VCAA Newletter

Dear Colleagues,

IU South Bend has had a strong legacy of attracting and retaining outstanding faculty members. Many of our retired faculty remain in the area and participate actively in the life of the university. Professor Emeritus Joseph Peyser, who passed away on January 1, 2005, was such an individual. This past Sunday, there was a celebration of Professor Peyser’s life and the scholarly contributions he made to the early French settlement in this area. Below are remarks I offered at the memorial.

A Celebration of a Life: Professor Joseph Peyser, February 6, 2005

Remarks: Alfred J. Guillaume, Jr., Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Professor of French, Indiana University South Bend

Death has silenced the voice of a friend and a scholar of French language, literature, history and culture. From the time of Theophile de Viau in 16th century France through the time of the Romantics –Alfred de Musset and Victor Hugo- poets have chided Death for leaving mortals bereft of the joy and hope that beautiful verse and prose bring to the human spirit. Professor Joseph Peyser was a bard of eloquence in written and spoken language. His impeccable and precise diction of the French language were harmony and melody to the listener’s ears. As a student and scholar of French culture in North America, his detailed prose brought to life the grandiose and the mundane of French cultural history.

Joe Peyser and I had much in common. We both followed similar professional paths. We were French professors. As Francophiles we loved all things French. He and I are scholars of French literature and we both shared the same administrative position as dean of faculties and vice chancellor for academic affairs. I last saw Joe in December –he was often at his beloved university for events—and we talked of getting together with our spouses for dinner. He and I occasionally had lunch together. He will be missed.

His scholarship, however, assures him an immortal place among the living. Like the verses of La Fontaine and the prose of Chateaubriand, Professor Joseph Peyser’s story of Jacques LeGardeur de Saint-Pierre and his research on Fort St. Joseph leave an indelible mark on French history in North America. As the author and dramatist Antoine Arnault once penned: “Oui, la vie est un songe et la mort un reveil”: Yes, life is but a dream, and death, a waking. And, yes, we celebrate the life of Joe Peyser and thank him for his many contributions to Indiana University South Bend.

Assessment

The Assessment Committee is taking applications for the Spring round of assessment grants. Grants are available for a wide range of assessment projects. Last fall, grants were given to attend assessment conferences; for database development and for survey development and administration.

Applications and guidelines as well as final reports from previous assessment grants are available on the website: http://www.iusb.edu/~sbassess/granhome.shtml. Funding for up to $3000 will be considered. Grant applications are due by March 1, 2005. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Linda Fisher, (x4442) or Rhonda Culbertson, (x5598).

New Frontiers in the Arts and Humanities Program:

The Office of the Vice President for Research is pleased to announce the first year of a five-year program called New Frontiers in the Arts and Humanities. The goal of the program is to help Indiana University faculty members to expand their work into disciplinary or interdisciplinary frontiers that promise new insights into the human condition or pursue innovative directions in artistic creativity.

Funding for the program is provided by a grant from the Lilly Endowment and is set at $1 million per year. The program will run on an Academic Year basis, and all funds for 2004-05 are expected to be disbursed during the Second Semester. In future years funds will be available during both semesters.

More information available at http://www.research.indiana.edu/funding/newfron/ahumanity.html

The American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) is pleased to announce the opening of the 2005 Christa McAuliffe Award competition. The Christa McAuliffe Excellence in Teacher Education Award honors programs that can document the success of their graduates and their impact on the pupils they teach. The key issue is accountability: demonstration of the link between the teaching of the candidates and the academic achievement of their students. Connecting teacher preparation to effective teaching and student learning is the whole point of our teacher preparation programs as we seek to add value to the nations' education efforts. These awards will not only recognize outstanding teacher preparation programs but will also provide concrete ideas and specific suggestions for other AASCU members seeking to improve their programs.

If your program meets the following criteria, we encourage you to submit an application to the award review committee. To be eligible, programs must:

Prepare classroom teachers for the P-12 schools; and
Be in operation for at least three years; and
Be a collaborative effort between the faculties of education, the arts and sciences, and the P-12 schools; and
Provide evidence that program graduates improve P-12 pupil learning.

Applications must be received by Friday, March 11, 2005. Contact the IUSB Office of Research (4181) if you would like to apply.

Detailed information about applying and samples of the applications of previous award winners are available at www.aascu.org/programs/mcauliffe/