Dr. Stephen Davis Retires
The College of Education and Integrative Studies and the Department of Education bid farewell to Dr. Stephen Davis at a luncheon celebration on Wednesday, December 10, 2014 held at Kellogg West Conference Center. Joining Steve at the event was his wife, Pat and their boxer, Mia.
Steve joined the Cal Poly Pomona Faculty just over seven years ago after an illustrious career at Stanford, The University of the Pacific and a career in P-12 with service as teacher, high school principal, Assistant Superintendent of HR and as a school superintendent.
Steve’s original assignment at Cal Poly Pomona was to support the developing Doctoral Program and growing programs in Educational Administration. However, soon after his arrival an RFP (Request for Proposals) from the United States Department of Education announcing a competitive Leadership Development Grant was identified. In collaboration with partner the Pomona Unified School District an innovative $2 million dollar plus proposal was written and awarded funding.
Over the next five years the majority of Steve’s duties at the University focused on serving as Director of the Great Leaders for Great Schools Academy (GLGSA), teaching as lead instructor in the program, and completing other responsibilities in support of the Department of Education.
The GLGSA has become nationally recognized as one of the most innovative, research-based leadership development programs in the country and was invited to be part of the prestigious Alliance to Reform Educational Leadership collaborative. Steve was asked to keynote at the School Leadership Project Directors and Program Evaluators national meeting and Los Angeles Unified and many other school districts have recognized the project as a model of interest.
On the local level in Pomona Unified, over 80% of the graduates of the program have taken on new leadership roles in the district and the program has served as the catalyst for changes in leadership identification, support and training throughout the district.
At the same time, Steve was selected by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to serve on a prestigious Task Force to design a new Preliminary Credential Exam for potential school administrators. Over the next several years this work morphed into further high profile appointments including a Task Force that has re-designed the Administrative Credential Programs for the state.
While at Cal Poly Pomona, Steve provided significant support to both the Department and Educational Administration Program. At the Department level he served as Chair of the Retention, Tenure and Promotion Committee and was a major contributor to the creation of the Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership and Department efforts toward accreditation. More recently, the credential program in Educational Administration is revisioning itself to follow many of the tenets and best practices of the Great Leaders for Great Schools Academy.
Lastly, Steve was a valued colleague to others while at Cal Poly Pomona, making many friends among the faculty and staff. In addition to his passion for leadership, program development, and prolific and successful writing, Steve is known for his great fondness for Diet Coke and quick wit. He will be missed by students, faculty, staff and colleagues at Cal Poly Pomona.