Everyone experiences a life-altering moment that changes the focus of their career.
For Thomas R. Koballa, Jr., it was invertebrate zoology.

“I developed a great affinity for the sciences as a biology major at East Carolina University,” he said, speaking about his days as a lab teaching assistant. “That was the seed that led me to where I am today.” Thirty years after beginning a long and distinguished academic career, Koballa is the new dean of Georgia Southern’s College of Education (COE).

Koballa assumed his new position on July 1, and he already has very definite concepts in place for the future of COE. “Where some people are ready to implement a series of changes when they start a new position, I come with a vision for success,” he said. His plan in the upcoming months is to better acquaint himself with the 95-plus members of the faculty and staff, strengthening the “team” that is already in place, and becoming an advocate for the COE. “The more I learn about the faculty, the better equipped I am to help them with their teaching and research. After all, I’m working for the faculty – the faculty doesn’t work for me. They may get tired of seeing me upstairs,” he laughed, speaking of his plans to frequently visit the faculty in all areas of the College.

“The COE is much broader than just teacher education – it’s a collaborative effort preparing educational leaders, counselors and also school psychologists. In order to have effective programs, the COE faculty must collaborate with schools in the community, faculty in other colleges and among themselves,” he said.

One way to do this is through sharing and distributing leadership. For example, Koballa sees himself as a teacher/scholar and encourages the staff and faculty to think about the ways these roles work together. “I think it’s important to ask ourselves, ‘How does my classroom instruction affect my research, and how does my research affect my role in the classroom?’ Each faculty member is a leader in whatever they do, and we all lead in different ways,” he said.

When Koballa first arrived at Georgia Southern, he was influenced by a framed photograph in the COE that pictured the administration building and a sign showing the name, South Georgia Teachers College. Following its early days as a district agricultural and mechanical school, Georgia Southern became a teacher training school in 1924. “We don’t want to lose touch with our heritage. After all, preparing educators for Georgia’s schools is an important part of the legacy of this University,” he said.