Summer 2004
Deborah Elwell Arfken, dean of the Graduate School and University registrar, was elected to a three-year term on the executive committee of the Council of Southern Graduate Schools.
J. Ronald Bailey has been appointed Guerry Professor of Engineering and Dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science. Bailey was formerly the F.W. Olin Professor and Dean of the College of Engineering at Florida Institute of Technology.
Arfken and Stephanie Bellar, political science, co-wrote two articles with Marilyn Helms, Sesquicentennial professor at Dalton State. "The Glacial Change: Women on Corporate Boards in Tennessee" was published in Business Perspectives this spring. "The Ultimate Glass Ceiling Revisited: The Presence of Women on Corporate Boards" was published in the Journal of Business Ethics" also last spring.
Elizabeth Bell, coordinator of Cooperative Education, received the Lumsden-Sellers Outstanding Tennessee Association of Colleges and Employers (TACE) Member Award. The Lumsden-Sellers Outstanding Member Award was established in 1990 to honor outstanding members of TACE for exceptional service. This award is now made to honor outstanding leadership, loyalty, and dedication to their profession and to TACE.
Lucien Ellington , Teacher Preparation Academy, has directed the National Consortium for Teaching about Asia (NCTA) in Tennessee. NCTA is a national inservice program for middle and high school teachers on the histories and cultures of China, Japan, and Korea. Ellington's role as director enables him to teach, along with guest lecturers, a thirty-hour institute for secondary school educators on East Asia. Participants gain valuable information and teaching strategies to incorporate into their classrooms. Twenty-five teachers from across the southeast will attended this year's summer program in Nashville.
Charles H. Lippy, will presentPluralism Comes of Age: The Changing Faces of Religious Pluralism in the United States at the Conference of the Hannah-Arendt-Institute for Research on Totalitarianism in Dresden, Germany. The theme will be Pluralism, Fundamentalism and Religious Freedom. On Forms of Civil Co-existence within Cultural Dissent . An anthology of the presentations at the conference will be published by Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen, in 2005.
Nandini Makrandi, art, was recently hired to teach survey courses, upper level classes and seminars. Makrandi will also coordinate and originate temporary exhibitions on contemporary art, create exhibitions of regional artists work, and oversee the sculpture garden, among other responsibilities at the Hunter Museum.
Deborah McAllister, UC Foundation Professor in the Teacher Preparation Academy, has served on an advisory panel to assess proposals for the U.S. Department of Education's Teacher Quality Enhancement Program-Partnership (TQEP-P). Teacher Quality Enhancement Grants encourage improvement of teacher quality, recruitment of highly qualified teachers to high-need schools, and partnerships among teacher preparation institutions and local high-need schools. McAllister served as a primary field reader for the program competition for 2004.
William McClay, SunTrust Chair of Excellence, was quoted in the June 28 issue of US News and World Report in the article “The Faith of our Fathers."
Jonathan McNair, music, was invited for a second consecutive summer to the Viva Voce Choral Camp as composer in residence. Viva Voce Choral Camp is a program of Spivey Hall, a performing arts venue at Clayton College & State University. In July, McNair was a resident at the Artist's Enclave at I-Park, part of the 450-acre arts facility in development in East Haddam, Connecticut.
Andy Novobilski, head of the Computer Science program, was asked by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to review proposals submitted to the CISE (Computer and Information Science and Engineering) Research Resources initiative. Institutions supported by this NSF program receive funds to improve their capability and capacity for information technology research. Novobilski assisted NSF by participating on a proposal review panel.
Kim Renz, director of Patten Performances, has been selected by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to serve on the grant review panel for the Presenting and Multidisciplinary grant programs. Nominated by his colleagues in the arts community, Renz was asked to serve on the panel by Dana Gioia, Chair of the National Council on the Arts. The Presenting and Multidisciplinary grant review panel will meet to discuss and award grants to enable applicants to make presentations around the country. The grants will help fund multidisciplinary art projects that include modes of artistic expression such as dance, theatre, and music.
Sean Richards , biological and environmental sciences, was asked by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to serve on their Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act Scientific Advisory Panel. The panel was created by Congress to provide scientific advice and recommendations to the administrator of the EPA on the impact of pesticides on human health and the environment.
Mary Lynn Williamson has been named Vice Chancellor for Student Development at UTC. Williamson has held several leadership positions in student affairs, including Executive Assistant to the Vice President for Student Services at Tulane; Assistant Dean for Student Services at the University of Florida; Assistant Vice President for Student Services at S U N Y Old Westport; Vice President for Student Services and Assistant Professor of Education at Henderson ( Arkansas) State University; and Vice President for Student Services and Associate Professor of Education at Arkansas State University. Most recently, Williamson’s career expanded to the corporate world, primarily in data management for banks, credit card companies, insurance companies, arranging technical training, purchasing and development.
In Departmental News …
The Center for Community and Career Education has recently been selected as a Target Partner for the PBS documentary entitled "College Track: America's Sorting Machine." Chattanooga was one of 100 communities across the nation selected to participate. The three-part PBS series will examine how "low expectations and lack of rigorous preparation limits student choices for post-secondary education and hamper their chances for success in life." The segments address why many "college material" children never attend at all, what happens when educators "expect the best," and why some students who make it to college drop out. "College Track" will air on PBS in September 2004.
The Engineering Accreditation Commission of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology has granted reaccreditation to UTC's B.S. in Engineering program. In addition, ABET has granted initial accreditation to UTC's programs in Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering.
The Legal Assistant Studies Program (LAS) has recently become an American Bar Association ( ABA) Approved Paralegal Education Program. The approval process involves extensive self-evaluation reports as well as on-site assessments. Assessment teams are composed of an ABA representative, an experienced paralegal, and the director of an ABA approved paralegal education program. UTC is one of 250 programs in the United States to have ABA approval. The approval signifies that UTC's LAS program prepares students to aid lawyers in diverse practice areas and settings.
Two external evaluators rated the Department of Philosophy and Religion as part of its academic program review process. The reviewers praised the Department in their report, which assessed the department's goals, curriculum, connections to the university and to students, teaching, inclusiveness, and support, also saying the department met 100% of THEC's assessment standards. They noted that Philosophy and Religion majors tend to score 20% higher than other students taking the College Base Exam. They also noted the diversity of course offerings for a program of its size. The reviewers were favorably impressed with all aspects of the department, especially the credentials of the productive faculty.
With the approval of the UT Board of Trustees, the doctoral program in education leadership has moved a step closer to implementation at UTC. The program also requires approval from the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC). The University hopes to offer the program in fall 2005.
Congratulations to these newly named department heads:
Dr. Mary Tanner of the College of Health, Dean of the Education and Professional Studies announces these new appointments:
- Following a year as acting Director of Nursing, Kay Lindgren has been named Director of Nursing.
- Valerie Rutledge has been named Head of the Teacher Preparation Academy, after serving as acting director.
- Ed McMahon has also been named Director of Management, Industrial and Electrical Engineering following service as acting director.
Dr. Herbert Burhen, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, has announced several new department head assignments in the College of Arts and Sciences:
- Matt Greenwell, UC Foundation Associate Professor, has been appointed Head of the Department of Art.
- Fouad Moughrabi has been appointed Head of the Department of Political Science, Public Administration, and Nonprofit Management.
- Vic Bumphus will serve as Acting Head of the Department of Criminal Justice and Legal Assistant Studies during fall semester, while Helen Eigenberg is on sabbatical leave.
- Verbie Prevost will serve as Acting Head of the Department of English, replacing David Garrison, who has resigned to accept a position at Georgetown University.
