Marius Boboc, a faculty member and administrator at Cleveland State University, has been named the next dean of UMSL’s College of Education and will assume his new position on July 1.
The University of Missouri–St. Louis has chosen Marius Boboc, a faculty member and administrator at Cleveland State University, to serve as the new dean of the College of Education.
Boboc, selected after a nationwide search, will assume his new position on July 1, with Ann Taylor continuing to serve as dean until her retirement.
“I’m very pleased to welcome Marius Boboc to the UMSL community,” said Steven J. Berberich, UMSL’s provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs. “Marius will continue the College of Education’s strong reputation for meeting the urban educational needs of St. Louis and continue to expand its impressive research activity.”
Boboc has spent the past 22 years as part of the faculty at Cleveland State’s Levin College of Public Affairs and Education. For the past year, he has served as chair of the Department of Teacher Education.
As chair, Boboc co-directed a $3.4 million federal grant program designed to promote effective teaching in urban schools through a one-year residency for teacher candidates, coupled with continued support through mentoring during the first year of full-time teaching. He also helped lead a state grant-funded program to address teacher shortages and to recruit and retain a diverse educator workforce.
Boboc has also held positions as the vice provost and accreditation liaison officer and director of assessment in the Office of Academic Planning.
He recognizes the role UMSL plays as the premier public research university in the St. Louis region and a key driver of workforce development. He also feels there is a strong link between his work at Cleveland State, a fellow urban institution, and UMSL.
“Coming from a peer institution located in downtown Cleveland, UMSL’s mission fully resonates with how I witnessed first-hand an urban-serving, metropolitan university transforming lives and promoting social mobility and economic development,” he said. “The points of pride that weave the story that UMSL has to share with the world presented a very dynamic context to me, which reinforced my interest in the position of dean of the College of Education.
“In terms of the latter, my on-campus visit and the conversations I had with various stakeholders converged toward providing clear evidence that the college is a hub of innovation supported by critically important community-facing work spearheaded by talented and dedicated faculty and staff.”
Student success has been a constant focus for Boboc during his time at Cleveland State. As chair of the Department of Curriculum and Foundations, a position he held from 2012 to 2016, Boboc worked closely with administrators, faculty and several local school districts to design and implement a new clinically-based teacher preparation program. He also oversaw two initiatives to reduce out-of-state tuition to attract graduate students.
Boboc, who holds a master’s degree in teacher leadership from Roosevelt University and an EdD in curriculum and instruction from the University of Northern Iowa, plans to build upon the UMSL College of Education’s already rigorous teacher preparation program and strengthen strategic partnerships, while actively involving alumni, students and community leaders.
“Focusing on the College of Education at UMSL, elevating the profile of all programs as well as the research, scholarship and creative activities in which faculty engage on a regular basis is one of the pillars of my service as dean,” he said.
He knows the first few months on the job will be busy, but he’s eager to begin learning all he can about the college, university and St. Louis community and to start transforming lives.
“It is very exciting to be a part of the current work across campus that positions us well to bring to life our mission as an anchor institution,” Boboc said. “As such, the College of Education will continue to be at the forefront of innovation by our research, teaching, service and the full range of ways in which we engage the communities we serve.”
