Dear Faculty and Staff,

I am very pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Katharine Shepherd as Dean of the College of Education and Social Services (CESS), effective January 15, 2023. Dr. Shepherd is the Levitt Family Green and Gold Professor of Education and Interim Dean of the College of Education and Social Services.

Dr. Shepherd has been a member of the CESS and UVM community for 36 years, having joined the faculty in 1997. During this time, she has taught extensively and has held numerous leadership positions in CESS. Dr. Shepherd has served as Special Education Program Coordinator, Vice Chair of the Department of Education, Interim Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Research, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, and Interim Dean of the College. In each of these important roles, Dr. Shepherd has been consistently recognized as a values-driven, collaborative, solution-oriented, and facilitative leader. She led or co-led major program innovations and revisions including the establishment of the undergraduate certificate in Place-based Education, certificates of graduate study in Education for Sustainability and Resiliency-based Approaches, the undergraduate minor and concentration in Computer Science Education, and the revision of the Individually Designed Major. As interim dean she supported two significant efforts that contribute to the college’s offerings and reputation, and to the university’s bid for R1 status: the establishment of a new Ph.D. program in Counselor Education and Supervision, and a second new Ph.D. program in Social-Emotional Health and Inclusive Education.

In addition to her roles as a teacher and administrator, Dr. Shepherd is active in scholarship that focuses on educational leadership and family-professional partnerships, collaborative teaming, and state and school-wide implementation of inclusive policies and practices, including Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS). She is a recipient of the President’s Distinguished University Citizenship and Service Award, the Higher Education Consortium for Special Education (HECSE) Leadership and Service Award, and the Kroepsch-Maurice Excellence in Teaching Award among others. She has co-authored 2 books and has authored or co-authored 35 peer-reviewed journal articles, 16 book chapters, and 17 additional publications. Dr. Shepherd has also received $3.6 million in grants from the United States Department of Education, the Spencer Foundation, and the Vermont Agency of Education to support her research.

I would like to thank all members of the search committee, co-chaired by Dr. Noma Anderson, Dean of the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, and Dr. Jessica Strolin-Goltzman, Professor of Education in the College of Education and Social Services, for volunteering their time and expertise in identifying an excellent pool of applicants for this role.

Please join me in congratulating Dr. Shepherd. I look forward to continuing to work with her as a member of the university’s academic leadership team.

Sincerely,

Patty