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Chris Lebens

Chris Lebens at Martin Stadium.

Chris Lebens

Assistant Professor (Career Track)
Sport Management
Pullman campus
Cleveland Hall 268

509-335-2157
chris.lebens@wsu.edu

Curriculum Vitae

Chris Lebens is a clinical assistant professor assigned to teach SpMgt 377- Legal Aspects of Sport, SpMgt 489- Sport Event Management, as well as SpMgt 577- Law and Risk Management in Sport for the graduate program.

Mr. Lebens received his bachelor’s degree in radio/TV/digital media production, and his juris doctor from the University of Idaho. He has a master’s degree in Sport Management from WSU and more than eight years experience in sport management, working with Division 1 college athletics. He also has more than 10 years experience in large event planning and management and is an extremely active volunteer in the community. His research areas are legal in nature, focusing on risk management in sport, constitutional law, and contract law.

Faculty


These faculty are our Agents of Change!

They’re Instructors. They’re Researchers. They’re Innovators.
They’re cultivating the world of tomorrow.

Globalization, Diversity, and Education Conference (#GDE2023)

September 14-16#GDE2023

This year’s theme is Kinship-in-Action. Learn more about the conference and WHY it is important.

Conference Overview

Groups of People

Relive #GDE2023 in photos

Whether you were there and want to remember things, or just want to see what you missed, we got the pics!

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Michelle Jacob and Paula Groves Price

Keynote Speakers 

We have two incredible speakers for this year’s conference to welcome us and then help us understand kinship-in-action.

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Northern Quest

Location Information

Once again, this conference will be at the Northern Quest Hotel & Resort in Airway Heights, WA.

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Socialize

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#GDE2023, #globalization, #diversity, #agentsofchange

They said it…

GDE is a supportive and challenging environment for scholars and activists to engage in stimulating and at times difficult dialogue on today’s educational issues. 

—A.G. Rud

Every year, the Globalization Conference brings together top scholars from institutions and organizations all over the country, and in fact, from various areas of the world. These well-respected thought leaders share research, dialogue, and strategize deeper ways of working together for greater justice in schools and communities. The energy and commitments to rejecting racist policies and practices and mobilizing higher education, K-12 education and community organizations for equity and justice was powerful to witness.

—Paula Groves Price

Professional Dispositions


Professional Dispositions of Effective Teachers

Professional dispositions are the principles or standards that underpin a teacher’s success in the classroom. They are the values, commitments, and professional ethics that govern how a teacher acts with students, families, colleagues, and communities.

As an institution that prepares teachers, we owe parents, citizens, and our state’s P-12 students our best professional judgment and keenest observations when making assessments that could have profound effects in the future. The identification and evaluation of professional dispositions are part of WSU’s professional responsibility.

PROFESSIONAL DISPOSITION ASSESSMENT (PDAP)

The Professional Dispositions for Academic Progress (PDAP) is the form used by the Department of Teaching & Learning to document a student’s disposition to be a teacher based on their performance in the university classroom.

The PDAP will be used to illustrate that teacher preparation students at WSU are demonstrating the professional dispositions expected of an effective P-12 educator while taking coursework during their program of study. This document is meant to be a flexible tool that can be used to support coursework-oriented guidance, for student reflection and goal setting, and for intervention when problems arise.

LINK TO PDAP HERE

All program applicants will be provided the PDAP and asked to sign a copy recognizing its existence and use when they apply for entry into WSU’s teacher preparation programs. After the initial trial use, the form may be used by any instructor who feels that a candidate is not meeting a particular professional standard.

If you have any questions about the PDAP, please contact Angie Hammond, Director of Student Services, at angiehammond@wsu.edu or 509-335-1800.

PROFESSIONAL DISPOSITIONS EVALUATION FOR FIELD EXPERIENCES (PDEFE)

The Professional Dispositions Evaluation for Field Experiences (PDEFE) is the form used by the Department of Teaching & Learning to document a student’s dispositions during practicum and field experiences. The dispositions align with the Teacher Performance Evaluation Program (TPEP) and the Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (INTASC).

Candidates in our teacher education preparation program must provide evidence of meeting the standards for the ten dispositions of effective teachers. The PDEFE is used to document growth, provide actionable feedback, and demonstrate that candidates have met the standards required for certification.

LINK TO PDEFE HERE

All ten dispositions are addressed by the mentor teacher, university field supervisor, and teacher candidate at midterm, and all dispositions must be met with evidence by the end of the internship experience.

If you have any questions about the PDEFE, do not hesitate to contact Emily Deen, Director of Field Services & Certification, at emily.deen@wsu.edu or 509-335-1544.

Sola Adesope: Professor finds joy in education

Sola Adesope

Sola Adesope: Professor finds joy in education

Sola Adesope grateful for his community

By C. Brandon Chapman

When you’re on an oil rig out in the middle of the ocean, you have plenty of opportunity to think about both life and livelihood.

It’s exactly where Sola Adesope found himself in the late 1990s, working for Chevron Nigeria Limited. The country is one of the biggest oil-producing countries in the world and is a vital part of Chevron’s U.S. business, in terms of exploration, production, and manufacturing.

It was big money. And Sola was part of it. He had a degree in computer science and was working as a network analyst.

“We made money, but something was missing,” Sola says. “I’m a people person, but I was working more with cables than with people. I was working more on computers. I was working more on programming routers to work efficiently. I asked myself ‘is this really what I want to do?’”

It wasn’t. If you could fast forward almost 15 years, to the present day, you’d find Sola as a Washington State University assistant professor in the College of Education’s educational psychology program.

Like many other stories, it’s the journey that is as noteworthy as anything else. But for Sola, the journey to education didn’t start while sitting on the Atlantic next to a derrick and a bunch of computers.

Study hard, play hard

While growing up in Ibadan – the third largest metropolitan city in Nigeria – Sola had a solid educational foundation, due to the educational system’s rigor.

“Regardless of the grade level you were in, hard work was required,” he says. “Hard work was infused into the system.”

Those days would start at 8 in the morning. School would finish at 2:30 in the afternoon. Then, he would participate in the after-school program until 6:30, then do homework until 8 or 9 before heading to bed.

“Even in elementary school, it was a structured, rigorous educational environment,” he says. “There wasn’t much time to fool around.”

Not much. But some.

“Even with all that rigor, we still found time to have fun with extra-curricular activities in school,” he says. “Soccer was big. We’d have demanding academic programs, but infused within that would be soccer, and sprints and things like that.”

So Sola played a lot of soccer. Sandlot soccer. No shoes. That kind of thing. As he started moving up the ranks, then came the shoes. And uniforms. He was No. 7. He was almost able to play at an even higher level than high school. But until then, it was barefoot, just like all the kids.

“One thing that did was increase resiliency,” Sola says. “Kids in Africa are tough.”

Having that toughness made the difficult school schedule easy.

“I don’t think there was any point when I was a kid where I just sat back and thought of the educational system and thought about how it could be better,” Sola says. “That’s the beauty of being a kid. We had so much fun within that system. We just rolled with the punches. It was rigorous, it was demanding academically and we would work from morning to night. But there wasn’t any time that I thought of how it could have been done differently. I loved school and that upbringing helped me love education.”

A time of transition

While in the Escravos region of Nigeria, about 100 kilometers south of Lagos, Sola was at a crossroads. He could continue down his current life path, which wasn’t a bad life. Or, he could follow that educational love, a love that was born many years earlier, and see where it led.

Much like WSU’s Language Learning Center, the University of Wisconsin-Madison has their Language Institute, which is an extensive initiative that is a part of the College of Letters & Science. In the late 1990s, the U.S. Department of Education was funding an African language center project at Wisconsin-Madison that Sola was interested in.

“The government knew emersion was the best way to learning language and that language was more than just speaking, but inextricably linked with culture, as well,” Sola says. “America wanted to send a lot of its kids to Nigeria to learn more about the culture and the way of life, and by doing so, better learning the language.

But it was a time of huge political and social unrest, among a variety of ethnic groups, fueled in large part by oil.

“It definitely wasn’t a conducive place for foreigners to be, so America thought of an alternative, by funding African language initiatives in Madison,” Sola says. “Rather than bring Americans to Africa, the government decided to bring Africans to America through the project.”

It made sense to have it at Wisconsin. The university has long had a strong African Studies program, and each year, teaches five African languages at the beginning, intermediate, and advanced levels. One of those is Yoruba, a Niger-Congo language, that Sola speaks. The other four are Akan-Twi, Arabic, Swahili, and Zulu.

Sola believes he was the first Nigerian brought in on the project, which included digitizing Nigerian films and developing curriculum activities based on those. It was a whirlwind for him. In December, 2000, he was married. Three months later, he and his new bride, Tolu, moved to the United States for the new job.

“I had mixed emotions,” Sola says. “On one hand, I was happy to have had the privilege to be hired from Nigeria to come over to the US to work. On the other hand, I was a bit sad to be leaving family members and friends behind.”

He and his wife both knew it was the right thing for them to do, however. Which means they were going to go for it.

“When Sola is convinced of anything, he prayerfully goes for it,” Tolu says.

Sola spent the next two years helping develop DVDs that would help students learn Yoruba. By watching the DVDs, they would learn about a wide-range of things, from weddings to the market system, and how to negotiate prices. Some of the courses were put online.

“It was very effective because we had American students using the resources, and since then, some have gone to Nigeria and have started speaking Yoruba,” Sola says. “It was a really empowering kind of project I worked on.”

And that was it. That’s what did it for him. From that time forward, Sola was hooked on education as his life’s mission.

“I’d see these kids with little to no knowledge of Yoruba but then I’d see them thriving and excelling, and that’s what education is all about: empowerment,” he says. “I saw that education as a discipline can transform and groom the next generation of young people to be responsible citizens. There are hardly any other disciplines that do that. Someone said if you look through the nooks and crannies of our world, you’ll find the influence of an educator. There’s nowhere we can go in this world without finding someone who has been impacted by education.

“That was what brought me to education: to give back to an endeavor that impacts people and shapes them to be the best they can be for themselves, for their families, and for their society.”

Sola earned his master’s degree in educational technology from Simon Fraser University, in British Columbia. He then earned his doctorate in educational psychology.

In that time, he had the chance to do a lot of educational research. For a man who has always considered himself inquisitive, the research became contagious.

“I began to think a lot about research, and how I could leverage my passions of learning new things and benefiting people’s lives,” Sola says.

And, now that he was finished with his doctorate, he could make his research part of his full-time employment at WSU.

Research

When it comes to research, Sola knows what he’s doing.

Not only is he an assistant professor, he’s also an integral part of the College of Education’s Learning and Performance Research Center (LPRC).

And now, he’s an award-winner.

Sola was recognized in April of this year by the American Educational Research Association (AERA), arguably the most premier educational research association, with more than 25,000 members. AERA gave him its Technology, Instruction, Cognition and Learning Outstanding Early Career Researcher Award.

In other words, he’s done well early in his career.

“This is quite an accomplishment,” college dean Mike Trevisan said. “His colleagues are excited about this, as well. Sola is not only a talented researcher, but is also well-liked by his peers.”

Sola’s research focuses on the cognitive and pedagogical underpinnings of learning with computer-based multimedia. He’s been part of several projects, including those related to curriculum, teacher satisfaction, school improvement, testing effect, and intelligent tutoring systems. The list goes on and on.

“These projects are all precious to me and they all show why I made a decision to get into education,” he says.

But there’s one that stands out: bilingualism and ESL meta-analysis. It’s research on the cognitive benefits of bilingualism, and if such benefits can offset some linguistic challenges that many bilinguals face early in the process. The results have been widely disseminated and Sola said reports of the bilingualism study have been requested by the United States congressional staff, to learn more about its policy implications.

Adesope said when he first heard he had won the AERA award, he was a bit “shocked but extremely excited.”

“I was so deeply touched that I was even nominated for the award,” he says. “This award has made me realize that scholars all over the world really notice my work. It’s a wonderful honor.”

LPRC director Brian French said everyone in the college benefits from Adesope’s work.

“He brings a level of scholarship to the educational psychology program, the LPRC, and beyond, that is infectious to all who have the opportunity to work with him,” French says. “This award is well-deserved and signals Sola’s level of commitment and excellence to research.”

Tim Church, the college’s associate dean for research, said Adesope has become deeply immersed in research and grant activities in a relatively short time at WSU.

“He’s a highly productive, highly valued, and highly congenial member of our faculty,” Church says.

AERA thinks so. Not only did it honor Sola with the early career award, but it added him to the editorial board of its Review of Educational Research journal.

“I have a very blessed life,” Sola says.

Faith, Friends, Family

Anybody who knows Sola knows the man is a workaholic, logging some pretty heavy hours. It’s not surprising on dark Pullman nights to see his third-floor Cleveland Hall window as the only one with a light on.

“I’ve always grown up working hard, putting my all into all I do,” Sola says. “I still remember, as a kid in Nigeria, staying up until almost midnight working on stuff, reading my bible, reading my school books. I work a lot and and I work hard.”

But never at the detriment of his family. He and Tolu have three children: Florence (13), Felicia (10), and Josiah (5).

“I believe in my faith, my family, and my friends and that those things come first,” Sola says. “Yes, I work Monday to Saturday. But I don’t work on Sunday. I go to church and I spend time with my family. That has kept my sane. I enjoy what I do for a living. But I don’t enjoy it at a detriment to my family. I want them to know they’re first.”

“He has faced enormous obstacles in life but he doesn’t give up on his beliefs and ideals and that is why he has been a great achiever,” Tolu says. “More importantly, he is a down-to-earth, truthful husband to me and a loving father to our three kids.”

Sola is a caring person, by nature. Those with whom he works rave about his kindness and generosity.

“He’s just the nicest man, and it’s a joy to have him around,” said Krenny Hammer, the college’s program support supervisor. “And what’s really great is that he’s very genuine. When he thanks you or when he compliments you, he’s sincere about it.”

“He’s a very easy person to work with,” said college financial and administration director Bev Rhoades. “He is considerate to one’s time and efforts to complete a project. He’s responsive to the needs of his students, and he’s a great writer.”

It’s no surprise to these co-workers, and others with whom Sola associates, that every year, he and his family open their home during festive periods. It started a few years back, after Thanksgiving.

“People were talking about how they went home for Thanksgiving, and a few international students said they spent a lot of time at home crying because they had nowhere to go,” Sola says. “We decided we would do our part to make this place we live more welcoming, not just for international students, but for people who may just be far away from home.”

So, head to the Adesope home over a holiday and you might just find 35 people having a fun time and a good meal. That’s a lot of turkey!

“We just think it comes back to that philosophy that people make the place,” Sola says.

He certainly is one who makes the place friendlier. He wouldn’t have it any other way.

“WSU is a great place,” he says. “When I came here for job interviews, I saw the great buildings, the landscaping, and the beauty of the Palouse. But I strongly feel that the greatness of WSU is not only nestled in the majestic landscape, showcased in the rolling hills of the Palouse, but more importantly in the quiet love and spirit of the people.

“I truly feel loved and appreciated by my colleagues, by the staff, and by the students. So my goal is to even make this place more welcoming for people.”

Favorites

Food: Fried rice with plantains and vegetables

Restaurant: Old Country Buffet

Book: Bible

Movie: Critical Assignment

TV show: No favorites

Song: Hallelujah Chorus, from Handel’s Messiah

Musician/Band: Bill Gaither

Sport: Soccer

Sports team: Chelsea Football Club

Board game: Ludo, a famous Nigerian game

Remember his name

His full name is Olusola. But he just goes by “Sola.” As an educator, he says he finds simple ways of explaining complex problems. So, too, has he come up with a way new students can remember his name: “Sola energy, like ‘solar energy.’ They have fun saying that.”

Advisory Board


Advisory Board = Advice-ory Board

These are some of our biggest advocates. They give us advice on how to carry out our mission, vision, values, and strategic goals. And we listen! Because they have a wealth of experience and wisdom. We are better because of them.

Meet our board

Joan Berry

Betsy Charles

Bob Clark

Bob Clark

Michael Dunn

Kathy Frandle

 

George Frasier

George Frasier

Walt Gmelch

Tricia Hukee

Mary Kauffman-Cranney

Mary Kauffman-Cranney

Jaki Lake

 

Diana Kirkbride

Rhonda Kromm

Rhonda Kromm

Bob Maxwell

Bob Maxwell

Jack McKay

Damien Pattenaude

Damien

Steve Rasmussen

Steve Rasmussen

Judy Rogers

RogersJudy_photo

 

Sandy Safell

Sandy Saffell

Tony Williams

Advisory Board mission

The WSU College of Education Advisory Board is an active body of volunteers charged with:

  • Interacting on a personal and professional level with the dean, faculty and students;
  • Responding to information sessions about college programs, initiatives, and strategic plans;
  • Providing perspective in areas of specified expertise;
  • Creating strategies that will position the college for greater recognition and leadership opportunities within the state and nation;
  • Advocating for the college with associates, friends and others;
  • Supporting with time and financial resources the strategic initiatives of the college;
  • Offering guidance and leadership during the Campaign for Washington State University.
Advisory Board commitment

The board meets twice annually, once in Pullman and once in either Seattle or one of the urban campuses, with occasional smaller groups convening at other times around particular areas of interest.

Members are asked to support the College of Education at the President’s Associates level of commitment ($1,000, $2,500, $5,000 or $10,000) per year. The funds support the College of Education Advocacy Board Fund, established to provide funding for unrestricted college operational support, scholarships, faculty research, or special initiatives.

In addition to establishing a closer relationship with faculty, members of the Advisory Board may be called upon to cultivate relationships with other alumni, friends and supporters of the College.  When appropriate, the development team may invite Advisory Board members to be part of a planned solicitation of financial resources from individuals and/or corporations.

Dean


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Mike Trevisan

Mike Trevisan, Ph.D., was appointed dean of WSU’s College of Education on April 3, 2013.

He was previously associate dean for research and external funding, as well as the director of the university’s Learning and Performance Research Center.

Dr. Trevisan is a professor of educational psychology.

Educational Background
  • Ph.D. Educational Psychology, University of Washington, 1990.
  • M.Ed., Educational Psychology, University of Washington, 1988.
  • B.A. Mathematics, San Jose State University, 1983

Alumni

Where in the World…

We have the best alumni, making positive contributions in their respective communities. Soon, these alumni can better connect by seeing where other alumni are located, through our interactive map.

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Tree

Give 

Your gift may just be the seed to something great!

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LegacyTree

Legacy Tree

Honor an educator who made an impact with a leaf on our Legacy Tree! Located in Cleveland Hall on the Pullman campus.

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GeorgeBrain

Brain Professorship

Help us fund the George B. Brain Professorship, and continue building on the tradition of effective and strong school leadership.

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#GoCougs, #CougsGive, #WSUTogether, #CougsHelpingCougs

Organizational Structure


Leadership Team stand together for photo in front of Education Addition building.
The college leadership team met for its semi-annual retreat on August 23, 2018.

Michael S. Trevisan is the dean of the College of Education, and focuses upon maintaining and building upon its strengths and integrating its efforts with those of the University. His assistant is Alanna Ellis.

Reporting to the dean


Additional dean’s office staff

College of Education

Office of the Dean
160 Cleveland Hall
PO Box 642114
Pullman, WA 99164
education@wsu.edu
(509) 335-1738

View Organizational Chart

(Last updated October 03, 2022)

Strategic Plan


Strategic Plan and Guiding Principles

The College of Education’s Strategic Plan and Guiding Principles includes its vision, mission, values, and strategic priorities.

Vision

We will be one of the nation’s preeminent colleges of education through innovation in research and discovery, teaching and learning, and responsive engagement.

Mission

We’re committed to our land-grant heritage and tradition of service to society. Our mission supports the larger WSU mission and is three-fold:

  • Advance knowledge through scholarly and applied research.
  • Develop globally-aware and culturally-competent students, leaders, educators, and scholars.
  • Enhance education, thus contributing to quality of life for individuals, families, and communities.

Values

  • Integrity, Trust, and Respect: We are committed to an environment built on trust, respect, honesty, professional integrity, high expectations, courtesy, and compassion for others. We will do this by embracing inclusive and non-discriminatory practices in all we do.
  • Diversity: We are committed to fostering critical perspectives about social justice and diversity. This includes the genuine attempt of each of us individually to understand how diversity manifests itself.
  • Quality and Excellence: We are committed to providing quality and excellence in all our endeavors.
  • Stewardship and Accountability: We are committed to serving as ethical and responsible stewards of university resources. We own our goals and fulfill our commitments. We take responsibility for our actions and results.

Strategic Priorities

  • Global Perspective: We are committed to developing cultural competence, and understanding perspectives other than our own, through respectful communication and interaction with others.
  • Research: We are committed to conducting quality research, developing innovative research protocols, publishing in premier journals, and preparing students to engage in research.
  • Leadership Development: We are committed to developing professional and responsible future leaders.
  • Science Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM): We are committed to developing improved STEM student and faculty pipelines, as well as conducting research in STEM areas.

To view as PDF: Strategic Plan and Guiding Principles

Full plan with addendum [COE Employees only]