, Mentor Connection has brought students to campus from around the country and overseas. The program is offered to high school juniors or seniors ranked in the top 25 percent of their class with a GPA of 3.0 or higher. Applicants must demonstrate their commitment to academic excellence in order to be considered.

“The program is designed to engage the students in more hands-on, investigative and creative activities rather than the more typical high school kind of learning that involves sitting, listening, taking the test and getting a grade,” says Joseph Renzulli, professor emeritus of educational psychology who helped develop the program.

“Mentor Connection provides high school students with education that is usually far beyond what they have experienced and gives them something to aspire to” says Linda Glickstein, who taught gifted students for many years in Pennsylvania, and, with her husband, David, has supported the program for 15 years.

Linda and David hiking in Alaska #1 — Linda and David Glickstein enjoying a trip to Alaska.

“The students get to meet like-minded kids they might not otherwise get to know and join a community where their academic ambitions are accepted and applauded,” says David Glickstein, who received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in engineering from UConn.

“We hope this challenge grant will encourage more people to support the Mentor Connection program,” says Linda Glickstein. “No donation is too small. Our hope is that the students who participated in the program will think about giving back at whatever level they can, and we can supplement their donation by matching it.”

The philanthropic support provided by the Glicksteins and others has helped ensure the program remains accessible to talented students who might not otherwise be able to afford it, says Heather Spottiswoode, a coordinator of the program. “It’s a residential program, which means the students are really immersed in the college experience, but it also means it costs a bit more. We rely on philanthropic support from the Glicksteins and other individuals and foundations to enhance the program’s diversity, which we think is an essential component of its success.”

More than 1100 students have participated in the Mentor Connecticut program since it began in 1996, says Spottiswoode, who has been working to track participants and their perception of the influence of the Mentor Connection program on their academic and career accomplishments.

About 17 percent or 192 Mentor Connection participants attended UConn for their undergraduate studies and of those about 150 participated in Mentor Connection with the help of a scholarship. Other universities attended by groups of 7 or more Mentor Connection students include Boston College, Cornell, Dartmouth, John Hopkins, MIT, Stanford and Yale.

“One of the missions of Mentor Connection is to expose the students to college and encourage them to go, but we are always especially pleased when they attend UConn.”

To make a gift that will be matched, contact Heather McDonald via email or at 860-486-4530.

Nominations are Open for Neag Alumni Society Awards

Posted on September 22, 2014December 7, 2021 by

Awardees from 2014 -- bottom row, L-R: Jennifer Nelson (outstanding early career professional), NiCole Keith (outstanding kinesiology professional), Felice Duffy (outstanding professional), Sandra Bidwell (outstanding educator), Sally Reis (outstanding higher education professional); top row, L-R: Michael Reed (outstanding physical therapy professional), Louis DeLoreto (outstanding school administrator), Dean Thomas DeFranco, Jon Welty Peachy (outstanding early career professional), Paul Freeman (outstanding superintendent), and Robert Pianta (outstanding alumni). — Awardees from 2014 — bottom row, L-R: Jennifer Nelson (outstanding early career professional), NiCole Keith (outstanding kinesiology professional), Felice Duffy (outstanding professional), Sandra Bidwell (outstanding educator), Sally Reis (outstanding higher education professional); top row, L-R: Michael Reed (outstanding physical therapy professional), Louis DeLoreto (outstanding school administrator), Dean Thomas DeFranco, Jon Welty Peachy (outstanding early career professional), Paul Freeman (outstanding superintendent), and Robert Pianta (outstanding alumni).

Do you know any outstanding Neag alumni? The Neag School of Education is seeking nominations for the annual Neag Alumni Society Awards. You are invited to nominate individuals for any of the six prestigious awards. Click here for specific award categories, qualifications and the nomination form. See videos of last year’s winners.

All nominations are due no later than Tuesday, November 11, 2014.

Awardees will be honored at the 17th annual awards ceremony on Saturday, March 28, 2015. All Neag alumni are invited, so mark your calendars and come celebrate with us as we honor our outstanding alumni. Event information coming soon. For questions, please contact Robyn at robyn.wilgis@uconn.edu.

Accolades: Read About the News and Accomplishments from our Students, Alumni and Faculty/Staff

Posted on September 14, 2014December 7, 2021 by

Accolades – below are news and notes from our alumni, faculty, staff, and students. We are proud of all the amazing accomplishments by our Neag family. If you have an accolade to share, we want to hear from you! Please send any news items (and story ideas) to shawn.kornegay@uconn.edu

Students

Regina Hopkins, an EDLR doctoral student, was just named 2014-2016 UCFA Jackson Scholar. The Jackson Scholars Network is an exceptional opportunity for graduate students of color to take advantage of formal networking, mentoring, and professional development opportunities to enhance their pathway as professors of educational leadership.

Alumni

Brianna Clark, an alumna of the sport management undergrad and master’s program, is the co-author of “I Didn’t Want to Look Stupid”: Exploring the Impact of an All-Women Leisure Education Class. She is also an assistant professor at Temple University.

Jennifer W. Graham was selected as a 2014-2015 National Association of Independent Schools Teacher of the Future award. She is a 2 Summers 2013-2014 student who teaches Computer Science and Media Arts. In addition, she also instructs classes on Digital Design, Digital Media Communications, and Foundations of Computer Principles and Media at Miss Porter’s School in Farmington, CT.

Terry A. Osborn, PhD ‘98, was named interim regional chancellor for academic and student affairs at USF Sarasota-Manatee. She will also serve as interim regional chancellor as a nationwide search takes place for a more permanent candidate.

Kaitlin Roig-DeBellis ‘05, ‘06 founder & executive director of Classes 4 Classes and teacher at Sandy Hook Elementary School, has a book deal with G.P. Putnam’s Sons. The book, “Choosing Hope: Moving Forward from Your Life’s Darkest Hour,” will be released next spring.

Alumni Passing

The following Neag alums have passed away:

Margaret A. Hanlon (’69)

Sharon E. Hayes (‘85)

Faith V. Jones (’63)

Kevin J. Swick Ph.D. (’70)

Dr. Richard T. Day (’71)

Donald V. Nelson (’75)

Anna M. Posiadala (’75)

Donald R. Bronsard Ph.D. (’76)

Leda T. Hirsch Ph.D. (’81)

Raymond V. Kalinowski (’65)

Henrietta M. Recko (’78)

Paul R. Burch (’64)

Faculty

HuskyTeach: The Next Generation STEM Teachers was awarded a grant of $1,199, 568 by the National Science Foundation in support of the project. The project is under the direction of John H. Settlage, J. Evan Ward, Penny Vlahos, George B. McManus, and Suzanne M. Wilson.

Faculty, students, and alumni are members of the Neag Nemesis softball team, who finished in first place with a record of 13-1 at the UConn Summer Softball Championship. This is Neag Nemesis’s fourth championship.

Tamika La Salle was selected as an Early Career Scholar for the School of Psychology Research Collaboration Conference. She was also invited to participate as an Early Career Scholar in the 2015 conference in Orlando, Florida.

Catherine Little and Jonathan Plucker were elected to NAGC. They have NAGC individual and lifetime memberships to the NAGC Board of Directors. Little was named Treasurer, with her term ending August 2016. Plucker was named At-Large Member, with his term ending August 2017.

D. Betsy McCoach was elected a fellow of the American Psychological Association.

Natalie Olinghouse received the highest average score by the Research Committee of the Council for Learning Disabilities for her article, “Preparing Students with Learning Disabilities for Large-scale Writing Assessments.” As the lead author, she is invited to present her work at the Must Reads session at the fall CLD conference in Philadelphia, and attend an awards ceremony in recognition of her honor.

George Sugai was invited to serve as an expert on school climate at a conference sponsored by America Achieves, a national nonprofit organization. The conference, Convening of World Leading Schools in Washington, DC, will have approximately 350 school and district leaders from the United States and Spain attending this conference, which will cover education law, policy, and strategy with a mission to improve public education.

Have a College Degree? Become a Teacher in One Year

Posted on September 3, 2014December 9, 2016 by

TCPCG alumnus Zuleyka Torres-Morales (pictured on the right) explains biology of the human anatomy to her student, Kassandra Grant.

The Neag School of Education is hosting open house sessions for the One-Year Teacher Certification Program

Do you have the dream of applying your college degree to improving education for students? Do you know of anyone who would be a great teacher? If you’ve ever thought about becoming a teacher – or know of someone — now is the time to do something about it and make a difference in the lives of children.

You can earn an M.A. and Teacher Certification in one year through UConn’s Neag School of Education. The Teacher Certification Program for College Graduates (TCPCG) is holding the following Information Sessions:

Avery Point (math and science focus)

Sept. 30 and Oct. 21 at 6:30 p.m.

Community and Professional Building, Room 304

For more information and to RSVP: megan.pichette@uconn.edu or (860) 405-9302.

Greater Hartford Campus, West Hartford (all subject areas)

Sept. 23 and Oct. 23 at 6:30 p.m.

Library Building Auditorium

For more information and to RSVP: monica.gat@uconn.edu or (860) 570-9283

Waterbury Campus (all subject areas)

Oct. 16 at 6:30 p.m.

Multi-purpose Room 113

For more information and to RSVP: ann_marie.niesobecki@uconn.edu or

(203) 236-9926

Link for TCPCG web

Generous, Compassionate, Forward-Thinking, Skilled: Colleagues Pay Tribute to Thomas C. DeFranco

Posted on August 8, 2014February 17, 2023 by

After five years as dean of the Neag School of Education, Thomas C. DeFranco, Ph.D., has returned to life as a full-time mathematics professor in both the Neag School and the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences.

Known for what Institute for Teaching & Learning (ITL) Assistant Professor in Residence Amit Savkar calls the “three Cs”—a commitment to education, compassion towards faculty and concern for students—DeFranco has been recognized numerous times since his arrival at UConn in 1991. Among other awards, in 2001 he was named a University Teaching Fellow, one of UConn’s highest honors, and in 2008 he received a Teaching Innovation Award from the American Association of University Professors’ Connecticut chapter. His vision and creativity also played key roles in the Neag School being chosen as a Teachers for a New Era site and receiving a major grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Last year, the care and detail he put into recruiting and hiring 17 new faculty members—all of them proven or emerging leaders in their areas of expertise—also received recognition, as did the charge he gave them and the Neag School’s already exemplary, existing faculty members: to work together “to refocus and re-envision not just how we want to move forward as a school, but how we want to impact educational practices and policies overall. The scholars we now have in place have the potential to make a huge difference in improving the way students learn and, perhaps even more importantly, the way they live,” DeFranco said.

Many colleagues and friends say DeFranco’s dedication to closing the achievement gap and affecting meaningful, nationwide education reform will become part of his legacy and earn him praise for years to come. However, equally significant are the lives he’s touched.

Thomas DeFranco provides guidance to his former student and protege, Amit Savkar.

“Tom is the reason I have chosen to be in education,” added Savkar, ITL’s assistant director of faculty development. The two met when Savkar was a graduate student enrolled in a pedagogy class DeFranco was teaching. “He is my guru. I am now pursuing a second Ph.D. in education as a result of his inspiration. I would consider it a success if I can be 1/100th of the teacher Tom is today.”

From Thomas DeFranco, in sharing his thoughts to the faculty and staff. “As I transition back to the faculty I wanted to let you know how fortunate I have been to work along side all of you and serve as dean of the Neag School. Your warm wishes and notes over the past few months not only touched me but also served as a reminder as to why we do our jobs. I am very proud of what we all have accomplished over the past few years and the best is yet to come. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for all that you have done to make this a great school and great place to work.”

Here are just a few of the others who have been impacted by DeFranco’s expertise, drive and caring:

Former UConn President Philip Austin: Tom’s overall leadership and coordination of the project that led to the Neag School being designated one of 11 “Teachers for a New Era” institution allowed me to observe his substantial intellectual and program development talents. I learned to respect him greatly, as well as saw why he is widely known and respected across campus. I have enjoyed working with Tom over the years and thank him for his contributions to the Neag School and the university overall.

Emanuel Makiaris, UConn graduate and creator of the Neag School’s Irene and Emanuel Makiaris Scholarship: When Irene and I first met Tom to discuss establishing a scholarship for the benefit of deserving Neag School of Education students, we were immediately impressed with how easily we were able to relate to, and be comfortable with, Tom. He has always been personable, engaging, approachable, unpretentious—truly a what-you-see-is-what-you-get person. One of Tom’s most endearing characteristics is the pride he takes in Neag students. If you have some time on your hands, ask him to talk about the young people under his tutelage. He will be glad to tell you! One of our greatest pleasures has been meeting the scholarship recipients and their families. Their unbelievable enthusiasm and appreciation for their Neag experience are enduring testaments to Tom.

UConn School of Pharmacy Dean Emeritus and Professor of Pharmacy Practice Robert McCarthy: Whenever I talk to somebody in the U.S. about teacher preparation programs, they know about the Neag School and the exceptional leadership Tom has provided. He is a down-to-earth person who has accomplished so much. Dedication to purpose has been a hallmark of his career. He also embodies the caring we would want in all higher education leaders. I think he will be remembered by his students as their “best” and “favorite” teacher. I can think of no better legacy.

Provost Emeritus Peter Nicholls: I spent a lot of time with Tom in the early part of 2007, when a group of us went to Dubai and spent several days working with Dubai Education Council members on the possibility of establishing a UConn branch in the United Arab Emirates. They were very interested in possible education coursework and certificates we might be able to offer, and Tom’s expertise was invaluable as we worked up proposals. Ultimately, our plans for a Dubai campus did not materialize. But the visit was a success, and Tom’s contributions were crucial to that. He is also incredibly committed to students. Many administrators who teach take on small-enrollment graduate courses, or a class for select undergraduates in the honors program. Not Tom. Even while serving as dean, he regularly taught a monster section of Calculus involving hundreds of undergraduates and the coordination of many graduate teaching assistants. He also found time to express a great deal of concern for the individual students in his class. One of Tom’s students told me he was the best and most caring math instructor she had ever encountered.

Associate Professor of Mathematics Megan Staples: One of my first memories of Tom was probably the second time I met him, at a Psychology of Mathematics Education-North American Chapter conference. I was not yet working at UConn. I don’t think I had even applied yet. My dad had died about a month before, and Tom had somehow learned this. I remember being quite touched as he went out of his way to offer me condolences in a very sincere, heartfelt way. I did not know Tom well at that point, and our relationship did not require any interaction around my father’s death. I was both impressed and touched, as I’ve been many times since then. Tom is such a strong member of the Neag family because he has played so many different roles and knows the school up and down, in and out. He has a passion for students and student learning. He is excited to hear about student successes. He quietly roots for them. And he wants students to enjoy, have a good experience and to find power and excitement in ideas. His teaching speaks to this. Even in large lecture halls, he finds ways to engage students.

Associate Professor of Mathematics Mary Truxaw: I met Tom when I was a teacher at Mansfield Middle School and was aspiring to return to graduate school. His encouragement to pursue my Ph.D. shifted my life and my career—and taking classes with him was great. My all-time favorite class was his graduate-level problem solving class. At the time, I was still a full-time teacher and taking classes at night. I would come to class tired, but always left feeling energized. The problems were always challenging, but the class felt like play. Tom’s enthusiasm for mathematics was and is contagious, perhaps because he believes in what he does and follows up on his beliefs. Tom listens to others and lets them know that he values their ideas. He is remarkably generous with his time. I’m so proud to know him.

Mathematics Professor Emeritus Charles Vinsonhaler: Tom’s accomplishments in teaching, research and service have left an indelible mark of quality on UConn. I met him over 20 years ago, when he began building bridges between the Department of Mathematics and the math education faculty in the Neag School. Working with Tom was like a deep breath of fresh air. He was passionate about student learning—as opposed to a tradition of concern about faculty teaching—and it is not an exaggeration to say that Tom played a major role in changing the culture of the Department of Mathematics with regard to learning and instruction. With me, he coauthored a problem solving textbook for a math course that is running today, 15 years later. Tom was also a partner in developing a pedagogy course for new TAs in the math department and later volunteered to teach large lecture sections of Calculus each semester—a practice he has continued. To say his instruction is well received is a huge understatement. His student evaluations are among the very highest in the Math Department, as well as in the Neag School. Tom has also demonstrated an amazing ability to maintain a high-quality research program in the midst of all his other activities. All this sits atop his massive duties as Dean of the Neag School, the pinnacle of a long string of administrative appointments.

Associate Dean Marijke Kehrhahn: Before I came to UConn I had served in leadership positions in both the public and the non-profit sectors, and so I was excited to accept leadership roles in the Neag School, first as Director of Teacher Education and then as Associate Dean. Little did I know that Tom DeFranco, with whom I have worked side-by-side for the last ten years, would be one of my best mentors in developing my leadership style. Tom is one of the few people I know who truly leads from the heart. Strongly-principled and compassionate, he carefully considers decisions and is most concerned about how decisions will impact people. In many situations where a different leader might have simply made a decision and moved on, Tom met with the individuals who would be affected, considered their views, and developed solutions that balanced the best interests of the Neag School with the human factors. As dean, Tom was also a great example of the popular “management by walking around” approach. He came in early, stayed late, and spent a lot of time roaming the school and talking with faculty, staff, and students. Through these activities he developed a reputation as a caring, dependable, and dedicated leader, well-loved and well-respected. His many accomplishments as dean show that, even in this day of technology, velocity, and complexity, one does not need to sacrifice kindness, empathy, and thoughtfulness to achieve great things.