Eastern hosted a College of Education dean candidate Tuesday.

Lisa Amundson, the dean of social science and education at Greenville University, was the first candidate to visit Eastern for the COE dean search.

Amundson has been in her current position as a dean for two years.

Greenville University is a private university with 1,132 students according to the U.S. News & World Report.

Amundson felt like coming to Eastern would be a “step up.”

“We (Greenville University) are surviving and not really thriving yet and frankly, although I know those resources are short here, I think you guys have a lot of hope. Looking from the outside in, there’s a lot of hope in a public university that’s this size, especially in the region that you’re in,” Amundson said. “There was some hard decisions I know that were made in 2015 and you have gotten through those and the College of Education has gotten through those and has been able to sustain an enrollment and right now I just feel like you guys are in a place that’s just ready to take off and frankly I want to be a part of that.”

In the objective section of Amundson’s vita she said:

“My career centers around educating God’s children. I began with teaching students with significant disabilities in a public-school setting. Although my passion will always be with them, my reach has since expanded into multiple aspects and avenues while continuing towards my original goal. I have developed programs, supervised and mentored teachers, taught in teacher preparation programs, and completed research all with the constant quest to discover how the field of education, can best serve and benefit God’s children.”

Amundson described herself as a facilitator.

“You have to know what they’re doing, I have to know what’s happening and you only do that when you’re listening and walking alongside them and you’re understanding what they’re doing and not necessarily dictating how they’re going to be doing that, letting them have that ability to do that,” Amundson said. “I think that’s what a facilitator does and if things get in the way or they need an advocate for what they’re doing because they need more funds, that would be a part of a facilitator’s job as well. ”

Amundson said one of the things she is proud of during her time as dean at Greenville University is the way the college was able to partner with the surrounding community.

“We renovated a local daycare that was going out business…and the local school district comes in and is in that building with their three through five-year olds and our students go and do their field experience there and it’s a fantastic program…it’s exciting,” Amundson said.

In Amundson’s vita she stated she graduated from Greenville University with her bachelor of science degree in special education, with a masters of education in school counseling from the University of Missouri and her Ph.D. in teaching and learning from the University of Missouri.

The next dean candidate for the COE will be hosted Jan. 27.

Corryn Brock can be reached at 581-2812 or at [email protected].