New ASU dean ready to take on the system

Carole Basile took a circuitous route to the dean’s office in the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University.

After a degree in education and a short time student-teaching, she got her master’s degree and entered the business world. She worked for the Amoco Oil Co., doing training and organizational development.

"I woke up one day and said, 'These are the kinds of things we should be teaching kids at a much younger age — problem-solving, communication skills, leadership skills, team-building, all those kinds of things.' ”

After earning her doctorate, she spent years in higher education, while at the same time pursuing her avocation of teaching kids at nature centers. She was most recently dean and professor at the University of Missouri-St. Louis College of Education.

“I talk about myself as a boundary spanner who can deal with different populations of people and stakeholders because I’ve had various experiences dealing with them,” said Basile, who takes over Aug. 2.

Basile is eager to harness the entire ASU community to improve education.

“For a very long time, I’ve said that education has to move away from thinking about programs, projects and activities and really move toward thinking about systems and structures and culture.

“The real trick to sitting in a deanship where you have this entire university, this entire intellectual capacity and community, how do you bring that together to better our education system and structures?”

Learn more about Basile here:

Top photo: Carole Basile is the new dean of the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College. Photo by Deanna Dent/ASU Now. Video by Ken Fagan/ASU Now.