Greetings from the ever-bustling and ever-innovative School of Education and Human Development! As the days grow longer and summer begins to unfold, I hope this newsletter finds you well and savoring the season’s arrival.
At SEHD, our commitment to excellence in teaching and scholarship remains steadfast — and the spring semester was a true reflection of that dedication. The accomplishments of our faculty and students continue to bring pride and recognition to our community, as the School garners increasing accolades for its growth, impact, and innovative endeavors.
Here is a short recap of some of our recent highlights:
- SEHD proudly hosted the annual conference of the Association for Jesuit Colleges and University (AJCU’s) Deans of Education on campus, bringing together leaders from Jesuit universities nationwide. This pivotal gathering provided a platform to explore emerging trends in education, engage in meaningful reflection on the challenges facing the profession, and ignite innovative strategies to shape the future of teacher preparation and educational leadership.
- Did someone say, Doctor? SEHD officially has 14 EdD alumni! The EdD program celebrated the successful completion of 14 candidate dissertation defenses and submission across our two K-12 and Higher Education tracks. This program, recognized by Forbes last year as among the best online EdDs in the nation, continues to add a critical dimension to promise of SEHD as a talent provider and as a transformative partner in the professional field.
- Our newly launched Bachelor of Arts in Curriculum & Instruction (C&I) has completed an outstanding inaugural year. This innovative program has attracted significant student interest by offering a comprehensive pathway to train and certify skilled educators within four years at the undergraduate level — directly addressing the critical teacher shortage facing our society. We are proud to currently welcome over 35 declared majors, alongside 34 incoming first-year students who have already committed to the program. Together with our reimagined secondary education certification pathway, these initiatives reflect our deep commitment to responding thoughtfully to the evolving needs of the profession and leading with forward-thinking innovation.
- Our mental health licensure programs—Clinical Mental Health Counseling and Master of Social Work—recognized by College Factual last year as among the best in the region continue to fuel the growth of our school and reflect the strong confidence placed in the quality of our clinical training.
- Jocelyn Novella, PhD, associate professor of counselor education, and graduate student Liv Henderson have been accepted to present at the prestigious International Association for Counseling (IAC) conference in Malta this July. Their poster, titled "Navigating Silos in Behavioral Health: Creating an Interprofessional Eating Disorders Training Program in the U.S.," highlights Dr. Novella’s research—conducted in collaboration with co-authors Julie Berrett-Abebe and Michelle Pagnotta—focused on advancing interprofessional collaboration in the treatment of eating disorders.
- We have a new online interprofessional concentration/certificate program on Eating Disorders!
- Professors in the Marriage and Family Therapy, Counselor Education, and Social Work programs presented their research at professional regional and national conferences with their graduate student research assistants.
- Twelve student-led research teams along with their faculty mentors represented SEHD at Fairfield University’s annual Student Research Symposium this spring!
- SEHD continues to be rated among the highest in CT for pass rate scores for teacher certification exams.
- 100% of all SEHD program completers in education and mental health who are certified and wish to seek employment are employed.
The foregoing offers only a glimpse into the exceptional quality of the learning and clinical training experience at SEHD. From within, it is evident that this excellence is driven by the extraordinary expertise of our faculty and the unwavering commitment and exceptional competence of our students. We invite you to join us—whether as a student, partner, or supporter—in advancing this tradition of excellence and shaping the future of education and mental health care.
This is a new era for SEHD.
Fondly and in gratitude,
Evelyn Bilias Lolis, PhD
Dean
