BOONE—With the ceremonial turn of shovels, representatives from Appalachian State University and local and state government broke ground Dec. 4 at the future site of a new academic building that will house the Reich College of Education.

“There is no more important occupation in this country today than that of a K-12 teacher,” said
Erskine B. Bowles, president of The University of North Carolina. Speaking during the groundbreaking, Bowles said, “I believe that our teachers deserve our best facilities, they deserve our best equipment, they deserve our best training and they deserve our best professors. And from this day forward, they will have it at the Reich College of Education at Appalachian.”

Dr. Charles Duke, right, dean of Appalachian State University’s Reich College of Education (RCOE), and Ron Beane, a member of the RCOE Advancement Board, look at a depiction of a new academic building that will house the college. (Photo by University Photographer Marie Freeman)
Erskine B. Bowles, president of The University of North Carolina, said there is no more important occupation than that of a public school teacher. Bowles spoke during the groundbreaking for a new building for Appalachian State University’s Reich College of Education. (Photo by University Photographer Marie Freeman)

Bowles said improving K-12 public education was the top priority of citizens surveyed as part of the state university system’s UNC Tomorrow initiative.

“Today we have a real challenge. Our public schools are producing a product today that is not up to global standards,” Bowles said. “We in higher education have a moral and economic responsibility to do all we can to fix K-12 education by producing more teachers and doing a better job of training our principals and superintendents. That’s our job. That’s our No. 1 responsibility.”

The Reich College of Education prepares 16 percent of all new teachers graduating from the University of North Carolina system – the largest percentage of any of the 15 UNC institutions.

“The Dougherty brothers had a vision to establish a school that could prepare teachers for the children in the mountains,” said Dr. Charles Duke, dean of the Reich College of Education. B.B. and D.D. Dougherty founded Appalachian Training School for teachers in 1903, from which Appalachian evolved. “We now have graduates in every county in North Carolina and graduates contributing to education outside the state and in international settings. This day is a celebration of the journey the Dougherty brothers began more than 100 years ago.”

The Reich College of Education employs approximately 125 faculty and 30 support staff across its various departments and programs. The college serves approximately 2,400 students each year in its bachelor’s, master’s, education specialists and educational doctorate degree programs.

Departments in the college are the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, Department of Human Development and Psychological Counseling, Department of Leadership and Educational Studies, and the Department of Language, Reading and Exceptionalities.

Chancellor Kenneth E. Peacock said that while the groundbreaking was a day for celebration, he looks forward to the day that a ribbon cutting is held for the new building. “This building will have an impact on campus and on all of us in North Carolina. It is a great facility of this campus and this region.”

Construction of the five-story structure at the corner of College and Howard streets is projected to be complete by spring 2011. Designed by the architectural firm LS3P /Boney Associates, the building will cost approximately $35 million. The facility will replace Edwin Duncan Hall, which was constructed in 1965.

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