Office of Academic Affairs VCAA News September 2003

Dear Colleagues, Welcome back to another glorious start of the Academic Year.  With every fall comes a new beginning.  Our chancellor has begun her second year at IU South Bend.  Her remarks  at the all-campus meeting points to many first-year accomplishments. We join with her in applauding our successes.  I am particularly grateful for the many extraordinary faculty and staff who share in the governance of our university through their tireless and dedicated work on committees.  As it is with a dynamic university, our work continues.  The Strategic Planning Task Force is drafting the initial document that will guide us in the years ahead.  I’m impressed with the specificity of tasks that push us to excellence at all levels of the university.  The General Education Implementation Committee has begun its work under the able leadership of Professor Ben Withers.  His team includes: Professors Chris White, Linda Chen, Jerry Hinnefeld, Marsha Heck, Douglas Agbetsiafa, and Nancy Colborn.  As of September 4, our undergraduate credit hours are 67,727, the highest in IU South Bend’s history.  This total gives us 99.96% of our projections.  Kudos to the staff in Student Affairs and to the faculty who worked to assure prompt registration of our students.  Majors & Programs: I know the recent web redesign has caused some confusion, but I hope you are all finding it easier to navigate and friendlier than our old site. One of the most exciting new features is the Majors and Programs site linked right off the front page. This site gives incoming students, faculty, counselors, etc. a quick guide to all of our majors and programs in a very consistent fashion. We have recently moved this site to the Academic Affairs office, so if you would like to suggest a change to your section on that site please send an email to Erika Zynda (ezynda@iusb.edu) who maintains all of our pages. We recently published the Guidelines for Program Review off of the main Academic Affairs site. This will provide easy access to the document for that those departments scheduled for external program reviews. ASSOCIATE FACULTY AND LECTURER CONFERENCE SPONSORED BY FACET The 8th Annual FACET sponsored Associate Faculty and Lecturer conference will be held at the University Place Conference Center and Hotel at IUPUI on Friday, October 17 and Saturday, October 18.  The theme for the 2003 conference is “Into the Minds of Students:  The Teacher’s Role as Mentor”.  The conference is designed to be pedagogically general so that participants from all disciplines can focus on their common interests and can share their successful teaching strategies.  The following Associate Faculty members and Lecturers will represent IU South Bend at this conference.  CONGRATULATIONS to each of them for their selection for this conference. Justine Atchey, Associate Faculty, School of Business and Economics Jane Beitler, Lecturer, Department of English, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Judy Belleville, Associate Faculty, School of Nursing and Health Professions Robert Bossarte, Associate Faculty, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Alysea C. Williams McLeod, Associate Faculty, Department of English, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Suzanne Meyer, Lecturer, Department of English, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Betty K. Mooney, Associate Faculty, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Charlotte Pfeifer, Associate Faculty, Women’s Studies, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Scott Seniff, Associate Faculty, School of Public and Environmental Affairs Keith L. Smith, Lecturer in Decision Sciences, School of Business and Economics Tara Stokes, Associate Faculty, School of Nursing and Health Professions Tamara Tilley, Associate Faculty, Department of English, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Kate Wolford, Lecturer, Department of English, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Assessment Committee News Assessment Committee Membership - The Chair of the IUSB Assessment Committee, Linda Fisher, is pleased to welcome several new members, as well as many returning members to the Committee.  Members appointed by the Executive Committee of the Academic Senate are: Linda Fisher, Pat Henry, Barbara Peat, Paul Newcomb and an additional member from Liberal Arts and Sciences.  The Vice Chancellor has appointed Karen Ackoff, Karen Clark, Alec Hosterman and Paul Kochanowski. In 2003/04, many important assessment issues will be addressed, including: developing and incorporating appropriate assessment of the new General Education requirements, and bringing departmental assessment plans into line with the priorities of the Higher Learning Commission.  For up-to-date information from the Assessment Committee, please consult the website:  http://www.iusb.edu/~sbassess/ Assessment Institute - The Assessment Committee is offering to cover the registration costs for a limited number of faculty to attend the Assessment Institute in Indianapolis November 2-4.  The Assessment Institute is one of the premier national assessment conferences.  The IUSB community is fortunate to have access to it so close by.  This year’s conference features a number of sessions on using the latest technological tools in assessment, and an emphasis on assessment of general education.  Both of these tracks should be of interest to our campus this year.  More information is available at: http://www.planning.iupui.edu/conferences/national/nationalconf.html This conference always fills up quickly.  If you are interested in attending please contact Linda Fisher, the chair of the Assessment Committee, as soon as possible. The first Dean's Seminar of the 2003-04 series will be held on Friday, September 19, 2003 at noon in the Board Room. Dr. Rebecca Brittenham, Assistant Professor of English, will present her project entitled "Good-bye Mr. Chips and Welcome Back, Kotter: The Problem of Radicalism in Post-War Media Images of Teachers" Peter Bushnell's Research Award Lecture, entitled "From lab bench to long-lining; how physiology can help fisheries" will be presented on Wednesday, October 29, 2003 at 7pm in DW1001. The International Programs/Chancellor's Fund is again offering student grants and grants to encourage faculty to internationalize their curriculum and the campus. There are two deadlines for proposals: November 1, 2003 and March 1, 2004. If you would like more information contact Gabrielle Robinson at 4429. Indiana University South Bend’s School of Business and Economics has launched a new lecture series on entrepreneurship. The 10 event series will showcase many of the areas’ premier entrepreneurial business organizations and their chief executives.  Lake City Bank is sponsoring the series.  Some of the topics include new venture financing, developing business plans for entrepreneurial organizations, and entrepreneurial strategies.  Kudos: Congratulations to David Surma in the Computer and Information Science Department on his recent NSF award. This is two year grant to study the impact of Communication Reduction Techniques on Throughput in High-Performance Networks.  The Executive Committee of the Indiana Council for Economic Education informed us that our Indiana University South Bend Center for Economic Education has been selected to receive the 2003 Peter V. Harrington Award for University Centers. This annual award is given to centers that excel in the mission of economic literacy and brings with it a monetary gift. The IU South Bend Center will be honored at the awards program on October 10 in Indianapolis. Congratulations to Paul Joray and Paul Kochanowski, co-directors of the Center! Linda Chen, Associate Professor of Political Science, has been appointed to serve a three year term as the IU South Bend Co-Liaison to FACET. Best wishes, Alfred J. Guillaume, Jr. Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs