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Vol. 2 No. 3
| June/July 2010
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Exploring East Coast Collaboration: Geography and the
Alliance
Since our inception in 2002, Alliance members have grappled
with identifying the mutual interests and characteristics of our institutions -
in addition to our shared athletic conference.
One obvious link is our location: from Atlanta to Boston, our members share a
common East Coast identity. Many are located in major urban or suburban areas,
and we have a significant coastal presence. Two current initiatives show great
promise for capitalizing on our geographic location.
The first is the establishment of our Sustainability Group,
as described below. If we consider our institutions' environmental impact on a
regional scale, it quickly becomes apparent that implementing an Alliance-wide
commitment to sustainability can have quite a significant effect. Our
institutions are moving quickly to put into place their individual action
plans, and it is an opportune time to join forces. We hope to develop collaborative
sustainability efforts in the areas of facilities management, student life,
athletics, research and teaching.
Another involves participation in the National Ecological
Observatory Network (NEON). A project of the U.S. National Science Foundation,
NEON will collect data across the United States on the impacts of climate
change, land use change and invasive species on natural resources and
biodiversity. The mid-Atlantic
observatory site will be located at the Smithsonian Conservation Research
Center in Front Royal, Va., in cooperation with George Mason University. We
will be exploring this summer the possibility of NEON-related research and
teaching collaboration among our institutions.
We look forward to working with your institutions to build
on our shared geographic interests, and welcome your thoughts about how we can
develop programs that expand opportunities for your students and faculty.
Best,
Mary Frances Forcier
Director, Colonial Academic
Alliance
mforcier@gmu.edu 703.993.4797 |
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New Group to Focus on "Green" Issues | |
 We are developing a new interest group focusing on environmental sustainability, an area of great importance to many of our member institutions.
Given the broad interest in this topic, the group will be divided into subgroups, including a student group and faculty/staff groups focusing on facilities, student life, and scholarship. A steering committee will lead the group's overall efforts.
CAA faculty, staff, administrators, and students are welcome to join our collective efforts in this arena. Please email us to have your name added to the list. |
Reaching out through LinkedIn
To enhance our communications and networking capabilities,
the Alliance has developed a LinkedIn group. Many of our faculty, staff,
students and alumni already use LinkedIn, and so we have started a main
Colonial Academic Alliance group and two subgroups (one for faculty and staff, and one for alumni and
students). We hope you'll use this venue
to share ideas, job opportunities, or other information with your colleagues or
alumni. 
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Global Education Visiting Professionals Program Created
Building on the success of our visiting professionals program in student affairs, we are now
offering a similar program for those working in international education. The Global Education Visiting Professionals Program offers international educators the opportunity to spend several days on
another campus, learning from their CAA peers and gaining new ideas to
bring to their home campus. Visits can take place in such areas as: ·
International student recruitment ·
International admissions or immigration/visa
processing ·
English language education ·
International student engagement ·
Education abroad ·
Academic or career advising of international
students ·
International programs leadership Both the Student Affairs and the Global Education program
flyers and applications are available on our website; the application deadline for Fall
2010 visits is July 20, 2010. Develop relationships with CAA colleagues through a visit to another campus. Here, Sandy Turnage from William & Mary visits JMU. | |
Benchmarking and the Alliance
The Alliance's Alumni Relations interest group will be using
a benchmarking toolkit developed by the Council for Advancement and Support of
Education (CASE) to compare members' alumni relations programs. While Alumni Relations is the first of our
"communities of practice" to collect and share data through a systematic
effort, other groups are exploring the idea as well. Senior International
Officers are exploring existing surveys to see what might work for their group,
as they seek to learn from each other and improve their individual programs. If you are interested in this type of
collaborative data collection and analysis, please contact the Alliance office
for more information.
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Alliance, GWU Research Impact of
Consortium Membership
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The Colonial Academic Alliance and the
George Washington University are collaborating on a research project that seeks
to determine if participation in a higher education consortium, such as the
CAA, influences organizational learning within member institutions.
If you have received an email asking for your participation in the project, we greatly appreciate you taking the time to do so. Many thanks!
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Study
Abroad with the University of Delaware: Coastal
Geology and Marine Science in New Zealand
  With ready access to a broad panorama of the
natural world, flora and fauna found nowhere else on Earth, and the indigenous
culture of the Maori, New Zealand is
an ideal natural "classroom" for earth and marine sciences. Students participating in the University
of Delaware's biannual study abroad program in New Zealand undertake extensive
field work in the country's spectacular natural environment -- wave-swept ocean
beaches, quiet harbors and estuaries, active and extinct volcanoes, thick
mangrove forests and seagrass meadows, salt marshes and mudflats.
Previous programs have included a challenging 8-hour hike through
the Tongariro crossing, which is considered by many to be one of the top ten
day treks in the world. Says one
student, "Surrounded by a variety of volcanoes, craters, and lakes I was
thoroughly impressed by my surroundings. I loved seeing a full spectrum of
vegetation from bare rocks to sparse mosses then tall grasses and finally lush
green trees."
This
year, faculty directors Art Trembanis
and Doug Miller were able to bring an autonomous
underwater vehicle (AUV) -- a torpedo-shaped robot that can
swim untethered through the water to collect data. The robot, nicknamed "Dora," was featured in a New Zealand television news story.
Participants receive 6 credits for the one-month program, which will most likely run again in Winter 2012. Click here for more information.
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Meet the New Provost
|  Dr. A. Jerry Benson
Interim Provost and Academic Vice President
James Madison University
Dr. A. Jerry Benson, JMU's current vice provost for
science, technology, engineering, mathematics, health and human
services and professor of graduate psychology, has been named
interim provost and academic vice president.
Benson has held numerous roles at JMU since joining the faculty in
1980 as an assistant professor of psychology and director of the JMU
Human Development Center and the Shenandoah Valley Child Development
Clinic. He served as dean of the College of Education and Psychology
from 1991 to 1999 and dean of the College of Integrated Science and
Technology from 1999 to 2008. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Concord College, a Master of Arts in Psychology (School) from George Peabody College for Teachers and a Ph.D. in Transactional Ecological Psychology (APA approved combined-integrated clinical program) from George Peabody College for Teachers. Benson's principal areas of expertise and research include systems intervention, program evaluation and consultation. |
Transitions
 Congratulations to Dr. Cathy L. Barlow of the University of North Carolina Wilmington, whose appointment as Interim Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs has been made permanent. We look forward to welcoming Dr. Barlow as a permanent member of the CAA Provosts' Council.
 Our best wishes to Dr. Douglas Brown, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at James Madison University, who will retire at the end of June. Dr. Brown has served as an administrator and faculty member at JMU for 36 years and was instrumental in the development of the Colonial Academic Alliance. |
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The Colonial Academic Alliance develops, promotes and facilitates collaborative programs and resource sharing to enhance academic quality and institutional effectiveness throughout our member institutions. |
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