Steve Atwater named executive dean of new College of Education
March 29, 2018
Steve Atwater, currently the dean of the UAF School of Education, has been selected as the executive dean of new Alaska College of Education at the University of Alaska Southeast. Atwater begins his new position on July 1. He will have direct administrative responsibility for education programs at UAS along with statewide responsibility for enhancing coordination and alignment of all UA education programs, and for expanding partnerships with K-12 districts and education leaders across the state.
Atwater will be based in Juneau but will travel throughout Alaska to work with university leaders, faculty and staff in the state. In addition to the new Alaska College of Education at UAS, UAA and UAF will continue to provide teacher preparation and other education programs at their respective campuses. They will be led by directors who, along with faculty from all three universities, will make up the new UA Teacher Education Council. The council’s charge includes making recommendations about greater coordination, alignment, and innovation in preparing new teachers, principals and superintendents.
Atwater earned his master’s degree in curriculum and instruction and doctorate in educational leadership at UAF. He began his Alaska career as a teacher in predominantly Alaska Native communities in western Alaska, and went on to become superintendent at both Lake and Peninsula School District and at Kenai Peninsula Borough School District. He was recognized as Alaska’s Superintendent of the Year in 2013. Most recently he has served as interim dean of the UAF School of Education.
The UAF education program will be led by a director and will be administratively housed within the College of Natural Science and Mathematics. A search for the program director will be announced later.
For more about the new Alaska College of Education, visit www.uas.alaska.edu/chancellor/alaska-college-of- education.html.