Four administrators from Continuing Education and the College of Education are taking new jobs, which will change the structure of the two organizations.
According to the College of Education’s newsletter, Insight, Associate Dean of the College of Education Mike Hardman and Associate Dean for Professional Education Diana Pounder will both be taking new jobs on July 1.
Hardman was appointed as the Matthew J. Gugliolmo Endowed Chair in Mental Retardation for the 2004-2005 academic year, according to the newsletter. The position, at California State University, Los Angeles, in its division of special education, is rotated annually.
Pounder will be returning to her faculty position in the department of educational leadership and policy at the U and will also serve as editor for the Education Administration Quarterly journal, according to the article.
Clifford Drew, associate vice president for academic affairs, recently left his position overseeing the University’s Academic Outreach and Continuing Education office to become associate dean for research and outreach.
Drew said that the move was more of a gut feeling. “I was in central administration for almost 10 years,” he said. “I just decided to come back to my academic home and I wanted to work with this dean.” Drew and College of Education Dean Dave Sperry have known each other for 33 years.
“I learned a ton in Continuing Education, but it was time to come back,” Drew said.
Richard Simpson, associate dean of Continuing Education, is leaving on July 16 after 30 years with the U.
Simpson said that he is leaving to take a position in the Office of the Provost at Colorado State University, assuming a leadership role for continuing education there. “This is a career-enhancement move, although I have loved my affiliation with the University of Utah for these many years,” Simpson said.
“It’s a tremendous opportunity for him, and we’re going to miss him,” said Chuck Wight, assistant vice president of academic affairs.
Simpson was first hired in the 1970s in the College of Business and has been working as associate dean of Continuing Education for the past decade.
Simpson and Drew both have big plans for their new positions.
“I am very hopeful that I can help to substantially improve the continuing education system at Colorado State,” Simpson said.
He will be helping to establish and deliver several new programs similar to the “noncredit programs for youth education, lifelong learning, technology education, programs for business, government and educational enterprises, the English Language Institute, distance education programs and recently the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute” he established at the U, he said.
Drew is also dreaming big. He plans to raise $28 million in three years to help pay for scholarships, a Center for the Enhancement of Instruction and renovations of Milton Bennion Hall.
Simpson said that the lack of resources at the U has been challenging.
“The biggest conflict I have is always about not having sufficient resources to do everything I, or we, would like to do,” Simpson said.
“But that’s just life,” Simpson said. “We all struggle with this issue and continuing education is no exception. The university life seems to be all about making the most out of limited resources, and I think we do a very good job with this challenge.”
As these four deans move on to their new positions, Susan Johnston of the department of special education will step into the position of associate dean for academic and student affairs, managing curriculum, accreditation, student licensure and testing, according to Insight.