Mary Ann Danowitz arrived at NC State three and a half years ago as a department head of the Department of Educational Leadership, Policy and Adult and Higher Education. Since then, she has moved up the ranks and will officially be appointed the dean of the College of Education on Friday.
Danowitz was asked to step in as interim dean in July after former Dean Jayne Fleener chose to leave the position to return to the faculty. As interim dean, Danowitz said she hoped to make the College of Education have a more significant leadership role within the state.
“We worked with the faculty and staff to redefine our vision,” Danowitz said. “Now we’re on board to focus on how we can improve educational success throughout the state and close the achievement gap because 25 percent of the kids in North Carolina are living in poverty, and that really closes out opportunities.”
Danowitz said her goal as dean is to broaden education within North Carolina to help all students achieve higher education, no matter their financial background. Currently, Danowitz has faculty working in 33 counties in the state developing programs to assist students, such as e-mentoring.
The College of Education has achieved several accomplishments during Danowitz’s time as interim dean. The 2015 Annual Report shows that NC State’s College of Education is ranked first in the production of STEM teachers in North Carolina. Other achievements show that 100 percent of elementary education graduates from NC State passed the new licensing exams, and the College of Education is in the top three colleges for grant dollars awarded per faculty member.
“We have one of the most effective programs to prepare principals in the United States, and we’re working in high poverty areas in the Northeast to do that,” Danowitz said.
Danowitz is currently working on the first action summit next month, which will bring together about 400 community political leaders in education to discuss how education can help deal with the poverty epidemic in the United States. The summit will also allow NC State to build partnerships to tackle educational problems within the nation.
“[The summit] is something that I think is really important for NC State, as a land-grant university, to lead those efforts in North Carolina,” Danowitz said. “And that’s what I’m committed to and have been working with the college to do.”
Danowitz said one of the most important issues within the educational system of North Carolina today is increasing teacher pay.
“One of the highest priorities for the College of Education will be endowed professorships,” Danowitz said. “Where you have additional funds, which are above the state salary, that allow them to do research, to hire students and to have more funds for their own use.”
Another hope that Danowitz said she has for the College of Education is to finish developing a new one-year program for a master’s in art of teaching. This program will be available for people who have a degree in a discipline, but not in education specifically.
“This will be an intensive 12-month program to prepare people to work with technology and to work in high-poverty schools,” Danowitz said. “And it will have an emphasis in the STEM areas and in literacy.”
Moreover, Danowitz said the College of Education hopes to work with schools and community colleges to create a seamless pipeline so students in poorer areas, especially the Northeast, can have stronger school experiences.
Danowitz said she looks forward to working with the College of Education to improve the educational system and to give all students a chance for success not only within North Carolina, but the United States as a whole.
