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Dear colleagues,

As we near the finish line of spring semester, I want to take this opportunity to recognize your hard work, your grace under pressure, your dedication, and your commitment to our shared belief in the transformative power of education. Thank you for all you have done for the College of Education in the 2023-2024 academic year! 

And thank you to everyone who has submitted feedback or engaged with our consultants during the CoE strategic planning process. As a reminder, an email went out yesterday (March 25) with a link to a faculty and staff-specific survey about how the CoE can build upon its current programs, support, and services. 

I hope you will share your voice and take the anonymous, 12-minute survey. All responses go directly to our consultants at Emergent Method. 

Let's finish spring semester on a high note!

Warmly,

Frankie Santos Laanan
Dean

Last week was rich with research. The March 20 College of Education Undergraduate Research Symposium and the March 22 Learning, Instruction & Technology (LIT) Graduate Student Conference brought colleagues and student researchers from our peer institutions around the valley to fill the SAEC auditorium with posters and exciting new scholarship.  

On March 12 in the Gould Auditorium, Kēhaulani Natsuko Vaughn, Assistant Professor of ECS, hosted “Planting Good Relations,” a panel of scholars who discussed the importance of creating Pacific Islander Studies within Turtle Island (a name for earth or North America) to cultivate strong relationships with other Indigenous peoples on whose lands we now reside.  

Vaughn is the Co-Principal Investigator two Mellon grants awarded to the U, which will fund the Center for Pasifika Indigenous Knowledges, a groundbreaking new center focusing entirely on the Pacific Islands and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) living in the continental United States. The University of Utah’s Board of Trustees gave final approval to the center during a meeting earlier this month.

Earlier this spring, Erin Castro, Associate Professor of Educational Leadership & Policy, was invited to Brookings to comment on Pell Grants for incarcerated students. The commentary on Improving prison education programs: Experts discuss the expansion of Pell Grants for incarcerated students is now live. 

Udita Gupta, Associate Professor of the Urban Institute for Teacher Education (UITE), gave two presentations at the National Council for Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Regional Conference in Seattle from Feb. 7-9:

"Field Rotations: Fostering a Sense of Value and Belonging in Pre-Service Teachers," 

and 

"Burst Session: Sense of Value and Belonging via Unit Plan Development."

Utah Museum's 'A Climate of Hope' Exhibit Lets Visitors Explore Solutions

Lynne Zummo, Assistant Professor of Learning Sciences in the department of Educational Psychology, holds a joint appointment as Curator of Learning Sciences at the Natural History Museum of Utah. She was featured in a recent Salt Lake Tribune article for her four-year, National Science Foundation-funded research into museum visitors' responses to this groundbreaking new exhibit.

U Creates Center for Pacific Island Studies

Kēhaulauni Natsuko Vaughn, Assistant Professor of Education, Culture & Society, was featured in a recent KSL article for her work on the  Center for Pasifika Indigenous Knowledges. 

FACULTY AND STAFF SURVEY

-Link distributed via email (March 25) or below

-Anonymous

-Complete by April 12

-Only takes 12 minutes 

FOCUS GROUPS

-Taking place in-person Monday, April 8 – Wednesday, April 10

-Students (undergraduate and graduate), faculty, and staff

-Interested in participating? Sign up via the faculty/staff survey OR email sarazen.knight@emergentmethod.com

Thank you for sharing your voice! 

For 2024 Giving Day, the College of Education will match all faculty and staff donations made to one of the two options:

1) Dean’s Innovation Fund – funds undergraduate student research and travel to conferences, as well as provides seed funding to innovative new projects to enhance our community programming and partnerships.

2) Student Scholarship Fund – provides scholarship support for all College of Education students.

All gifts will be matched up to $5,000. If you donate $50, the college will match it with $50 for a total donation of $100!

A large group of CoE faculty and graduate students are presenting at the AERA annual meeting in Philadelphia from April 11-14, 2024. 

AERA is the largest educational research association in the world. We are so proud to have our CoE students and faculty share their work at this meeting.

The School of Medicine Education Scholarship Retreat takes place on Monday, May 20, 2024.

To support and showcase the educational scholarship efforts of Core Educators and faculty, residents, fellows, and students in the School of Medicine, the focus of the May 2024 Core Educator retreat will be on medical education scholarship. 

It is a wonderful opportunity for CoE faculty and graduate students to learn more about current pedagogical conventions in medical education. 

For more information, please contact:

Candace Chow
Director of Education Research
Office of Curriculum
University of Utah School of Medicine
candace.chow@hsc.utah.edu

1721 CAMPUS CENTER DRIVE, SAEC 3202
SALT LAKE CITY, UT 84112
801-581-8221