COE Dean Mary Snyder resigns effective June 30 to take tenured position in COE

To: UAA Community
From: Michael Driscoll, Provost
Date: April 14, 2011
Re: Personnel announcement, Dean Mary Snyder

I regret to announce that Mary Snyder has resigned her position of dean for the College of Education (COE), effective June 30, 2011; she will join the COE faculty as a tenured professor. Mary noted that her resignation will allow her greater flexibility in pursuing alternative leadership opportunities.

Serving as COE's dean for the past eight years, Mary has helped to advance the College in many ways. In 2010, she led a successful continuing accreditation visit by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE); the visit resulted in COE's Initial and Advanced-Level programs meeting all six NCATE standards with no areas for improvement noted. Mary also helped to secure more than $9M in external funding, including a $400K private donation to implement the Chevak Initiative, a rural, site-based program in elementary education.

Placing an importance on community involvement and partnerships, Mary worked to create a COE Advisory Board that included members from the Anchorage School District, community groups and cross-campus representation. She also collaborated with Providence Hospital's Child Development Center to create the Early Learning Lab for Early Childhood Education classes.

Thanks to Mary's leadership, UAA's College of Education has made major strides in preparing more well-qualified teachers for Alaska; the state,s children will continue to see the benefits of her work for years to come.

Please join me in thanking Mary for her years of service as dean, and in wishing her the best as she moves into the position of tenured professor in COE.

I will meet with COE faculty and staff soon to discuss interim leadership, establishing a search committee and launching a national search for COE's next dean.