 "Photo: Nick Chowske/Cardinal Points")
Hill, who served as dean for six years, played a pivotal role in achieving accreditation for teacher education programs at PSUC last fall.
Hill said he greatly enjoyed his experiences at PSUC, and that he has built lasting relationships with numerous faculty members at the college, but at this point in his life, it’s simply time to move on.
“I was really hired to help upgrade the teacher education program and (for) accreditation — that job’s done, so it’s a good time for me to do something different,” Hill said.
Making way for the new dean was another factor that played into his decision to teach at the branch campus. Hill said he wants to make the transition to the new dean as easy and stress-free as possible, something that might become complicated if he were always around campus.
“Nobody is in a position forever, and I’m nearing retirement age, so my thought was that it’s not only a good time to move, but a good time to step down from my position and make way for the new person,” Hill said. “I want to let that person establish his or her own style.”
Hill said his desire for a smooth transition stems from his departure from Keene State College, where he was a dean. After being at Keene State for 19 years, Hill said he abruptly left his position there in order to come to PSUC, something he does not wish to repeat this time around.
Bob Golden, dean and assistant to the president at the branch campus, said he is looking forward to having Hill teach at the branch campus due to his experience in the field of education.
“We are very excited to have him here,” Golden said. “He is a senior experienced education teacher, and we don’t have many of those here.”
Golden said that because of Hill’s experience, he will be able to mentor the faculty members located on the branch campus.
Patricia Higgins, interim dean of education, health and human resources, said Hill’s move to the branch campus will also help maintain the requirements of the New York State Education Department, which states that 50 percent of teacher education programs have to be taught by full-time faculty.
Higgins said this ratio has been hard to fulfill in the past, and that Hill’s presence on the branch campus will help strengthen the requirements mandated by the New York state education department.
Golden agreed.
“We have met it (the necessary percentage of full-time faculty), but frankly, it’s always been a challenge,” Golden said. “So having Dr. Hill here will give us a sense of comfort on the issue.”
Hill said he will be teaching graduate courses at the branch campus in interdisciplinary curriculum, child development and classroom research.
In addition, Hill said he hopes to achieve accreditation for the graduate certification program in educational leadership, something he said will be easier to do at the branch campus since it is where the head of this program, Michael Johnson, is based.
More importantly, however, Hill said he is simply looking forward to a change and is happy to again start working on the faculty side of things in order to improve on educational work.
“I’ve always been someone who likes to change things, I’ve never really held (the same) job for more than five or six years, so this is just keeping up with that pattern,” Hill said.
“It’s exciting, I really enjoy teaching.”
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