EVOLUTION

New College of Education and Human Sciences Opens

The new College of Education and Human Sciences opened at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in August 2003. It brings together programs, students, faculties and staffs of the former Teachers College and the College of Human Resources and Family Sciences and is the only college in Nebraska to address families, schools and communities as a seamless grouping of entities that uniquely support human potential. It is one of only three such programs at land grant/research I universities in the nation.

Marjorie Kostelnik, dean of the new college, said the college builds on the foundations and histories of two colleges that share many similarities: Both colleges are involved in families and communities and focus on outreach and service. As Jim O'Hanlon, dean of the Teachers College, said, concern about the quality of people's lives "is in the DNA of both colleges."

Some of the areas that faculty believe the new college will address very well, Kostelnik said, include teaching and learning in school and out-of-school settings, distance education, nutrition, exercise and wellness, counseling and clinical work, literacy, early childhood and elementary education, rural schools, family-school partnerships and violence prevention, among others.

The College of Education and Human Sciences has about 2,600 undergraduates, making it the third-largest undergraduate college at UNL based on enrollment. It has about 1,000 graduate students, 176 permanent faculty and 104 staff members. Departments in the new college include: Educational Administration; Educational Psychology; Family and Consumer Sciences; Nutrition and Health Sciences; Special Education and Communication Disorders; Teaching, Learning and Teacher Education; and Textiles, Clothing and Design.

EDUCATION & HUMAN SCIENCES