Hill Appointed New Dean of School of Education
Nazareth College is pleased to announce that Craig Hill has been appointed as dean of the School of Education (SOE). Hill served as interim dean during the last year and has been on the faculty of the College’s School of Education for 30 years.
Hill acknowledges he’s facing challenges in his new role. “Nationally there has been a 50 percent drop in the number of students choosing to pursue a career in teaching, and Nazareth College is following this trend,” he says. “One role of the dean is to manage this significant shift and find ways to prepare for the teacher shortage that is being predicted.”
Another responsibility Hill identifies is to support SOE faculty and staff as they continue to provide outstanding programs to prepare teachers for the pre-K through 12 setting. Currently the School of Education offers coursework that leads to annotations or extensions in bilingual education, gifted and talented, severe/multiple disabilities, and teaching English to speakers of other languages. Under Hill, the SOE intends to expand its offerings for teachers to add additional certifications.
“I look forward to my years as the Dean of the School of Education and the opportunities for collaborations within the College and our broader community,” Hill says.
Hill brings an extensive background in education to his new role. In addition to serving as dean, he remains a professor in the School of Education and acts as the teacher certification officer. Some of his past roles and responsibilities at Nazareth include being chair of both Nazareth’s adolescence and education programs, director of the inclusive education program, and supervisor of the former Graduate Learning Clinic.
Prior to Nazareth, Hill also worked as a teacher in Lafayette, La., for nearly a decade. He earned his bachelor’s in elementary and special education, his master’s in vocational rehabilitation counseling, and his Ed.S. in administration and supervision from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. He then earned an Ed.D. in special education from the University of Florida.
Hill is currently a board member of the New York Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, and he has been a member of the New York State Higher Education Task Force on Quality Inclusive Schooling.
Craig Hill