New Dean shares his vision of community outreach

Having assumed his new position officially on July 1, 2002, Jim Cibulka is the eighth dean to serve the University of Kentucky College of Education. If his vita is a fair indicator of the focus of his leadership, the college will be even more strident in its pursuit of community partnerships than ever before.

The traditional view of higher education at that time, he said, was of an institution that dealt primarily with research and conferring academic degrees upon its students. But that view was changing significantly by the time he entered the profession. "In many ways, UW-M was slightly ahead of the curve in reaching out beyond the walls of the college to develop partner relationships with its community," Cibulka said. The traditional view was changing, as it must, he said, to a new approach that demanded more active involvement of the college of education with the local school systems.

"It was the mission of UW-M to function as an urban institution of higher education. We were expected to serve the needs of Milwaukee, a city that was very diverse ethnically and in income status," Cibulka said. "It was obvious we could not adequately prepare our students and still adhere to a traditional view of higher education."

Professors at UW-M School of Education were already developing partnerships and outreach programs. The traditional approach was already giving way to new ideas. Cibulka worked with his colleagues and staff members to coalesce these programs into an academic department within the school. By drawing on their combined knowledge base, professors, local teachers, and educational leaders were better able to find solutions to problems and focus research on real issues being faced by the local school districts. This insight also helped the school of education to improve on their curriculum and prepare students better for the challenges of a career in education.

The department of community education not only partnered with local schools, but also with organizations that addressed the educational needs of at-risk students and the adult population as well.

"It is my firm belief that a school of education cannot fulfill its duties without positive working partnerships with other educational institutions. It has been interesting to watch how this new approach took hold and informed the ways in which colleges of education now operate," Cibulka said. "As the structure of communities and of families has changed in recent decades, the task of educating an increasingly diverse population requires higher education to work in closer partnership with families and communities," he observed.

At the University of Maryland, where Cibulka served first as chair of the Department of Educational Policy and Planning and later as an associate dean, the delivery of teacher education is done collaboratively with professional development schools affiliated with the College of Education. The success of this PDS partnership approach is now beginning to be documented through research, and Cibulka hopes to expand new opportunities for developing partnerships at the University of Kentucky.

Anything and everything must be tried, he said, to decrease the high rate of turnover in the educational profession. Getting prospective teachers and educational leaders out in the field early in their preparation programs, where they will learn firsthand the demands and needs of the profession, is one way to accomplish that goal. It is also important to have professors who are aware of how education has changed.

"This task is made easier by the fact that the UK College of Education has already established long term relationships with schools in Fayette County through a number of different programs. These partnerships lead naturally to better quality educator programs and attract outstanding students entering the field," he said.

Twenty-five years ago, ideas about community education and partnerships were relatively new. Now they are seen as part of the fabric of what colleges are expected to do, an important element in the process to prepare educators.

"I look forward to the opportunity to work with the faculty and administration and all those who have a stake in the success of the College of Education. We must build on the college's excellent record of service to its community and to the state. Expectations and opportunities have never been higher," Cibulka said.