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University of Iowa Recognized as Educational Administration Leader Education Leader Joins Iowa’s Faculty Foley Focuses on Future

University of Iowa Recognized as Educational Administration Leader

The University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA) recently recognized The University of Iowa as a member in good standing of its 70-member major U.S. and Canadian research universities consortium.

Carolyn Wanat and Dean Sandra Damico display The University of Iowa's UCEA award.UCEA, founded more than 50 years ago with the University of Iowa as a charter member, has grown to become the collective of top research institutions with educational leadership and administration programs. The inter-university collaboration improves the preparation of educational leaders and promotes the development of professional knowledge in school improvement and administration. The UCEA community expands far beyond its institutional members. Because UCEA members prepare future school leaders, their community extends into the very spaces where children learn and grow.

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Education Leader Joins Iowa’s Faculty

Marc Haack shares new ideas with his students.One of Iowa’s most connected educational administrators, Dr. Marcus Haack, joined the faculty last fall as a clinical associate professor. Haack, drawing upon his broad professional knowledge base, now teaches University of Iowa students how to succeed in educational administration.

While Haack’s career has included many exciting challenges, including Spanish teacher, principal and superintendent at Hudson (Iowa) High School, consultant for the Iowa Department of Education, and associate director for the School Administrators of Iowa, he believes he’s finally found his niche in teaching future school administrators and supervising student field experiences.

“Marc brings a new, valued perspective to the educational administration program,” said Professor Carolyn Wanat, program coordinator. “His experience at all levels in Iowa education enriches our program. His perspectives are invaluable to us as we refine the field experience component of our masters and principal licensure programs.”

Haack’s graduate students agree. “Dr. Haack brings an enormous amount of enthusiasm, knowledge, and experience to the classroom,” said Scott Mahmens. “He has been through the battles that education comes up against and he offers a wide range of suggestions and alternatives to use to help you become a successful school administrator.”

Debra Vierling, graduate student and alternative school director says Haack is a wonderful complement to Iowa’s faculty. “With his compassion for students, educational expertise, and wicked sense of humor,” Vierling said, “he understands and appreciates goals not only for students’ education, but also their lives.”

Although he received his B.A., M.A., and Ed.D. degrees from the University of Northern Iowa and is a Panther at heart, Haack says he’s impressed with the University of Iowa’s distinguished history, faculty and student dedication, and overall sense of quality. “The culture here is so open and supportive,” Haack said. “Students come from all over the world, providing a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences that enrich dialogue and interaction and receive a tremendous education at Iowa.”

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Foley Focuses on Future

Walter FoleyEducational Administration Professor Walter Foley didn’t start out to be a teacher, but a stint in the military during the Korean War redirected his life.

“I knew that as long as I was training for my military job, I wouldn’t be sent to the front,” Foley said, “So, I found the longest technical school I could attend to avoid being shipped out. Turns out that was wire mechanic school, which was 30 weeks long. I always did well on tests, and I must have had a flare for teaching, so they kept me on as an instructor. The rest is history.”

Five decades of history, in fact. Foley began teaching at Iowa in 1965. Since then, he has trained legions of educational administrators, helped settle teacher contract negotiations across Iowa, and influenced the education policies of Thailand, Nigeria, Korea, and the United States. His depth and breadth of experience provide a unique perspective on current trends in educational administration.

“Most of us tend to think that everyone does things the way we do,” he said. “But when you see other people and study their educational systems, you can see the drawbacks not only in their approach but also in our own.”

Foley bemoans the trend in American education toward more high-stakes testing, decreased local control of schools, and increased pressure on children and teachers to perform according to uniform standards. He also notes that schools seem to be “a convenient target” in contemporary political and journalistic rhetoric. “New federal legislation like the No Child Left Behind Act mandates all kinds of things about school funding,” Foley says, “but the federal government doesn’t provide the funds. I guess I’m just a big fan of local control.”

Foley notes that Iowa is a good example of how local control can produce generations of excellence in education. Rural schools, in particular, serve not only as education centers, but also as cultural centers that help maintain a strong sense of community. Foley honed his expertise on rural schools by serving as a mediator, arbitrator, and fact finder for more than 200 teacher employment contracts in school districts across Iowa. Because he visits the schools and listens to teachers and administrators in the trenches, he has an incomparable understanding of what makes schools tick, and he has passed that knowledge on to two generations of Iowa students.

After Foley retires in August, he plans to continue arbitrating and fact-finding, as well as tend to his extensive collection of hosta plants and travel, including a trip to Korea to renew ties with former students who traveled halfway around the world to learn from a master. –by Jean Florman

Please help celebrate Professor Walt Foley's 38 years at The University of Iowa on Sunday, August 31, 2003, 2-5 p.m. in Iowa City. More information will be available after May 1 online at

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