College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

May2008
Volume 1, Issue 9

Our Mission: The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences is a student-centered and diverse learning community that engages in critical inquiry extending knowledge to enrich and enliven individual and public life.

 CLAS College Office Monthly Newsletter for Faculty

Have a Success Story or newsworthy item to share?  E-mail johnstmo@gsvu.edu and pirkolam@gvsu.edu .

CLAS Office Product Exchange May 5 & 6

SHRED FEST II

Shred Fest II will take place May 7 and 8. Thanks to our department volunteers who helped us out last fall and are all willing to assist again. Please check with your departmental staff for the nearest location to dispose of confidential materials. It's a great time to  dispose of  unneeded materials and get ready for the summer shuffles. Further details of exact locations will be sent to departmental staff by Mid-April.

 Where in the World is Gary?

From the Dean's Desk
Frederick J. Antczak,
Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences 

As the Winter term reached its end, it was  a hopeful sign of springtime renewal to hear that the funding bill that contains our much anticipated new Library has passed the House.  There are challenges to come, and many false springs in Lansing, but there's reason to hope. 

I want to thank all the presenters at the Sabbatical Showcase.  The array of topics was very rich and instructive—the challenges of language acquisition in adoption, plastication of biological specimens, gorgeously hand-bound photo essays. In each and all, the presenters made a very good case for the faculty productivity, new skill acquisition, course enrichment and sheer creativity possible when there is the time to devote to it.  One underlying message--along with the phenomenal talent of our ability--was to find your way to seize your sabbatical when it rolls around.

We also enjoyed at that meeting a new photo and video montage of the year--the product of many hands in our office and outside of it.  My thanks to Jim Schaub, Monica Johnstone, Terence Mangan and all the participating departments.   

Our Student Advisory Board had a successful year, in particular as a focus group for the new CLAS Academic Advising Center.  The students provided feedback on the advising process generally and particularly on website development.

Another indicator that really, no kidding, spring is here -- our second Senior Survey.  The 2008 Class is remarkably accomplished and even intrepid about what comes next in their lives; we look forward to posting survey results on our website very soon for you.  From what we've seen so far, you'll find it uplifting reading! 

We are about to send our first CLAS Alumni News e-newsletter to the 7,670 CLAS alumni for whom we have an e-mail address.  Thanks to all the units who have done such a great job of passing along student, faculty and alumni news items so that we can make this new publication a strong statement of our vibrancy.

In fact, there are many uses for the news you send us, not the least of which is the contribution it makes to the submissions our College makes for NCA accreditation.  Quite a concerted effort is already in progress and will continue throughout the summer to ensure that our College is represented robustly. 

One of the recent news items we'll feature to the alumni and NCA is that Joel Stillerman of Sociology has accepted the U.S. Department of Education Fulbright-Hayes Faculty Research Abroad Grant.  The grant will be combined with his GVSU sabbatical and he'll be off to Santiago, Chile for 12 months beginning in mid July.   Chris Chamberlain in the Grants Office was quick to impress upon me the huge effort that went into Joel's successful grant writing.

Also working overtime is our Faculty Council, on vital projects such as prioritizing faculty line proposals and developing the Out-of-the-Box Lunches which will help us to make the best use of our resources.  This important governance committee will be working well into May, and we all benefit from their hard work.

Finally, as announced at our Sabbatical Showcase, there is one change and one new challenge about which I tell you with sadness, but which I can’t help but affirm.  Our Associate Dean for Students and Curriculum, Dr. Maria Cimitile, has served the College and the University with extraordinary skill since 2005.  At this juncture—with great accomplishments in the advancement of the curriculum, with strategic planning put on a firm foundation, and with assessment an increasing part of what we do—Maria has chosen to step away from her administrative responsibilities, get back to teaching a greater variety of courses, write the great book that will emanate from her fall 07 sabbatical, and do all those things that will win our support for her promotion to full Professor.

This rhetorician owes a great debt to our philosopher-dean.  I know many people will join me in missing her in these capacities.  Let me assure you that details about the search for her permanent replacement will come to everyone in a summer issue of CLAS Acts, and we will do public interviews after we get underway in the fall with an eye to an appointment beginning in January. 

That period will only give us more time to appreciate not only her extraordinary accomplishments, but the collegial respect—in her phrase, Maria’s “way of being in the world”—with which she fulfilled them in our behalf, beyond our expectations.

Feature

We’re on the Move

The Deans Offices in PAD and LSH as well as several departments are moving starting in late May in a carefully orchestrated cascade.

 “It’s like dominoes,” explained Associate Dean Jann Joseph, “the Deans Offices must move so that work can begin on the spaces we vacate.  That enables the next group to move in.”  The result will be a better use of space for offices and labs in Padnos Hall and better placement of School of Communications resources and faculty consolidation in Lake Superior Hall.

The Dean’s Office will finally be united on the fourth level of the new LEED certified addition to Mackinac Hall.  “On May 27, the College deans and staff will become the guinea pigs; we’ll work to smooth out any hiccups before department offices begin to move in over the next couple weeks,” Joseph said.

If all goes to plan, the computers and phones will be up and running in the afternoon on the moving day, but the faculty should expect some slight disruption during the transition.  The main phone line for the office will remain 1-2495 and direct lines will remain the same. 

The next planned move is the Philosophy Department on June 2.  Philosophy will leave LSH for new offices on the third floor of the MAK addition.   On June 16, two departments will shift to the MAK addition:  Movement Science will cross the street from the Field House to take up new digs on the second floor, and Modern Languages and Literatures will become their new second floor neighbors, having vacated space in another part of MAK.  And finally, Geography and Planning is slated to arrive on the fourth level of the MAK addition on June 30.

The new addition represents 83,000 square feet of new space.  Features include: