Valerie Rutledge joined the UTC faculty in 1995 after teaching English and Latin for Hamilton County schools.
Valerie Rutledge, dean of the College of Health, Education and Professional Studies at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, has been selected for a national leadership fellowship committed to improving educator preparation.
Deans for Impact, a nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring that every child is taught by a well-prepared teacher, named Rutledge one of 17 fellows for the Impact Academy fellowship’s fifth set of members. The organization’s year-long Impact Academy gives dean-level leaders the skills, knowledge and strategies to pursue instructional excellence.
“I think this will give me—and UTC by connection—a voice that has more influence on a wider scale than just right here in our own town and our own state,” said Rutledge, who joined the UTC faculty in 1995 after teaching English and Latin for Hamilton County schools.
“If all of us are headed in the same direction of trying to prepare the best teachers possible, there are some commonalities that we can all talk about, share best practices and learn what worked for somebody else—and then benefit from it ourselves,” said Rutledge, who became director of the School of Education in 2003 and was named dean of CHEPS in 2013.
The newest Impact Academy cohort spans 12 states and collectively prepares over 6,600 teachers annually. Every member was selected following an intensive nomination, application and interview process.
“We believe that transformative leadership is the cornerstone of an educator-preparation program that embraces an improvement mentality and prioritizes candidate learning above all else,” said Benjamin Riley, founder and executive director of Deans for Impact.
This year’s Impact Academy fellowship combines monthly virtual sessions with regular learning modules and ongoing leadership coaching from Deans for Impact member deans. Fellows strengthen their ability to engage faculty, staff and K-12 school partners in a shared vision for change.
Collaborating with others nationwide is an opportunity to hear different ideas from different perspectives but all working toward the same goals, Rutledge said.
“This gives us the chance to hear from other people who have a similar interest who might want to throw out ideas that we would all benefit from. When we meet with our colleagues from here in Tennessee, for example, we find ourselves focused on many of the same things,” she said.
“Even though we are different institutions—some private, some public, various sizes—it tends to be that we all have very similar ideas we focus on. Having a larger voice expands that even further.”
Additional information about Deans for Impact and the Impact Academy fellowship can be located at deansforimpact.org.
