College of Education announces new dean

By Fritz Klug
Western Herald

The College of Education and Human Development has a new dean.

John J. Wheeler, Ph.D., was announced as the college’s dean yesterday. He will take over for Gary Wegenke, Ph.D., who is retiring.

A professor of special education at Tennessee Technological University since 1994, Wheeler has served as associate dean and director of doctoral studies since 2002.

He earned his bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees from Southern Illinois University in 1985, 1986 and 1989.

Wheeler said he learned about the appointment a week before Christmas. If the Board of Trustees approves his appointment in February, Wheeler will start working on July 1.

Before he starts talking about what vision he wants for the college, Wheeler must get to know what is already there.

“A good academic dean gets input from faculty, students, and staff,” he said. “I want to know where they want to be in five years, ten years.”

Since so many of the college’s students will become teachers, trainers, and other professionals, Wheeler said that it is important to prepare students to be accountable to the people that they serve.

“You have to give students the benefit of the doubt so they can have confidence and feel comfortable in their role,” he said.

And that level of accountability transfers to the college itself, in how it relates to its students, and community, Wheeler added.

Last July, the Board approved the addition of Human Development to the title of the college. For Wheeler, this addition is an important way to highlight the spectrum that the college covers.

Education is part of a broad spectrum of human development, he said. “All these things overlap,” he said, referring to various programs the college offers.

“We just don’t learn in the classroom,” he said. “We have a much broader canvas.”

Provost Tim Greene put together the search committee that chose Wheeler.

“[Wheeler] brings decades of proven experience and education,” Greene said, as well as “a level of enthusiasm that is infectious.”

Wheeler said he is excited to move to southwest Michigan and work at a school whose reputation he has known for years.

“We will design a plan, improve and build on strengths the school already has, and develop new paths.”

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Posted by heraldstaff on Jan 27 2010. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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