Higher Education History

Graduate programs at Iowa State University are of long standing. President A. S. Welch's Plan of Organization for Iowa State Agricultural College in 1869 called for a professorship in the Science and Art of Teaching, and for giving special training to those of both sexes who chose to teach. In this land-grant tradition, the advanced degree programs in education have continued to serve the needs of the state, the nation, and the world.

The actual roots of the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies (formerly Department of Professional Studies in Education) began in 1919 when the Department of Vocational Education was split from the Department of Agriculture Education. Guy M. Wilson served as department chair for both departments until 1924. In 1924, W. Lancelot was appointed Head of Vocational Education and Agriculture Education. They were then combined into a new division called the Division of Vocational Education, where all of the graduate programs in education were housed. Barton Morgan was named the Division Head in 1936 and Dr. Ray Bryan was named Head in 1950.

Doctoral work began in the late 1930s and blossomed in the early 1960s. Much of the work in the early 1960s was done by Dr. Bryan and Dr. Virgil Lagomarcino. The first Ph.D. in education was given in 1941, with fewer than eight awarded each year until 1965.

The College of Education was formed in 1968, with Dr. Virgil Lagomarcino serving as Dean (until he retired in 1990). The organization of the college took place through a five-year transition period starting in September of 1968. No departments existed until 1973, but four administrative units were created: (1) secondary education, (2) elementary education, (3) professional studies in education and (4) industrial education. These four areas became departments in 1973. Dr. Ray Bryan was the first chair of the Department of Professional Studies in Education until he retired in 1975.

In 1965, the Higher Education program area was formed in response to the State Legislative Act of 1965 (the creation of the community college). This act created a need for administrative and licensure programs for faculty and staff in community colleges that would serve the needs of the newly emerging community colleges. This part of the program became the community college emphasis in higher education, which was developed in cooperation with the then Iowa Department of Public Instruction (now known as the Iowa Department of Education). While this development was occurring in the community college area, a committee of faculty chaired by then Head of Psychology, Wilbur Layton, developed a series of courses that created a strong component area in student affairs. Also on the committee was Dr. Arthur Sandeen who had just joined the university in 1967 (coming from Michigan State) and was then serving as the Associate Dean of Students and Assistant Professor of Education (emphasis in Higher Education). The series of courses developed by the committee became what is now known as the student affairs emphasis in higher education.

As the two emphases in higher education were developed, Dr. Arthur Sandeen, Dr. Milt Brown, Associate Professor of Higher Education, and Dr. Arthur Gowan, Director of Admissions and Records and Associate Professor of Higher Education, constituted the Higher Education program area faculty. Dr. Lagomarcino, Dean of the College, also served as a faculty member and taught courses both in Educational Administration and Higher Education. Dr. Sandeen became Dean of Students and Associate Professor of Higher Education in 1969, serving in both positions until he left ISU in 1973 to assume the position of Vice President for Student Affairs at the University of Florida at Gainesville. In 1972, Dr. Larry Ebbers, the first Ph.D. graduate of the Higher Education program (in 1971), assumed the position of Assistant to the Dean of the College of Education and Assistant Professor of Higher Education. In 1977, Dr. Thomas Thielen joined the Iowa State University staff as Vice President for Student Affairs and Associate Professor of Higher Education. Dr. Thielen retired as Vice President in 1996 and from his teaching position in 1999. Dr. Milt Brown served as section leader of the program until 1979 when he retired, at which time Dr. Ebbers assumed leadership of the program until a permanent section leader could be hired.

The following year, 1980, Dr. James Ratcliff was hired as the section leader for Higher Education. Dr. Daniel Robinson joined the faculty as an Adjunct Assistant Professor in 1981. He had been with the university since 1975, serving as a Counseling Psychologist in the Student Counseling Center. In 1986, Dr. Robinson left the Student Counseling Center and became Adjunct Associate Professor of Higher Education and Assistant Dean of the College of Education. Dr. Ratcliff left Iowa State and the section leader position in 1989 and became Director of the Center for the Study of Higher Education at Pennsylvania State University. Dan Robinson (who had moved to full professor status in 1988) was appointed the new section leader for Higher Education.

Later in 1989, Elizabeth Whitt was hired as a full-time Assistant Professor, staying for five years. Dr. Ebbers assumed the role of Program Coordinator (formerly called Section Leader) in 1994, until the summer of 1996 when he became the Interim Associate Dean of the College of Education, at which time Dr. Robinson again became Program Coordinator. A variety of Adjunct and Temporary faculty have served the Higher Education program area, including Dr. Judy Grace, currently a faculty member at Pennsylvania State University, and Dr. Lester Goodchild, currently a faculty member at the University of Denver.

After a year and a half long search, in January 1996, Dr. Florence "Flo" Hamrick was selected for the position of Assistant Professor of Higher Education. She received tenure and promotion to Associate Professor in 2002. In August 1997, Dr. Nancy Evans, Associate Professor, and Dr. John Schuh, Professor, joined the Higher Education faculty. In August 1997, Dr. John Van Ast also joined the Higher Education faculty as a Professor, transferring from the Department of Industrial Education and Technology. He retired from the faculty in 2003. Dr. Schuh served as Program Coordinator in 1997-1998. When he assumed the position of department chair for Educational Leadership and Policy Studies in the fall of 1998, Dr. Evans took over the responsibilities of Program Coordinator. She achieved the rank of Professor in 2001. In 1998, Dr. Emily Moore joined the faculty as Professor of Higher Education. Also in 1998, Dr. Herman Blake assumed the position of Director of the African American Studies program and Professor of Higher Education. He retired from the university in 2005. In 2002, Dr. Deborah Kilgore transferred her program affiliation from Organizational Leadership and Human Resource Development to Higher Education. She left Iowa State University in 2005. Dr. Barbara Licklider transferred from Educational Administration to Higher Education in 2002, reflecting her current interests in teaching and learning. In 2003, Dr. Frankie Santos Laanan joined the faculty, bringing additional expertise in community college administration. In 2004, Dr. Hamrick assumed program co-coordinator responsibilities, along with Dr. Evans. Fall 2005 saw the addition of three additional faculty members: ELPS Department Chair, Dr. Laura Rendon, Assistant Professor Dr. Nana Osei-Kofi, and Assistant Professor Lori Patton.