Online Edition | Washington State University | Pullman, Washington | Friday, January 11, 2002

2002 National president
Pursuing administrative excellence
By Rod Foss, WSU Today

What do you think of when you hear the word "research"? At Washington State University, where cutting-edge investigation into the sciences and agriculture is one of the core purposes, any of a number of things can come to mind. But have you ever heard of a national education-research think-tank called the University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA)?

Embryonic in 1954 but fully formed and funded (by a grant from the Kellogg foundation) in 1959, this institution has been studying the theories and dynamics of administrator education for over 40 years. So, what’s special about the UCEA?

Ask Professor Gail Furman, Ph.D. in Educational Administration (1989, WSU), who works in the Department of Educational Leadership and Counseling Psychology. She can speak authoritatively on UCEA. She has been associated with the consortium of 67 colleges since 1990 and a "plenum" member since 1996 (the plenum elects the executive committee of nine). Two years ago, the plenum elected her to the executive committee. And lastly, in a Cincinnatti convention last November, the plenum elected her as their 41st president, the first from the Pacific Northwest.

Sit and talk with this Davis Award winner, and you soon sense her clear and careful precision as she speaks on the issues of administrator education, for which she has a controlled and methodical passion. Furman will tell you that UCEA is at the forefront of administrator education research and is especially responding to current political and cultural pressures for education reform. Training, testing and screening of K–12 teachers is a national hot button. And in the furor, school leaders — district managers, administrators and principals who are responsible for school "success" — can get overlooked.

The professional knowledge that the consortium acquires, Furman explains, can be useful to the K–12 school leaders who look into the ever-changing face of demographics and policies.

"We need a stronger, more explicit understanding between leadership and learning," says Furman, "Especially in the context of diversity."

The student community differs more today than at any other time, and Furman believes that school leaders need access to a scholar-level of knowledge, not just to cope but to move forward in strides that foresee future problems and enable possible solutions now.

That’s where UCEA comes in.

"We want to see excellence in the field of leadership education, she said."

As students pursue Ph.D.s and Ed.D.s, in educational research at UCEA-member universities, the information base they develop can be communicated through the consortium by means of seminars and conferences, university program centers, websites, quarterlies and newsletters. UCEA encourages school administrators to use these resources. Other universities can assimilate and adopt UCEA discoveries into the programs and studies that prepare K-12 administrators for their positions. UCEA looks for the findings that will help leaders better understand just what student learning really is and how social justice and diversity issues play a part.

Furman admits the UCEA presidency has been a professional goal.

"It’s a high point in my career," she says. And WSU can’t help but benefit.

"We will have a stronger link to research, political issues, foundation funding and more timely updates on accreditation information," asserts Furman. "Our own program will be strengthened."

Her election has the potential to put WSU and the other Pacific Northwest UCEA-member universities into the national spotlight of leadership education.

During her one-year term, she wants to see the sound theories that evolve out of excellent scholarship come down to the real world of everyday teaching practices.

"The link of theory to instruction hasn’t always been there," she explains. "And what is in place (of research knowledge) isn’t always student-centered."

Furman anticipates that her new duties will consume about 10% of her time, with five extra trips over the course of her year as president.

"I won’t be bored," she said.

But the coming year could be hectic. What would she do if she got a chance to relax?

"I like to kayak," she says, "it’s therapeutic recreation. I enjoy lakes, rivers, or the ocean equally well."

Gail Furman at the helm — alone in a kayak or at the head of a pioneering research organization. Both images seem to fit.