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06-08-28 To Faculty and Staff
Dear Colleagues:
Greetings as we begin the 2006 Fall Semester. I look forward to visiting every department at the beginning of the semester, but let me use this email to highlight a few announcements, issues, and accomplishments. If you have any comments or questions, we can discuss them during our visit or please let me know with a return email.
Announcements
The College is welcoming 21 new faculty members this year. You can learn about them in our Fall Reception program, so I hope you can join us for that event on Tuesday, Sept. 26th at 3:00 pm in MSC 226. These faculty members bring impressive records of accomplishment and we look forward to their continuing success. Additionally, Dr. Les Morey, currently a member of the Psychology faculty, will begin his term as department head of Psychology this September. Dr. Dan Conway, formerly a member of the Penn State faculty, has also been appointed department head designate in Philosophy and will join us in June 2007. Finally, we are pleased to welcome Dr. Jyotsna Vaid as interim director of the International Studies program.
There are a number of wonderful events planned for the Fall Semester that clearly present the vibrancy of the College of Liberal Arts. They are listed at the end of this letter with hyper links from which you can gather more information about each.
The College launched an experiment this summer of introducing freshman and transfer students to serious reading as they enroll at Texas A&M. Thus, we gave a copy of Gish Jen’s Typical American to every incoming freshmen and transfer student in the College of Liberal Arts. This project, which we have named “Common Ground,” aims to create a common first-year experience for incoming students – one that emphasizes a serious, introspective consideration of the timely topic of immigration. This book will be read by many incoming first-year students in their English classes and be integrated in many other classes. Jen’s book has been selected in cooperation with Brazos Valley Reads, a community-wide reading initiative now in its third year.
The College’s Staff Development Committee continues to organize activities serving staff professional development. Workshops are planned for the fall and spring semesters, along with other professional development activities.
Let me also mention that the College is seeking nominations for the College of Liberal Arts Superior Service (CLASS) awards. These awards recognize outstanding staff contributions to the College. Any member of the faculty or staff may submit nominations. The deadline for nominations is Sept. 8. Awards will be announced on Sept. 18, and the awardees recognized at the Fall Reception.
Issues from the Previous Year
Last year I highlighted three issues that would draw our collective attention. We have largely resolved one, made significant progress on another, and laid the groundwork for the third. First, after discussions with the Executive Council and the Liberal Arts Council, we adopted a new budget policy for the College. Essentially, the College will retrieve 20% of the salaries of departing tenured faculty for reallocation in the College for such purposes as partner placement and program development.
Second, following a report on Interdisciplinary Programs, we turned our attention to interdisciplinary faculty appointments. Again, after extensive discussions in the Executive Council and the Liberal Arts Council, we added new language to the College’s personnel statement about interdisciplinary faculty appointments on page 8 of the College’s “Review, Tenure and Promotion Procedures.” Additionally, 8 new interdisciplinary positions were approved for FY08 and FY09 which will further enhance the Women’s Studies and Africana Studies programs in the College. Finally, because there will be implementation issues with these appointments, I have appointed an Ad Hoc Committee on Joint Appointments to work through details regarding these appointments.
Third, the University continues to focus on enhancing the undergraduate experience at Texas A&M University. We have contributed to ongoing discussions about a University Studies degree and considered ways to enhance educational opportunities in the College. As you will see below, our conversations are becoming more focused. Additionally, we proposed a differential tuition plan to support some of these initiatives. University discussions about differential tuition are ongoing.
Issues for the Coming Year
Undergraduate Education. The topic of undergraduate education will continue as a major agenda item for the University and for the College. This should not be interpreted as a concern about the quality of teaching or our undergraduate programs. To the contrary, from my perspective and the perspectives of many at Texas A&M, our faculty and programs are of exceptionally high quality. Rather, our efforts are aimed at two challenges. First, meeting externally imposed requirements to demonstrate that our educational programs are effective, and second, building on existing strengths to enhance educational programs and advance the College’s priorities of national prominence, internationalization, and diversity.
In the coming year, the College and departments will refine programs and measures relating to the Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) that is mandated by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) accreditation process and to similar measures mandated by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB). We will also work on re-certifying upper division courses in the University’s core curriculum, which was mandated by the Faculty Senate in response to THECB actions.
While we are preparing responses to these required reviews, we will also ask questions about what measures we should undertake to enhance the undergraduate experience in the College. We began this discussion last year in the context of differential tuition. As noted above, we are embarking on a first-year experience entitled “Common Ground.” There will be other initiatives to consider. The College’s Undergraduate Instruction Committee will consider this topic and will make suggestions to the Executive Council and the Liberal Arts Council for program enhancements. Departments will also devote time and attention to this area. Additionally and relatedly, we will develop a University Studies degree program that the administration has asked all colleges to prepare.
These considerations will not occur in a vacuum and do not signal a change in priorities. Indeed, they have always been a part of our priorities. Thus, we will ask such questions as:
- What educational experiences should a department of national prominence provide its undergraduate majors?
- How can departments and programs that have worked to create environments supportive of diversity insure that undergraduate programs benefit from that work?
- In what ways can departments and programs incorporate international perspectives and experiences to their undergraduate programs?
Successfully initiating and implementing programs that address these priorities will be reflected in our annual review of departmental achievements that we call “Indicators of Departmental Success.” These indicators are used to make merit pool allocations to departments.
Vision 2020 Review. Much that has happened recently at Texas A&M University, and specifically in the College of Liberal Arts, has been driven by Vision 2020. Moreover, Vision 2020 has informed the three major priorities for the College. And, Vision 2020 underscored the importance of elevating the faculty and strengthening undergraduate and graduate programs – areas that are central to each of the three priorities.
Faculty and departments in the College have devoted considerable time, effort, and resources in working toward the goals outlined in Vision 2020. The College has received significant resources from the University to support these initiatives. In light of the University’s recent assessment of progress on Vision 2020 (Jan. 10, 2006), an assessment by the College seems highly desirable and timely. We will, therefore, undertake such a Vision 2020 Review by a committee chaired by Professor Margaret Ezell.
Other Issues. We will be discussing other issues in the College during the year relating to the University’s plans to increase enrollments. Two topics are especially worth knowing. First, the eventual increase of undergraduate enrollments by 2500 additional students will impact all of our departments with increased demands for core curriculum classes and increased numbers of majors. The University will be considering an enrollment management plan and we will be central in that discussion. I expect discussions in the Executive Council and the Liberal Arts Council on this topic throughout the year.
Second, it is probably difficult to know when exactly Texas A&M University changed from an institution largely devoted to science and technology to a comprehensive institution. But, the fact of the matter is that the University now has an extraordinary range of faculty and programs in the social and behavioral sciences and the humanities. Indeed, over 700 faculty in 7 colleges pursue research in the social and behavioral sciences or the humanities. Departments and colleges have supported researchers in these areas, and many faculty and programs now receive national and international attention. With the growth and maturity of social and behavioral science and humanities research, now is the time to consider how the University might best support work in this area. We will be working with the Research Environment Council and the Vice President for Research considering “infrastructures” supporting faculty and students in these areas. One aim of this inquiry will be the development of a plan over the coming decade to support social and behavioral science and humanities research in ways and at levels that one finds in Vision 2020 schools.
Congratulations
2006 Association of Former Students Distinguished Achievement Awards- Brian Imhoff, associate professor of Hispanic studies (teaching)
- Lynne Vallone, professor of English (research)
- David Vaught, professor of history (teaching)
- Claude Gibson, professor of English
- David McWhirter, professor of English
- Nancy Street, senior lecturer in communication
- Terry Anderson, professor of history
- Qi Li, professor of economics
2006 Association of Former Students Distinguished Graduate Student Awards
- Susan Dummer, Ph.D. in communication (teaching)
- Mary Haman, M.A. in communication (master’s research)
2006 George Kunze Prize, Office of Graduate Studies
- Alisa K. Hicklin, Ph.D. in political science
- Anthony Mora, assistant professor of history
Fulbright Fellowship
- Dennis Berthold, professor of English (Belgium)
- Charles A. Johnson, dean and professor of political science (Japan)
National Humanities Center Fellow
- Dan Conway, head and professor of philosophy
- Di Wang, associate professor of history
2006 Fall Events
09/21 Glasscock Center “Show and Tell: Historicizing Visual Culture”
09/26 Fall Reception
09/30 Glasscock Center “Show and Tell: Historicizing Visual Culture”
10/12-13 Colonial Mexican Imprint Collection Exhibit
10/19-21 Digital Textual Studies: Past, Present and Future
10/20 Premiere of “The Smoke King: W.E.B. Du Bois”
10/20 Fall Liberal Arts Development Council meeting
10/23 Glasscock Lecture: Laura Edwards
10/24-26 Southwest Writers & Artists Festival
10/26 Glasscock Center Lecture Series: “How Do We Keep Knowing?”
10/30 Glasscock Lecture: Roland L. Numbers
11/01 Marian Anderson String Quartet Faculty Recital
11/02 Glasscock Center Lecture Series: “How Do We Keep Knowing?”
11/07 Percussion Group Cincinnati
11/14 Glasscock Lecture: Vicki Ruiz
11/2-5 Object Kaliedoscope
11/9-12 Object Kaliedoscope
Best wishes for the 2006-2007 academic year,
Charles A. Johnson
Dean
Professor of Political Science
