College of Education Historical Timeline

1957: Dr. John Allen is appointed as the first president of the University of South Florida.
1959: Dr. Jean Battle is appointed as the first dean of the College of Education. Barbara Johnson Campbell becomes the first student accepted to the University as an elementary education major.
1960: Dr. William Bott is hired as the College’s first faculty member. In September, classes begin for the first education majors and 1,977 students are enrolled in the University.
1963: In April, Evelyn O’Neal and Lucas King, both education majors, become the first two graduates of USF. The Florida Board of Education approves the College’s teacher preparation programs. The first graduating class of the College of Education consists of 325 students.
1964: The Florida Board of Controls grants permission to offer a master’s degree program in elementary education. Dean Jean Battle is elected as chair of the Florida Council of Deans and Directors of Teacher Education.
1965: The College receives a grant to establish the Upward Bound Program for Disadvantaged Minorities and Dr. Richard Pride becomes the program’s director.; Both USF and the College receive accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Universities.
1967: The Physical Education Department’s building and gymnasium are completed.
1968: The College of Education building is completed and 110 faculty members and staff move into the facilities.; The College hosts the National School Superintendents Conference.; Approximately 400 student interns are recalled from schools in surrounding counties during a walkout of K-12 Florida teachers.; Faculty member, Dick Loveless, establishes The New Place in Ybor City, which provides art, music, theatre, dance, and photography for children in economically deprived families.
1969: Faculty member, Dr. Les Tuttle, becomes the Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs for the USF St. Petersburg campus.; Sixty-two percent of the Florida teachers that the Hillsborough County School District hires are graduates of the College.; The Florida Board of Regents approves a Doctor of Philosophy in education degree program.
1970: Dr. Harris Dean, a former faculty member of the College, becomes acting president of USF.
1971-72: The College of Education is ranked first among other USF colleges in grants as awards totaled over $2.4 million.
1973: Dr. Roger Wilk is appointed as the second dean of the College of Education.
1974: The USF Fort Myers campus holds classes for the master’s degree program in elementary education.
1977: Dr. William Katzenmeyer is appointed as the third dean of the College of Education.
1980: The College establishes the Center for Economic Education.; The Florida legislature authorizes the Teacher Education Center to be established within the College with the mandate of providing staff development for Florida school districts.
1981: The Sun Coast Area Teacher Training Program (SCATT) begins at the College.
1984: The Teacher Evaluation Assessment Center is established by the College by the Florida legislature.; The Florida Center for Instructional Computing is established.
1985: The College is awarded the National Resource Center for Middle Grades Education.
1989: The College is granted its first accreditation from the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) with all standards met.
1990: The David C. Anchin Center is established.
1994: Dr. Steve Permuth is appointed the fourth dean of the College of Education.; The College receives continued NCATE accreditation with all standards met.
1996: Construction on the College of Education Building II, which also includes the Anchin and Stavros Centers, is completed.
1997: Dr. Jane Applegate is appointed the fifth dean of the College of Education.
1998: USF is designated as a Research I university.; The National Association of Secondary School Principals cites the College as one of the nation’s leading producers of educational research.; The College becomes the first college of education in the nation to be awarded a charter school (USF Dr. Kiran C. Patel Charter School).; In collaboration with the Hillsborough County School District, Pizzo Elementary School opens on the USF campus.
1999: The College receives continued NCATE accreditation with all standards met.
2001: The Institute for Instructional Research and Practice (IIRP) receives a $17 million grant to develop tests to certify education majors to teach in the state of Florida.
2003: Dr. Colleen S. Kennedy is appointed the sixth dean of the College of Education.
2005: The College is appropriated $500,000 from the Florida legislature for the Laptop Initiative project.; The number of graduates exceeds 50,000 within the first 50 years of the institution’s founding.
2005-2006: Nearly $29 million in external grants are secured, setting a record for the College.
2006: The College becomes the fifth largest college of education in the nation and is ranked 60th in the top-third of graduate schools of education by “US News and World Report”. The publication also lists the College as one of America’s best graduate schools for the third consecutive year.; The College receives continued NCATE accreditation with all standards met.; Apple chooses USF to participate in its iTunes Universities program that provides students, faculty, and the public with easy access to high quality educational content through podcasting. Provost Renu Khator selects the College of Education and USF Health to pilot this program for USF.