Second CEHD dean candidate speaks

By Kayle Dembowski
Western Herald

Western Michigan University candidate for Dean of the College of Education and Human Development Dr. Kevin R. Kelly, presenting his topic on leading a diverse College of Education and Human Development in the 21st century : Opportunities and challenges at the Fetzer Center on Thursday, October 29.(Chyn Wey Lee/Western Herald)

This past week, Western Michigan University’s College of Education and Human Development has been considering two potential candidates for a new dean.

One of the candidates, Kevin R. Kelly, Ph.D., gave a presentation on “Leading a Diverse College of Education and Human Development in the 21st Century: Opportunities and Challenges” on Oct. 27 in the Fetzer Center. Kelly addressed why he thought he’d make a quality dean for the College of Education and Human Development.

Kelly has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Boston University and a doctoral degree in counseling psychology from the University of Iowa. He also headed head of the Department of Educational Studies at Purdue University from 2002 to 2007, when he became interim dean of the education college there.

A large part of Kelly’s presentation focused on students completing different levels of education, including students who never finished high school as well as students who do finish high school but do not seek higher education.

Kelly suggested developing valid indicators of college readiness for students, to help high school educators meet the instructional challenge of preparing students for college and for life, to use incentives and strong signals for students, such as scholarships, and to bridge informational and social capital gaps.

“How are we doing?” Kelly asked about the number of college admissions. “Better. We’re doing better but that’s not good enough.”

Another of Kelly’s concerns is that some students who do attend to college never graduate. “We have many people who are accessing higher education but do not finish to get a degree.”

Kelly had an idea of what it would mean to be a dean. “Deans should be about reducing hassles, getting barriers out of your way to make you more successful,” he said.

Finally, Kelly answered the question of why he thinks he would make a good dean for the College of Education and Human Development.

“I have experience. I was a dean previously and you have to do everything, all parts of the job. Experience is a wonderful teacher. I know what it’s like to be a dean and it’s the best job,” Kelly said. “I really enjoy building programs and helping build people’s careers.”

On WMU, “You have an unbelievable amount of talent and that’s what attracts me to this job,” Kelly said.

The other candidate, John J. Wheeler, Ph.D., also gave a speech on the same topic previously in the week. To view an article about his presentation, click here.

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Posted by HeraldAdmin on Oct 30 2009. 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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