CNAS News –

                We had a great turnout for the first CNAS public lecture on Friday evening, February 4 with Ron Greeley.  He showed us great views of Mars and I learned the difference between sand and dust!

                I hope that you will join us for the next three public lectures.  A flyer is attached.  The first is February 15 in Temple  002. 

                In addition I will be presenting a seminar on Valentine’s Day, February 14^th beginning at 4:30 PM in Cheek 102 entitled “STEM: National Data and Goals; Missouri State Data and Goals.”  Our nation (and even our state) have set goals for STEM education.  Do you know what they are or who’s setting the goals?  I hope that you will attend this seminar to learn more.  CNAS has many goals that directly align with these national goals.  Are their some changes that should be made?

Science/Math Competitions

                Science Olympiad – Nearly 1000 young people will be on campus on Saturday, February 12 to compete in the regional science Olympiad competition.  The awards ceremony begins at 3:30 PM in McDonald Arena.  This is an amazing event.  I want to thank all of the faculty and students who run the sessions for their hard work!!

                JETS (Junior Engineering Technical Society) Competition – On February 22 nearly 10 high school teams will be on campus to compete for the awards in this competition.  This year students will face tasks and scenarios related to energy and the global need for diversification, efficiency, security and ecological sustainability. 

                Ozarks Regional Science and Engineering Fair – April 5-7.   The judging will occur on April 5 with the fair open to the public on April 6-7.  The awards will be presented the evening of April 7.

                More information about the next two annual events in a future newsletter.      

Pummill Relays – April 20. 

                Missouri Elementary and Middle School Math Competitions – April 30

Opportunities for Research Presentations

                CNAS Undergraduate Research Day – March 25.  Abstracts are due March 15.  See the CNAS home page or contact Kimberly Clark for more information.  KimberlyClark@missouristate.edu

                I-CHRIE Undergraduate Hospitality Research Symposium and Central Federation              Conference at University Plaza – April 1-2.  Contact Melissa Dallas for more information.  MelissaDallas@missouristate.edu

                Missouri State Graduate College Interdisciplinary Forum – April 2.  Contact the graduate college for more information.

Announcement

• The Public Affairs Conference is April 12-15 and the entire schedule and information about plenary speakers and panelists are online.  Please plan to take advantage of the event and encourage your students to do the same.  If you are interested in inviting one of the conference participants to visit a class, give a presentation, etc., please contact Mary Ann Wood.

Budget News

• The college budget committee continues to meet regularly.  Its charge is now to consult with me and assist in making recommendations for reallocations to foster distinctiveness, which will go to the Academic Affairs Budget Committee in mid-April for further review.  Please talk to your budget committee members about ideas and plans.  The meeting notes are posted weekly.  We have some near-term budget decisions to make regarding hiring and search plans for FY12.  We also need to consider what the sources of the 1% to 2% reallocations will be. 
• In all of our budget work (and all work) we are seeking excellence and distinction.
• Seeking  Excellence – It is important that we always seek excellence in all we do – in our teaching, our research, our service, our mentoring.  Annual reviews, program evaluations, dashboards of data can all give us evidence of quality.  They also give us opportunities for self-reflection – to list strengths, concerns, opportunities and threats.  Let us each individually and as units seek excellence!
• Seeking Distinction – The executive budget committee states: “Such initiatives would need to be focused, distinctive, and would need to focus on student learning, faculty excellence, and, ideally, employ interdisciplinary approaches. Such initiatives should also be generated with an eye toward the 2011-16 strategic plan.”  There are different ways that a university can be distinctive.  We might be distinctive due to the particular programs we have and the strength of those programs.  How might we use allocated resources to make selective programs distinctive?  We will first seek excellence in allocations and funding but then how do we selectively reallocate resources to make centers of distinction within CNAS?

Course Transformation in CNAS – A special thanks to all of the faculty involved in course transformation in CNAS.  It is taking on many forms and I truly appreciate the work that you are putting into it.  The students at Missouri State want to be challenged and we have the responsibility to clearly state the learning outcomes for each course and then to assess them appropriately.  I will be requesting regular updates from each of the course transformation teams and I will begin posting our progress on the CNAS website.  We will be trying new technologies and new ideas that have proven successful at other institutions.  We will be assessing student learning outcomes and student success.  I will send a summary of each of the projects later in the month.

  MTH101, 102, 103, 135 – funded by FCTL – Pre-Algebra and College Algebra

  BIO102 – funded by FCTL – Principles of Biological Sciences

  CHM160/161 (new lab) – General Chemistry I

  CHM105 (online instead of I-course) – Introduction to Chemistry

  CHM107 (take-home labs) – Chemistry for the Citizen

  CSC130, 131, 232 – Computer Science

  PHY124 and then PHY 123 – Introduction to Physics

  GRY108 – Principles of Sustainability

                Faculty research grant proposals are due September 27, 2010.  Please remember that these both a department head and dean signature – please give us time to read, comment and sign. 

                Summer Faculty Fellowship Applications are due November 1, 2010.   Once again, please remember that these both a department head and dean signature – please give us time to read, comment and sign.  

 Calendar for faculty evaluation for the fall semester (only involves promotion/tenure and second year faculty) 

                October 8 – All faculty applying for promotions (including to senior instructor) must have portfolios turned in to heads.  You turn this over to departmental committee by October 11 with external review letters included. 

                October 8 – Review for any second year faculty – Committee and department head must submit a written review!

                October 29 – Departmental committees must submit their recommendations with written rationale to heads by this date on the form attached to this email.   Faculty receives copy of this recommendation and written rationale and has three days to review, respond, sign and return to head (November 1-3, 2010).

                November 19 – Department head must complete their written assessment and recommendation to applicants.  Faculty receives a copy of this recommendation and written rationale and has three days to review, respond, sign and return to head.  (November 22-24, 2010).  (Form is attached above!)

All portfolios are to be in the dean’s office by November 24.  The college personnel committee will have November 29-December 3 to read and review files.  I will want to meet with the committee early in the week of December 6 to hear their evaluation and recommendations (oral only).  I will also want to meet with all candidates for promotion/tenure sometime between December 8-15.  My goal will be to have my evaluations done by December 16 so that faculty can review, respond, sign and turn back in by December 22.  All portfolios are due to provost office by December 23.

 CNAS Public Lecture Series – Please post, attend and bring your friends and neighbors!!!  Melida Gutierrez will be speaking on Tuesday, September 14!!

 Provost Open Forums – September 15 (3-5 PM, PSU400), October 20 (3-5 PM, PSU Ballroom East), November 17 (3-5 PM, PSU Ballroom East)

 President’s State of the University Address – September 28 (NOON, PSU Theatre)

 The 2010-2011 University Committee Handbook can be found at http://www.missouristate.edu/assets/provost/Committees_Handbook_2010-2011.pdf

 The Faculty Handbook effective August 16^th can be found at

http://www.missouristate.edu/assets/policy/FHB_2010_approved_8.17.10_fv.pdf

We are in an interesting time.  Decreasing state revenues, decreasing funding for all state services, and SB389 which limits tuition increases.   I found the following article interesting in Inside Higher Education (http://www.insidehighered.com/home).  The article is from February 17 and is title “Slipping (Further) Off the Pedestal”.  The article reports on the latest public opinion survey related to higher education.

The college will be down up to 4-5 faculty members in the fall of 2010 due to the retirement incentives and the 2.14% college cuts.  We have learned in the last week that the cuts for FY11 could be bigger and therefore the president, provost and deans have agreed to freeze hiring for some positions that we had hoped to fill for fall 2010.  In fact I froze three positions in CNAS this past week – halted the searches.  These are not easy decisions to make and as a matter of fact they are not much fun either.  On the other hand FY12 with another 15% cut will be easier if we begin now.   How will we make these next cuts?  I will be holding as many positions open as possible.  Where we do have open positions I will be challenging departments to figure out how to proceed without or helping them short-term funds to hire per course instructors.  We have a number of retiring faculty who have chosen to return half-time next year.  I am so thrilled that students will have access to these outstanding faculty for another year.  I will be seeking your feedback through the CNAS faculty advisory group, department heads, faculty meetings and this blog.  We will need to be a team and weigh the pros and cons of all ideas.

The university’s new long-range planning committee , and specifically the academic priorities committee, may be looking to suspend enrollment in select programs in the near future that is a decision that will need to be made at the highest levels.  We will need to make strategic choices.  This does challenge each of us as a faculty member and a member of a department to truly prioritize the various things that we do in our programs – every thing from courses offered, to outreach activities, to research.  What are the most important things we do as a program or department?  What are the most essential courses that we teach in a given major?  What are the most important outreach activities that we do?  What about graduate education?   How important is research and writing grant proposals?  How much of a role do we each need to play in general education? 

Over the next 3-4 years most departments in the college will have fewer faculty/staff.  This is significant but it is not devastating.  We can struggle through this kicking and screaming or we can put all of the intelligent minds together in each department and in the college to prioritize and be stronger in FY16.  I am confident that we can be stronger as the economy turns around but it will take all of us putting our heads together.  It may mean that students have fewer choices but it absolutely should not mean that they have a low quality education.  As a matter of fact we might also consider how we improve the quality of our student’s education as we prioritize elements of our programs.  We must keep the students in mind.  It is my opinion that we should prioritize graduate education high for those programs that have a consistent enrollment.  We can provide that graduate education in southwest Missouri like no one else can.  I am proud of what we do in graduate education and I hope that we can (at some level) continue to serve students interested in earning graduate degrees.

What are some things that we might also consider?  For tenured faculty who have not been research active recently, it may be time for them to be assigned 12 hour loads.   What about faculty travel?  Should it be suspended for a period of time?  What about faculty sabbaticals?  Should they be suspended for a period of time?  We have several centers in the college?  Should they be forced to be self-sufficient?  If so, in what time period?  Teaching larger and larger and larger classes is absolutely not always the answer although it does save on faculty lines.  What are some ways that we can help faculty who teach these large sections?  I think that supplemental instructors have helped in some cases?  What are some other options?

I have visited with about half of the departments in the college in the past week and will continue to visit with you.  Please email or call if you have ideas or concerns.  I encourage you to give feedback to your department heads and to your faculty advisory committee members. 

I have enjoyed the past 3.5 years as I have been able to say yes more than no to many, many requests.  I hope that with your ideas for how we can do the most important things for students over the next 2-3 years that you will have the plans that we can all continue to say “yes” to.  Thank you for all you do!!!

It is time for an update an update and continued information and discussion. 

The state budget forecast.  Today’s news out of the Governor’s office indicates another round of state budget cuts.  As you may have seen in local media, last week Missouri Department of Higher Education Commissioner Robert Stein sent a memo to the chancellors and presidents of the state’s 2- and 4-year institutions.  In the memo Commissioner Stein pointed to some rather sobering projections for state revenues in FY12 and beyond.  The letter went on to list potential responses to budget reductions of 10% or more, ranging from larger class sizes and program reductions to consolidation or even privatizing of entire institutions.  It is too early to tell either how bad the budget situation will actually be or what broad measures might be introduced at the state level, but clearly the circumstances will be challenging and perhaps quite different than anything we have faced in recent memory.  None of this news is really new to us – recall that last fall Dr. Nietztel referred to FY12 as  “cliff” and that a 5% reduction in state appropriations in FY11 almost certainly would be followed by a cut of at least that magnitude in FY12 – except that the state revenue projections have gotten worse rather than better and now the Commissioner is talking openly about possible cuts as large as 15%.

I strongly encourage you to (1) read Commissioner Stein’s memo and (2) attend the presentation On Monday, February 8, at 3 p.m. in the Plaster Student Union Theater by Paul Wagner, deputy commissioner of the Missouri Department of Higher Education.  Mr. Wagner will speak to the Missouri State campus community about the budget challenges facing the State of  Missouri, and higher education in particular.

On February 24 there will be a Town Hall meeting at 3:00 PM in PSU Theatre.  Provost McCarthy will chair a panel of the deans who will talk about how they plan to deal with their portion of the anticipated budget reduction in Fiscal Year 2011.   At this point it appears that CNAS will be able to make our FY11 by not filling several positions (mostly faculty).  None of this is easy but this may be much less than what we face in the near future.

Revising the university’s long range plan.  Last summer President Nietzel presented to the Board of Governors a progress report on the current long range plan, focusing on the benchmark measurements that has been set out in that plan.  He then provided a similar update in his Fall 2009 state of the university address.  Recently, preparations have begun for the new long range planning process, and Academic Affairs is going to play a key role.  I expect there will be some communication coming from the President’s Office before too long.  There will be opportunities for participation and input from faculty and staff.  I hope you will take every chance to participate and speak out.   Obviously, the planning process must take into account the current and potential budget situation.  Current assumptions include steady or slightly increase in enrollment, at least a 10% reduction in state appropriations in FY12 and not recovering until FY15, and legislative constraints on tuition will be maintained per SB389.

During February and March I plan to visit with each of the departments in the college to talk about issues related to the budget and strategic planning, as these broader campus conversations are beginning, as well.

As soon as I have more information to share with you about any of these important issues I will let you know.  In the meantime, I encourage you to take a few moments to read Commissioner Stein’s memo and to review the long range plan and Dr. Nietzel’s report from last fall.  I also encourage you to scan the higher ed publications, such as The Chronicle of Higher Education and Inside HigherEd, to read what’s going on around the country. 

 I will begin posting links to articles on my blog page.  If you find articles that you think may be useful to all of us please send me that links and I will post them.

 In Cutting Programs, Universities Try to Swing the Ax Gently

http://chronicle.com/article/In-Cutting-Programs/63828/?sid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

 Distinct Visions and Strong Leaders Can Sustain Troubled Colleges, Speaker Says

http://chronicle.com/article/More-Remedies-for-Colleges-in/63877/

 Article from Columbia, MO paper about higher ed budget situation:

 http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2010/jan/26/higher-ed-chief-suggests-ways-to-save-money/?news

Faculty – Did you know that there is a published “department head manual” posted on the provost website?  Actually it has been there for awhile.  http://www.missouristate.edu/provost/handbooks_manuals.htm   I learned recently that some did not.  In this manual it indicates that a typical term for a department head is five years and that these terms are renewable.  As I became your dean no one had a “term” and so I met with each current department head and we agreed upon terms.   I attempted to stagger them.  Here are the current term end dates for CNAS heads – May 2010 (Plymate and Smith), May 2011 (Cheng and Elliott), May 2012 (Mathis), May 2013 (Dallas), May 2014 (Schick).   We currently have two acting heads – FID (Kemp) and PAMS (Patterson).  They each have a one year appointment.  Dr. Kemp’s appointment is renewable for a second year.    For permanent department heads the manual indicates that in the fall of final year that I should meet with each head who’s term is ending to determine if they are interested in serving another term.  I actually started those conversations this past spring.  Lloyd Smith has decided he would not like to serve another term and we will be doing an internal search for a new department head in CSC this year.  Tom Plymate is willing to serve another term and so I met with the GGP this past week to find out if they would be supportive of another term.  We will complete the review process as stated in the manual for Dr. Plymate’s reappointment this year.  We have begun the search for a new department head for PAMS this fall.  The CNAS leadership team is absolutely great and we will do great things together.  If you have any questions about the department head manual please let me know.  Indeed deans have the same “terms” and I will undergo a full review before the end of my fifth year.

We have four external reviewers coming to campus in November to review programs in three of our departments.  On November 2-3 we will have two reviewers here for GGP.  The reviewers will be meeting with faculty mostly in small groups on Monday and Tuesday morning.  These meetings are being scheduled as requested by the reviewers and you will have a full itinerary prior to their arrival.  The exit interview with the entire faculty will be Tuesday, November 3 beginning at 3:45 PM (place TBA).   On November 19-20 we will have one reviewer here for PAMS and one reviewer here for MTH.  The reviewers will tour facilities, meet with faculty, staff and students, and anyone else they request to meeting with.  The full itinerary will be distributed to all faculty in the department.  The exit interviews with the entire faculty will be Friday afternoon.  The exit interview with all PAMS faculty will begin at 3:00 PM (place TBA) and the exit interview with all MTH faculty will begin at 4:00 PM (place TBA).

Budget’s - Please watch President Nietzel’s Financial Outlook button on the homepage of the Missouri State University website.  We will be making some very, very important decisions over the next several months and I hope that you will each provide your input.  There will be opportunities university-wide as well as within the college.  I will be discussing options with department heads, the CNAS faculty advisory committee, and the CNAS student advisory committee.  I will be seeking everyone’s feedback via this blog as well as an all-college meeting as we proceed.

There are four events between now and November 18 that I want to call to your attention.

1.  October 24 is Expanding Your Horizons.  There will be 200 middle school girls on campus to do experiments and learn more about careers in STEM areas.  The event is primarily held in Temple Hall but sometimes we use Kemper Hall.  We will be having lunch and the career fair in PSU.

2.  October 26-31 is Homecoming Week.  A number of our alumni will return for advisory board meetings, meetings with friends, and maybe even the football game.  This is our time to shine.  Let’s show off our research and our labs and all of the wonderful work that students and faculty do everyday on this campus.  Let’s open our classroom doors and let everyone peak in and here about what we are teaching and the wonderful work that you do in the classroom everyday!  Enjoy the week.  I look forward to meeting a number of CNAS alumni during the week.

3.  November 14 is the MAKO Undergraduate Mathematics Research Conference.  http://math.missouristate.edu/43564.htm 

4.  November 18 – There will be a sustainability fair on the Missouri State University campus.  This event has two purposes.  First we want to celebrate our successes related to sustainble practices and second we want to lift up our commitment to sustainability on this campus and attempt to live up to the sustainability statement that was adopted in 2008.  Watch for more information on the Missouri State University website or the sustainability website – http://www.missouristate.edu/sustainability/.

It is a rainy Saturday and there is a football game this afternoon.  As a matter of fact I received a game ball today on behalf of the college.  CNAS was recognized at today’s game and each college will be recognized at a game this fall.  Farm Bureau sponsored today’s game and we certainly appreciate their sponsorship of the game but more importantly their support of the Department of Agriculture.  Thank you – Farm Bureau!!!

I will be attempting to give you some needed deadlines and information through this blog so I hope that you will check it regularly. 

Majors Fair is Wednesday, September 23 – I look forward to seeing everyone’s displays.  This is a great opportunity to share our strengths with our current students and to prepare for all of the fall recruitment fairs that we will be attending.

Dr. Nietzel’s state of the university address is Tuesday, September 29 in the PSU Theatre. 

Many of you have mentioned over the years that you wished we had help so that we could provide more summer camps – especially related to STEM fields.  The president and provost have funded a “Science Education Project Director” position to help us do more.  This new position will report to me.  The search committee is meeting this week and I hope that the ad is out within the next two weeks.  The person in this position will be charged with seeking funding for summer camps as well as recruiting students to participate and help with coordination.  None of this will happen without faculty support as well and I certainly hope that some of this might turn into research projects and/or publications for faculty.  It is expected that both CNAS and COE faculty would be involved as co-PI’s or senior personnel on the grant proposals.  The position is funded for three years and it is hoped that the position would be grant funded after that time period.  I know that we have had a number of successful programs in the past and if you are interested in participating again, please let me know.

Program Reviews in CNAS – Computer Science progress report was presented to the BOG in May.  FID is working on their action plan.  GGP external reviewers will be here on November 2-3, 2009.   PAMS external reviewer will be here November 19-20, 2009.  I am reviewing the latest draft of the MTH SWOT analysis and action plan.  I am also reading the AG self-study.  We hope to have reviewers on campus for MTH and AG in late 2009 or early 2010.  BIO and CHM have started their self-studies and their first drafts are due March 1, 2009.

There will be a sustainability fair on campus November 18, 2009.  At this fair you will learn what Missouri State University is doing to be sustainable, you will learn about various faculty research projects involving sustainability, you will learn about student and faculty groups concerned with sustainability issues, and you will learn some actions that you can personally adopt to become more sustainable.  There will also be opportunities for you to share with Missouri State administration recommendations on what our next steps should be related to sustainability initiatives.  Watch for more information.

We hope to have a new/improved MNAS website and recruitment materials by November 1.  We have collected some possible degree program options and we will be posting some so students will be able to see examples of the variety of possibilities.  All CNAS faculty with current research projects will also be highlighted on this site so that students can contact faculty directly about opportunities to work in research groups.

A list of latest funding awards received by CNAS faculty: 

• Chris Barnhart: Award from The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for the project entitled “Mussel Biologist”.  The award is in the amount of $21,751.00.
• Chris Barnhart: Award from The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for the project entitled “Propagation and Culture of Winged Mapleleaf and Pink Mucket Musselss”.  The award is in the amount of $8,000.00.
• Alicia Mathis: Award from The National Park Service for the project entitled “Fire Effects Monitoring in Central Great Plains NPS Units”.  The award is in the amount of $79,298.00.
• Robert Pavlowski: Award from Olsson and Associates, Inc. for the project entitled “Geomorphic Assessment of Lackman Tributary, Lenexa, KS”.  The award is in the amount of $8,000.00.
• Robert Pavlowski: Award from the City of Springfield for the Springfield MS4/TMDL Monitoring Project.  The award is in the amount of $19,746.00.
• Lynn Robbins: Award from The Missouri Army National Guard for the project entitled “Acoustic and Mist Net Surveys for Bats With Emphasis on Endangered Bats from Macon”.  The award is in the amount of $28,087.00.
• Diane May and Shuo-Sheng Wu: Award from SEMA for the project entitled “Barry County Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan Update”.  The award is in the amount of $19,200.00.
• Dan Beckman: Award from the Missouri Department of Conservation for the project entitled “Ozark Cavefish Distribution and Life History Related to Mining in Jasper and Newton Counties”.  The award is in the amount of $42,190.00.
• Jane Hood: Award from the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce for the project entitled “Economic Development Services-Cost of Living Index Price Report”.  The award is in the amount of $750.00.

Congratulations to all faculty!!!  I know that several submissions have gone in the last month and I wish you all the best.

I hope you are having a great semester.  If you have any questions or comments please email me.

It feels like fall and the semester has started off with great news on Legacy Day.  We are well on our way to meeting our capital campaign goal and I am confident that CNAS will be a major player in the campaign.

Funding for external projects continues to flow in to CNAS.  Thank you, thank you, thank you for submitting the proposals. 

Faculty Research Grant Proposals are due on September 28 – http://graduate.missouristate.edu/facultysupport.htm (Don’t forget to give your department head and dean time to read your proposal and write their comments.)

Ø  If the department feels the need to change performance rating criteria for faculty evaluation for compensation you must do so by October 2. 

Ø  All application materials for promotion (including promotion to senior instructor) and tenure are due to department heads by October 9.

Ø  Departmental committees review all promotion/tenure materials and submit their recommendations and rationale to the department head by October 30.  (Candidate receives a copy and has three days to review, respond and sign.)

Ø  Summer Fellowship Proposals (university funds) are due November 2 – http://graduate.missouristate.edu/facultysupport.htm

Ø  Sabbatical Applications will be due to the Dean’s office on November 2.

Ø  Department head reviews all promotion/tenure materials and submits recommendation and rationale to candidate by November 20.  (Candidate receives a copy and has three days to review, respond and sign.)

Ø  College Dean reviews all promotion/tenure materials and submits recommendation and rationale to candidate by December 16.  (Candidate has three days to review, respond, and sign.)

CNAS is looking for a CNAS Dean Fellow for Research interested in helping faculty within the college with grant writing.

Minimum qualifications – CNAS tenured faculty with funded external research grant in the past 5 years.

CNAS Faculty Fellow for Research Duties

ü  Provide one-on-one help to faculty who want some extra help on grant writing – organization, clarity of objectives, inclusion of required materials (e.g., undergraduate teaching component, ethics, outreach to schools/community, space, vendor quotations, and deliverables),  and budgets.

ü  Coordinate and offer a workshop on grant-writing for college faculty each semester or at least once a year.

ü  Build a team and help that team submit one major proposal in the year.  (Dean’s office already has 3-4 ideas.)

Term – One year but the position is renewable upon application and satisfactory performance.

Successful candidates will receive a one-course release during the spring semester and a stipend of $2500 for the fall 2009 semester and $2500 for the spring 2010 semester.  (Typically the candidates would receive a course release for both semesters but I can’t do that this fall with the late start.  I realize that this may make for a slow start this fall but I still think that we can get something accomplished.)

To apply – Send a letter of interest addressing the qualifications requested, any experience on a federal review panel, and any other ideas you would have for this position to CNAS Dean’s Office by 5:00 PM, September 10, 2009.

To nominate a colleague – Send a letter to the CNAS Dean’s Office and we will notify and encourage your colleague to apply.

The CNAS Administrative Team will serve as the search committee for this appointment.

I love the beginning of an academic year.  Fresh starts for all us!!

The state of the college powerpoint is posted on the website – http://www.cnas.missouristate.edu/. If you have any questions about the presentation please let me know.

All CNAS Committees will meet in the next month.  Committees membership and committee charges will be posted on the website shortly after the first of September.

Cool News –

One of our own is on PBS next month!!!!  “Paving the Way” is showing Sunday, September 20^th (part one) and Sunday, September 27^th (part two) and Judy Meyer (GGP) is in it!!!!  I got the DVD early and have seen it.  It is awesome and I hope you take the chance to view it.  http://www.pavingtheway.tv/

National Science Foundation – Kyungtae Kim (PI) and co-PI’s – Jack Steiert, Brian Weaver and Lifeng Dong just received word that their MRI proposal for a Spinning Confocal Microscope was funded.  CONGRATULTIONS!!

National Science Foundation – Janice Greene received word that her proposal for a wet lab at Bull Shoals Field Station was funded.  CONGRATULATIONS!!

Please send me other examples of “cool news”.  I would like to lift up good things happening with faculty and/or students.

Happy Wednesday!!!

As most of you aware we have a new associate dean.  Pawan Kahol has agreed to serve the college as associate dean and his appointment will start on August 17, 2009.  This clearly means that we have leadership challenges in the Department of Physics, Astronomy and Materials Science but I am confident that a leader will arise this week and that the department will have an acting department head appointed by August 17.

I wanted to let you know that the Board of Governors Academic Affairs Committee has requested a report on research from the Provost.    In attempt to show them something more than numbers, Frank Einhellig agreed to collect up all books and publications from 2008 and take them to this meeting.  The CNAS stacks that I have received from the deaprtments are truly impressive and I know that it will have a enormous impact.  I hope that this becomes an annual event for the board.  I plan to make copies of these papers before I send them back to the departments as I want to be displaying these regularly as well.  Our advisory board members, alumni, and friends need to know the outstanding work that you do.  Please share a copy of future publications with my office.

August Events to put on your calendars!

August 20 – CNAS State of the College Address at 10:30 AM in Meyer Library Room 101

August 23 – New Student Convocation at 2:00 PM

August 24 – Classes Start!!!!!

August 28 – Legacy Day – opening of Siceluff Hall, picnic for all in the evening

September 14 – All Faculty Reception from 3-5 PM in PSU

September 29 – President’s State of the University Address – NOON in PSU Theater

I will be busy from now until classes start.  First a dean’s conference in Arkansas, then a short vacation, then finish my syllabus and prepare for class, and submit an NSF proposal before classes start.

Tammy