A UF dean was appointed to an international advisory board in the United Arab Emirates.
Glenn E. Good, dean of the UF College of Education, will join three other education leaders in Abu Dhabi, UAE, at the blue-ribbon International Advisory Panel for the Emirates College for Advanced Education.
“I would like to support them in their efforts to develop high-quality education in that region of the country,” Good said.
Good is one of two American educators on the panel for the education center affiliated with the Abu Dhabi Education Council.
“The dean's recent appointment is exciting for the college,” said Christine Hankin, a 20-year-old UF elementary education junior. “Our university has such a wonderful academic reputation in the medical and engineering areas, and now it's great to see some international recognition being given to our school's great education program.”
His appointment came at the same time the College of Education extended its partnership with the Abu Dhabi Education Council.
The collaboration of teachers seeks to create a new generation of teachers in Abu Dhabi.
“It shows that we are not only making contributions as important leaders of today, but we are putting just as much emphasis on how important it is to nurture students – the leaders of tomorrow,” Hankin said.
Good was invited to serve on the panel by Mohamed Yousif Hasan Baniyas, the vice chancellor of the Emirates College for Advanced Education and the higher education adviser to the Abu Dhabi Education Council.
Michael Blachly, director of the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, said the dean is qualified to represent the university in this initiative.
“Through his tenure at the University of Florida, he has moved the College of Education strategically and effectively in meeting the needs of young people in our country in public education,” Blachly said. “This would transfer well to an international arena where his influence would have a long term impact.”
The panel will meet twice a year, and UF will receive $5,000 per year for his participation, Good said. The panel will also pay for his travel and accommodation.
The other members of the four-member panel include leaders from the Institute of Education at the University of London, the National Institute of Education-Singapore and the American Educational Research Association.
“With a growing emphasis on globalization and multiculturalism in education,” Hankin said, “I think the dean's appointment is significant in that it places UF in a very important position of helping to create a new generation of teachers that will be changing the way we educate.
