College Leadership
Message from the Dean
Welcome to the Graduate College of Education (GCOE). I am excited that you are here to explore our programs, to pursue your dreams of being an educator, and to join our professional community.
This is an important time to be an educator, and our commitments have more urgency than before. Children and families need the care, consistency, and professional expertise that teachers and specialists provide every day. Schools and districts need the vision, encouragement, and tenacity that leaders provide. And together we must push aside the conflicts that are brought against our work and our profession, so we can focus on students’ right to learn their histories, help them grow in knowledge and skill, and together create strong communities.
We are proud to be one of the largest providers of teachers, clinicians, and leaders for the Bay Area. Our GCOE programs are highly relevant and even essential. We are fully accredited by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing, we are cutting-edge in our curriculum, and we are deeply connected with our regional districts as we provide them with the educators they need. Our faculty are excellent teachers and scholars with extensive experience and a heart for their work. We are here to make change for good – join us.
Dr. Cynthia F. Grutzik
Dean, Graduate College of Education
Dean Cynthia Freeman Grutzik, Ph.D.
Dr. Grutzik has served as Dean of the Graduate College of Education since 2018. As Dean she supports five departments and two doctoral programs, serving 1100 students in the college. Her focus is on working with the GCOE faculty and staff to enhance programs to meet the need in the region for excellent and diverse teachers, leaders, and clinicians, and on partnering with K-12 partners to build strong clinical experiences. She is a Co-PI of the Bay Area K-16 Collaborative. Prior to coming to SFSU, Dr. Grutzik was Associate Dean of the College of Education at CSU Long Beach, and Director of the School of Education at CSU Dominguez Hills. As a teacher educator for 25 years, she has been active on statewide taskforces to reform educator preparation, and with the Commission on Teacher Education as a member of the Board of Institutional Reviewers. Her research interests center on teacher pathways and undergraduate teacher preparation.
Associate Dean Tamara Spencer, Ed.D.
Dr. Tamara (Tammy) Spencer joined the GCOE community in 2023. As Associate Dean, she supports the Dean and the college community in enacting the college’s Statement of Purpose and Guiding Commitments and advancing the strategic goals and priorities. She collaborates with departmental faculty and staff on various initiatives, including curricular development, accreditation, assessment, student services, and support. Before joining SFSU, Dr. Spencer served as Associate Dean and faculty in the Kalmanovitz School of Education at Saint Mary’s College of California (Moraga, CA) and Associate Professor and Program Director at Montclair State University (Montclair, NJ). Dr. Spencer is an active scholar in her field of early childhood literacy development and teacher education. She has published in numerous academic venues, including Language Arts, Young Children, Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, Complementary Methods for Research in Education, and the Handbook of Early Childhood Literacy. Dr. Spencer spent the first ten years of her career teaching first and second grade and served as a literacy administrator and K-3 reading specialist in schools in Philadelphia, PA, New York, NY, and Raleigh, NC.