Monday Memo February 22, 2016

Message from the Dean

Dear Colleagues:

As you may have heard, we are working to increase our enrollment in summer classes this year. Strong enrollment numbers not only help improve our student retention and graduation rates, but also generate additional tuition revenue.

My thanks to the department chairs who have been planning course schedules to help students meet their general education requirements and complete their degrees. Along with our traditional means of distance education and stipends for graduate student instructors, we have secured funds to support some faculty salaries in order to help with this summer school initiative.

In collaboration with Admissions and the Office of Communication and Marketing, we are proceeding with a marketing plan to recruit students by promoting our courses to existing students, incoming freshmen, former students close to degree completion, and students from other institutions who might be home for the summer. A summer school web page is under construction, and as soon as it is live we will forward out the web address.

In the meantime, please encourage your current students to check course availability and enroll for this summer. In order to really move the needle, we will need everyone’s help recruiting.

Sincerely,

Kimberly Kempf-Leonard
Dean

Announcements

Training session on distance education budgets Feb. 26
The A&S Dean’s Office is conducting a training on distance education budgets on Fri., Feb. 26 from 2 – 3 pm in MITC201. All Chairs and UBM’s are invited. Contact Juli Wagner (852-8354) for more information.

Faculty invited to Speed Open House for Educators Mar. 3
A&S faculty are invited to the Speed Art Museum's Open House for Educators on Wed., Mar. 9 from 3 - 8 pm.  Members of the Department of Engagement will be on hand providing information and overviews of our educational programs, and Academic and Docent Programs Manager Shannon Karol will be stationed in the galleries to talk with University Faculty about the Academic Programs that the Speed will offer once it re-opens on March 12. For more information, contact Shannon Karol .

Online software training available
Online training is available for a variety of software packages. The modules consist of the basics for the Microsoft Office suite, Outlook, and others as well as advanced modules for each. No need to rearrange your schedule to attend a class when the training is available online 24/7. Find out more here.

Green Threads Workshop on sustainability deadline Mar. 23
Want to integrate themes of ecological, social & economic stewardship and resilience into your courses?  The Sustainability Council invites full/part-time faculty & GTA members from ANY discipline to apply for the April 15 Green Threads workshop. We’ll explore ways to embed sustainability in your curriculum. You’ll earn a $500 honorarium, course development resources, info on local sustainability issues, and an interdisciplinary collegial network. Apply by Mar. 23 with Chair’s approval. Green Threads Application & Full Details.

DelphiU sessions scheduled for May & June.
For faculty interested in producing quality online learning experiences, we are pleased to announce the dates for Delphi U 2016. This intensive workshop is designed to give faculty hands-on experience in online course design.

Two sessions will be offered on Shelby Campus: May 9-13 and June 6-10. Applications are now being accepted for Delphi U 2016. The application process can be completed online.

Award Nominations

Olorunsola Research Award for new professors Mar. 11.
A&S is soliciting applications for the Victor Olorunsola Endowed Research Award for Full-time, Tenure-track Assistant Professors within their First Four Years in A&S. One award of $2,000 will be made this year. The deadline for applications is Mar. 11. Guidelines and additional information.

A&S Research & Creative Activities Grant for Faculty Mar. 11
A&S announces funding opportunities to promote research and creative activities of faculty members with the purpose of increasing the extramural research funding, and the number of scholarly publications, refereed exhibits, and artistic performances of the college. Any tenured or tenure-track faculty member in the College of Arts and Sciences is eligible, excluding the A&S Associate Dean of Research. Deadline for submissions is Mar. 11. Guidelines and proposal template.

A&S Research & Creative Activities Grant for Graduate Students Mar. 25
A&S announces funding opportunities to promote research and creative activities of Graduate Students with the purpose of increasing the extramural research funding, the number of scholarly publications, refereed exhibits, and artistic performances of the college. Any doctoral or Master’s student in good standing in the College of Arts and Sciences is eligible. Deadline for submissions is 4 pm on Mar. 25. Guidelines and proposal template.

Teaching, Research, Creative Activity, & Service

Prof. Peteet presents at conference on Syria.
Prof. Julie Peteet (Anthropology) presented a paper, “Refugees in-motion and spaces along the way: Theoretical and Methodological Challenges of a Changing Field,” at the conference, “In and Out of Syria: A Conference on the War and the Refugee Crisis,” at the University of Texas, Austin.

Prof. Ehrick participates in radio preservation conference.
Prof. Christine Ehrick (History) participated in the "Saving America's Radio Heritage" conference. This is the first national conference of the Radio Preservation Task Force, an affiliate of the Library of Congress's National Recording Preservation Board, which created the Task Force in 2014 in recognition of the need to preserve the nation's radio heritage. Prof. Ehrick is an affiliate researcher for the Task Force and a member of the group's Caucus on Spanish Language and Bilingual Radio.

Prof. Horner publishes composition text.
"Rewriting Composition: Terms of Exchange," by Prof. Bruce Horner, Endowed Chair in Rhetoric and Composition, has been published by Southern Illinois University Press.

Kudos & Congratulations

Society of Physics Students nationally recognized.
The UofL chapter of the Society of Physics Students (SPS) has once again been recognized as a distinguished chapter by the SPS National Council. Congratulations to the SPS team and the SPS advisor, Prof. Jim Lauroesch (Physics & Astronomy).

Items of Note

Prof. Buttler presenting on ‘fair use’.
Prof. Dwayne Buttler will be presenting "Fair Use in a Copyrighted World" on Wednesday, February 24th at 10 am, Ekstrom Library Room W104 as a part of Fair Use Week 2016. Fair use is essential to using copyrighted works lawfully. On the other hand, fair use is sometimes poorly understood, frequently underestimated, and typically undervalued as a lawful strategy for using copyrighted works in creating scholarship, developing teaching resources, and providing critical analysis of creative works. This discussion will focus on 'user rights' and the why and the how of fair use, including its relationship to the academy, social policy, and digital technologies."

In the News

‘My demons won today’: Ohio activist’s suicide spotlights depression among Black Lives Matter leaders (The Washington Post, 2/15/2016) – Prof. Monnica Williams (Psychological & Brain Sciences) on depression in black communities.

International Honor Quilt gets rare showing (The Courier-Journal, 2/15/2016) – On the International Honor Quilt Exhibit at the Hite Institute.

Visually Speaking: This week’s art news and events (2/15) (LEO Weekly, 2/15/2016) and Master in Fine Arts program to receive new home (Louisville Cardinal, 2/19/2016) – On the Portland warehouse space that will house new studios for MFA faculty and students.

Disconnecting in a digital world (WLKY, 2/19/2016) – Prof. Karen Freberg (Communication) on the extent of social media us in the U.S.

Must See Shows in February and beyond (The Courier-Journal, 2/18/2016) – Impovaganda! Produced and performed by the Theatre Arts Department will run in March.

Did you know?

Dr. J. Blaine Hudson was a champion of the Louisville community, social justice, and the liberal arts. During his 40 years at the University of Louisville, he served as a student, staff, faculty, and administrator.

As a student activist advocating for establishing a black studies department in the 1960s, Dr. Hudson occupied in protest the A&S Dean’s Office he would later occupy as dean. Additionally, he was a founding faculty member of the Pan-African Studies department and served as its chair.

Dr. Hudson was posthumously inducted into the A&S Hall of Honor in 2014. Additionally, a panel with his likeness and a short bio serves as the center point of Charles H. Parrish, Jr. Freedom Park - “a fitting tribute to a man who worked painstakingly for the park’s creation and whose legacy looms large over the university and the community.”