New Lesley College dean begins first year with action, vision
Posted September 10, 2010
As the class of 2014 begins its first year, the new dean of Lesley College is hard at work on an agenda to ensure new and future students are better equipped to lead in an increasingly global and interdependent world. Dr. Mary Coleman and the Lesley College faculty, as well as support staff, are collaborating to ensure the teaching and learning process at Lesley maintains a level of excellence across all majors, especially as the fields graduates enter continue to evolve.
Lesley College Dean Mary Coleman
Coleman began as dean of Lesley College on July 1, hailing from Jackson State University in Mississippi where she was a professor of Political Science and associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts. She is a respected scholar on issues of civic education in the Middle East, the rule of law, southern politics and rural poverty.
Since her arrival, Coleman has initiated faculty task forces to assess student learning through internships, travel abroad and community service work; examining quantitative reasoning; and regular meetings with the leadership of the Student Government Association.
“Since it’s founding, the hallmark of a Lesley education has been a focus on experiential learning,” Coleman said. “But as the world grows increasingly interdependent, we need to assess not just the student’s perception of the experience of internships, travel and community service, but also measure and improve learning outcomes.”
Coleman stressed her goal is to improve student problem solving skills by delving further into quantitative reasoning on global issues.
“Lesley students emerge to undertake careers of critical importance in schools, organizations and communities worldwide,” said Coleman. “We want and need them to emerge with the skills and confidence so that they can continue to contribute in a manner that makes the problems we face less insurmountable.”
Of particular interest to Coleman is the strengthening of foreign language skills. Too often, she said, students’ high school language instruction falls short of true proficiency. Bolstering those skills, she said, will be a key to improved learning during semesters spent abroad.
“We’re examining ways in which students can not only learn foreign languages, but create environments where they can practice language skills towards fluency,” Coleman said. “Studying abroad can have a transformative effect - but it’s a stronger, more profound experience when students can engage in the native tongue when they arrive.”
Dr. Coleman has earned many fellowships and awards, including the Woodrow Wilson International Scholar Fellowship (2006) and the Liberal Arts Fellowship in Law and Political Science at Harvard Law School (1993). She received her B.A. in Political Science from Jackson State University, and her M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.