2009 is going to be another great year for the College of Natural and Applied Sciences. We are constantly moving forward at a fast pace, but the progress is exciting! First, I want to announce several leadership changes in the college. Dr. Inno Onwueme, associate dean, has accepted an associate provost position at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. It has been a joy and a pleasure to work with Inno, and I have so appreciated his insightful questions. While we are sorry to see Dr. Onwueme leave, the position he will be taking is a good fit for his talents and capabilities, and takes him closer to family — including a very new grandbaby. We certainly wish him the best in all his future endeavors. A search for a new associate dean will take place over the summer. In the Department of Chemistry, Dr. Alan Shick will begin his duties as Department Head on July 1. He comes to us from Eastern Kentucky and is already settling into the Ozarks. In the Department Fashion and Interior Design, I have appointed Dr. Paula Kemp to serve as Acting Head also starting July 1.
I want to thank Inno for his leadership in the college. I also want to thank the current acting department heads – Dr. Jeannie Ireland (FID), and Dr. Eric Bosch (Chemistry). They have served in their respective leadership roles with honor and integrity. I am very pleased that they accepted the responsibilities of the position and I wish them all the best as they step back into their roles as full-time faculty.
Second, I’d like to share with you some of our accomplishments over the past academic year (as well as a few goals for next):
- Faculty in the college have brought in over $4 million dollars in external funding so far this fiscal year. They submitted over 145 proposals for external funding and of those, 97 were funded as of May 2009. In addition, CNAS distributed over $18,000 to faculty as incentives to submit large grant proposals.
- CNAS faculty and departments brought nearly 5000 high school students to the Missouri State University campus in 2008 – 2009 to participate in various events and competitions.
- In the fall of 2008, CNAS funded 102 graduate students, 31 of those with funding from external sources. In the Fall of 2009, the Provost’s Office, Graduate College and CNAS are teaming up to further enhance Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) graduate assistantships by adding an additional 15 positions for up to three years. We will all work very hard to leverage these university dollars with even more external funding for additional graduate students on our campus.
- CNAS students were co-authors on over 120 published papers, presentations and juried works.
- In the fall of 2009, we will begin a planning study to determine the best use of future and current spaces for the sciences in the southwest corner of campus. While our current arrangement (spread thinly between multiple buildings) serves our most basic needs, we look forward to consolidating and streamlining our operations for greater efficiency and productivity.
- The University’s 2008 Public Affairs theme, “Sustainability” has energized many within the college. This has led to some exciting developments: o Carrie’s Restaurant went green in 2008.
o Several lectures in the college had a sustainability theme.
o HRA held a sustainability research symposium in spring 2009.
o Links to sustainability in the curriculum are becoming more evident.
o Students and faculty worked together to make recycling easier in Temple Hall and we now have bins for plastics and paper.
Finally, I’d like to thank you, our alumni and friends, for the great support you have shown the College. If we can ever be of service to you, please let me know!