Jason E. Lane Named Dean of University at Albany School of Education
Albany, NY (July 13, 2020) – Dr. Jason E. Lane has been named dean of the University at Albany’s School of Education (SOE). A professor of educational policy & leadership, he was appointed as interim dean in 2018 when Dean Robert Bangert-Drowns returned to the faculty. Lane will serve as the School’s ninth dean.
Under Dr. Lane’s leadership as interim dean, the School has experienced a nearly 10 percent increase in its graduate student enrollments, continued to expand its strong presence in online program delivery, and increased enrollments in the Human Development undergraduate major.
Lane prioritized diversifying the student body and fostering a more inclusive academic environment, including appointing the School’s first Director of Equity and Inclusion—Associate Professor Alex Pieterse and creating a diversity task force to actively advance the School’s inclusive initiatives. Of note, 2019-2020 was the inaugural year for SOE’s Touhey Family Fellows program, a donor-funded initiative that provides academic, financial, and social supports for 5 graduate student mentors and 25 undergraduate student fellows from diverse backgrounds to pursue careers in education and mental health.
In addition, the School recently launched the Great Dane Teacher Pathway in partnership with several departments in the College of Arts and Sciences. The initiative is designed to provide accelerated undergraduate pathways to graduate education degrees and teacher certification. Dean Lane has also been instrumental in developing new external relationships and raising more than $3 million from donors and foundations to support student scholarships and other School programs. He actively contributes to University-wide initiatives, most notably as co-chair of the University’s recent successful reaccreditation by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.
In making the announcement, Provost Carol Kim said, “As interim dean since 2018, Dr. Lane has been highly effective in helping to strengthen the School of Education’s programs, faculty, staff and students. We look forward to working with Dr. Lane in the years ahead as we seek collaboratively to continue to enhance the institution’s reputation and impact and to address the many challenges confronting us both now and in the future.”
A strong focus of Dean Lane’s work over the last two years has also been on strengthening the relationship between the University and the local K-12 schools, garnering him the 2020 Cooperative Leadership Award from the Capital Area School Development Association (CASDA) and National School Development Council. This work included organizing an annual school safety summit headed by SOE Assistant Dean Christy Smith, partnering with UUP and NYSUT on the Take a Look at Teaching initiative, serving on the foundation board of Tech Valley High, and building new partnerships with local Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES). In collaboration with Capital Region BOCES, the School of Education created new pathway programs for teaching assistants and aspiring school leaders to earn advanced certifications.
This coming year, the SOE, for the first time in decades, will host a class of 25 high school seniors who are participating in QUESTAR III’s New Visions Pathways in Education program. “I have enjoyed working with Dr. Lane over the past several years to build meaningful partnerships and important initiatives between the School of Education and the K-12 system,” said Dr. Gladys I. Cruz, district superintendent of Questar III BOCES. “He is committed to strengthening our relationship to improve outcomes and opportunities for our students and future teachers and school administrators alike. We look forward to the launch of our New Visions program to prepare the next generation of educators.”
Lane is an expert in higher education leadership development, university global strategy, data analytics and systems thinking. Having published more than 75 papers and 10 books focused on the changing role of colleges and universities, Lane has been a speaker and consultant in more than 30 countries and is regularly quoted by both higher education and mainstream media outlets about critical issues in higher education. Dr. Lane has been PI on more than $20 million in grants from such sources as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Carnegie Foundation, and the U.S. Department of Education. He has received numerous accolades, including the Award for Outstanding Contributions to International Education Research from the Association for the Study of Higher Education and being named a Fulbright New Century Scholar by the U.S. Department of State.
Dr. Lane first joined the University at Albany faculty in 2007. From 2013-16, he served in several leadership positions at SUNY System Administration including vice provost and senior associate vice chancellor for academic planning and strategic leadership. He is also the founding executive director of SUNY’s Strategic, Academic & Innovative Leadership (SAIL) Institute; director of UAlbany’s Systems Center; and co-director of the Association of Governing Board’s Institute for Leadership and Governance.
“It has been a great privilege to work alongside so many amazing faculty, staff and students as we have continued to advance the School of Education,” said Lane. “It is a privilege to continue to lead this remarkable asset of New York State as we work to strengthen the education and mental health fields in the Capital Region and beyond.”
Lane earned his Ph.D. in higher education and his M.A. in political science from The Pennsylvania State University and his B.S. in political science and business administration from Southeast Missouri State University.
About the School of Education
The School of Education at the University at Albany (SUNY) is primarily a graduate school of education and mental health. Founded in 1844, it is New York’s oldest and leading public higher education institution focused on the preparation of educators, leaders, policy makers and mental health practitioners. Approximately 1,500 students from across New York and around the world are educated annually in more than 60 graduate programs, one undergraduate major in Human Development, and undergraduate minors in education and leadership. The School offers 15 certificate, master’s, and doctoral programs fully online and is consistently ranked by U.S. News & World Report as one of the nation’s top 10 providers of online graduate education. Graduate programs are accredited by the Teacher Education Accreditation Council (TEAC), American Psychological Association (APA), National Association of School Psychologists (NASP), and Masters in Psychology and Counseling Accreditation Council (MPCAC). Faculty are leaders in their fields, both nationally and globally, engaging in more than $6 million in externally funded research annually.