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Updates from Provost Pallavicini
Dear Members of the Academic Division,
I want to thank everyone involved in the Academic Planning and Alignment Process, from those who participated in planning the process, to those who compiled data, collaborated on reports, the unit ratings teams who provided careful analysis and ratings, the comprehensive academic review team's role in reviewing for consistency, and all who will and have engaged in thoughtful discussions. Your work is vital to ensure that we move forward and provide the excellent education our students expect and deserve.
These are exciting times with the dedication of our new building in San Francisco on March 7th. I look forward to seeing many of you there. Not only will the new building house the School of Dentistry, it also provides space for new academic programs. The Masters and Certificate in Food Studies, the Doctor of Audiology Program, and our existing Music Therapy certificate-equivalency program will all have a presence on this campus. Faculty from these programs will be on hand at the dedication to share information about these programs. I am looking forward to this wonderful event.
As we approach the middle of the spring semester, here are some key dates and celebrations to hold on your calendar.
- The Annual Faculty retirement dinner will be held on April 16th. Details and invitations will be forthcoming shortly.
- My recommendations for the Academic Administrative reviews will be available on Friday March 7. There will be an opportunity for comments March 7-16th. Academic Administrative Reviews.
- I will hold Townhalls in April on all three campuses to share my Provost recommendations on Academic Programs and Academic Administrative Reviews: April 11th in San Francisco at 1pm in room 103; April 15th in Stockton at 12pm in the DeRosa University Ballroom and; and April 18th in Sacramento at 12pm in Classroom B.
- I welcome all faculty in your participation during Pacific's 2014 Commencement ceremony that will be held on Saturday, May 10th at 9am in the Alex G. Spanos Center. As mentioned in the Faculty Handbook (section 10.3), "Faculty members are expected to attend commencement exercises and to participate in the academic processions." We look forward to sharing this wonderful day of celebration with all of you in honor of the Class of 2014.
Thank you again for all that you contribute to make Pacific a vibrant academic environment.
Best wishes,
Maria Pallavicini
Provost |
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Save-the-Date:
Annual Faculty Retirement Dinner
Wednesday, April 16th, 5:00pm in Grace Covell |
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Academic Planning and Alignment
Academic Program Reports and Academic Administrative Reviews
All of the Academic Planning and Alignment reports are available for community review. These reports are the basis for our ongoing conversations around creating a vibrant future for Pacific. Thank you to everyone who participated in the self-study and review process so far. Your extensive, thoughtful engagement is indispensable for shaping Pacific's future success.
As the Deans and I work to develop academic program recommendations, over the next two months, there will be multiple opportunities to discuss these reports and findings with your Dean and with me. I will meet with each unit to discuss my draft recommendations and receive your feedback. The preliminary recommendations will also be posted and a mechanism is in place to provide anonymous written comments as well. Again, the full timeline is available here.
This in depth process is essential to creating within each unit and across Pacific a program mix that is high quality, financially sustainable and aligned with our goals for the future.
The added power of the process being used is the series of rich conversations that have happened within each unit and will continue to occur as faculty and deans help to construct increasingly meaningful and useful metrics for evaluating Pacific's programs on an ongoing basis. The dialogues have already been useful for shaping Pacific's forthcoming Annual Reports and program review guidelines. These conversations are the start of many that will evolve as Pacific strives to provide exceptional value to our students.
You can find the academic administrative reports here. The Provost's preliminary recommendations will be posted on March 7th. There will be a link directly from the recommendations page to allow for anonymous feedback and comments. The timeline for conversations and opportunities for commenting is found here.
The academic program reports, as well as the faculty findings, can be found here. An overview document provides context for the reports and findings. Deans will use this input along with other relevant program data and knowledge about their academic programs to create a program mix aligned with Pacific 2020 and with the vision the deans and faculty have for their schools/college. Their recommendations are due to the Provost March 14th.
The Provost will make decisions based on analysis of the same information used by the deans and their recommendations. The President will make decisions using the same approach plus the Provost recommendations. |
Academic Affairs
 | | Dr. Susan Weiner |
University Honors Program
Dr. Susan Weiner, Fellowship Advisor and University Honors Program faculty member, has been appointed Director of the University Honors Program for the 2014-15 academic year. Dr. Weiner will lead the current honors program during its phase out period and continue to serve as the Fellowship Advisor.
The revised University Honors Program will consist of a residential hall-based Freshman Honors Program, which will continue in fall 2014, and upper-level School/Program-based honors programs, which are planned to take effect in fall 2015. The planned revision, which has the general support of undergraduate school faculty and deans, will be formally reviewed at the March 6th Academic Affairs Committee meeting.
The internal search for the new Freshman Honors Program Director position is now underway. The position announcement can be found here. A description of the revised honors program can be found here. Applications for the Freshman Honors Program Director are due on March 7, 2014. Please submit applications, and any questions, to Lou Matz.
Excellence in Undergraduate Research Mentoring Award
To recognize a faculty member for excellence in the mentoring of undergraduate researchers.
The recipient must be a tenured, or tenure-track faculty member for whom the mentoring of undergraduate researchers has been a significant activity.
Criteria for the Award:
Evidence of excellence in mentoring Pacific undergraduates in research may include the following activities:
- their research efforts, as part of regularly scheduled classes or undergraduate research credits, summer research, etc.
- their preparation for conference presentations (including PURCC) or research publications; or
- their application for grants to support research activity.
Nomination materials:
- Nomination letter highlighting nominee's success in mentoring undergraduate researchers (1 page maximum) -self-nominations will be accepted
- Nominee's philosophy of undergraduate research mentoring (1 page maximum).
- Summary of nominee's record regarding the mentoring of undergraduates' research activities (3 pages maximum). This summary should include:
- A list of undergraduate research mentees and project titles (the list should be representative, not comprehensive), and
- Any other leadership activities promoting undergraduate research.
- Letters of support from current or former mentees (up to three, 1-page maximum each).
Recognition: $2000 for professional development,
Nomination Deadline: March 7, 2014
Send nomination package to Lydia Fox, Director of Undergraduate Research. |
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Faculty Affairs
Search Updates
Director, Center for Teaching and Learning
The search committee is actively reviewing applications. Campus visits for finalists will occur at the end of March through the beginning of April. Opportunities for faculty to engage with the candidates will occur on all three campuses.
Vice Provost for Distance Learning
The search for Vice Provost for Distributed Learning is underway. Campus visits for finalists will occur at the end of April.
Center for Teaching and Learning
To make the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) more accessible to all faculty a card swipe system has been installed. This will allow all faculty access to the CTL as long as there is access to the library. Your Pacific ID card is your personal key to CTL!
To schedule an event or meeting in the CTL please contact Nadine Pappas or 209 946-7685. If you would like support to embed media in your course (video demonstrations etc.) contact Martin Lehman, Instructional Media Specialist to discuss your ideas.
Faculty Development Workshop
Dr. Kerry Ann Rockquemore will be presenting Tenure and Time Management: How to Manage Your Time so You Can Publish Prolifically AND Have a Life Beyond the Ivory Tower. Dr. Rockquemore will visit the Stockton campus on April 9/10th. Please save the dates. Additional details will be forthcoming.
2015-2016 Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program Core Competition is Now OPEN
The Fulbright Scholar Program offers teaching, research or combination teaching/research awards in over 125 countries for the 2015-2016 academic year. Opportunities are available for college and university faculty and administrators as well as for professionals, artists, journalists, scientists, lawyers, independent scholars and many others. Interested faculty and professionals are encouraged to learn more about these opportunities, and hundreds of others, by visiting the Catalog of Awards.
The application deadline for most awards is August 1, 2014. U.S. citizenship is required. For other eligibility requirements and detailed award descriptions visit their website. |
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Office of Enrollment
Arlene Cash, Vice Provost for Enrollment Management
February 2014
After a breathtaking fall semester where we saw application numbers at unbelievably low levels, we are greatly appreciative of all that has been done across Academic Affairs and the University as a whole to support our target enrollment goals. To that end, we are showing application numbers very close to where we expected them to be given many changes in our outreach and processes this year.
At this time we have 14,299 application for undergraduate freshmen and 768 for transfer students. This is about 31% down from last year for freshmen and 25% below for the transfer population. As hoped we are seeing a greater percentage of the students who have applied and who have completed their applications (67%); and of the completed applications 5,895 freshmen have been admitted (compared with 7,318 last year) and 122 transfer students have been admitted (compared with 26 last year). Furthermore, the number of Freshman students who have responded favorably to our offer of admission (65 this year and 47 last year) has increased.
In other areas:
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Programs/ Unit |
2013 |
2014 | |
Law School |
1099 |
720 | |
DDS |
3016 |
2800 | |
PharmD |
1485 |
1335 | |
Grad |
1254 |
1350 |
You will see increasing numbers of students touring the campus due to high school spring breaks across the state and the country. Wave and say hello to the tour guides; families love to see the Pacific spirit of "professors who know your name" in action.
Fabulous students have been here to interview for our scholars programs (Powell, Humanities and Legal) and have expressed sincere appreciation for the attention they have received during their visits. Thanks to all faculty, staff and students who have participated in these events. |
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WASC
Interim Report 2015
After our WASC EER visit in Spring 2012, where the University's accreditation was reaffirmed, the Commission identified areas for further attention and commission review. The three areas were:
- Strengthening systems of assessment and program review
- Enhancing student success and diversity
- Establishing faculty workload guidelines
The full action letter is available online. WASC has requested an Interim Report in Spring 2015 to report on progress of these areas. The Provost has identified a task force to facilitate the writing of the report. There has been much progress made in all of these areas, leadership has been identified in each. Assessment and program review, lead writers and contributors are Ken Mullen and Jon Schamber (Institutional Effectiveness Committee), Eileen McFall and Eric Boyce (Assessment Working Group). The section on enhancing student success and diversity will be led by Lou Matz, Joanna Royce-Davis and Marcia Hernandez. Caroline Cox has been tasked with workload review. There will be sections of work coming forward to appropriate committees later this spring and in the fall with a goal of having a draft report for the university community to review and comment in late 2014 or very early 2015. |
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Pacific's Emeriti Society 25th Anniversary
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Pacific Emeriti Society. In honor of this occasion the Society has produced the 25th Anniversary History. This history captures the founding of the Society through the activities engaged in today and is designed as a living document to be updated annually. In the near future the entire History will be available on the Society's website. Hard copies are also available. |
Office of the Provost
University of the Pacific | 3601 Pacific Avenue | Stockton, CA | 95211
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