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Strategic Planning Underway in Departments By the end of the month, I (along with either Ron Filippelli or Ray Lombra) will have visited with the strategic planning committee and head of each department. The purpose of the meeting is to begin a conversation about departmental goals, aspirations, and strategies to achieve them. Rather than simply react to each finished departmental strategic plan next fall, I wanted to be part of the ongoing discussion about where each of our departments is going. Almost all of our departments have made significant quality advances during the past decade. But we cannot be satisfied with where we are now; we need to be better: to continue to improve the quality of the faculty, our graduate programs, and our undergraduate education. To do that in a resource-rich environment is a challenge; to do that in an environment of modest new resources is even more of a challenge. We cannot expect to make the progress we must make if we continue to do everything we are currently doing just the way we are currently doing it. As a prelude to our meetings, I have sent a few questions to each group,
with the hope of stimulating thinking about some issues that I believe
the department should be addressing. In each case, I ask the committee
to think about where the discipline is going during the next several years
and how we can position ourselves at the leading edge. For departments
with graduate programs, I ask about how we can continue to improve our
graduate recruitment and our placement of Ph.D.s. We have made great strides
in recruitment in most of our departments (see table). Other questions are tailored to the department and have included the size of the faculty, areas of strength that the department does not seem to have taken advantage of or that need reorganization or emphasis, areas of weakness that are candidates for downsizing or eliminating, new ways of combining fields, possibilities for interdepartmental collaboration in certain areas, and other issues of relevance. I also ask departments about revenue raising possibilities; how can the department plan to increase the revenue it raises itself, whether it be developing World Campus programs, improving its development efforts, better managing its summer school programs, improving its external funding capabilities, or some combination of these? I hope that these initial meetings will stimulate fruitful discussions, not only among members of the planning committee and head, but between the committee and other members of the faculty. Except in those departments with head searches this year, I have asked planning committees to have preliminary drafts of their plan to me by March, when I will provide some mid-course feedback for them and the department as a whole. Final plans will be completed next fall. In the meantime, Ron, Ray, and I stand ready to assist in providing information or discussing issues that arise. Susan Welch College faculty and staff are invited to the College holiday party, Wednesday, December 10, 2003, from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the Hintz Family Alumni Center. Mark your calendar. We hope to see you there! Philip Baldi, professor of linguistics and classics, from the Salus Mundi Foundation for the publication of his New Historical Syntax of Latin project. Karen Bierman, director of the Children, Youth, and Families Consortium and Distinguished Professor of Psychology; Keith Nelson, professor of psychology; Clancy Blair, assistant professor of human development and family studies; Celene Domitrovich, research associate, health and human development; Mark Greenberg, professor of human development and family studies; Scott Gest, assistant professor of human development and family studies; and Janet Welsh, research associate, health and human development, from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for “Head Start (Head Start REDI-Research-based, Developmentally Informed).” Francis Dodoo, professor of sociology and demography, from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for “Sexual Behavior of Nairobi's Urban Poor.” Michael Hecht, professor of communication arts and sciences and crime, law, and justice; John Graham, professor of human development and family studies; and Judith Vicary, Professor Emerita of Biobehavioral Health, from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for “Drug Resistance Strategies Minority Project.” David Johnson, director, Survey Research Center, and professor of sociology and human development and family studies, from Purdue University for “Parenting Program Attrition and Compliance Efficacy Trial,” and for several small grants. Judith Kroll, professor of psychology and applied linguistics, from the National Science Foundation for “Advance Leadership Program: Women in Cognitive Science.” Tiffany Townsend, assistant professor of psychology, from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for “A Cultural-Based Approach to HIV and Substance Use Prevention for African American Girls-PLANNING PROGRAM.” Faculty Honors Jon Nussbaum interim head, communication arts and sciences, and professor of communication arts and sciences and human development and family studies, was elected President of the International Communication Association. Adam Rome, associate professor of history, was awarded the Lewis Mumford Prize for the best book in American planning history by the Society for American City and Regional Planning History. Adam won the award for his book The Bulldozer in the Country Side. Comparative Literature Luncheon The Comparative Literature Luncheon is a weekly informal lunchtime gathering of students, faculty, and other members of the University community. Each week there is a short (twenty-minute) presentation, by a visitor or a local speaker, on a topic related to a humanities discipline. Daniel Walden (dxw8@psu.edu) is the coordinator for the series this semester. We meet every Monday in 102 Kern at about 12:15 p.m. Coffee and tea are provided (no charge). You can bring your lunch or buy something on a tray in Kern Cafeteria (next door) and bring it into 102. The speaker will begin at about 12:40 p.m. Allowing a few minutes for discussion, we'll conclude in time for you to get to classes that meet at 1:25 p.m. All students, faculty, colleagues, and friends are welcome. For details; check the WebEvents Calendar. The College of the Liberal Arts Fall 2003 Commencement for undergraduates and associate degree candidates will be held on Saturday, December 20, 2003, at 12:30 p.m. in the Bryce Jordan Center. Representing the College as College Student Marshal is Melissa Kay Curry. Melissa is graduating in concurrent majors of sociology and crime, law and justice. She has selected Sal Oropesa, associate professor of sociology and demography, as the College Faculty Marshal. Vartan Gregorian, president of the Carnegie Corporation of New York and former president of Brown University, will be the speaker at the December 20 undergraduate commencement ceremony, where he will receive an honorary degree. Graduate commencement will be at 4:00 p.m. in Eisenhower Auditorium. For more information about commencement, please consult the following Web site: http://www.psu.edu/ur/grads. Africana Research Center News The ARC will co-sponsor, with the Department of African and African American Studies, a Brown Bag Series on Africana scholarship. The complete fall schedule is listed on the Center’s Web site, http://africanacenter.la.psu.edu. The ARC is currently seeking Brown Bag Series presenters for the spring 2004 semester. Interested faculty are encouraged to contact the Center for more information. Plans are being finalized for the third annual Undergraduate Research
Symposium to be held in the 2004 spring semester. Faculty nominations
will be sought in the next couple months for excellent upper-level student
research papers that have a focus on Africana (e.g., Africans across the
diaspora) issues. Stay abreast of further ARC announcements, future visitors,
and other activities by visiting the ARC Web site, which will be also
undergoing substantial changes in the months ahead. Dean Welch has appointed the following faculty and students to the 2003-04
ARC Advisory Board: Student members: Call for Proposals ARC's funding guidelines have been revised. As a result, the fall deadline of October 15 has been moved back to November 12. The revised guidelines are available on the ARC Web site: http://AfricanaCenter.la.psu.edu/Research.htm. Undergraduate Studies Advising Brown Bag ProgramThe next LAUS brown bag meeting for this semester will take place on December 2, in 124 Sparks Building, at 12:00 p.m. The topic will be “Taming the Chaos of Week One: Problems and Solutions.” Please RSVP to your department's LAUS liaison at least one week in advance. All who advise students are welcome. A list of the standing committees of the College of the Liberal Arts for the academic year 2003-04 is now available at the following Web site: http://www.la.psu.edu/assocdea/standcom.htm. Members of these committees would, I'm sure, appreciate receiving any helpful suggestions or comments. Please feel free to get in touch with them. The WebEvents Calendar features, lectures, talks, and conferences between November 15 to January 5. We are sad to report the death of Rob Gannon on November 3, 2003. Rob, a member of the Penn State English faculty from 1974 to 1999, was a non-fiction writer, specializing in science issues. His last work on skydiving was published in January in Popular Science. His science writing courses were an important part of the writing curriculum, and he was a popular and respected teacher. A memorial service was held November 16; contributions in his memory can be made to the Bellefonte Historical and Cultural Association's Gannon fund, Historic Bellefonte, Inc, the Bellefonte Museum for Centre County, or a charity of the donor's choice. Except for essential services and operations, University offices and operations will close at the end of normal business times on Tuesday, December 23, and will reopen at normal starting times on Monday, January 5, 2004. The official University holidays, therefore, will be Wednesday through Friday, December 24-26, and Monday through Thursday, December 29-January 1, 2004. Employees should record an “H” for holiday on their vacation and sick leave record for these days. Friday, January 2, 2004 is not a University holiday. Therefore, employees who are off that day will charge vacation or personal holiday, if Friday is a normally scheduled workday. Any individual who chooses to work will be permitted to do so. In such instances, temperature conditions in the work area may be less than ideal. This special holiday schedule will not increase the number of holidays granted. In addition, please note that the Payroll Office has announced that monthly paychecks will be released on Tuesday, December 23, but will be dated December 31 and will not be negotiable before then. Automatic deposits will not be made early. Bi-weekly paychecks will be dated, released, and negotiable (including direct deposits) on Tuesday, December 23. Benefits Open House and On-Line Enrollment During November you may make changes in your benefits package. If you do not want to change your benefits, you do not need to do anything, unless you are participating in the Health Care or Dependent Care Reimbursement Options of the Flexible Benefits Program. If you participate in either of these programs, you are required to re-enroll every year. Faculty and staff are encouraged to make their benefits changes and re-enroll for flex benefits on-line by going to the Employee Benefits Web site (http://www.ohr.psu.edu/benefits/benefits.htm). This Web site is also an excellent source of information concerning your benefits. In order to help you make informed benefits decisions, the following open house will be held: Wednesday, November 19, 8:00 a.m.–4:30 p.m. in Heritage Hall, HUB Representatives from the Employee Benefits Division, Health Plan providers, SERS, TIAA/CREF, the five tax deferred annuity companies, and prescription drug plans will be available to answer faculty and staff questions. In addition, informational group meetings will be held in rooms adjacent to the locations mentioned above. If you are unable to attend any of the Benefits Open Houses and have any benefits questions, please call the Employee Benefits Division at 865-1473. Staff and Children of Staff Program Support Fund Applications for the 2003-04 staff enrichment and children of staff scholarships are due December 19. Applications are available on the Liberal Arts’ Human Resources Web page. Completed staff applications are to be returned to Betsy Will, 105 Sparks, and the scholarship applications returned to 13 Sparks Building, to the attention of LA Scholarships. For more information, please contact Marilyn Byers at Mbyers@psu.edu or 863-1827. Michelle Aitkin, staff assistant V, communications, arts, and sciences Diani Catherman, staff assistant VI, political science Avis Kunz, director of outreach, dean’s office Christine Laur, staff assistant VII, undergraduate studies Alishia Long, staff assistant V, sociology and crime, law, and justice Teri Rudy, college advancement assistant, alumni relations and development Steven Dotts, network analyst (security specialist), dean’s office Rachel Wannarka, research technologist, psychology LA Times is compiled by Louise Sharrar, Dean’s Office, 110 Sparks, 865-7691, lsharrar@psu.edu LA Times is also available on the Web at: http://www.la.psu.edu/ This publication is available in alternative media on request. Penn State encourages persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation or have questions about the physical access provided, please consult Louise Sharrar 814-865-7691 in advance of your participation or visit. The Pennsylvania State University is committed to the policy that all persons shall have equal access to programs, facilities, admission, and employment without regard to personal characteristics not related to ability, performance, or qualifications as determined by University policy or by state or federal authorities. It is the policy of the University to maintain an academic and work environment free of discrimination, including harassment. The Pennsylvania State University prohibits discrimination and harassment against any person because of age, ancestry, color, disability or handicap, national origin, race, religious creed, sex, sexual orientation, or veteran status. Discrimination or harassment against faculty, staff, or students will not be tolerated at The Pennsylvania State University. Direct all inquiries regarding the nondiscrimination policy to the Affirmative Action Director, The Pennsylvania State University, 328 Boucke Building, University Park, PA 16802-5901; Tel 814-865-4700/V, 814-863-1150/TTY U. Ed. LBA 04-123 |
Placement is also an area in which we have made substantial progress during
the past five years. However, in most departments we still need additional
effort and thought, thought that encompasses the students we recruit,
the fields we offer, and everything else about our graduate training and
preparation of students for the job market. I also ask departments about
the state of their undergraduate curriculum in the majors, and how they
are meeting the challenges of offering quality General Education courses
with strained resources and increased demand.