USU Names Interim Dean for College of Education and Human Services

Utah State University has named Beth Foley, professor and department head of Communicative Disorders and Deaf Education, as interim dean of the Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services. Foley assumes her duties June 1.

 

Foley will replace the current dean, Carol Strong, who retires May 31.

 

Raymond T. Coward, executive vice president and provost at USU, said the university is continuing a national search for a successor to Strong. The search committee will continue to work through the summer and intends to host the next round of candidates on campus in early fall.  

 

Coward said Foley is highly respected by her colleagues and is a proven and experienced higher education administrator who is well qualified to lead the college during this important period of transition.

 

“We are extremely grateful that Dr. Foley would interrupt her current plans and obligations to assume this important leadership role,” Coward said. “We look forward to working with her to continue the positive momentum our colleagues in this college have created and generated.”

 

Strong said she has worked closely with Foley for many years in varying capacities, so she has first-hand knowledge of Foley’s many talents.

 

“Dr. Foley is uniquely qualified to serve in this position,” Strong said. “She is well respected for her service as department head, and her commitment to students is beyond reproach — she is beloved by all.”

 

Strong said Foley has taken a leadership role in serving students in rural areas of the state and beyond through outstanding innovations in online distance education. She also has successfully generated funds for her department through development, legislative appropriations and external contract and grant funds. Foley is well-known nationally and internationally for her scholarship in augmentative and alternative communication for individuals with disabilities and has received many awards for her teaching excellence. 

 

Foley said she is honored to be asked to serve as interim dean during this transition.

 

“I’m excited to help the college maintain the excellence that has defined it during Dr. Strong’s tenure as dean,” Foley said. “It is an honor to be asked to work in this capacity with colleagues who make this college one of the top schools of education in the nation. And, of course, Dr. Strong leaves some very large shoes to fill.”

 

Foley has a bachelor’s, a master’s and a doctorate degree in communication disorders from the University of Massachusetts. She has been at USU since 1993.

 

She has research expertise in augmentative and alternative communication, assistive technology, language and literacy development, and adult language disorders. She has worked locally with organizations such as the Cache Employment and Training Center and internationally with Gabriel House, an orphanage in Mexico, to change the lives of individuals with complex communication disorders.

 

She also has experience fundraising. With colleagues, she secured funding for Sound Beginnings, an early intervention program at USU serving children with hearing loss, as well as a related interdisciplinary graduate training program in listening and spoken language. Foley also secured funding for distance delivery of interactive American Sign Language and interpreter training courses.

 

She was instrumental in securing funding for a distance education associate’s degree in General Studies in collaboration with the Hadley School for the Blind, first and second bachelor’s degrees in Communicative Disorders and Deaf Education and an outreach master’s degree in Speech Language Pathology. These distance education programs have brought students from all over the world and all walks of life into USU as both undergraduate and graduate students.

 

In the next several weeks, Strong will be visiting with the faculty in the Department of Communicative Disorders and Deaf Education to seek their advice and counsel regarding the appointment of an interim department head to serve during Foley’s absence.

 

USU Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services