School of Education Our History
Prior to 1986 there were two departments in the College of Professional Studies at Colorado State University – the Department of Education and the Department of Vocational Education. On July 1, 1986, these two departments were merged into the School of Occupational and Educational Studies and the first director of the SOES was Dr. Duane Jansen. The SOES quickly established 16 teacher licensure areas, 11 master’s areas, and seven doctoral areas of specialization.
Between 1991 and 1993, the teacher licensure program initiated the use of the Professional Development model for the training of teacher educators. In 1996, the name of the SOES was changed to School of Education, and an additional Ph.D. specialization in Interdisciplinary Studies was added. Finally, during the decade of the 2000s, several graduate specializations were added using on-line delivery (Community College Leadership and College and University Leadership at the Ph.D. level and Adult Education and Training at the master’s level) as well as a campus-based Ph.D. specialization in Research Methodology and an undergraduate degree program in Fire and Emergency Services.
Graduates of our School become, for example, counselors in career and workforce centers, higher education, and community settings; organizational managers, leaders, and change agents; education faculty and researchers in colleges and universities; and administrators in student affairs in community colleges and university settings.
Most recently, through focus and strategic reorganization efforts, the School of Education now supports five (5) master’s specializations (Adult Education and Training; Counseling and Career Development; Educational Leadership; Organizational Learning Performance and Change; Student Affairs in Higher Education) and four (4) doctoral specializations (Educational Equity & Transformation; Higher Education Leadership; Organizational Learning, Performance, and Change; School Leadership) whose graduates embrace leadership roles in an array of dynamic settings and contexts. In addition to these specializations, our teacher licensure programs are housed within the Center for Educator Preparation (CEP), within the School of Education.