Monday Memo February 15, 2016

Message from the Dean

Dear Colleagues,

I don’t usually single out a department, but I hope you will join me in congratulating the Fine Arts Department/Hite Institute on locating space for their new MFA program at long last. The search has been underway for several years, and the Foundation has agreed to facilitate a lease agreement for renovated space in a historic warehouse in the Portland neighborhood where there is a growing art scene. I am excited for the studio space that will enable our MFA students and faculty to advance their creative work. It also is a valuable step in helping UofL and the Arts promote economic development and bridge the 9th Street divide in Louisville. We have some serious fundraising ahead, but it is a happy prospect and a win-win situation.

I also want to encourage you all to visit the gallery in Schneider Hall in the next month a see the International Honor Quilt, a symbol of social change, feminism, justice, and much more. This is the very first time that the entire quilt has been displayed, and it can be of value to many. Already students in History and English have used the Quilt in their research. I hope that many classes and students of all ages from throughout the community will also take advantage of this unique and marvelous opportunity.

On another note, if you recall from last year we were able to identify 248 faculty and staff and 788 students participating in community engagement activities with the hope of getting more recognition of A&S achievements. That was impressive, but we are certain that we undercounted. You may also remember how cumbersome it was to collect this information. In an attempt to capture our true level of engagement, do it routinely, make it easier, and promote it in real time, A&S has contracted with MobileServe, a mobile app that measures service and engagement. We are piloting it this semester and need participants. If you (and your class if you are teaching a CBL course) are involved in engagement activities, we invite you to find out more next Monday, 2/22 at 9 a.m. or next Tuesday, 2/23 at 10:30 a.m. (See memo below for details).

Finally, the College of Arts and Sciences is home to outstanding faculty and staff, and each year we recognize the level of commitment and the accomplishments of some of our best and brightest. Please join me in honoring our distinguished colleagues at our Celebration of Excellence on March 10 at 3 p.m. in the George J. Howe Red Barn. Each winner will be given a $500 award and a plaque. It is my great pleasure to announce the winners of the A&S awards for 2015-16.

A&S DISTINGUISHED FACULTY AWARDS

  • Mark Austin, Sociology (A&S Distinguished Faculty Award for Full-time Teaching)
  • Robert Buchanan, Chemistry (A&S Distinguished Faculty Award for Service to the University)
  • Cherie Dawson-Edwards, Criminal Justice (A&S Distinguished Faculty Award for Service to the Community)
  • Paul Griner, English (A&S Outstanding Scholarship, Research and Creative Activity Award in the Humanities)

A&S OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE AWARDS FOR STAFF

  • Tracy Heightchew, Commonwealth Center for Humanities & Society and A&S Dean’s Office (Outstanding Performance Award in the Professional/Administrative Category)
  • Alexandra O’Keefe, University Honors (Outstanding Performance Award in the Clerical/Secretarial Category)
  • Rick Taylor, A&S Dean’s Office (Outstanding Performance Award in the Technical/Paraprofessional Category)

A&S FACULTY DIVERSITY CHAMPION AWARD

  • Derrick Brooms, Sociology (Diversity Champion Award for Faculty)

All of our A&S winners will automatically be forwarded on for consideration for the corresponding University-wide awards. Please note that we didn’t receive any nominations for the A&S Supervisor Awards. If you wish to nominate someone for the President’s Supervisor Award, please fill out and submit this form.

Thank you, and I look forward to seeing you all at the Celebration of Excellence on March 10th.

Sincerely,

Kimberly Kempf-Leonard
Dean

Announcements

Faculty & Staff: Community Engagement tracking project
A&S is looking for faculty and staff who are involved in community engagement projects and are willing to help us pilot a new mobile app – MobileServe – that will allow us to easily track, aggregate, and report community engagement and its impact.

If you are involved in community engagement either as a volunteer or a researcher, or if you are teaching a course with a community-based learning component, please join us for one of two info/training sessions on how to most effectively use the app. The sessions will be in Ekstrom W102 and will last approximately one hour.

  • Monday, February 22, 9:00 am, or
  • Tuesday, February 23, 10:30 am

If you can attend, please bring a mobile device (tablet or smart phone) if you own one. If you are unable to attend either session, please indicate if you are interested and we will follow up with you individually.

Register here by February 18: attend.com/mobileserve1.

Missing Syllabi Feb. 4
Please post your syllabi to Blackboard. If you are unsure if a syllabus has been posted, you can check this spreadsheet for a list of missing syllabi. For more info, contact Julia Dietrich.

Faculty Assembly & climate survey discussion Feb. 19
Because of the weather-related cancellation of the last A&S Faculty Assembly meeting, the discussion of the College Climate Survey will take place at the next Faculty Assembly meeting this coming Friday, February 19, from 2:00-3:15, in Strickler 102. Faculty and staff are also invited to the meeting on Friday, March 25, from 2:00-3:15, in Strickler 102, when Susan Howarth will be discussing the university budget and the impact of the governor’s proposed cuts.

Grant success webinar
This webinar will present strategies and solutions to increase grant success for individual investigators, including incentives, mentoring and partnering, targeted workshops, individual strategic plans for research funding, and tools to assess principal investigator (PI) readiness to pursue grants. This session will also offer some institutional practices that provide a robust research development infrastructure to support and complement individual faculty efforts to pursue grants. For more information, contact Carla Jones at 852-2454.

Teaching, Research, Creative Activity, & Service

Prof. Polzer joining Institute for Israel Studies this summer
Prof. Natalie Polzer (Humanities) has been accepted to participate in the Schusterman Center’s Summer Institute for Israel Studies, June 14-July 7, at Brandeis University and in Israel. She will develop a new course for the Jewish Studies Program entitled, “Israeli Cultural Diversity: A Musical History.”

Prof. Moyer presents at UofK
Prof. Laura Moyer (Political Science) was spoke at the University of Kentucky (Department of Political Science Research Series) on her paper, "Intersecting Disadvantages: Race, Gender, and Age Discrimination among Attorneys."

Prof. Pfeffer presents in Knoxville
Prof. Wendy Pfeffer (Classical & Modern Languages) presented "The Occitan Romance of Blandin de Cornoalha, Oral Antecedents, and Oral Presentation” on Feb. 5, as an invited speaker at the Marco Institute's Manuscript Workshop entitled "Performing Texts," at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Kudos & Congratulations

Prof. Griner’s book named finalist for Ky. literary award
Prof. Paul Griner’s (English) 2015 short story collection Hurry Please, I Want to Know has been named a finalist for the Kentucky Literary Award from the Southern KY Book Fest. The winner will be announced at the Fest on April 22.

Quiz Bowl team moves on to championship tournament
Congrats to the UofL Quiz Bowl team for their excellent performance at the NAQT Southeast Sectional Tournament at Georgia Tech. The Division I team – Nicholas Conder (PhD, Urban & Public Affairs), Kurtis Droge (MBA), Ramapriya Rangaraju (Graduate Student, CECS), and Megan Seldon (English major) – went 11-1 to finish first in the Sectional and automatically qualify for the 2016 Intercollegiate Championship Tournament in Chicago, which is for the top 32 teams in the USA, Canada, and Great Britain.

The Division II team – Thomas Rosbottom (Chemical Engineering major), Clayton Truman (Mechanical Engineering major), Jacob Wollam (English major), and Amos Zoeller (Bioengineering major) – went 11-3 and finished second and will hope for an at large bid to ICT. This was the best performance UofL has ever had at the sectional tournament. Congrats to the team on an excellent performance!

Debate members receive top honors at weekend tournament
Seniors Arnav Wheat and William (Wes) Tolbert were awarded First and Second Speaker Awards, respectively, at the Hoosier Invitational debate tournament, held Jan. 29 to Feb.1 at Indiana University Bloomington. Wheat and Tolbert ended the tournament as the second place team in the Junior Varsity division. For more information about the debate team, contact Mary Mudd or go to louisville.edu/debate.

Items of Note

Kentucky Women’s Book Festival celebrates 10th Anniversary
The Kentucky Women’s Book festival is celebrating its 10-year anniversary March 5 with a full slate of author presentations, book signings and opportunities to mingle with fellow book lovers at Ekstrom Library. See the press release and flyerfor more information.

In the News

Dawne Gee shares heart-racing memories of desegregation, busing (The Courier-Journal, 2/8/2016) – A&S alumna Dawne Gee shared her memories of desegregation with Prof. Tracy K’Meyer (History) on WAVE-3 News.

International Honor Quilt featured on Great Day Live!(WHAS-11, 2/9/2016) – The International Honor Quilt was featured on a segment of the WHAS-11 show, Great Day Live!

Forced Busing: Was it worth it? (WAVE-3, 2/10/2016) – Alumna Dawne Gee speaks with Prof. Tracy K’Meyer (History) and Prof. Cate Fosl (Women’s & Gender Studies/ Director, Anne Braden Institute) about busing in Louisville.

The College of Arts & Sciences’ Fine Arts department is establishing new studio and exhibit space at a warehouse in Portland.