Dean’s Welcome – August 2012

Dear all,

I am so pleased to have returned to work this new academic year after a period of medical leave and to have the opportunity to offer a warm welcome to all our new and returning students.  Each and every one of you is special to us and to our mission to make a positive and significant difference in the world of teaching and learning. I hope this new academic year excites, challenges, inspires and stretches your imagination. These are not clichés at our College. Our faculty and staff who will serve you as classes resume have actively sought to be part of our Illinois scholarly community because of its strong egalitarian values and a tradition of making breakthroughs in education in order to meet the needs of our constantly changing, increasingly more complex and diverse world.

Academic Adviser Joe Cross is to be commended for suggesting last year that we prepare a special welcome event for our new and retuning students on the lawn in front of our building. Thank you to all who participated especially the three colleagues who took a dunking for the College, Associate Dean Chris Span, Assistant Dean Barbara Geissler and Joe himself.  It is to be noted that some took special glee in aiming accurately. (See pictures below.)

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I want to commend the 22 faculty members who chose this year to attend the new student convocation – it was noted that our College had the largest percentage participation. This is fantastic evidence of community and commitment.

I also want to acknowledge the steady showcasing of our work at the campus level. Chancellor Wise’s praise for our Chancellor’s Academy has been up on the front page of our university’s web site for most of summer.  More recently, Associate Professor Pradeep Dhillon become another faculty member featured in ‘A Minute With’, sharing her expertise about Sikhism.

Thank you and well done to Professor Sarah McCarthey for organizing the first formal College orientation for our new Teaching Assistants. We anticipate that this will now become a regular feature of our commitment to prepare our students to share the very particular approaches and responsibility for our classes.  Much appreciation to all those involved –  Liz Stine-Morrow , Susan Noffke, David Zola, Rochelle Gutierrez, Marilyn Parsons, Johnell Bentz, Karla Moller, Juan Manuel Gerardo, Stacey Korson, Lynn Sikma, Nora Gannon-Slater, Linda Sloat, Jay Mann, Laura Ketchum, Evelyn Grady, and Linda Meccoli.

Professor Debra Bragg, through her research, works consistently to ensure that our College is connected with broader initiatives and cutting edge opportunities. This time she brings to us the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and its desire to explore with us its interest in post-secondary learner relationship management strategies. The Gates Foundation describes this as ‘an organizational capacity that promotes shared ownership for educational progress towards learning goals among students, faculty and administration’.

If you have been following the news posted on our website you will have noted the number of other achievements that demonstrate our vibrancy, expertise, and impact on the world. Among recent news featured there I want to highlight several items.

Two of our alumni were recently appointed to high office – Dr. Timothy K. Eatman was named co-director of a Higher Education consortium, Imagining America and Dr.Freeman Hrabowski was appointed chair of the President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for African Americans.

Associate Professor Rebecca Ginsburg was awarded the Abbot Lowell Cummings prize for her book, ‘At Home with Apartheid’.

Associate Professor Adrienne Dixon was selected as an Outstanding Recent Graduate by her alma mater, the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Postdoctoral research fellow Casey George Jackson, has been chosen to participate in the Lumina Foundation Academic Fellows Program for a second consecutive year.

Professor Violet Harris continues her strong involvement in our Youth Literacy Festival and discussed her insights with the local media on the scope of books available to young readers.

Professor, Dorothy Espelage’s scholarship and understanding of human behavior continues to be highly valued as evidenced by her participation again this year as a panel member in the  ‘Federal Partners in Bullying Prevention 2012 Summit’.

Finally, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Professor James Anderson who assumed the role of Acting Dean during the period of my leave. His loyalty and commitment to our College and Campus meant that he brought to this role not only his willingness to undertake the daily responsibilities of the office but also to engage robustly at the campus level and through the Council of Deans with many of the important developments that transpired during the summer period. As always, he was an excellent ambassador for our college and I know his wisdom and expert input was highly valued by the other Deans.

We need also to thank all in the Dean’s office, the Departmental and the unit leaders in the broader Dean’s portfolio for taking on extra duties and for collaborating as they did during what I know turned out to be a significantly busy period.  My heartfelt thanks to all the kind folk who sent me their good wishes, gifts, and flowers – nothing I can say can really express how much I valued each of your gestures. I am happy to be back among you fully and I am looking forward  to a very promising year, particularly given the stability offered by the new leadership of our university.

All the best,

Mary

 

 

 

 


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