Though she recently became the new College of Education dean, Shirley LeFever-Davis chooses to remain outside the spotlight.

Instead, she prefers to discuss the numerous features of the education program, which she said many prospective students are unaware of.

“In this position, I feel very strongly that I’m a servant to the students and the faculty,” she said. “It’s not really about me — it’s about our program.

“We have a lot of things going on. In terms of where we want to go is really highlighting who we are, telling our story, getting more visibility for our college, since there’s a lot that people don’t know about us.”

Among the various qualities of the College of Education, LeFever-Davis emphasized the emerging sports management program, which pairs students with several high-profile professionals in their field. She subsequently explained her desire to further her department’s relationship with community partners, such as ChildStart and The Opportunity Project.

“I think we’re very well-positioned to accomplish our goals,” she said. “We’re already doing great things with our community partners. The faculty and the exercise science program are always doing things with the community, and other companies are always coming to our human performance lab to test their products.”

LeFever-Davis said that, while some aspects of managing a college are still foreign to her, she finds her current position a continuous learning experience.

“It’s hard for me to separate my personal goals from the goals of the college,” she said. “What I want is for our college to excel in this environment and be an integral part of the growth and the mission of the university.

“I want to do the best job that I can to promote our college,” she said. “Every day, I feel like I’m growing, I’m learning something new every single day. With every person that I meet on campus, I learn another thing about how the university operates and how we can position ourselves so that we’re more effective, more efficient with our resources.”