The Leading Learner
UNI Educational Leadership Newletter
The Educational Leadership Faculty at the University of Northern Iowa develop and nurture reflective Leaders of Learning, Service, and Change who positively impact school improvement and student achievement.
Robinson named Interim Department Head
 College of Education Dean William Callahan has named Victoria Robinson Interim Department Head of the Educational Leadership, Counseling, and Postsecondary Education. Dr. Robinson, a member of the UNI Educational Leadership faculty since 2000, replaces Dr. Mike Waggoner, who is shifting his attention to faculty responsibilities and serving as the editor of the academic journal Religion and Education.
"Dr. Robinson brings a wealth of teaching and leadership experience to her new role," noted Dean Callahan. She has served on numerous committees, has a new book about to be published and is consistently rated as one of our best teachers. Her willingness to accept a position in administration is just another indication of her dedication to our College and University. She has worked diligently in all of her assignments in our College and we know she will continue to do so as our newest Department Head.
Dr. Robinson received the College of Education Faculty Award for Outstanding Teaching in 2007-08 and the College of Education Faculty Service Award in 2005. In addition, she served as a Carver Graduate Fellow in 2007, is a frequently sought presenter through the UNI Executive Development Center and well-known authority on the Teacher Work Sample.
In summarizing her leadership philosophy with faculty, Dr. Robinson shared the same mantra she often shares with aspiring school leaders. "Communication builds connections, connections build trust, trust builds relationships, and relationships build whatever we want." She added, "I'm proud to facilitate the ongoing improvement of such a fine department."
Dr. Robinson began her career as a special education and social studies teacher at Mason City High School, followed by teaching assignments at Villisca, IA and Cedar Falls. In 1993, she became high school principal at Northern University High School in Cedar Falls before moving to the Educational Leadership faculty in 1999. Looking forward, she added, "I'd be remiss if I didn't say how excited I am about becoming a grandma this fall!"
Ultimate Board Meeting Challenges Aspiring Superintendents
Highly effective superintendents build strong board/superintendent relations, prepare thoroughly for board meetings and work closely with the board president to ensure an effective and efficient board meeting that engages all board members. Students in the 2009 Superintendents Cohort had the unique opportunity to prepare for and lead a mock school board through a controversial agenda item in the Ultimate Community School District Board meeting. The first of its kind simulation was held on-campus in July, with staff from the Iowa Association of School Boards serving as board members and board secretary.
During the day long experience, each student serving as the Ultimate Community School District superintendent:
• Researched and prepared for a board agenda item upon which the Board was to take action
• Received visitors who wanted to address the agenda item while making sure the meeting was a meeting of the Board held in the public, not a public meeting
• Clearly described the agenda item to the Board giving background information
• Facilitated discussion of the Board ensuring all voices were heard
• Balanced power on the Board
• Presented options, giving Board members information relative to sections of the Code of Iowa that applied, legal opinions where necessary, board policy in place or references to model policy and previous decisions of the Board
• Mediated dissension between board members
• Made a recommendation to the Board with a rationale for the recommendation
Dr. David Else, Associate Professor of Educational Leadership and Director of the Institute for Educational Leadership, said the goal was to create a unique and authentic learning experience for future superintendents. “Most simulations provide all the technical aspects of a real life situation. But that’s only part of the complexity of being a superintendent. We wanted to simulate the feelings, anxieties and moral struggles of leadership. Feedback from students indicated the Ultimate Board Meeting did just that.”
Pace Publishes Book for Principals
As a young principal of a rural high school, Dr. Pace found himself wondering what to do when a high school student revealed his sexual orientation, attended the prom, and ultimately received one of the first Matthew Shepard Scholarships awarded in Iowa. “This just wasn’t something I was prepared for,” Pace commented. “On top of that, I couldn’t find any people, books, or sources of information to give me any guidance.”
The principal-turned-Associate Professor of Educational Leadership now says he hopes a new book he’s written, entitled The Principal’s Challenge: Learning from Gay and Lesbian Students, gives school leaders the kind of guidance he struggled to find. The book features eight unique accounts of gay and lesbian high school students, told largely though their own words. “It cuts past dry statistics and tells the stories of how eight openly gay and lesbian students navigated high school, “ Pace explained. “They describe the same kind of struggles and dangers we commonly hear about, such as depression, substance abuse, harassment and low achievement. But they also reveal a story that receives far less attention—one that is more optimistic and full of potential than many people expect, certainly more promising than I expected when I began this project. There’s so much more to their stories than what we think we know.”
Following the eight students’ stories, Pace compares both their negative and unexpected positive school experiences to what other research has found. In the final chapter, he offers five challenges for school leaders, policy makers, and others. “The book shows these kids as real people with some very real challenges, but also great potential and what school leaders can do to help.” The book http://www.infoagepub.com/products/The-Principals-Challenge is in press by Information Age Publishing in Charlotte, NC.
UNI piloting School Administration Manager (SAMs) Materials
UNI is one of a few select universities in Iowa, Illinois, and Kentucky that are engaged in Making Time, a series of lessons and activities developed by the National School Administration Management (SAM) Project and funded by the Wallace Foundation. The Educational Leadership faculty at UNI are piloting the materials designed to help candidates understand why instructional leadership time matters and how to make it a priority.
For additional information about SAMs of Making Time, contact: Victoria.Robinson@uni.edu or 319.273.3070.
Leading Learners...
Shawn Kreman is the new junior/senior high school principal at Iowa Valley in Marengo.
Neldrekka Whitaker has welcomed a new baby and accepted a Lead Teacher position at Irving Elementary School in Waterloo.
Jason Ellingson has assumed the superintendency at Collins-Maxwell Community CSD.
Union High School welcomes Andy McQuillen as Activities Director and Dean of Students.
Amy Griffin has accepted a School Administration Manager (SAM) position at Fair Oaks Middle School in Fort Dodge.
Randy Strabala has moved from the High School Principal’s office at Nashua-Plainfield into the superintendency.
Tom Novotney serves as the new Dean of Students at Mason City Roosevelt Middle School.
North Iowa Community Schools welcomes new Superintendent Cory Myer.
Rebecca Hughes is a new mother and Teacher in Charge at Garfield Elementary in Davenport.
Matt Leeman serves as the new K-12 Dean for the Postville Schools, while Ottie Maxey has accepted the superintendency.
Melissa Margaretz married Jeremy Pickering on July 3, 2009.
Tara Estep has begun duties as K-6 Principal at Wapsie Valley Fairbank Elementary.
Dan Moore is the new superintendent at South O’Brien Community School District.
Panorama Community School District welcomes new Superintendent Kathryn Elliot.
Heather (Beenken) Nerem has begun duties as Elementary Principal at Dallas Center Elementary.
The Central City Community Schools welcome new superintendent Karl Kurt.
Ventura Community Schools' new Superintendent is Brian Rodemeyer.
Doug Glackin has begun duties as superintendent at Woodbury Central Community Schools.
“The key to successful leadership today is influence, not authority.”
Kenneth Blanchard
Comments and Input to Dr. Nick Pace at nick.pace@uni.edu
Educational Leadership Website
The Educational Leadership faculty at the University of Northern Iowa develop and nurture reflective leaders of learning, service, and change who positively impact school improvement and student achievement. |
