Ohio University filled its final college dean vacancy yesterday when it introduced Renee Middleton as dean of the College of Education.
I accept this appointment because there's a clear academic plan for Ohio University
Middleton said.
Middleton comes to Athens from Auburn University, where she was director of research, human resource development and outreach. She will begin Aug. 14 and will make $170,000 next year.
Middleton succeeds James Heap, who accepted a job last summer at Brock University in Ontario, Canada, and made $135,387 in his final year as dean. Tom Davis, chair of the Department of Counseling and Higher Education, received $128,073 in his year as interim dean.
The university trusts Middleton to manage partnerships such as the Upward Bound program, which prepares underprivileged high school students for college, and the Appalachian Collaborative Center for Learning, Assessment and Instruction in Mathematics, said President Roderick McDavis.
Renee stood out as someone who has done a remarkable job of focusing on the goals of a college and establishing structures that enable people to arrive at those goals said Provost Kathy Krendl.
Middleton gave a six-point outline of the purpose of education colleges. A good education college researches ways to make the best education available to even the most disadvantaged students, she said.
We have to give students as Abraham Lincoln said
'the right to rise up
' Middleton said. We have a responsibility to educate students from the foothills of Appalachia.
Education colleges create an environment for research on impediments to a child's education, such as school violence and eating disorders, Middleton said. She conducted research as a tenured professor in the Department of Counselor Education, Counseling Psychology and School Psychology at Auburn.
OU became the first state-supported teacher preparation program in Ohio in 1886, and Middleton said she will have a lot of responsibilities as dean of a college with so much history.
Colleges of education must continue to be accountable for the quality of the graduates we produce
she said.
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