Monday Memo March 28, 2016
Message from the Dean
Dear Colleagues,
Good news! UofL uses the Collegiate Assessment of Academic Proficiency (CAAP) to assess our students’ achievement of key intellectual skills. The Office of Institutional Effectiveness administers the CAAP Critical Thinking assessment every other year, alternating with the CAAP Writing assessment. In February, 411 upper class students in 400- and 500-level courses across all academic units took the Critical Thinking assessment, and 89% of A&S students who took the test scored at or above the national average. This year the A&S students who participated were in Anthropology, Biology, Political Science, and Spanish classes. Congratulations to these departments and to the participating students!
Along with this report, this is a fun and busy time of year when we report on our many other achievements. It has been a strong year for A&S scholarship so please make sure your creative products, engagement activities, and teaching successes are on your CV and the various reports we submit to Central Administration for recognition. Theresa Rajack-Talley and C'lest Lanier will be collecting the engagement activities data this year, and we'd like to make it another banner year. Consider nominating your community contacts for the Signature Partnership awards too, as it would be nice to have a deserving A&S friend win this for the first time!
I also welcome you to apply for the position of Associate Dean for Graduate Studies, which Wendy Pfeffer is vacating June 30 to resume her full-time faculty position in French. There are many activities to address in our graduate programs. First, we have several relatively new graduate programs that deserve a chance to grow, but also CPE minimums that are not being met by too many programs. Second, there are changes to existing funding streams, and we need more assistantship funding. Third, there is campus interest in highlighting graduate programs to help raise UofL's national profile. However, there are no ranking systems for many programs in Arts & Sciences, so alternative methods need to be found. Fourth, there are many highly competent students who sometimes need help negotiating our bureaucracy. This position is an 11-month work assignment, with the level of part-time commitment to be negotiated. I hope many faculty members will be interested in this role; those with experience with doctoral education will have some preference. Interested applicants should let me know by April 15.
Sincerely,
Kimberly Kempf-Leonard
Dean
Announcements
PBK Association updating rosters
The Phi Beta Kappa Association of Kentuckiana is updating its rosters. If you are a member of Phi Beta Kappa please forward your name, your undergraduate institution, and year of induction to asdev@louisville.edu.
Nominate an ‘Unsung Shero’
The Transformation Tea Committee is accepting nominations for the 2016 Women of Color Unsung Shero Award. To be eligible, the nominee must be a woman of color and a University of Louisville employee who has made a significant impact in the lives of women either in the Metro Louisville community and/or on the U of L campus. For more info and a nomination form, visit Transformation Tea Shero Award.
Teaching, Research, Service & Creative Activity
Prof. Pfeffer presents in Spain
Prof. Wendy Pfeffer (Classical & Modern Languages) presented "Du dit au dit: un genre français méconnu et ses développements" at the Jornadas internacionalas de Estudios Occitanorrománicos, at the Universidad de Oviedo, Asturias, Spain. This workshop was organized by the Association internationale d'études occitanes and the Facultad de Filosofía y Letras de la Universidad de Oviedo. Prof. Pfeffer spoke about the Old French genre of the dit and its transformations, as well as its transmission from France to England and Spain, from French to Middle English, Occitan and Catalan, over the course of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.
Prof. Peteet presents on Mediterranean studies
Prof. Julie Peteet (Anthropology) presented a paper, “’Immerse Yourself in History': Bathing through Time and Space," at a conference on Mediterranean Studies in Athens, Greece.
Items of Note
Kentuckiana Pride makes donation to support UofL LGBT Center
In response to a recent incident in which a threat against LGBT students was painted on the walkway in front of UofL’s LGBT Center, the Kentuckiana Pride Foundation has donated $500 to the center to help further its work. Kentuckiana Pride is an organization devoted to supporting creative expression and education related to the LGBT community through charitable and in-kind donations.
In the News
Roberto de Leon to deliver the 2016 Frederic Lindley Morgan Lecture on Architecture (Broken Sidewalk, 3/21/2016) – Architect Roberto de Leon delivered the 2016 Frederic Lindley Morgan Lecture in Architecture at the University of Louisville’s Hite Art Institute.
One Book Louisville: Author relays how residue of country’s racist past lingers (Insider Louisville, 3/23/2016) – On a community-wide book club, and a presentation by Isabel WIlkerson sponsored by UofL’s Pan-African Studies department, the Center on Race and Inequality and the Louisville Urban League.
Explosive road rage-like anger linked to parasite spread by cats (New Scientist, 3/23/2016) – Prof. Paul Ewald (Biology) on evolution and aggression.
Saving Kentucky Sound, One Recording At A Time (WFPL, 3/25/2016) – Prof. Christine Ehrick (History) on preserving Kentucky’s unique sound.
Quiz Bowl team on ‘UofL Today’
On ‘UofL Today with Mark Hebert’ A&S advisor Matt Church (left) Ramapriya Rangaraju (center) and Eric Hahnert (right)
were interviewed about the Quiz Bowl team’s division win and successful season. Listen to the podcast here.
