Home- College of Education Faculty Oral Histories
- Dr. Colleen Kennedy
College of Education Faculty Oral Histories
Dr. Colleen Kennedy
LB: Today is April 15, 2006. I’m Lou Bowers and I’m interviewing Dr. Colleen Kennedy, Dean of our College of Education, here at the University of South Florida. Dr. Kennedy, thank you for coming in to share with us your experience here at USF. Before we get to USF, I’d like for you to tell us something about your professional experience prior to arriving at the College.
CK: Sure, Lou. It’s a pleasure to be here today and to be part of the celebration of the 50th year anniversary of USF and of the College of Education. I received my doctorate in special education from the University of Washington in 1976. My first position was as a faculty member at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. I was there for about 13 years and served on the faculty of their special education department. Then I eventually came to direct the teacher education program for that university. After that time, I was nominated for the position of the dean for the College of Education at the University of Utah. I was appointed to that faculty, served as the dean there in Salt Lake City for about 10 years. After two successful terms, I went back to the faculty for four years. I was happily engaged in the work of a faculty member when this wonderful opportunity at the University of South Florida presented itself.
LB: And how did that opportunity come to you? How did you learn about USF?
CK: Well, it was interesting. Of course I knew a little about USF based on the interactions that I’d had with a few individuals associated with the College. I knew Jane Applegate from her long association with the Holmes Group and also from the time when she was at Kent State University. I was aware that USF had recently achieved the status of a Research I institution. Other than that, I didn’t know much about it. However, as I began to learn more about USF, I became intrigued with the possibilities here. When the opportunity presented itself to apply for the position, I thought I would explore if this could be a good match for me.
LB: Having been at two well-established universities, the University of Illinois and the University of Utah, did you find many contrasts here when you arrived?
CK: Yes, and all good ones. It was wonderful to work in a Big Ten institution. However, what I’ve often said is that institutions in the Big Ten are growing ivy since they have been around for a long time. We are not doing that here. What I really see at USF is that we are an aspiring institution. As you know, we’re second only to Vanderbilt in being one of the fastest rising research universities in this country. And when I look at the tremendous potential that we have here in our faculty and many of the goals that we’ve already accomplished, I’d much rather be at a place that’s going up the mountain rather than be on the mountain top looking down. I am really excited about our College and our University for the incredible potential that we have. It’s palpable, and you can really feel it when you interact with the faculty here. I think that’s why we have such excellent success in attracting new scholars to join us. They want to come and be a part of this growing university community.
LB: Now let’s talk about our being a Research I university. How has that affected faculty behavior or hiring new faculty and so forth? Have you noticed a difference there in terms of expectations?
CK: Well, yes. When the University was made a Research I university in 2000, that was really a defining moment in its history from everything I could tell based on reactions of the faculty members who were here at that time. Just earlier this week, U.S. News and World Report published its rankings of the best graduate schools of education in the country, and our College of Education is 60th out of 240 schools that were ranked. That puts us in the top one quarter graduate schools in this country and that is impressive. So, we need to make the mental shift and to appreciate the accomplishments of the faculty to date. And, of course, the U.S. News & World Report ranking also demonstrates that, for the last three years in a row, we have consistently been in the top tier of graduate schools of education. If you look at all of the criteria, though, in which we were ranked as a college, the one in which we do the best is in terms of the external funding that we were able to generate. In that category, we rank ninth in the country. We have arrived. However, what we have to do is to focus so much of our energies on building the research infrastructure. That’s what I hear the faculty saying, and that’s what we’re striving so hard to do.
We have appointed an associate dean for research in tandem with the Anchin Center’s director position and are trying to establish a new grants-management position in the Anchin Center that will assist the faculty through the pre- and post-award process. We launched a new mini-grant program last year in the College to support faculty research, so faculty can hopefully build the kinds of track records that will enable them to be more competitive when they seek external funds. The research workshops conducted by our Measurement and Research faculty and other workshops presented by other faculty in the college will also help. We are experiencing a cultural kind of change in which we’re exploring what we can do to ensure that the faculty have the support they need to continue to develop as scholars and to also be competitive in terms of external grants. And the last thing I’d say is we’ve really turned the corner. As I was saying to a foundation board member yesterday, for every dollar the College of Education brings in, in terms of our operating budget, the faculty generates $1.82. So, as I stated earlier, we’ve arrived, but we have to ensure that the faculty have a strong foundation to continue their excellent work.
LB: I’ve been reviewing the research coming into the University over the last 10 years and of course with a specific eye on the College of Education.
CK: Right.