New Victoria Faculty gets academic leaders

New Victoria University Faculty gets academic leaders

Victoria University's new Faculty of Education has been given a significant boost by the appointment of a Deputy Dean and a new Professor of Education.

Professor Cedric Hall, formerly of Victoria's School of Education, has been appointed as the Deputy Dean while Professor Luanna Meyer, currently at Massey University, has been appointed as a Professor of Education.

The Faculty, the University's sixth, came into being on 1 January 2005 when Victoria University and the Wellington College of Education merged.

The Faculty offers programmes specialising in teacher education at the early childhood, primary and secondary levels. The faculty also offers qualifications in teacher education and the wider study of education at postgraduate level, including a Master of Teaching and a Master of Education and a PhD.

The merger also resulted in a creation of a new Victoria College of Education that includes four Schools: Education Studies; Early Childhood Teacher Education; Primary & Secondary Teacher Education; and Te Kura Mâori.

Pro Vice-Chancellor (Education), Professor Dugald Scott, said Professor Hall would play a major role in establishing the Faculty and the new College.

"With the merger of the Wellington College of Education into Victoria University, there will be a significant emphasis on enhancing the research capability of the new College by increasing the number of staff with postgraduate qualifications and assisting staff to undertake research.

"Professor Hall is well known to former WCE staff and has a strong record in both teaching and research, particularly in the development of postgraduate programmes, assessment and quality assurance, and will play a major role in boosting our research output."

Professor Hall has a PhD from Brunel University in England and a BA with Honours in Education from Victoria. He joined Victoria in 1977 as a Lecturer and was appointed Director of the University Teaching Development Centre in 1989, a role he held till 1997, when he was appointed as Professor of Education and Head of the School of Education (1997-2001).

Professor Hall's research has particularly focused on course design, assessment, evaluation and quality assurance in education.

Prior to the appointment at Victoria, Professor Meyer was Assistant Vice-Chancellor (Academic) at Massey University, and earlier served as the inaugural Pro Vice-Chancellor of the Massey University College of Education from 1997 to 2002. Previously, she held faculty positions at the University of Hawaii, the University of Minnesota and Syracuse University in the United States.

As Pro Vice-Chancellor, Professor Meyer was instrumental in developing the strong profile of that College of Education, and in establishing a number of structures and innovative programmes to support staff in developing research profiles and to enhance research-led teaching. As Assistant Vice-Chancellor-Academic, she was responsible for various initiatives to enhance teaching and learning university-wide.

Professor Scott said Professor Meyer has a strong research background in teacher education and inclusive education.

"In this work she has collaborated with senior colleagues, newly emerging researchers, and students. She has demonstrated impressive results in mentoring junior colleagues and doctoral students, and has been highly successful in winning external research and development funding," he said.

Professor Meyer, who has a Master of Science and PhD from Indiana University and a BA from the University of Wisconsin, will take up her position at Victoria University College of Education in mid-February.

ENDS

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