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During the summer months, the School of Education appointed a new dean to be the head of their department. Dr. E. Suzanne Lee Ph.D is the new dean for the school and has high hopes for the future of the department and its progression.
Dr. Lee grew up in Effingham, IL and went to Eastern Illinois University where she received a degree in psychology with a minor in health while also becoming certified in secondary education. She is particularly fond of the place where she grew up, remembering the corn and bean fields as far at the eye can see.
Following her undergraduate degree, she became a certified sex educator through the American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors, and Therapists. Following this endeavor, at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Lee earned her Master of Science degree in health education and was certified as a health education specialist.
She worked at the SIU School of Medicine in Springfield Illinois and then attended Saint Louis University and earned her Ph.D in higher education administration. Her dissertation was entitled: The Promotion of Justice: Measuring and Assessing the Psychometric Properties.
Lee worked at Saint Louis University for some time, holding a number of different positions. These positions included the following: adjunct assistant professor, director of university’s commitment to justice self-study, graduate assistant, survey consultant, graduate school ethic and value dimension study consultant, and researcher for personal responsibility education program.
From these experiences, Lee also expressed her interest in statistics and her emphasis on hospitality which happens to be one of Saint Xavier University’s core values. In addition to these positions, Lee was also the assistant vice president of academic affairs for the Logan College of Chiropractic from 2000-2001.
Lee has been working at SXU since 2002 as an assistant professor in the School of Education’s Teaching and Leadership Program. In 2008, she was named associate professor and taught numerous classes in the SOE. During the past summer, on July 1, 2015, Lee was selected to be the new Dean.
“I’m looking forward to working with my staff, other deans, and my colleagues. Moving from being a professor to being a Dean, I’m able to work with many different types of colleagues and expand my reach to new departments. I am also looking forward to the relationship I will have with others, especially our students,” said Lee.
In an interview with the Xavierite, Lee expressed some of her concerns for SXU’s School of Education and how she plans to help the school get through some of these posing issues. As one of the main issues, she explains that the school has seen a decrease in the amounts of enrollment that they have had in past years.
Though this issue is hurting the SOE, it is not an issue central to SXU. As a member of the Council of Chicago Area Deans of Education (CCADE), Lee attends regular meetings and finds that many schools across the area are seeing a decrease in the amount of students in their education programs as well.
As a solution to this, Lee believes that there should be more connection and partnership with the surrounding high schools and those students interested in being educators. With this outreach, Lee believes that students will feel more welcome and more likely to enroll and stay enrolled in the program.
As mentioned before, Lee places a great deal of importance on the university’s core values, and believes that everyone should follow them on the path to success.
“I think it’s so important for leaders in this institution or any other, myself included, to make sure that the ways we’re behaving and the things we try to do always exemplify the core values,” said Lee.
Lee hopes to eventually strengthen the School of Education’s programs and recognition. One of her goals for the students graduating with education degrees is to allow them to be the best out of their competition, so that when it comes time for them to apply for a job, they are acknowledged right away for being a Saint Xavier graduate.
This strength and recognition will not happen right away, but it is something that can be achieved again with the right progression and diligence to get there. With Lee in charge of the school, she will do her best to strengthen it once again.
Julie Gardner
Senior News Editor
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