School of Education’s Biklen appointed new deans’ representative to Chancellor’s Cabinet

School of Education’s Biklen appointed new deans’ representative to Chancellor’s CabinetJanuary 11, 2008Kevin Morrowkdmorrow@syr.edu

College of Arts and Sciences Dean Cathryn Newton has relinquished her position as deans’ representative on Chancellor Nancy Cantor’s Cabinet, and Cantor has selected Douglas Biklen, dean of the School of Education, to assume this role effective immediately.

The Chancellor’s Cabinet is composed of senior-level administrators, each a head of a major division of the University. Newton was appointed as the deans’ representative to the Chancellor’s Cabinet in September 2006.

Newton expressed a desire to focus her time and energy on preparing the college for a transition in leadership at the end of the current academic year. She previously announced her plans to step down as dean as of June 30. Newton will take a yearlong sabbatical before returning to SU as the University’s first professor of interdisciplinary sciences.

Biklen has been dean of the School of Education since 2005. He is also professor of cultural foundations of education and teaching and leadership, a faculty member in disability studies and director of SU’s Facilitated Communication Institute. His work involves teaching and research on the sociology of disability, inclusive education and communication.

Biklen has written or co-written numerous books on inclusion, including “Access to Academics” (Lawrence Erbaum, 2003), “Schooling Without Labels: Parents, Teachers and Inclusive Education” (Temple University Press, 1992) and “An Alternative Textbook in Special Education” (Love Publishing Co., 1977). He has also produced and co-produced documentaries, including the award-winning film “My Classic Life as an Artist: Portrait of Larry Bissonnette” (2005), “Autism is a World” (State of the Art Inc. & CNN Productions, 2004) and “Regular Lives” (PBS, 1988).