|
 . |
|
I would like to wish everyone in the CAS family a Happy Thanksgiving. We in the College have much to be thankful for this year. The quality of our students continues to rise, as evidenced by ACT scores and class rank; the research productivity of our faculty is at an all-time high, as evidenced by grant dollar generation; our faculty continue to serve as international leaders in teaching, as you will read about in this issue of CASNews; and donor giving to the College broke all records last year. Thank you all for making Illinois State University's College of Arts and Sciences a wonderful place to call home.
|
|
 |
| Actuarial students at a club meeting | ISU's Mathematics Department is an active center for actuarial education thanks to its thriving Actuarial Program, and this month 40 ISU students completed a bi-yearly round of a series of professional actuarial exams administered by the Society of Actuaries and the Casualty Actuarial Society. While most ISU students are preparing for final exams, these students recently got together to celebrate the end of their exams. After their celebration, these actuarial students can enjoy a few days of freedom, join the rest of the ISU students in studying for their final examinations, and start making preparations for the Spring 2005 actuarial examinations in mid-May. Success in passing these exams is the key to a successful career as an actuary.
Read More...
|
|
 |
Drs. Kathleen McKinney and
Patricia Jarvis with Dr. Lee Shulman
(center), President of the
Carnegie Foundation for SoTL. | In an effort to foster global collaboration on the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL), Drs. Kathleen McKinney and Patricia Jarvis recently represented ISU at the inaugural meeting of the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (IS-SoTL). About 400 members of the higher education community from several nations were on hand for the inaugural conference, held at Indiana University. Dr. Jarvis, Professor of Psychology, and Dr. McKinney, Cross Chair in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, both presented on their own SoTL projects and worked with the SoTL Cluster of ten institutions from around the United States that is led by Illinois State University. "SoTL research plays a critical role in our mission to provide the highest quality of teaching at Illinois State," said Dean Olson. "Dr. McKinney has made ISU an international leader in SoTL research, and Drs. McKinney and Jarvis are to be commended on their efforts."
Read More...
|
|
 |
Implementation Team members,
from left: Dr. Gardenia Harris,
Dr. David Malone, Dr. Maria Pao,
Assoc. Dean Sam Catanzaro, and
Dr. George Seelinger. | This week, Dean Olson charged the Faculty Retention/Implementation Committee with developing "concrete actions" aimed at moving the College forward in ensuring a climate of collegiality and productivity. The committee was formed in response to the Underrepresented Groups Task Force initiated by former Interim Dean Roberta Seelinger Trites. “I want you to know I take this task very seriously,” Dean Olson told the committee. “In my 25 years in academia, I’ve seen task forces formed only to fail to accomplish their charges. I do not want to see that happen here.”
Read More...
|
|
After a college-wide election for faculty representatives, the final roster of members of the Strategic Planning Steering Committee was set this week. The committee will be composed of: Nancy Lind, College Council Chair; Heather Gavlas, Natural Sciences Faculty Representative, Mathematics; Shang-Fen Ren, Natural Sciences Faculty Representative, Physics; David Malone, Natural Sciences Department Chair Representative; Frank Beck, Social Sciences Faculty Representative, Sociology/Anthropology; Rita Bailey, Social Sciences Faculty Representative, Speech Pathology;
Read More...
|
|
 |
| Dr. Susan Miller | Dr. Susan Miller, internationally acclaimed scholar of rhetoric and writing, presented the inaugural lecture of the English Studies Lecture Series on November 15. Miller—Professor of English and Writing at the University of Utah and winner of multiple national book awards for her work with rhetoric and composition theory, cultural studies, and literary studies—discussed the “false and boring” history of rhetoric and the mind-body disconnect in “What’s Love Got to Do With It: An Emotional History of Rhetoric, A Rhetorical History of Emotion.”
Read More...
|
|
|