Educational Administration & Foundations at Illinois State University

08/22/2026

Happy first week of classes, Redbirds! Cheers to the first of many weeks filled with growth, learning and exploring the student affairs profession together! We can’t wait to introduce you to the wonderful people that make up our first-year cohort, and catch up with our second-year cohort to hear about their summer adventures ❤️🐦‍⬛🙌🏼

08/21/2026

ICYMI: EAF's own Dr. Laura Kalmes received the College of Education's 2026 Outstanding Teacher Award last week!

Her dynamic teaching includes course work in critical theory, culturally-sustaining pedagogy, school-to-prison pipeline, policy analysis, trauma-informed care in schools.

08/20/2026

Departments that eat together, teach together! EAF faculty and staff just got together to break bread and share notes on their awesome plans for the 2026-2027 academic year. A lot of great conversation and delicious eats! Thanks Medici in Normal!

08/03/2026

Educators, your voice can help shape the future of education in Illinois. The Center for the Study of Education Policy (CSEP) at Illinois State University has launched a new newsletter designed to keep you informed about emerging education issues while inviting you to participate in conversations that help guide CSEP's future research and grant-funded initiatives. It's called Education Horizons.

Whether you're a teacher, school leader, policymaker, higher education professional, or simply passionate about education, we'd love to have you as part of the conversation.

📬 Sign up today and help shape what's next for education in Illinois.

The first issue, “Why Today’s Staffing Model No Longer Fits Today’s Schools,” publishes August 2026 and invites educators into a growing community built around seeing change before it becomes crisis.

07/21/2026

EAF's scholarship donors are awesome. 51 of our graduate students' tuition & fees are >$75,000 less expensive for FY27. Like us, these future leaders are nothing but .

07/10/2026

The welcomed about 200 attendees last month, but countless meaningful moments and connections were made. Here are some of the ones we captured!

07/04/2026

Happy Fourth, LeaderBirds!

07/02/2026

Congratulations to Dr. Sharon Desmoulin-Kherat! The EAF doctoral alum retired from Peoria Public Schools District 150 this week after a successful 11-year tenure in the Superintendent role! She said she plans to stay in Peoria and support positive improvements for the area.

Also, congrats to another EAF doctoral alum, Dr. Renee Andrews. She was named the new deputy superintendent for Peoria!

Sharon Desmoulin-Kherat, the award-winning superintendent of Peoria Public Schools, is retiring after 11 years of service, during which she implemented policies that improved achievement, attendanc…

07/01/2026

What a day!

We just published the recap of the second ACE Women in School Leadership Conference.

Attendance almost doubled in 2026! We hope to see even more awesome aspiring and practicing school leaders next year!

Many thanks to Opterra, ROE 17, ROE 9, the ISU College of Education, Illinois State University, and the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel & Conference Center!

“It’s impressive how Dr. Hall and the organizers bring in such excellent leaders with valuable messages. Those messages spilled into our table talks, and that really made it personal and something we could use. On top of that, the whole day I was networking with outstanding women serving as principals, teacher leaders, and district leaders.”

-Angie Codron, EAF alum, Principal of Normal West High School, and recipient of the Illinois Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Leadership.

Illinois State University hosts successful conference to support women in school leadership.

06/19/2026

Wishing all a peaceful day of love, learning, and reflection.