Darden College of Education and Professional Studies

The Darden College of Education and Professional Studies is one of the colleges at Old Dominion University. Located in the state-of-the-art Education Building at the corner of 43rd Street and Hampton Boulevard, the college is named after Colgate Darden, Jr., U.S. Representative from Virginia (1933-37, 1939-1941), Governor of Virginia (1942-1946), Chancellor of the College of William & Mary (1946-1947), and President of the University of Virginia (1947-1959). The college is divided into the Department of Communication Disorders and Special Education, the Department of Counseling and Human Services, the Department of Educational Foundations and Leadership, the Department of Human Movement Sciences, the Department of STEM Education and Professional Services (STEMPS), and the Department of Teaching and Learning.

History

Courses in education were offered at the Norfolk Division as early as the fall of 1930 in the afternoon and evening. Later, classes were taught through the division’s Evening College. As the Norfolk Division was a two-year school, students who wished to earn their bachelor’s degrees in education would take their general classes at the division and then transfer to four-year colleges to complete their course work. Around 1950, the division created the University of Virginia Extension Program through the Evening College to provide students in Hampton Roads the possibility of earning a Master of Education through courses from the University of Virginia. Dr. Stanley Pliska was charged with directing the program, which lasted until the mid-1950s. In 1953, the Norfolk Division was allowed to create a handful of four-year bachelor’s degrees for the first time, including a bachelor of science in elementary education with the first students to graduate in 1957. A bachelor of science in secondary education was added in 1955 with the first students to graduate from the program in 1958.

In 1961, the Education Department was organized into the School of Business, and two years later, the School of Education was established with T. Ross Fink as its first dean. The first home of the School of Education was in a building on the corner of 49th Street and Hampton Boulevard known as “Fink’s Flats,” after its first dean. Teacher certification began to take shape around 1963 with those who received their bachelor degrees from Old Dominion would also received the Collegiate Professional Certificate upon completion of student teaching. The School of Education was established in 1963 shortly after Old Dominion became an independent institution in July 1962.  In the fall of 1964, Old Dominion established a Master of Education in Elementary Education program with the first students to graduate in 1966. Around 1966, the Master of Education in Secondary Education was added and in 1968, the school was renamed the Darden School of Education in honor of Colgate Darden, Jr., former governor of Virginia and a strong proponent for education in Virginia. The following year, the school moved into the new Education Building on what would be referred to as Kaufman Mall.

In 1979, Ulysses V. Spiva, from Florida International University, was selected as the new Dean of the Darden School of Education, becoming Old Dominion’s first African American dean. In 1986, as part of the university’s plan to modernize its academic units by renaming them as colleges, the school became the Darden College of Education. Due to the outdated facilities in the Education Building and the expansion of its services and programs, the college moved into a new education building at the corner of 43rd Street and Hampton Boulevard in the fall of 2016. In September 2018, to better align itself with the programs offered, the college changed its name to the Darden College of Education and Professional Studies. In 2019, the college launched new bachelor of science degrees to address the statewide shortage of teachers in the Commonwealth. The degrees include majors in early childhood education, elementary education, secondary education, and career and technical education. In addition, the college also initiated the master of library and information science (MLIS) degree in the fall of 2019, the first of its kind in Virginia.

Deans

1963-1964: T. Ross Fink

1964-1969: Franklin Jones

1969-1972: A. Rufus Tonelson

1972-1977: Dwight H. Newell

1977-1979: Dennis Rittenmeyer, Acting Dean

1979-1984: Ulysses V. Spiva

1985-1994: Donald A. Myers

1994-1995: Stephen Greiner, Acting Dean

1995-2000: Donna Evans

2000-2001: Jane Hager, Interim Dean

2001-2010: William H. Graves, III

2010-2013: Linda Irwin-DeVitis

2013-2020: Jane Bray

2020-present: Tammi Dice; Interim Dean, 2020-June 9, 2022

Resources

1. Dean of the Darden College of Education Records, Special Collections and University Archives, Patricia W. and J. Douglas Perry Library, Old Dominion University Libraries, Norfolk, VA 23529.
2. Old Dominion University Photographic and Multimedia Collection, Special Collections and University Archives, Patricia W. and J. Douglas Perry Library, Old Dominion University Libraries, Norfolk, VA 23529.
3. A. Rufus Tonelson Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Patricia W. and J. Douglas Perry Library, Old Dominion University Libraries, Norfolk, VA 23529.

References

1. Old Dominion University Catalogs, Special Collections and University Archives, Patricia W. and J. Douglas Perry Library, Old Dominion University Libraries, Norfolk, VA 23529.
2. Old Dominion University Board of Visitors Records, Special Collections and University Archives, Patricia W. and J. Douglas Perry Library, Old Dominion University Libraries, Norfolk, VA 23529.
3. Old Dominion University Faculty and Staff Directories, Special Collections and University Archives, Patricia W. and J. Douglas Perry Library, Old Dominion University Libraries, Norfolk, VA 23529.