Posamentier Sets the Bar High for Mercy College School of Education

Second place doesn't cut it for Mercy College's Alfred S. Posamentier.

The newly appointed dean of Mercy's School of Education—so new, in fact, that he was still setting up his bookshelves and organizing his office this past Monday when I stopped in to interview him--is unapologetic about his ambitions for the department.

 "I'm leaving a position where I did everything we could do there," said Alfred Posamentier, who spent 41 years at City College, including 10 years as the dean for the school of education. During his tenure, The City College School of Education was first in New York State's ranking of education schools, an impressive improvement from its position in the cellar when Posamentier came on board.

And he's just as confident that he can achieve the same results at Mercy, where he's responsible for 1900 graduate and undergraduate students.

 "I had so much fun doing this at City," said Posamentier. "I want to make [Mercy College] the top school of education in the area. The faculty I've met so far is very impressive, with great qualifications."

So what does it mean, at least to Dr. Posamentier, to raise the bar as high as possible at Mercy?

"It obviously means producing first rate teachers and supervisors," he said. "It means providing the immediate community, in the Bronx and Westchester, with the services we can provide. They provide our teacher candidates with a real setting in which to prepare for their careers."

There are other ways he'd like to engage the community with Mercy's education school. For example, at City College, Posamentier offered a high school math program on Saturdays, that involved several hundred students. "I'd like to do that here as well," he said.

There are other goals Posamentier has for the school. He'd like to add "an international dimension to the school—there's a tremendous interest in Europe in American education—and draw much closer ties with other Mercy College departments."

"That's absolutely essential," he said. And faculty development is also something Posamentier would like to enhance, possibly with a "seminar series for staff."

While Posamentier is nationally recognized for his scholarship and leadership in mathematics education, he's also well aware of the broader issues in education, recognizing the global need for teachers—no matter what their subject—to engage with their students' parents.

"It's not rocket science," he said. "Kids who get support at home do better; teachers have to learn how to work with parents."

Posamentier believe his experience helps him see the long view about educational issues and trends.

Regarding his specific area or expertise, mathematics education, he said, "The problems in math stem back as far as you can see. There's always a shortage of math teachers."

Still, he cautioned that: "You can't make math teachers overnight. One of the things I've learned over lots of years is that the fast track to education [certification] needs to be done with tender, loving care. Whenever compromises are made, there are long term implications."

And after all these years Posamentier himself, a born and bred Manhattanite who now lives in Northern New Jersey, hadn't lost any of that first-day-of-school enthusiasm.

 "I'm very excited about the prospect of making change," he said.