VCAA Newletter

The academic year begins on a high note with many related activities associated with the American Democracy Project. This year’s theme, Media and Democracy, centers forthrightly on media’s role in a democratic society. One of the fundamental underpinnings of a free society is a free press. We will spend this academic year examining this assumption and others. Can we truly have liberty without free expression? Are the media always fair and balanced? What is the role of the media in shaping public policy? In informing public opinion? What are the most effective media in transforming society? Are the media purveyors of information or promoters of targeted propaganda? What are the founding principles of our own democracy? Are they being effectively exercised in national and global affairs? Should democracy be exported? Why? How?

I am also delighted to report that Elizabeth Bennion will serve as director of the American Democracy Project. She, Eileen Bender and Ken Smith attended an ADP national conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico in early August, where they presented information to a national audience about our activities this academic year. By all accounts it was an invaluable learning experience. You’ve already received news from Ken through the Faculty Digest about the weblog, another exciting opportunity for the entire campus to explore and reflect upon the tangible and intangible issues of the current state of American democracy. And Julie Elliot has kept us informed about One Book, One Campus. If you have not yet read Chris Hedges’ War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning, I encourage you to do so. For me, the book raised interesting observations and jolted my own thinking about war, its history and relevance to the human condition. Throughout the year, there will be small group sessions, Table Talks, classroom discussions and seminars dedicated to wholesome and lively debate about our theme, about the upcoming elections, about democracy and the role of media.

To encourage student reading and to stimulate informed thinking about media, democracy, the importance and relevance of war, several faculty colleagues will be using the New York Times in their courses. This summer we were fortunate to have 100 copies of the paper available to the campus at no charge. For the fall semester, Academic Affairs will purchase 100 copies to be used for classroom instruction. I will also be working with Student Affairs to seek broader input from students in making democracy an integral and systemic part of the academic and student affairs culture at Indiana University South Bend.

Thanks to many faculty and staff, we are off to a good start on the American Democracy Project. I am particularly grateful to Professors Bennion and Smith for their creative ideas.

IRB Update - All of the protocols that were suspended last October have been either re-approved or closed and IU South Bend's Institutional Review Board (IRB) is entering a transitional period. For the next three months all applications for IRB approval (exempt, expedited, and full) will be reviewed by the full IUSB IRB in conjunction with the chair of the Bloomington Human Subjects Committee (Peter Finn). Please take the time to review the transition procedures here.

I am pleased to announce that we have hired Salina Shrofel as the Associate Vice Chancellor for Graduate Programs and Sponsored Research. We are looking forward to Salina joining us on August 24th and adding her expertise to the Academic Affairs staff.

The University Center for Excellence in Teaching (UCET) is hosting a fall teaching seminar on Friday September 10 in the Student Activity Center, Room 223. The featured speaker is Dr. Linda Nilson who is the Director of the Office of Teaching Effectiveness and Innovation at Clemson University and author of “Teaching at Its Best.” Linda Nilson will lead two sessions on classroom civility. The morning session (8:30-11:30 a.m.) is entitled “Defining Instructor and Student Rights and the afternoon session (1:00-4:00 p.m.) is “Creating an Instructor Persona that Commands Respect.” There is no charge for this event and faculty may register for one or both sessions. If you are interested in these sessions, please RSVP to UCET at 4894 or ucet@iusb.edu by September 3, 2004.

The restructuring of Continuing Education and Off-Campus Programs into a single new unit is on-going. A search for a new director will be held but in the interim, leadership will be provided by Jane Pomeroy for Continuing Education and by Gale Wood-Ward for Off-Campus Programs. Until a new director arrives, I will be working with the staff of both units to ensure stability while moving forward. We are happy to report that Suzanne Miller will be teaching full time during the 2004-05 academic year; Becky Rankin will be joining the accounting staff in the Administrative and Fiscal Affairs office. Melissa Pace has joined the staff in Financial Aid and Elizabeth Staples has been hired in the School of Education.

The American Democracy Project of Indiana University South Bend has launched a new web publication dedicated to discussions of active citizenship, the quality of democracy, and the 2004 election. The website will feature writing by IUSB faculty and other members of the IUSB community. The website will offer several different components, including columns, feature articles, and web resources. The first live facet will be the ADP weblog, which was launched recently at http://ee.iusb.edu/index.php?/adp with more features to be added later.

One Book, One Campus - Please join us in taking part in Indiana University South Bend’s One Book, One Campus. The One Book, One Campus committee is working to bring the campus together in discussion about the book, War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning, by Chris Hedges. The book is Hedges’s story of his life as a war correspondent and what he has learned about war’s impact. A web site, http://www.iusb.edu/~libg/onebook , contains event information, a student-created readers’ guide, and more. For more information about this project, please contact Julie Elliott at jmfelli@iusb.edu or 520-4410.

Kudos to our marathon man in Salzburg, maestro Alexander Toradze and the students of the Piano Studio. The July 21, 2004, International Herald Tribune features Lexo and spotlights the Toradze Piano Studio’s six-hour marathon of works by Sergei Rachmaninoff in the Mozarteum. Lexo and students performed to rave reviews. Thanks to Lexo and his students, the excellence of Indiana University South Bend’s piano program is world renown.