BU names new Dean of the College of Education
Bloomsburg University’s Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, Diana Rogers-Adkinson, has officially named Daryl Fridley as the university’s Dean of the College of Education.
Fridley comes to Bloomsburg with nearly 30 years of experience in public education, including the last 13 years at Southeast Missouri State University. He started at Southeast Missouri State as a faculty member in the Department of History and coordinator of the Social Studies Education program. During that stage of his career, he oversaw a significant revision of the program and also helped the program gain national recognition from the National Council for the Social Studies. Fridley also assisted students in creating a student group for social studies majors.
In 2013 he was named associate dean in what was then the College of Education and is now known as the College of Education, Health, and Human Studies.
“I’m excited to have the opportunity to work with the dedicated, creative, and passionate staff and faculty in the BU College of Education,” said Fridley. “It’s an honor to become a part of the university’s long tradition of preparing excellent educators for the region.”
As associate dean at Southeast Missouri, Fridley coordinated and oversaw all aspects of the Educator Preparation Program, including certification, curriculum alignment, field experiences, assessment, and accreditation. Under his leadership, the program developed an annual program review process, revised nearly all programs to align with new state guidelines, achieved CAEP accreditation in the spring of 2018, and, most recently, earned a renewal of its status as an Apple Distinguished School.
“Dr. Fridley brings a wealth of diverse experiences to the dean’s position,” said Rogers-Adkinson. “He is wholly committed to student success, and his innovative ideas and collaborative spirit will make him an effective leader in the college.”
While he has focused much of his attention on the internal workings of university educator preparation programs, Fridley’s career is defined by a commitment to the power of collaboration. Working with colleagues across Missouri and in the Missouri state department, he co-led an effort that resulted in the creation of an innovative assessment system for educator preparation programs. He was also instrumental in the construction of a state-wide student teaching assessment and worked to develop meaningful partnerships with P-12 schools. That partnership led to the creation of a year-long internship program that began in the fall of 2019.
Fridley also served as the acting chair for the Department of Leadership, Middle, and Secondary Education and was a member of the Board of Directors of the Missouri Association of Colleges for Teacher Education.
He spent the first half of his career teaching in P-12 schools in Georgia, New Mexico, and Missouri. Inspired by challenges he encountered in schools, Fridley applied for and was awarded a Morris Doctoral Fellowship to study at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. He earned his Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction in 2006. He earned a B.A. in secondary education and social studies from Anderson University in 1989 and an M.A. in history from Southeast Missouri State University in 1999.
Fridley is also the proud parent to adult children, Olivia and Rowan, who live in St. Louis, Mo. Prior to Fridley’s arrival at BU, Darlene Perner, professor of exceptionality programs, had been serving as the College of Education’s interim dean.