Provost’s Update

You may have seen Fernando’s recent message about the Calendar Conversion process and how far we’ve come. Here are a few highlights:

• Our scheduling officers have uploaded 2,951 distinct semester courses to the new SIS.
• Working with RIT’s departments and programs leadership and the Registrar’s Office, our scheduling officers have programmed 4,938 class sections for fall 2013 semester alone.
• Over 9,000 students have enrolled in classes for our first semester ever.

To celebrate the official end of the quarter system at RIT, we will be having a celebration on August 29, 2013 at 3 PM. There will be a ceremony at Ingle Auditorium, following which we will deposit a time capsule to commemorate our work and the beginning of a new era in the history of RIT. 

The following items reflect the work and activities that support and lead to the success of our students as measured by achievement of learning and completion of their degree.

In 2009, RIT established University Studies, a major exploration program for first-year, undeclared students and for first or second year students wishing to change majors. This program has been very successful in helping students find their final program of study, and this year we celebrated our first graduates.  The University Studies program had 21 students who graduated this year from the first class who began in 2009, and another 21 graduates who entered the program as internal transfers. I congratulate the faculty and staff of the University Studies program for all their efforts. I am sure this is just the beginning of a successful program that will see many graduates over the coming years.

In response to a charge from the provost to review the current language of policies D08.0 and D17.0 and recommend revisions to “guide expectations for academic conduct committee and appeals procedures and  assist academic units in managing various stages in the academic conduct process”, Policy D08.0, previously entitled “Academic Honesty Policy” was rewritten and retitled “Student Academic Integrity Policy.” Similarly, Policy D17.0, previously entitled “Academic Conduct and Appeals Procedures” was rewritten and retitled “Final Course Grade Dispute Policy.”  These policies were recommended by the Academic Senate and approved by the president.  Thanks to the initial working group of Heidi Miller, Sharon Mason, and Ann Haake and led by Heath Boice-Pardee for their work on writing the revisions and the Academic Affairs Subcommittee led by Michael Laver for reviewing and presenting the policies to the Academic Senate. 

Like the year before, RIT has set a new record for the number of proposals submitted for external research support. This comes at a time when faculty were busy with course redesign in preparation for the start of semesters. I give my thanks and gratitude for the tremendous work the faculty have done to advance the discovery of new knowledge. 

This year there was considerable excitement around the work done across the campus on access technology. We have partnered with the Al Sigl group to spearhead funding opportunities and the Office of the Vice President for Research sponsored a celebration of the work in this area. This locus of activity is a strength of RIT and we look forward to growing this into a center of excellence. 

I would like to take a moment to thank all the students, faculty and staff who worked to make our annual Imagine RIT festival a success. More than 30,000 people attended the event and explored over 400 exhibits showcasing the innovation and creativity of our students and faculty. Many exhibits were noteworthy or exceeded expectations; I will recognize just two out of many that stood out.

In the College of Science, the nanomaterials booth organized by students and faculty in the School of Chemistry and Materials Science generated an impressive amount of visitors from young children to seniors. The exhibit included hands-on demonstrations of futuristic materials including memory metal, temperature-sensitive LCDs, and RIT-designed nanocomposites.

The Kate Gleason College of Engineering had 91 exhibits- the largest number of any college- and the highest level of student and faculty participation the festival. Visitors took part in demonstrations and learned about how engineering touches their lives every day.  

These are just two of the many impressive examples of ingenuity and creativity that were on display during the festival. I know many students, faculty and staff work all year to make Imagine RIT run smoothly and I appreciate your commitment to showing the Rochester community RIT’s best and brightest ideas.

“CONNECT: Increasing the Representation and Advancement of Women Faculty at RIT”, an outstanding project led by professor Margaret Bailey, received an additional $3.2 million in funding last October through the National Science Foundation’s ADVANCE grant program. Dr. Bailey, faculty associate to the provost, and professor in the Kate Gleason College of Engineering, also led the EFFORT@RIT project which conducted an in-depth study of tenure, promotion and scholarship among female faculty at RIT. The new funding will be used to focus on increasing opportunities for women in STEM professions at RIT, with a special focus on underrepresented groups.  The CONNECT@RIT project seeks to address issues that have been identified as potential challenges to women seeking advancement in their professional academic careers. As Dr. Destler stated in his recent Huffington Post piece, “to cultivate the best and brightest minds and to be an innovation resource for industry, we must proactively encourage diversity.”

Yousef Al-Assaf was named president of RIT Dubai after a rigorous, year-long search process. The former dean of the College of Engineering at the American University of Sharjah in the UAE, Dr. Al-Assaf’s experience with accreditation, building new programs and developing industry partnerships made him uniquely suited for this position. Since starting his position in February, Dr. Al-Assaf has focused on increasing enrollment at RIT Dubai and recently oversaw the second annual graduation ceremony at the Dubai campus.

The Office of International Education and Global Programs hosted six sessions of its Global Conversation series. Participants learned about the opportunities and potential for teaching, research and learning in Peru, Ecuador, Sweden, China, Japan, Turkey and the Middle East. A special session on the experiences of Fulbright Scholars was also included. I am excited to see the level of interest and engagement of faculty and staff in the continued internationalization of the RIT campus. Materials from all of the forums, including speaker presentations, can be found in the Inclusive and Global Education section of my priorities website.

Academic excellence is fundamental to our mission and vision. The following items reflect those activities that lead to the highest quality academic programs; examples include acquiring and allocating resources, achieving accreditation, developing, evaluating, and managing academic programs, and working to achieve student learning.

Preparations for the first offering of January 2014 TigerTerm^SM courses are well underway.  On April 18, Dr. Jeff Noblett, Colorado College's associate dean of the faculty, was invited to share his 30 years of experience teaching college-level intensive courses with over 60 participants.  Dr. Noblett also led intensive course design and study abroad workshops on April 18 and 19, respectively.  Both events were exceptionally well-attended.  Dr. Fernando Naveda has been working with our departments and colleges to finalize the first TigerTerm^SM January courses.  In collaboration with the Office of Student Learning Outcomes Assessment and instructional personnel from the Innovative Learning Institute, the Office of Intersession and Summer will be offering a two day Intensive Course Bootcamp on June 6-7. Registration is now closed for this two-day event, any interested faculty should contact Dr. Naveda (jfnvse@rit.edu) with any questions regarding TigerTerm^SM course preparation.

In October 2012, I presented a charge to the Graduate Education taskforce and asked the cross-representational membership to develop a series of strategic recommendations that will shape graduate education at RIT for the next 8 years. The primary goals of the taskforce are to initiate a campus-wide dialogue on graduate education, conduct research and analyze data relevant to the future of graduate education at RIT, and to develop a vision and implementation plan for graduate education that achieves the appropriate balance between imagination, risk-taking, innovation, and the wise use of human and financial resources. The final report will be finished in June and will be vetted across campus in the fall. 

Since his appointment last fall, Chip Sheffield has studiously applied himself to making applied critical thinking (ACT) part of faculty’s current and developing curriculum. He led the formation of a Faculty Advisory Board, with representation from all of RIT’s colleges and research centers, which will collaborate with Dr. Sheffield on the development of the strategic vision, guiding principles, and oversight of ACT at RIT. The kickoff in October was attended by Dr. Eugene Fram and the keynote was given by N. Katherine Hayles, an RIT alumna and professor of literature at Duke University on the topic of “Are Digital Media Changing the Way We Think?” Chip has held two successful workshops for faculty to learn how to integrate ACT into the student experience. These “lunch and learn” workshops were at capacity and even had a waiting list for participants.  I congratulate Chip on a successful and productive first year and look forward to the future evolution of critical thinking at RIT.

The approval of Policy B2.0 (The charter for academic governance) by Academic Senate was a great accomplishment on behalf of the Academic Senate and a primary goal for the 2012-2013 Academic Year. It is a triumphant end to Paul Tymann’s term as chair of the Academic Senate. Paul will be succeeded by Michael Laver (College of Liberal Arts), who was elected chair at the April 25 Academic Senate meeting.

To accurately evaluate teaching effectiveness, we cannot rely on just the student ratings. Indeed, best practices in this area use multiple methods for evaluating teaching effectiveness. So in addition to the work on student rating of teaching effectiveness, the colleges have been engaged in conversations on how they will use multiple methods. Some of the methods include using peer-evaluations, evaluation by chairs, a review of course materials, and the assessment and accreditation processes. While not all the colleges have completed these discussions, many have and will be using them along with the new student ratings systems next year.