Dean Susan Dargan set to retire after 38 years

Dylan Pichnarcik / THE GATEPOST

By Dylan Pichnarcik Editorial Staff When Framingham State University was founded in 1839 as the Lexington Normal School, it was the first public institution with the mission of teaching female educators.

It would take 186 years for the FSU of today to take shape and 148 years for it to welcome Susan Dargan, dean of the College of Education and Social & Behavioral Sciences (ESBS).

Now, 38 years later, Dean Dargan is saying goodbye to FSU, as she will retire on June 30.

A native of MetroWest, Dargan grew up in Natick and graduated from Natick High School in 1977. From there, she earned a bachelor's degree from Simmons University and a master’s and a Ph.D. from Boston University.  

Dargan said she also had plans to go to law school after her undergraduate degree but decided to wait “because I really loved sociology and I wasn’t sure I wanted to go to law school so I lived in L.A. for a while, came back and went to grad school for sociology.” 

Dargan said while at Boston University, she took classes with Howard Zinn, an author, professor of history, and political activist. 

She said he was “phenomenal.” 

According to Dargan, she taught at Boston University before coming to FSU. 

Dargan began her career at FSU in 1987 as a part-time faculty member in the department of Sociology.

She was hired by the late Harriet Miller, a former chair of the sociology department. 

“She was a wonderful person and really supported me. She saw something - she liked how I related to the students,” Dargan said. 

Dargan then worked as a full-time tenured professor before becoming sociology department chair. 

“I love the students here, so I really connected with them and I felt like I understood them a lot, in terms of just being from here. But also, just getting some of the challenges that they face in their lives,” she said.  

After that, Dargan served as the inaugural dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences - a position she was appointed to in 2014. She has also served as interim dean of education and interim dean of business.

She said she has served as dean of ESBS for the last five years, a position she expected she would only be in for six years. 

FSU’s faculty contract says that a faculty member can only serve as dean for six years before losing their tenure. In the midst of the start of a pandemic and the University’s provost stepping down, Dargan was asked to remain as dean. 

Dargan said one of her jobs as dean is to connect with students in her college who are struggling academically.

“I enjoy that because I feel like we make some progress. Sometimes, people have to say, ‘I'm taking a year off’ and sometimes they think if they take that year off, that's it. That's so hard for me, because I'm like, ‘You can come back,’” she said. 

Dargan said prior to serving as an administrator, she has served as a professor and department chair in the department of sociology, and served as vice president of the faculty union for a number of years. 

She said once she retires, she will spend time on Martha's Vineyard, and then she will continue working at Providence College, where she currently teaches part-time.

Dargan said she would like to start research related to local Irish-American history, which is a “bridge” between history and sociology. She is also planning to research funding in public higher education. 

Dargan said during her time at FSU, she was “very committed” to the faculty. 

“I believe in supporting the faculty as much as we can. I believe they spend the most time with our students, and they have the most possibility to impact our students,” she said. 

Dargan said she will miss her colleagues at FSU. “It’s a great place to work in terms of having people you can talk to. It’s a very down-to-earth place as opposed to some institutions which are quite elitist.” 

She said while working at FSU, she has both been mentored by and mentored her fellow faculty. 

“You mentor each other in various ways. People have strengths and you go to their strengths,” Dargan said.  

Dargan said she would recommend to her successor, Stephanie Logan, to get to know the faculty. “They’re an amazing group,” she said. 

She said Logan should “look for ways to get the College [of ESBS] to feel more like one college.”

Dargan said the areas of Education and Social & Behavioral Sciences are very different, even though they share similar research methods. 

Sociology & Criminology Department Chair Vincent Ferraro, a faculty-fellow to Dargan, has been working with her since 2011 and said he has worked closely with her in both positions. 

He said his relationship with Dargan is “fantastic. I can’t say enough good things about Sue Dargan. I’m heartbroken that she’s leaving, but very excited for her no doubt.” 

He said he has benefited from Dargan’s guidance over the years and applied for the faculty-fellow position so he could work with her. 

Recently, Dargan and Ferraro have been working on an “analysis of MTEL data and outcomes for students in the education program,” Ferraro said. 

He said the research is ongoing, but anticipates their results will be “impactful.” 

Ferraro said the results “certainly would not have been possible without her guidance.” 

He said he will remember Dargan’s commitment to students, the University, equity and “always giving a voice to groups that need it.” 

Ferraro said in his job he is “always thinking, ‘How would Sue respond to this?’ ‘How would Sue handle this?’

He said he hopes Dargan’s successor will maintain “the steady hand and steady  leadership that Sue has modeled for the last decade,” and is “somebody who has the same commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and somebody who can carry FSU toward its strategic plan in the years ahead.”

Philosophy Professor Joseph D’Andrea said he has known Dargan since he began working at FSU. 

He said when he became chair of the Psychology and Philosophy department, “the best part was working with Dr. Dargan.” 

He said Dargan is an “extraordinary” leader and always had time to listen to concerns of the ESBS department chairs. 

D’Andrea said, “She has shown me what a good leader is. The chairs had a lot of fun at the chair meetings she facilitated and we got a lot of work done too.” 

“She is an ally to the students and the faculty members in her college,” he said.

D’Andrea said he hopes her successor will listen to faculty concerns “as well as she did. The chairs always knew she was in our corner.” 

Provost Kristen Porter-Utley said Dargan “is a tireless and excellent advocate for students, faculty, and staff members at Framingham State.” 

Porter-Utley said Dargan is an “incredible teacher-scholar, fantastic listener, creative problem solver, a wonderful and thoughtful colleague, and someone who works diligently with faculty and staff to ensure all our students have every opportunity to succeed.”

She said Dargan has served as a mentor to her and she will miss the opportunity to “just check in with” her when making decisions. 

Porter-Utley said Dargan “is so well-respected. She will be remembered for her intelligence, considerate and creative approach to problem solving, her sincere and deep care for students, staff, and faculty, excellent work ethic, and her passionate advocacy for members of our community and the MetroWest region.”