|
|
 |
Director's Message
Eight "I's" that make a "We"
 As I've been traveling to visit with groups and on campus,
I've had some time to catch up on my professional reading. And a recent article
by Rosabeth Moss Kanter in the Harvard
Business Review caught my attention as we continue to build relationships
among Alliance
partners.
As Chrysler and Fiat are working through the details of an
unprecedented strategic alliance, Kanter offers advice to companies facing a
new environment in which partnerships represent both opportunity and challenge.
Kanter's "Eight I's that make a We" provides a useful guide:
"Individual excellence. Both parties must have strengths on
their own, because weak players cannot prop each other up.
Importance. The relationship must have strategic
significance. If it is just casual, don't bother.
Interdependence. The strongest and most enduring alliances
occur when the parties are different in some respects and need each other to
carry out an activity they would not otherwise do.
Investment. One sign of commitment is a willingness to
invest something in the partner's success, such as equities or personnel swaps
(business "hostages for peace").
Information. Transparency aids relationship formation. If
you don't want a partner to know too much about you, why are you in the
alliance?
Integration. There must be many points of contact that tie
the organizations together in joint activities.
Institutionalization. A formal structure and governing board
ensures objectivity, and that alliance interests are considered, not just each
company's interests.
Integrity. Trust is essential. Alliances fall apart in
conflict and lawsuits when partners do not act ethically toward one another nor
strive to contribute to the other's success."
How well is the Alliance
doing in these critical areas? As I look back over the past year, we've already
acted on much of Kanter's advice, particularly in the areas of individual
excellence, institutionalization and integrity. And looking ahead, a focus on
our interdependence - the areas where working together provides the greatest
value to
us, individually and collectively - will be essential to our
future success.
Best,
Dr.
Mary Frances Forcier
Director, Colonial Academic
Alliance
mforcier@gmu.edu
703.993.4797
|
|
Provost Dan Rich of Delaware Honored with University Medal, Endowed Chair |
 Dan Rich's tenure as University of Delaware provost was saluted by colleagues present and past and with special honors, including a Medal of Distinction and an endowed chair. Rich is returning to the faculty as University Professor of Public Policy. A member of UD's faculty since 1970, he has served as provost since 2001.The Unidel Foundation has made a gift of $3 million to endow a chaired professorship in his honor - the Dan Rich Chair of Energy.
|
Assessment Conference to be held
October 15-16, 2009
Georgia State University to host event
|
 The annual CAA assessment conference will be held October 15-16, 2009 at Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia. Representatives from each CAA institution will meet to discuss best practices and current issues in higher education assessment. For more information, please contact the CAA office at 703.993.4797.
|
|
CAA International Educators Meet at NAFSA |
 The East Coast moved West in May, as international educators
from Alliance partners gathered in Los Angeles in conjunction
with NAFSA's annual meeting.
In attendance were Scott Stevens and Nadia Redman (University
of Delaware); Daniela Ascarelli and
Barbara Hoekje (Drexel); Farrah Bernardino
and Cheryl Delk (Georgia State); Marie-alice Arnold, Denise Elles-Mdahuar, and
Kevin Stoy, (George Mason); Lee Sternberger (James Madison); Dawn Anderson
(Northeastern), Rebecca Pisano and Liz
Shearer (Towson) and McKenna Brown (VCU).
 The group discussed collaboration on grants and contracts,
particularly in the areas of English language instruction; an upcoming Alliance conference on international student success; and
Study Abroad programs available in South Asia through our Alliance partners.
|
|
Building Peace in the Philippines |
This is the first in a series of articles about study abroad programs run by our member institutions.
Last summer, Dr. Al Fuertes, Assistant Professor in the New Century College at George Mason University, spent a month in the Philippines with 17 students in a study abroad program described by many of them as "life-changing." The highly successful program, entitled "Grassroots Peacebuilding, Environmental Issues and Culture in the Philippines," teaches students about becoming advocates for peace and the environment, while exposing them to the culture and beauty of the Philippines.
Students take courses at the Mindanao Peacebuilding Institute, a program that brings together workers for peace from around the world, many from areas rife with conflict and division. Students also visit NGOs and local programs that work with human rights, peace and justice efforts, and environmental issues.
For many students, the most eye-opening part of the trip is the visit to Smoky Mountain and the chance to speak with the locals who live off this 40-year-old mountain of garbage. Students also plant rice in actual rice paddies, visit communities suffering from aerial spraying of fruit plantations owned by multi-national business corporations, and visit sites with historic and cultural significance.
"I learned more life skills in a month, more concrete lessons about life in a month, than I had learned in four years in standard college classes."
"It was my first encounter with the real world outside America ... the harsh world that exists for most people."
"Honestly, how can you not be touched by what we saw? How can you not be changed?"
- Student Participants, 2008
This summer's group is already underway, but the program will recur in Summer 2010. This 9-credit program is open to all students within the CAA, with no additional fee for non-George Mason students. More information.
If you would like your study abroad program highlighted in a future issue of CAA Connections, please contact Carlin at candersv@gmu.edu.
|
|
Meet the New Provosts |
 Dr. Tom Apple
Provost
University of Delaware
Tom Apple has served as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at UD since July 2005. Apple earned his doctorate in physical chemistry at UD in 1982, after completing his bachelor's degree in biology at Pennsylvania State University in 1976. Apple previously served as vice provost for administration at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and dean of graduate education and professor of chemistry at Rensselaer.
Apple's research in zeolite materials and polymeric materials has been funded by 12 grants from the National Science Foundation, as well as support from the National Institutes of Health and others, and he is the author or coauthor of 55 articles in professional journals.
 Dr. Cathy L. Barlow
Interim Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
University of North Carolina Wilmington
Cathy L. Barlow received her Ed.D. from the University of Tulsa, Oklahoma, M.A. from Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana and B.A. from Milligan College, Tennessee. Prior to her appointment as Dean of the Watson School of Education in 2000, she held administrative positions including acting dean and then dean of the College of Education and Health Sciences at the University of Evansville in Indiana and department chair and then interim dean at Morehead State University in Kentucky.
Barlow is an elected board member of the Teacher Education Council of State Colleges and Universities (TECSCU).
 Dr. Katherine Denniston
Towson University
Katherine Denniston earned a Ph.D. in Microbiology from Pennsylvania State University and a B.S. in Biological Sciences from Mansfield University. She has served in several roles at Towson, including Associate Provost and Associate Dean of the Fisher College of Science and Mathematics, where her initiatives to institutionalize undergraduate research and to enhance the quality of teacher preparation have been recognized within, and beyond, the university. Denniston served as a Program Officer in the National Science Foundation for two years. She has furthered her commitment to scholarship and advocacy of women in professions through publication of textbooks and her role as a charter member and past Director of the TU Women in Science Program. Her shared publication, General, Organic, and Biochemistry is in its 7th edition. Denniston's follow-up text, targeting community colleges and allied health programs, is nearing publication.
 Dr. Michael R. HalleranProvostThe College of William & Mary
Michael R. Halleran earned his bachelor's degree from Kenyon College, and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Harvard University, all in classics.
He has served for the past four years as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Miami. Prior to that, he had been at the University of Washington since 1983, where he served from 1997-2005 as divisional dean of arts and humanities. Halleran previously taught at Connecticut College and the College of the Holy Cross, and he was a teaching fellow at Harvard University. His primary area of scholarship is ancient Greek drama, and he has published widely on Greek literature and culture.
Also, our congratulations to
Dr. Mark Greenberg whose interim
appointment as provost at Drexel
University has been made permanent.
The
Colonial Academic Alliance would like to thank the following provosts
for their service to the Alliance and wish them the best as they move
on to other roles.
Dr. Dan Rich, University of Delaware Dr. James Clements, Towson University Dr. Brian Chapman, University of North Carolina Wilmington Dr. P. Geoffrey Feiss, The College of William and Mary |
Provost Herman Berliner
of Hofstra on the Next Generation of Higher Education Leadership
|
 While the climate for attracting and retaining academic
leadership has changed dramatically over the past generation, Hofstra's provost Herman A. Berliner (left) writes in a paper published by the TIAA-CREF Institute, sustained
and focused institutional attention to academic leadership development can
address this critical issue.
"...Faculty collectively have a desire and need
to allocate more of their time to personal responsibilities (e.g., parenting
and elder care.) These same faculty, to be successful professors, must now also
meet substantially heightened expectations regarding scholarship. These
heightened expectations are directly tied to the growth of accreditations and
outcomes assessment. At the exact time as these factors are impacting the lives
of faculty, the responsibilities of an academic administrator, especially at
the senior level, has demonstrably increased," notes Berliner. As a TIAA-CREF Institute Fellow, Berliner
examines strategic issues, conducts objective research and helps inform
decision-making relevant to lifelong financial security and the business of
higher education.
Berliner recommends establishing mentoring programs to
support emerging academic leaders, developing reward structures that allow time
and resources for scholarship, and seeking ways to make administrative jobs
more manageable. To read his work, click here.
|
|
The Colonial Academic Alliance develops, promotes and facilitates collaborative programs and resource sharing to enhance academic quality and institutional effectiveness throughout our member institutions. | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
