Dear Colleagues,
I am writing to provide an update about ongoing efforts related to faculty engagement. Three pillars are the foundation of our faculty engagement efforts – dialogue, development, and honoring excellence. Regarding dialogue, I am honored to be a part of numerous ongoing meetings and events that President Brian O. Hemphill, Ph.D., has scheduled with faculty. Several of these meetings have already occurred this semester and many more are scheduled in the months ahead.   As but one example, on October 29th, President Hemphill and members of his leadership team met with the faculty senate, shared updates, and answered a wide range of questions asked by the senators. That same day, my executive team and I convened a general faculty meeting where we engaged in a productive conversation with more than 100 faculty. The dialogue faculty engagement pillar recognizes that all faculty members have an important voice and our hope is to hear from as many of you as possible.
The faculty development engagement pillar embraces ongoing development activities to help us grow as scholars.  Several of these faculty development activities are convened centrally and others are hosted by specific units. The Center for Faculty Development has ongoing professional development activities, the Quality Enhancement Program offers programming to help teach students how to read critically, the has offered training to humanities faculty seeking to engage in work-based learning, the faculty senate offers faculty development funding, and our general education leadership team has convened reading groups to develop our individual and collective understanding about general education. I encourage you to engage in faculty development programming offered across campus.
The honoring excellence engagement pillar reinforces our commitment to excellence and draws attention to our individual successes and our colleagues’ achievements.   One of my favorite things to do as interim provost is to come together with faculty to celebrate their accomplishments. This semester alone, I have had the distinct honor of having lunch with small groups of new faculty members, convening the recently tenured and promoted faculty for a recognition event, and celebrating careers with a group of emeriti faculty.Â
These three pillars overlap with one another. The Provost’s Spotlight series -- which brings us together as a community to celebrate a faculty member and learn from them -- illustrates this overlap. On November 4th, we will be celebrating Justin Haegle, professor of human movement sciences and Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê×ÊÁÏ’s most recent winner of the SCHEV Outstanding Faculty Award, as he participates in the series and answers questions about his successes. I hope you are able to join us in the Yetiv Auditorium (BAL 1012) at 3:30 for that discussion.
As we look to the future, we will continue to come together to engage in dialogue that helps us grow as scholars while simultaneously honoring our achievements. Doing so reminds us that we have the capacity to rise to the occasion and meet future demands as a forward-focused institution!