The appointments of Sharon Lynn Kagan and Donald Martin as associate deans, both newly created positions at Teachers College, reflect an increased focus on several vital aspects of the college's work and culture-research, policy, and improving the quality of the student experience at tc.

In the post of Associate Dean for Policy, Kagan will direct a new Office of Policy and Research, in addition to her ongoing work as Co-Director of the National Center for Children and Families.

The responsibilities of the Office of Policy and Research will focus on advancing Teachers College as an academic center for policy-related research. The Office will work closely with faculty, policymakers, foundations, federal, state, and local governments, and the media in the generation and dissemination of high quality, policy-salient research.

Kagan, the Virginia and Leonard Marx Professor of Early Childhood and Family Policy at TC, is a frequent consultant to the White House, Congress, the National Governor's Association, the U.S. Department of Education and Health and Human Services, as well as numerous states, foundations, and professional associations on issues related to care and education of young children and their families. "Professor Kagan is uniquely positioned to undertake this role, in large part because of her continued work as Co-Director [with Professor Jeanne Brooks-Gunn] of the National Center for Children and Families, through which the impact of her research and policy activities have been recognized nationally and internationally," said Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean Darlyne Bailey, commenting on the appointment.

"The Office of Policy and Research will open new pathways of policy-related research and dissemination for the College," said Kagan. "I look forward to leading this initiative, and to contributing to a greater knowledge and awareness of the policy issues facing the education community."

Donald Martin, TC's new Associate Dean for Enrollment and Student Services, will be joining the College on July 7th from the University of Chicago, where he has served for nearly four years as the Associate Dean for Enrollment Management at the Graduate School of Business. Martin told Inside TC that one of his goals is to help make TC's extra-curricular student life as "phenomenal" as the College's education program. He added that his pre-dissertation research "focused on ways to maximize student life outside the classroom, and the model she [Dean Bailey] has created at TC is very similar to what I proposed after conducting my research." Overall, Martin will be directly managing activities in the marketing, admissions, student aid, student life, registrar, and career services areas.

Martin "will provide a framework for innovative and collaborative programs and services that meet the needs of our diverse student and academic community," said Dean Bailey, who added that she was "thrilled to have him join our ‘Dean's Team'."

Prior to 2000, Martin held positions as Associate Dean of the full-time M.B.A. Program at the University of Chicago, and earlier, he was Director of Admissions and Financial Aid. From 1990 to 1993, Martin was Director of Graduate Admissions and Financial Aid at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.

Published Sunday, Sep. 12, 2004