Download the Spring 2005 issue. - Seton Hall University

F O C U S O N
administration
Mentorship Makes a Career
Last summer, while attending
a meeting devoted to the
study of women in the
deanship, Manina Urgolo
Huckvale, M.P.A. ’86/Ed.D. ’94,
associate dean for academic
affairs in the College of
Education and Human Services
(CEHS), learned she wasn’t the
anomaly she thought she was.
“In our discussion, it became
clear that many women do
not take the traditional track
of teaching, research and publishing
to a corner office in
academe,” muses Huckvale.
Huckvale’s climb up the
“ivory tower” began via a detour
through health care, but her
roots were always in education.
A speech pathologist and special
education teacher in the United
States and Canada for 10 years,
she taught children with severe
disabilities, compromised immune
systems and tuberculosis.
Returning to her home state
of New Jersey, she enrolled in
the healthcare track of Seton
Hall University’s graduate program
in public administration and
obtained a graduate assistantship
in the College of Arts and
Sciences. After earning an M.P.A.
in 1986, she stayed on campus
to serve as assistant to the dean
of the College of Nursing.
In 1989, Huckvale once
again explored a career at the
intersection of health care and
education. For two years, she
worked as a health education
specialist/grant administrator
for the Kessler Institute for
Rehabilitation in West Orange
before returning to Seton Hall —
and CEHS. “I have stayed at
Seton Hall because of the family
atmosphere,” Huckvale explains.
Several of Huckvale’s family
members also have Seton Hall
ties. Her son and daughter,
Alexander and Lesley Dunn,
10 SETON HALL UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE
attended Seton Hall. Her sister,
Marie Drennan-Graves, is a secretary
for Campus Ministry; her
brother-in-law, Tom Graves, is
a lead painter in Physical Plant;
and her two nieces also work
on campus. “When my children
were here, we would occasionally
get together for lunch in the
Galleon Room, and we would
always need to take over a big
table,” Huckvale exclaims.
The diversity of professional
opportunities that Seton Hall
provides is just as important to
Huckvale as the camaraderie she
has found. Huckvale came back
to the College in 1991 as director
of field experience and certification.
After a year, she moved
into the dean’s suite, first as
assistant to then-dean Bernice
Bass de Martinez, Ph.D. and
next as assistant dean for student
and community affairs. In 2004,
she was named associate dean
for student, community and academic
affairs, serving with Dean
Joseph De Pierro, Ed.D. “In many
ways, the deans — both Dr. de
Martinez and Joe De Pierro —
have opened my eyes to the
many opportunities within the
field of teacher education and
higher education,” Huckvale says.
So, what does an associate
dean for academic affairs do
every day? Huckvale exclaims:
“There have never been two days
the same!” She oversees students’
fieldwork, contracts, grants and
publications. She is involved in
student recruitment, student
“ My goal is
always to have
students leave my
office with smiles
on their faces. ”
advisement and curriculum
review. As a member of several
University-wide committees, she
deals with diversity, academic
integrity and retention. Within
CEHS, she serves on several
National Council for Accreditation
of Teacher Education (NCATE)
accreditation subcommittees.
“The recent accreditation visit
was a success due to teamwork
among the faculty, and the
College expects to be recom-
mended for full accreditation
in March,” explains Huckvale.
NCATE accreditation will provide
a prestigious, nationally
recognized seal of approval of
the College’s success at preparing
competent, socially conscious,
reflective professionals.
While accreditation is of
paramount importance, Huckvale
is in the education business
because of the students. “In my
role, I get to solve a lot of prob-