The University of Alaska Southeast’s new Alaska College of Education (AKCOE) has its executive dean.
University of Alaska leaders selected Dr. Steve Atwater for the position, according to a release, and he will start July 1. Atwater, the former Alaska Superintendent of the Year, brings extensive experience from within the state. The hire comes as the University of Alaska is hoping to increase its preparation of Alaskan teachers, principals and superintendents.
Currently, according to the release, Alaska imports nearly two-thirds of all new teachers hired each year. The UA schools are looking to change that.
Atwater, who was previously the interim dean at the University of Alaska Fairbanks School of Education, will be the administrator at the UAS education programs as well as having statewide responsibility for coordinating and aligning UA education programs. He will also be tasked with expanding partnerships with K-12 districts and education leaders across the state.
There was a national search, UAS Public Information Officer Keni Campbell said, with a search committee that consisted of faculty and leaders from all three UA campuses. There were two final candidates, both of whom visited the three UA campuses and participated in community forums. The committee members recommended Atwater, and UAS Chancellor Rick Caulfield made the final selection, Campbell said.
UAS has had an education program before, but in 2016 the UA Board of Regents voted to make UAS the statewide administrative headquarters for teacher education within the UA system. UA President Jim Johnsen originally recommended that the headquarters be at UAF, but he amended his recommendation after what an Empire article at the time referred to as “an onslaught of opposition” to that original recommendation.
The program’s creation is one step toward Johnsen’s goal of having 90 percent of teacher hires in Alaska by 2025 being educated at UA. Caulfield said he thinks Atwater is the right choice for spearheading that ambitious change.
“Dr. Atwater brings experience and insights that are particularly valuable for the university in this time of change,” Caulfield said in a release. “His dedication to teacher excellence is unquestioned and he has a wealth of teaching and leadership experience in both rural and urban schools in Alaska. It’s rare to find someone who has this distinctive array of skills, talents, and experience.”
Atwater got his master’s degree in curriculum and instruction, and his doctorate in Educational Leadership at the University of Alaska. He was a teacher in predominantly Alaska Native communities in western Alaska, then became superintendent at the Lake and Peninsula School District and the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District. He was named Alaska’s Superintendent of the Year in 2013 before becoming UA’s associate vice president for K-12 outreach in 2014 and interim dean of the UAF School of Education in 2015.
• Contact reporter Alex McCarthy at 523-2271 or amccarthy@juneauempire.com. Follow him on Twitter at @akmccarthy.
