Alphonse Buccino

1984-1994

Alphonse Buccino was named dean in 1984 after having served 12 years in the Senior Executive Service at the National Science Foundation (NSF), and a year on special assignment at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP).

He led the College into a new era of excellence in scholarship and research. He worked to bring in higher qualified new faculty and graduate students. He was aggressive in developing technology in the College and supported new positions for grant-writing assistance to help faculty bring in more research funding.

Buccino is credited with supporting the development of new Ph.D. programs. Until the late 1980s or early 1990s, virtually every doctoral program in the College awarded Ed.Ds. While a few programs offered the Ph.D. (usually in addition to the Ed.D.) the standard was the Ed.D. After meeting with faculty, department heads and others, the picture developed that the Ph.D. was underrepresented across the College’s programs which put the College and its graduates at a disadvantage in competing with programs at comparable institutions. Accordingly, planning was undertaken and the results implemented to establish Ph.D. programs in academic areas that met the qualifications. The evidence is clear that this has had a salutary impact on the College overall and enhanced recruitment of graduate students.

Buccino, who held a Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Chicago, was an expert in research management and policy analysis, resource generation, and personnel recruitment and development.

He was a member of the administration team at UGA that worked closely with the Georgia Research Alliance and served on several boards and committees, or performed research and support for them, including the Governor’s Professional Standards commission in Georgia and the National Science Board at NSF, and presented executive development programs pertaining to science policy at the Federal Executive Institute and the Brookings Institute. He also served as a senior policy fellow at Western Carolina University’s Institute for the Economy and the Future.

It was during Buccino’s tenure as dean that the College faced the fractious times of asbestos removal from Aderhold Hall, in which departments were moved out of the college, floor by floor, to temporary locations.

Also, during Buccino’s tenure a program of developmental disabilities was housed in Rivers Crossing. It was externally supported at one time by federal funding. When the federal funding halted, the program costs became a part of the COE budget. Following the budget crisis of 1983, a review of the developmental disabilities program revealed that the program was the responsibility of a state agency of Georgia. Moreover, certain expenses such as teacher services for the residents of the program should be paid by the local Athens School District, rather than by COE. As a result of the UGA review conducted under the auspices of the then-provost, Louise McBee, the finances were redesigned and costs being carried by the COE were transferred to the State Department of Human Resources.

Now the COE was being reimbursed for faculty services, as appropriate, with the exception of research done at the initiative of faculty members through their respective programs in COE. Eventually the State Department agency transferred the patients in the facility to another in or near Atlanta; whereupon the facility itself was transferred to UGA and the College of Education where it is now home to two COE departments: Lifelong Education, Administration and Policy; and Workforce Education, Leadership and Social Foundations.

Buccino also supported the development of Qualitative Research in the late 1980s which complemented a strong ongoing program in quantitative research that was carried out via the Department of Educational Psychology. This program grew from a faculty initiative led by Judith Preissle to the robust program it is today.

Buccino also led a reorganization of the College that led to the formation of four schools –Teacher Education; Health and Human Performance; Leadership and Lifelong Learning; and Professional Studies – which created a different reporting system and different budgeting system, so the 19 departments could focus more on academic concerns.