Welcome to the Seidel School of Education and Professional Studies at Salisbury University. I extend to you our warm welcome and invitation to explore our web pages. The Seidel School of Education and Professional Studies is the first school of education in Maryland to receive an endowment and one of the first in the nation. We are grateful for the generosity of Mr. and Mrs. Sam Seidel whose gift created the endowment. You can learn more about our endowment within these web pages.

Also within these web pages you will find information about our programs at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, information about our faculty, special programs, and reports of our students' performance on assessments in the teacher education program. You will see that we have much to be proud of in the Seidel School.

The Seidel School is composed of three departments: Education, Social Work, and Health, Physical Education and Human Performance. All three departments host nationally accredited programs. Athletic Training is accredited by the Commission of Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP), and the Exercise Science program is being reviewed this academic year by the same organization. Both the Bachelor's degree and Master's degree programs in Social Work are accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE).. Education programs are accredited by the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) and are approved by the Maryland State Department of Education.

The faculty and staff and students of the Seidel School are teachers, social workers or professional physical or health educators who make a difference in the lives of the people they serve. We're proud of our past, and excited about our future. That future includes plans for a new home for both the Education and Social Work Departments--the Teacher Education and Technology Center is scheduled to receive final funding approval in the 2006 budget, and pending approval, groundbreaking will occur in the fall of 2006, with construction anticipated to be completed two years later.

Dr. Dennis Pataniczek was appointed Dean of the Seidel School of Education and Professional Studies at Salisbury University in July of 2002. He came from Florida Gulf Coast University where he was the Founding Director of the School of Education there. Prior to that, he held faculty and administrative posts at the State University of New York College at Brockport and the University of Oregon.

Dr. Pataniczek has a bachelor's degree in History from Michigan State University, a master's degree in Confluent Education from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction from Michigan State University. He taught in the public schools (secondary history and government) for several years before pursuing graduate work. He has taught in teacher education programs since 1978.

Since arriving in Maryland in 2002, Dr. Pataniczek has been very active in the educational community, and has served as convenor of the USM-MICUA Education Deans, served on the Professional Development Advisory Committee, the State Teacher Education Council, the Teacher Requirements Study Group, the AAT Oversight Committee, the Teacher Education Approval and Accreditation Advisory Committee, and the Achievement Initiative for Maryland’s Minority Students (AIMMS) Steering Committee. He is currently President-Elect of the Maryland Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (MACTE).