Provost's eZine - Issue 3 - February, 2009. The Provost's eZine is a monthly electronic newsletter that shares information to the campus community about events and accomplishments in the division of Academic Affairs.

CAST

  • On Saturday, March 28, 2009, HSM will host its 24th annual black tie “Puttin’ on the RITz’ dinner to raise funds for the RIT Hospitality Education Fund. For just a $100 donation, you can join the fun at Oak Hill Country Club for an evening of “Savoring Health - A Culinary Tour of Flavors.”
  • Dr. Francis Domoy and ACMT students

    Dr. Francis Domoy and ACMT students at the 2008 Puttin’ on the RITz dinner

  • The RIT Baja SAE team is registered to compete in the Baja SAE Brazil competition in March 2009. Nine students from CAST and KGCOE along with their CAST faculty advisor, Marty Gordon, will be traveling to Sao Paulo to compete head-to-head with some of the best Baja teams in Brazil. RIT will host its third world Baja competition in June 2010.

NTID

  • A committee of 10 NTID faculty and staff members has been established to create NTID 2020, a strategic planning guide to help NTID set and reach goals in the coming years.
  • NTID’s National Advisory Group welcomed four new members: Catherine “Katie” Hunt, of Spring House, PA., Lauren Lercher, Piscataway, NJ Harold Mowl, of Pittsford, NY and Sara Weiner of Portland, OR.
  • NTID has announced a Military Veterans with Hearing Loss initiative, encouraging recent veterans with hearing loss to attend school at RIT and receive access services such as captioning through NTID. Hearing loss is one of the most common causes of disability for men and women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Up to 10 such veterans may be enrolled in the fall.
    http://www.rit.edu/ntid/veterans
  • John Macko has been named Director of NTID’s Center on Employment. A graduate of RIT/NTID, Macko began working for the college in 1993.
  • Jim DeCaro, director of PEN-International, received the 2008 Contribution to Society Award from Japan’s Foundation for Encouragement of Social Contribution. He was honored for his contributions to the education of deaf and hard-of-hearing people around the world.

Faculty Success

  • Terry Bruce, Director of Campus Learning Technologies in the Educational Technology Center Terry Bruce, Director of Campus Learning Technologies in the Educational Technology Center, retires after 27 years at RIT. For Bruce, leaving a job better than he found it has been the hallmark of his career. He initially worked in the Office of Development as the director of their systems and services, and then moved to Human Resources in the same type of position. From there, he became the Director of Operations for the College of Imaging Arts and Sciences, before taking the reins at ETC. Some of the projects that Bruce has overseen during his tenure at ETC include the addition of the Center for Biotechnology Education and Training (CBET) building, the College of Applied Science and Technology (CAST) building and renovations to the E. Philip Saunders College of Business.
SZLive Logo
  • A handful of RIT students and staff have accomplished in only four months what normally can take a year or more - construct a cutting-edge high-definition production and broadcast trailer. And they did it for a third of the regular cost!

    Student-Contructed Broadcast Trailer

    The broadcast trailer is the only one of its kind in upstate NY: a full-production, high-definition moveable facility. You may see it outside Ritter Arena during home Tigers hockey games broadcasting SportsZone Live, the cable sports TV show covering RIT’s home games. SportsZone Live, a production of Educational Technology Services, may expand to cover away games next year, and other universities may rent the trailer some day.

    Students were largely responsible for planning and building the trailer in a four-month span and, now, for running the show during live broadcasts. This is all invaluable experience that they can’t get anywhere else. To read more about this unique and exciting venture, click here:
    http://www.rit.edu/news/?v=46562

Research

A Corporate R&D Success

Dr. Martin Brusdeilins and a team of scientists.

RIT welcomed Johnson & Johnson Ortho Clinical Diagnostics Vice President for R&D Dr. Martin Brusdeilins (3rd from the right) and a team of scientists to the SMFL

The Corporate R&D program was introduced as a new method of doing research with RIT last spring and has received a lot of interest from companies. Johnson & Johnson Ortho Clinical Diagnostics, the former Kodak Clinical Diagnostics group, was one of the companies who saw this as an opportunity to expand their relationship with RIT. This Johnson & Johnson subsidiary develops and markets diagnostic tests for the screening, monitoring, and confirmation of diseases and is one of the top 20 employers in the Greater Rochester area.

RIT faculty from the Kate Gleason College of Engineering were awarded three projects in this first round of research with OCD. Dr Kathleen Lamkin-Kennard, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Dr. Steven Day, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, and Eli Saber, Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering have each started a project with their students in modeling, microfluidics and image processing respectively. This initial bio-medical engineering work will provide $160,000 in research funding this year and form the basis for a long term research partnership with J&J OCD. This partnership was orchestrated over the past year by Mike Dwyer of the Research Relations Office. Congratulations to all who participated and supported the expansion of this partnership!

Wallace Library

Wallace Library RIT Pub Central
  • RIT Libraries has created RIT Pub Central for faculty and staff to input bibliographical information on their research and writings. 2008 faculty and staff authors were recognized by Sponsored Research Services at the eleventh annual RIT Principal Investigator's Reception on February 12th.
  • The RIT Lab for Social Computing is becoming a part of the RIT Libraries effective in February. LSC headquarters is located on the 3rd floor of the library in room 3570. There was a kick-off lecture with David Weinberg, author of Everything is Miscellaneous: The Power of the New Digital Disorder, on February 13th in the Idea Factory. For more information about The Lab for Social Computing, contact LSC Director, Elizabeth Lane Lawley, Ph.D. at ellics@rit.edu.
  • The Library’s Faculty Scholar Series resumed on February 4 with another presentation in the Idea Factory by Patricia Albanese, Matt Bernius and Michael Riordan of the Open Publishing Lab, a  cross disciplinary center in CIAS for researching new methods of content creation and open source application development.

Academic Affairs

Student Learning Outcomes Assessment

New Director:

Dr. Anne Wahl, our new director of Student Learning Outcomes Assessment, officially joined us on January 26th.

Pilot Project:

  • Under the auspices of the Provost’s office, a general education outcomes assessment pilot began Winter quarter. Ten faculty from the College of Liberal Arts, College of Science and NTID volunteered to participate. These individuals are: Rebecca Edwards, Tim Engstrom, Lisa Hermsen and Richard Newman from CLA; Carl Lutzer, Doug Merrill and Jake Noel-Starr from COS; Stephanie Polowe and Larry Quinsland from NTID. Marianne Gustafson (NTID) and Ron Jodoin (COS) are the pilot consultants and Chris Licata is the liaison on the project. This pilot will provide us with grass roots experience and ways to assess student learning outcomes, including methods to measure, collect, record, archive and evaluate data.
  • A second part of the pilot involves assessing student writing. Barbara Heifferon and Linda Rubel are working with Writing Faculty to develop an assessment rubric and apply the rubric to a sample of randomly collected student essays.
  • The Advisory Group that oversees the work of this pilot is chaired by Dean Emeritus Bob Clark and includes: Patricia Clark (COS); Babak Elahi (CLA); Suzanne Graney (CLA); Ron Jodoin (COS) and Marianne Gustafson (NTID).
  • Results from these pilot efforts will be used in university discussions related to outcomes assessment and will be incorporated into our progress letter to MSCHE and shared with the General Education Student Learning Outcomes Taskforce II.

General Education Outcomes Task Force II:

This task force, established by the Academic Senate in collaboration with Provost Haefner, began its work on January 22 to:

• recommend a set of student learning outcomes for the general education curriculum at RIT

• identify a sustainable evaluation and assessment plan based on the identified student learning outcomes

Each RIT college is represented on this task force by a member of the college’s college curriculum committee including: Roy Czernikowski (KGCOE), Ron Jodoin (COS), Naomi Orwin (CIAS), Kathy Ozminkowski (SCB), Roxanne Canosa (GCCIS), Richard Santana (CLA), Mary Beth Parker (NTID), and Linda Tolan (CAST). Provost appointees include: Linda Hermsen (CLA), Marianne Gustafson (NTID), and Anne Wahl (Provost’s Office).

Learning Communities News:

A Learning Community Advisory Board has been established to help develop an assessment plan, review results and guide future directions for LC’s at RIT. The board is chaired by Chris Licata and includes: Latty Goodwin (FYE), Eileen Bushnell (CIAS), Michael Eastman (CAST), Suzanne Graney (CLA),Trudy Howles (GCCIS), David Koster, Student, (SCB), Sophia Maggelakis (COS), Sylvia Perez-Hardy (GCCIS), Sue Provenzano (Provost’s Office), Dick Reeve (KGCOE), Kristen Waterstram-Rich, (COS) and Lynn Wild (Provost’s Office).

Dr. Cathy Engstrom, chair of the Higher Education program at Syracuse University and a national expert on Learning Communities will oversee data collection and develop a set of recommendations for our consideration. Dr. Engstrom worked with Kit Mayberry in 2004 when RIT was first establishing LCs.

Academic Enhancement Programs

Study Abroad Program:

  • The Office of Academic Enhancement would like to welcome Inge Meffert, our new AEP Associate. Inge will be working with both the Study Abroad and Honors Program. A native of Germany, Inge has numerous international work and study experiences and previously also worked with university students providing mental health counseling.
  • Study Abroad received a large number of applicants for the Kanazawa Institute of Technology Exchange Program. The selection committee chose 13 RIT students for this summer program in Japan.
  • RIT has a new affiliation with SEA Semester! SEA Semester has selected RIT students for the tuition match scholarship this spring semester. RIT students can study for a semester and receive 2 quarters worth of credit for 1 quarter of RIT tuition (additional expenses include room, board, and travel). SEA is the only program in the world that brings students from all disciplines to the deep ocean under sail to study the science and culture of the sea.
  • Promotion of Study Abroad: Information tables have been set up throughout the colleges and will continue over the next few weeks. This allows for more discussion with students on college-specific international study options.

Honors Program:

There is a change in the late-entry process this year. This year we are bundling the Honors Program application with an opportunity to apply for summer funding at the $3000 level. Students need to describe in lay terms what their summer activity will be, have a faculty sponsor, and present their work at the August student research symposium or at other venue. The number of students who will receive funding, and who are thus enrolled as late entry into the Honors Program, will be limited; this is a competitive application process. More details can be found at https://honors.rit.edu/admission.php#late.

K-12 Partnerships

  • RIT STEP Program hosted 26 students from Edison Tech and Rush Henrietta High Schools at the RIT Open House on December 5th.
  • The NOVA Academy final presentations and luncheon were held on December 13th. RIT faculty and staff members Joe Pow, John Powell, and Steven Reber worked with high school students in project based workshops to provide the students with an in depth awareness of Imaging Science, Virtual Enterprise and 3D Modeling. The next NOVA session began January 10th and will run for 7 weeks.
  • Edison STEP students participated in the FIRST Robotics kickoff event held at RIT on January 3rd.
  • The STEP Regional Science Bowl was held at RIT on January 31st. High school students from Rochester City Schools, Rush Henrietta, Buffalo, Syracuse and Albany competed at the Science Bowl.
  • RIT GEAR UP program hosted the 2008 GEAR UP Winter Family Event at Franklin Education Campus. The event presented information to the sophomore class and their families about college readiness and financial aid options. GEAR UP stands for Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs and is currently in its 4th year of programming. Over the next 2 years, the class of 2011 will continue receiving services, support and resources to better prepare the GEAR UP student for postsecondary education. For more information about our program and upcoming events, visit our website at
    www.rit.edu/academicaffairs/k12/gearup.

Registrar

  • Institutional Research, the Registrar’s Office and ITS continue to partner on the implementation of RIT’s Enterprise Data Warehouse. As was previously reported, the warehouse’s first priority is freshman retention and graduation data, which are now available. The next two subject areas are student enrollment and internal transfer data. When completed this spring, this iteration will provide enrollment and internal transfer reporting capabilities for all RIT students. A steering committee has been formed to help with the continuing development of the warehouse. Members include: Jeanne Casares (ITS) Dick Doolittle (COS), Kevin Dudarchik (ITS), Joan Graham (Institutional Research and co-chair), Ed Lincoln (Enrollment Management), Joe Loffredo (Registrar’s Office and co-chair), Wiley McKinzie (GCCIS), Harvey Palmer (KGCOE), Betsy Saxe (CIAS), Sara Schley (NTID), John Smithgall (COLA), Kim Sowers (ITS and co-chair), Stephanie Thompson (Institutional Research), John Tu (EPSCOB), Maureen Valentine (CAST), John Weas (Student Affairs), and Kim White (Diversity & Research Management).

Institute Advising

  • The RIT Advisors Council has partnered with the Center for Professional Development to offer professional development workshops for faculty and staff with advising responsibilities. These workshops are all designed, created and facilitated by RIT professionals with expertise in the topic areas. For more information about the workshops, including how to register, follow this link:
    http://finweb.rit.edu/cpd/performance/profdev.html

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