Message from the Dean: December 2023
Dear SOE Billiken Alums,
It’s hard to believe that we are wrapping up the fall semester, with students taking their final exams before heading home for the holiday season. The semester has flown by too quickly!
This fall, it has been my pleasure to teach an Ignite Seminar to brand new undergraduate students from various programs across Saint Louis University’s campus. Ignite Seminars, part of SLU’s new core, offer an opportunity for students to be introduced to what makes teaching and learning at SLU distinctive and transformative. In these small-group seminars, SLU faculty members and administrators invite students to join them in exploring the ideas and questions that have sustained and continue to fuel their passion and commitment as researchers and teachers. In my seminar with 25 brand new Billikens, Arguments in American Education, we explore controversial issues in the world of PK-12 education policy, with the goal of making sense of data and critically evaluating competing arguments. This seminar has given me the opportunity to connect with an engaged group of students, and the experience has been an absolute joy!
Of course, there have been many other exciting projects and happenings going on around the School of Education during the fall 2023 semester. In this newsletter, we are pleased to share several of those stories.
We begin by sharing the news that a team of faculty and staff from our SOE has recently won a $5.96 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education. This award will allow the SOE to build and deliver a teacher certification program for those who work in schools as paraprofessionals — substitutes, aides, or those who work with special education students — and who have earned associate degrees. The program will be offered entirely online and tuition-free, allowing individuals who work full-time to earn a B.A. in Teaching. The objective of the program is to help alleviate some of the stress that many school districts face with teacher shortages.
We are also proud to share that Molly A. Schaller, Ph.D., professor of higher education and associate dean in the School of Education, has been named an inaugural advisory board member for a new consultation on the future of church-related universities. The consultation will engage the challenges of the higher education landscape and provide resources for discernment for leaders, teachers, and scholars called to care for the church-related university’s future.
Earlier this fall, Professor John James, Ed.D., of the SOE welcomed superintendents from 19 dioceses and archdioceses to gather and discuss challenges facing Catholic education. Professionals from across the South and Midwest, including Arkansas, Illinois, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas, traveled to St. Louis to lend their expertise and voice to the conversation to advance a vision for the future of Catholic education.
The whole SLU community also celebrated Homecoming and Family Weekend with various activities across campus this fall. We share a story about School of Education junior Gracie LaBlance and her lifelong connection to SLU and the fulfillment of her dream to become a teacher.
And finally, we highlight the good work that our faculty and staff continue with two partner Catholic Jesuit schools in Belize. This 10-year collaboration is evolving; the strong and engaged relationship between SLU and these affiliated Belizean institutions continues to improve educational policy and ongoing learning throughout the entire region.
I hope that you enjoy reading these stories. I wish you peace, joy, and time to relax with family and friends during this season of reflection. Please do not hesitate to let us know if there are ways that we can support you better or communicate with you more effectively. We look forward to seeing you on campus next year!
Best wishes,
Gary W. Ritter, Ph.D.
Dean, School of Education