Gardner selected as Deans for Impact fellow
Aug. 30, 2021
Maryville College Associate Professor of Education Dr. Cynthia Gardner was recently selected for a fellowship with the national nonprofit organization Deans for Impact. As an Impact Academy Fellow, Gardner, who also chairs the College’s Division of Education and leads the College’s Teacher Education Program, joins an elite group of 24 educational leaders who will work together for the next year to create transformative change in educator preparation.
Together, fellows will ask the big questions, forming a collaborative network to workshop challenges in the field and seek solutions. In the midst of unprecedented upheaval in education, Impact Academy offers an opportunity for leaders to sharpen their skills through self-reflection, collaborative learning sessions and one-on-one coaching.
“We believe that transformative leadership is the cornerstone of an educator-preparation program that continually works to prepare more effective teachers,” said Benjamin Riley, founder and executive director of Deans for Impact. “We’re thrilled to welcome 24 such leaders into the Impact Academy fellowship, and are excited to support these leaders as they embark on efforts to improve their programs and the field.”
While other leadership experiences focus on nuts-and-bolts training for budgeting or accreditation, Impact Academy Fellows define a strategy for instructional improvement grounded in equity and learning science. Throughout the year, fellows will participate in monthly virtual sessions with regular learning modules and ongoing leadership coaching from Deans for Impact member deans.
“I’m delighted that Dr. Gardner has been selected for the Dean’s Impact Academy,” said Dr. Dan Klingensmith, vice president and dean of Maryville College. “Our teacher education program has a great reputation, but we are always looking for ways to adapt, improve and serve our students better. She also will have quite a lot to contribute to the conversation, based on her extensive experience.”
Gardner holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education, a master’s degree in interdisciplinary studies (emphasis on Earth sciences) and an Ed.D. in curriculum and instruction from the University of South Carolina.
Prior to joining the MC faculty in 2018, she taught at Lander University in Greenwood, S.C., where she served as associate professor, assessment coordinator, department chair and coordinator of elementary education. She also has taught elementary school and high school, and she is a Leave No Trace Trainer and an alumna of the National Outdoor Leadership School.
Gardner will join Impact Academy’s sixth cohort, its largest and most diverse to date. Each cohort is selected through an intensive application process.
Deans for Impact is committed to reflecting the broad diversity of programs preparing new educators in the United States. Fellows in this cohort hail from 17 states, joining from as far north as Alaska and as far east as Brooklyn. They represent public and private universities, Hispanic Serving Institutions and Predominantly Black Institutions, and experiential programs. Collectively, these institutions serve over 10,000 future teachers annually.
Founded in 2015, Deans for Impact is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring that every child is taught by a well-prepared teacher. It emphasizes connecting with leaders of educator preparation programs, helping them transform their programs, sustaining these transformations over time and influencing policy that affects their work. In designing learning experiences, Deans for Impact aims to create inclusive and collaborative spaces that address participants’ real problems of practice and provide concrete examples while recognizing the importance of local context.