Nancy Cunniff Casey, Ed.D., has been named acting dean of the School of Education at St. Bonaventure University, President Sr. Margaret Carney, O.S.F., S.T.D., announced today.

Casey, chair of the Department of Elementary Education and a longtime faculty member in the School of Education, begins her new role July 13 as current education dean Joseph E. Zimmer, Ph.D., transitions to the position of interim provost and vice president for Academic Affairs.

“It is a tremendous honor to be given this opportunity to serve the School of Education and work with the dedicated and accomplished faculty and staff,” said Casey.

“The programs in our school help students become accomplished and successful professionals who go on to careers where they serve with a sense of social justice. These are challenging times for education, and that makes the work we do all the more critical. I look forward to working with my colleagues to continue to improve our programs to meet the ever-changing needs in the world of education,” she said.

Casey joined the St. Bonaventure faculty as an assistant professor of education in 1989. She left the university two years later to work with the Russell Sage Foundation in New York and was recruited back to St. Bonaventure in 1998 to help develop and implement the Professional Development School model of instruction.

Casey was awarded the Faculty Award for Professional Excellence in Teaching in 2004 and was the 2015 recipient of the Faculty Award for Professional Excellence in University Service. She chairs the university’s Student Success and Retention Committee and takes an active role in student recruitment. 

She has developed a course and run workshops to help teacher candidates prepare for the battery of new certification tests in New York state, including edTPA, the new performance-based standardized assessment that all teachers must pass to become certified. St. Bonaventure teacher candidates had a 100 percent pass rate on the assessment in 2014.

Casey was a major developer of the university’s First-Year Experience (FYE) Program, which she directed from 2007 to 2012. In 1999, she helped secure a $1.16 million grant to bring cutting-edge technology to the School of Education and its partner community schools. She was also the key developer of the data gathering system used by the school to support its continuing accreditation by the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education.

Casey holds a bachelor’s degree in early childhood and elementary education from the College of St. Elizabeth, a master’s degree in early childhood education from Rutgers University, a master’s degree in computing in education from Teachers College at Columbia University, and a doctorate in instructional technology and media from Columbia University.

______________

About the University: The nation’s first Franciscan university, we believe in the goodness of every person and in the ability of every person to do extraordinary things.  St. Bonaventure University cultivates graduates who are confident and creative communicators, collaborative leaders and team members, and innovative problem solvers who are respectful of themselves, others, and the diverse world around them. Named the #3 best college value in the North by U.S. News and World Report, we are establishing pathways to internships, graduate schools and careers in the context of our renowned liberal arts tradition. Our students are becoming extraordinary.