Dean's Message
VerJanis Andrews Peoples is the Dean of the College of Education and Professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. During her lengthy career in teacher education, she has taught at every level of the educational arena from teaching in elementary schools through doctoral level programs. Her administrative duties have included serving as Interim Dean of the College of Education, Assistant Dean of the College of Education, Interim Chairperson of Special Education and Curriculum and Instruction, Superintendent of the Laboratory School and Dean at Mississippi Valley State University.
Dr. Peoples has a Ph.D. from Kansas State University in the area of Curriculum and Instruction. She specializes in curriculum development, multicultural education, policy studies, and staff development. She received her B.S. and M.S. from Grambling State University and is a certified teacher for grades one through eight in all subjects normally taught in elementary schools.
Teaching and learning are specialty areas of Dr. Peoples, therefore she is actively involved with several educational projects to enhance the learning opportunities for teachers and students. She is Principal Investigator for the LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave) grant, which is a joint effort between Caltech-MIT, LA Board of Regents, and Southern University. This project is sponsored by the National Science Foundation to enhance science skills for teachers and pre-service students. Dr. Peoples also work with the Capitol Pre-college Academy sponsored by the Thurgood Marshall Foundation.
In her efforts to create efficacy in accreditation, she is a certified Louisiana Board Examiner with the Louisiana Department of Education and NCATE. She serves as a reviewer for AACTE, a professional organization for teacher educators. She also, has served as secretary of the Louisiana Council of Deans for Teacher Education. In keeping with her interest in provideing excellence in school leadership, she serves on the State Principals of the Year selection committee.
Her research and publications have included articles on violence in schools, curriculum development and issues in multicultural education. She serves on numerous committees and participates in community activities in supporting the education of children and young adults.