March 2013 CAS n 6 College of Arts & Sciences The Planetarium opened to student and public use in
January, 2011. It serves as primary classroom for
the Physics and Astronomy Department astronomy
classes, plus supports school and group tours, and
special events. The "Sphere" seats 37+ arranged in a
theatre-style setting. There are actually three The Dean’s Message Page 2 Faculty Searches Page 3 projectors: the primary "full-dome" planetarium
system which shows computerized sky
simulations, full-dome movies, and scripted
astronomical demos. Additional projectors
include an HD blu-ray forward projector and
large Smartboard. Cont’d. p. 2 Faculty Publications, Awards, Creations, and Student Achievement Pages 5-­‐7 Week of Excellence Events Pages 8-­‐9 1
2
CAS M arch 2013 The Dean’s Message
Greetings! It’s March, which means it is tenure-­‐track faculty positions request season. Last year, my office received a total of 40 requests for faculty positions from the eighteen college departments. As required, the requests were built on a matrix we’ve used in the college for several years supported by a set of data provided by the Institutional Research and Information Management department, IRIM. The process is extremely challenging and it takes me, with the help of my associate deans, many h ours of reading, discussion and analysis to come up with a prioritized list of recommendations from the college. This list is sent to the provost, who reviews it along with those of the other colleges, then sends her recommendation to the p resident. In the end, for 2012-­‐2013, the College of Arts and Sciences ended up with a total seventeen searches. Of those, we have successfully concluded only a handful so far. But that will soon be changing as more departments finish the on-­‐campus interviews, department heads complete their reference checks and make offers. I am optimistic that we will succeed with most of the seventeen. We rarely get all – some inevitably do not work out. But it’s looking like we’ll welcome around fifteen new tenure-­‐track colleagues in the fall. This March, I received forty-­‐four requests for faculty positions. The arguments given are strong and passionate. Once again, we will spend h ours working through the requests, giving each full its consideration. On page 3 of this issue of the CAS newsletter, you’ll find an overview of the hiring thus far. Hopefully, by the time the next issue comes out, we’ll have a more complete story. Meanwhile, please send me your comments and suggestions about the newsletter. If you h ave news to share, p lease send it to Dr. Betsy M organ whom we have to thank for her excellent work on this project. Kind regards, Tom Venner Dean Cont’d from p. 1
All projectors are supported by full Dolby 7.1 Surround
sound. We are currently offering public shows at 7pm on select evenings;
next on March 15, and April 12 and 26. Featured are "Seasonal
Stargazing", a tour of the current evening sky, and the main presentation
"Stars" narrated by Mark Hamill. Ticket are $5 per person through
www.emutix.com. Different features will be cycled in the months
ahead. The 30-foot diameter sphere dramatically sits four stories above a
rock garden comprised of natural glacial rocks of Michigan.
The planetarium is also used in conjunction with Sherzer
Observatory across the courtyard. Both will be featured during the MSTA
conference taking place here the first week of March. We also expect a
large amount of activity in the weeks and months ahead as two bright
comets are expected to grace our evening skies. by Norbert Vance
2 1
2
CAS M arch 2013 Status Update
The College of Arts & Sciences was
approved for 17 new faculty searches....of
these searches:
2 searches are on hold
5 searches are conducting interviews
7 searches have made offers
3 searches are complete
Below are the searches that have been/
are being carried out:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Juvenile Criminologist (SAC)
2 Physical Anthropologists (SAC)
Analytical
Chemistry/Environmental
Chemistry (Chemistry)
Neurobiology (Biology)
Biochemistry/Biotechnology
(Chemistry)
Cognitive/Neuropsychology
Assessment (Psychology)
Applied Behavior (Psychology)
Mathematics (Mathematics)
First Year Writing (English
Language and Literature)
ESL/TESOL (World Languages)
Women’s History (History and
Philosophy)
Applied Microeconomics
(Economics)
Tourism Geographer
(Geography/Geology)
Music Education (Music and
Dance)
Technical Communications
(English Language and Literature)
Digital Foundations (Art)
Neither the College of Technology nor the
College of Education has approved
searches.
The Ink is Dry on SAC’s New Hires
After a failed Criminology search in 20112012, SAC’s hiring committee was ready. They
received approval early in Fall 2012 to continue to
search for the CRM position, and were approved
for a search for Anthropology and hit the ground
running.
They had a tremendous pool of CRM
candidates and were able to hire three excellent
young people. Kimberley Barrett and Brian
Sellers, both finishing their PhD before end of
summer, will join the CRM program and will work
in the area of Juvenile Justice. We hope over the
coming academic year to develop a new
concentration in that area.
SAC was also able to hire Megan Moore,
currently an Assistant Professor at UM-Dearborn,
who joins the ANTH program. Her specialty is
Physical Anthropology and she will be working on
developing that side of the program - as well as
on creating classes in forensic anthropology
(which SAC hopes will serve interests of its CRM
majors). Megan will also lead a summer study
abroad program to France, where she has access
to a unique collection of human remains from the
7th-11th century.
The College of Business is searching for 4
positions, and the College of Health and
Human Services, with its four schools, was
approved for 17 searches: the School of Health
Promotion and Human Performance has 6
current searches; the School of Health Sciences:
has 2; the School of Nursing has 5 approved
searches; and the School of Social Work is
searching for 4 positions.
3 CAS M arch 2013 Mathematics Psychology Dr. Nie received his PhD degree of Computer Application Technology in 2005 from Northwestern Polytechnical University in Xi’an, China, where he is an associate professor. Now Dr. Nie is engaged in teaching and researching in the fields of software engineering and
computer application technology, with research interests including software design and implementation, computer vision, graphics and image technology, virtual reality and AI. Dr. Nie has worked in Microsoft Research Institute of Asia; he was a visiting scholar at Hong Kong Polytechnic as well as at the National University of Singapore. Dr. Xiaobing Luo, associate professor from the School of Physical Education in Centre China Normal University in Wuhan, China, will be visiting the Department of Psychology from this March to next March. He will be working with Psychology Professor Jin Bo on a psychological project that examines the cognitive contribution and the role of p hysical education teachers in students’ motor skill learning. Dr. Nie is in charge of research projects sponsored by the Chinese government, which
include Science and Technology Developing Plan of Shaanxi Province, Xi'an Municipal Science and Technology Developing Plan Project, Aerospace Fund of China, etc. During the past ten years, he has authored several publications in different journals. He will be working with Professor Xiaoxu Han in Mathematics. Dr. Luo‘s extracurricular sports activities on students' motor skill learning and involvements in
physical activities, coping strategies for conflicts between coaches and family members, and the sport culture in China. Dr. Luo has received four national grants from multiple Chinese foundations, including General Admini -­‐
stration of Sports of China, National Education Science
"Eleventh Five-­‐
Year Plan" of the National Youth Fund, and the Humanities and Social Science of Department of Education of Hubei Province. 4 CAS M arch 2013 Faculty Publications, Awards, Creations, and Student Achievement MUSD Baritone Robert Peavler’s recording From the Heartland (Troy 1349) was released in May 2012 by Albany Records. This recording offers a program of contemporary American composers of art song which includes Kirke Mechem, Dominick Argento, Thomas Pasatieri, and Timothy Hoekman. Recorded in New York City with pianist Arlene Shrut, this recording features the premiere recordings of Argento’s Songs of Petrarch, Mechem’s From the Heartland, and the world premiere of Tim Hoekman’s It was a Lover and her Lad. American Record Guide writes, “To communicate a ‘heartland’ sensibility, a singer must have a stong, clear voice but not b e so operatic that he overpowers the material. Baritone Robert Peavler strikes just the right balance. He may be a baritone, but he has the litheness of a tenor.” ♪♫
♬ ♩♫ ♪ ♫♫ The November and December production
of A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC by Stephen
Sondheim that CMTA’s Phil Simmons,
executive director and choreographer, and
R. MacKenzie Lewis, music director, put
on at the Performance Network Theatre in
Ann Arbor was named "one of the top 3
shows in the Ann Arbor area for 2012" by
AnnArbor.com's Jenn McKee. The lead
actress was also named "Best Actress in a
Musical" for
2012 by the
same
reviewer.
McKee
states that
the
combined
efforts of
Simmons
and Lewis “take a virtual highlighter to the
script’s moments of potential humor and
cashes in on every one, making the
characters far more human and
recognizable in the process.”
Voice Students Excel at the National Association of Teachers of Singing Auditions Voice Professors MeeAe Nam and Robert Peavler are basking in the glow of their students’ accomplishments at the Michigan Student Auditions for the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) at Grand Valley State University. Kyndall Isham won 3rd place in the First Year College—Women Division; Chelsea Moores earned 2nd place in the Second Year College—Women Division; and Renae Murphy took 3rd place in the Fourth Year College—Women Division. In the M en Division, Dominique Williams won 3rd place in the Second Year College Division, and Christopher Zavac brought home the gold with 1st place in the Third Year College Division. In the age bracket 22-­‐
25 years, Eric Smith took 3rd place in the combined Advanced Men and Women Division, and Maria Vélasquez won 2nd place in the age bracket 26-­‐29 years in the Advanced Men and Women Division. 5 All of you, take a bow! CAS M arch 2013 Have something for the CAS Newsletter? Send it t o Betsy Morgan at emorgan@emich.edu by the end of March for inclusion in the next Newsletter. G&G is rockin’…
Norm Tyler, Professor, received an eFellows grant for the development of two
applications for the online Rivertown Simulation Project. The Rivertown Online
Simulation represents the process community leaders go through in deciding on
various revitalization strategies for their city and indicates the outcome in a
condensed time period. Decisions typically include issues such as establishing a
location for a new parking lot, dealing with an adult bookstore business, or
delineating a new historic district. Participants make individual decisions, such as
buying and renovating existing buildings, but also take on community roles, such as
serving as city council members, city planners, merchants, residents, etc. The
simulation allows them to see how decisions dealing with one problem can impact
others, both directly and indirectly. Check out the project at
http://cityhallcommons.com/rivertownintropage.html.
…and rollin’
Steve LoDuca, Professor, will be bringing in $160,000 from the National Science Foundation for a
collaborative, three-year research project with a colleague at Virginia Tech.
The project will provide in-depth characterizations and analyses of early life,
specifically focusing on fossils of the first plants large enough to be seen with the
naked eye: macroalgae. This multidisciplinary study will involve the description
of new species of fossil macroalgae ranging in age from 1.2 billion to 400 million
years old recovered from several continents, study of fossil specimens from the
same timeframe in major museums in China, Europe, and the United States
(including Burgess Shale material at the Smithsonian), Scanning Electron
Microscope investigations of morphology and chemical composition, computer
modeling of form, and stable isotope analyses of the fossils and associated strata.
The findings will establish the foundation necessary for larger-scale
investigations of the Earth-Life system during this critical interval, including evolutionary feedback between
early marine animals and algae and changing carbon cycle dynamics.
And it’s not just the faculty: Charles Badgerow received the Senior Thesis Award for 2013. He worked on
TITLE OF THESIS under the supervision of Christine Clark, This award, in the
amount of $2,000, is the most prestigious acknowledgement of academic
achievement in the Honors College. Charles’ award is one of only thirteen
selected by the faculty review committee.
Charles has a double major, one in Philosophy, and one in Geology, with a
concentration on Professional Geology. Congratulations to Charles!
6 CAS M arch 2013 Roger Kernsmith, (SAC) along with his research partner Prof. Poco
Kernsmith of WSU, was invited to present our research on sex offenders and
the MI sex offender registry at a criminal justice briefing for incoming state
representatives. The event was organized by Rep. Joe Haveman in
cooperation with several non-profit CJ advocacy organizations. It was a
remarkable opportunity to have a dialogue with the people who will be
shaping the very policies we are studying. The general tone in the room, and
in a thank-you note from Rep. Haveman, indicated that the presentation was
well received and appreciated as very useful.
Ruth Ann Armitage (CHEM) is co-editor of Collaborative Endeavors in
the Chemical Analysis of Art and Cultural Heritage Materials (ACS
Symposium Series), which came out on Feb. 18, 2013. Amazon.com
provides this review: “[T]he book is not just a collection of several case
studies of describing the chemical composition of objects of cultural or
artistic interest; the book aims to illustrate how the chemical and physical
analysis of art and cultural heritage materials is a perfect model of
collaboration with museum curators, with historians, with students, with
religious scholars, anthropologists, and/or with other specialists who partner
to answer interesting and important questions about an archeological work or
piece of art worthy of study: What are the materials? How was it made? Who
influenced the work? How has it changed or deteriorated? Why was it made?
Since no one scholar or scientist can answer all these questions, experts from
The Art Department, together with Central Michigan University and Wayne State University Art
Collection, presents “Subverting Modernism: Cass Corridor Revisited 1966-1980.” The exhibition will
be open March 11-April 28 at
EMU’s University Gallery, Student
Center. Julia Myers is curating the
exhibition. Subverting Modernism is a
multi-year collaboration between
Eastern Michigan University, the Wayne
State University Art Collection, which is
lending most of the works in the
exhibition, and Central Michigan
University, where the show opened on
January 10, 2013. The exhibition and
accompanying 100-page catalogue
will allow art lovers to see important
Detroit art that is not usually accessible
to the public. EMU art history professor
Dr. Julia R. Myers’s extensive research,
which included interviewing the artists,
consulting hundreds of newspaper
articles from the late 1960s and 1970s, and
using archival materials in both Washington, D.C. and Detroit, makes for a thoroughly new look at the exciting
work of these important Detroit artists. This flourishing of artistic expression in a city not traditionally viewed as
an “art center” should be recognized, valued, and prized, as this exhibition will do.
7 1
2
CAS M arch 2013 Mark your calendars, and check the website to find out when your students or peers are presenting exceptional academic work. The Design Expo exhibits are representative of the student work from a variety of programs, including Oral Presentations in various rooms through the Student Center: •
•
•
•
•
Session A 8:30 – 9:45 a.m. Session B 10:00 – 11 :15 a.m. •
Session C 11:30 a.m. – 12:45 p.m. •
At the same time, Poster Presentations will be going on in Room 310A&B: •
Session 1 8:30 – 10:15 a.m. •
Apparel, Textiles and Merchandising Arts Management Construction Management Furniture Design Graphic Design Interior Design Metal-­‐
smithing Product Design and Development Theatre Arts Session 2 10:45 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. And, from 8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m., the Design Expo will be in Room 300. This is the second year for the Design Expo. The Symposium luncheon follows the Oral and Poster Presentations 1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. in the Student Center Ballroom. Go to www.emich.edu/symposium to see student abstracts as well as the schedule. The College of Arts and Sciences
will be represented by:
66 posters displays,
171 oral presentations, and
30 Design Expo exhibits.
Come see what these students have
accomplished!
8 CAS M arch 2013 Monday, March 18 Tuesday, March 19 3:30-­‐5:00 Student Gold Medallion Awards
Students will receive awards based on nominations in the following categories: •
•
•
•
•
•
Wednesday, March 20, 3:00-­‐5:00 Academic Awards The Academic Awards Ceremony will be held in the Student Center Grand Ballroom beginning at 3:00 pm; a reception begins at 2:15. Recipients of internal research awards and fellowships will be recognized, along with the Michigan Distinguished Professor of the Year Award Nominee, the EMU-­‐FT Lecturers Outstanding Teaching Award Recipient, Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity Award Recipients, and the Distinguished Faculty Awards Recipients. The Distinguished Faculty Awards are given in six categories: Teaching I, Teaching II, Research I, Research II, Service, Creativity. •
•
•
•
•
•
•
Goodwill Ambassador Outstanding Leadership by a Student Outstanding Mentorship by a Student Outstanding Performance by a Graduate Assistant Outstanding Performance by a Graduate Student Employee Outstanding Performance by a Student Employee Outstanding Service Delivery by a Student Outstanding Student Advocate Outstanding Leadership of a Student Organization Outstanding Volunteerism by a Student Student Organization Student Organization Advisor Student Organization Program Thursday, March 21 Staff Gold Medallion Awards Staff will receive awards based on nominations in the following categories •
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Outstanding Clerical Outstanding Profession/Technical/DPS Sergeants and Officers Outstanding Administrative/Professional New Employee Retention Innovation Divisional Ambassador Outstanding Service Delivery by an Individual Outstanding Service Delivery or a Program by a Group, Team, or Department Person/Group External to the Division Person/Group External to the University 9 CAS M arch 2013 International Resource Room Get your Dancing Shoes On! 427B Pray-­‐Harrold April 6, 7-­‐10:30 pm The International Resource Room has taken passport photos and helped people complete applications for 3 weeks now. In addition to this passport facilitation service, the International Resource Room also has two computer stations on which faculty, staff and students can search for international opportunities. In one location, EMU students and employees can look for funding, apply for grants, find out what international organizations offer, and look through the agreements CAS has with universities in other countries. For the remainder of Winter 2013, hours of the International Resource Room are TTh 12-­‐3. Contact Betsy Morgan, Ph.D., at 7-­‐
3389 or emorgan@emich.edu for more information or to arrange for a time outside the established hours. 10