Dean Dana Fusco has announced that she will be leaving Queens College to take a position as dean of the Graduate School of Education at Lesley University. Dana has served as interim dean of the School of Education (SOE) since July 2020. Although she has only been with Queens College for two years, Dana has made a tremendous impact on the SOE, successfully leading it through the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) probationary site visit and securing our accreditation through Fall 2025. Dean Fusco established task forces to work on policies, curriculum, and clinical experience, which will have a huge impact on our students moving forward. Her appointment of an associate dean brings a student focus to the SOE that is invaluable. Under her leadership, administrative offices were restructured to focus on student success from the first contact students have with the SOE, throughout their program, and beyond graduation, and the Office of Recruitment and Student Success was launched.
Dean Fusco secured over $1.6 million in NYS Education Department funding for the Teacher Opportunity Corps (TOC II) program, implemented the Will to Change initiative to identify and address policies and practices within the SOE that silence, marginalize, and disrespect faculty, staff, and students, and particularly faculty, staff, and students of color, and implemented the First-Generation Scholars Initiative (FGSI) to provide a supportive space to celebrate the victories and discuss the challenges of being a first-generation scholar (first-generation college student, first-generation doctoral student, and/or first-generation professor).
President Frank H. Wu said, “Dana Fusco has done a great job at Queens College. We started together, so I feel a bond. I am so sorry that she is leaving us, and we all should be grateful for her successful efforts over the past two years, especially with accreditation.”
We thank Dean Fusco for her exemplary service to Queens College and wish her all the best in her new position. A search committee for the position of dean of the School of Education has been established and the search is under way.
