Happening in Faculty Affair
Happy New Year and Welcome to Spring 2023!
We're excited to formally welcome you all back for the spring semester, and even more excited to share what our faculty have been up to since closing out the Fall semester. Not only did we successfully make it through 2022, but Faculty Affairs will celebrate its first anniversary on February 1. Though we have made great strides in faculty recruitment and support, we are dedicated to expanding our services to further elevate our faculty.
In keeping with the president's university advancement and enhancement initiatives, the priorities of our office will continue to hinge heavily on our collaboration and communication with you - and we look forward to new opportunities to engage each faculty member. One such opportunity is the recently announced Senior Faculty Advisory Committee that our office will convene to address faculty concerns and weigh in on future administrative processes.
As the semester begins, please remain proactive, seek opportunities to serve and continue sharing your achievements with us!
Howdy Notifications for CV and Syllabi Updates -
Reminder: State of Texas law requires that faculty/instructors of record make their CVs and syllabi publicly available.
To help make this happen, the Office of the Chief Information Officer has made several changes:
- You will no longer be able to limit CVs and/or syllabi from public access
- Instructors that need to make these documents available will receive notifications (via your Howdy portal) to alert them as to which document(s) must be uploaded
If you have received one of these notifications to your Howdy portal, click the yellow-highlighted 'upload' link and upload the required document(s).
These reminders will only appear in response to missing CVs and/or syllabi in an instructor's current course load in their Howdy portal. They began generating three days prior to the beginning of the spring semester, will continue five days after the semester has begun, and will cease once the required document(s) have been uploaded.
Important Trainings Being Converted for Hybrid Delivery -
The STRIDE and STRIPE workshops developed through ADVANCE initiatives are transitioning to be part of our institutional standard operating procedures. The recommendations and best practices developed through these programs will be integrated into existing university hiring and promotion and tenure/evaluation guidelines.
As part of this transition, the names of the workshops have changed:
- STRIDE has been renamed: Faculty Search Committee Training
- STRIPE has been renamed: Faculty Evaluation Training
The training for search and evaluation committees will be available as on-demand modules developed by faculty trainers, followed by facilitated workshops offered for faculty to discuss scenarios that commonly occur during the hiring and evaluation processes.
Faculty Focus
Dr. Robin Murphy Enters the Hall of Fame -
Women and Drones recently named Dr. Robin R. Murphy (Department of Computer Science & Engineering, College of Engineering) to the Hall of Fame for the Women in Emerging Aviation Technologies.
Dr. Murphy is being recognized for her research in artificial intelligences that have translated into search and rescue drones and for deploying ground, aerial and marine robots into 30+ global disaster relief efforts - including her lead of the first small drone team for disaster relief efforts following Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
The Hall of Fame Award recognizes highly experienced and accomplished businesswomen in relevant emerging aviation technologies and industry-enabling career fields, but also serves as inspiration to female aviators and demonstrates instrumental shaping of the future of aviation.
Prestigious Award Winners -
Dr. Ali Erdemir (J. Mike Walker '66 Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering) and Dr. R. Stanley Williams (Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, College of Engineering) were inducted as members of the 2022 Fellows Class by the National Academy of Inventors (NAI).
The NAI Fellows Program was established to highlight academic inventors who have demonstrated a prolific spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development and the welfare of society.
Amongst this year's recipients of the highest professional distinction awarded to academic inventors, Dr. Erdemir and Dr. Williams represent the 16th and 17th Texas A&M University faculty to be named NAI Fellows.
LEARN MORE
Dr. John Lee (Harold Vance Department of Petroleum Engineering, College of Engineering) will be awarded the 2023 SPE Legends of Hydraulic Fracturing Award by the Society of Petroleum Engineers at their Hydraulic Fracturing Technology Conference and Exhibition. The Regents Professor, DVG Endowed Chair in Petroleum Engineering and National Academy of Engineering member, has accumulated over 50 years of petroleum engineering experience and is being recognizing for the wealth of his contributions to the industry. Dr. Lee's research interests include oil and gas reserves, resources evaluation, production forecasting and unconventional resources.
The Association of Psychological Science (APS) has identified three new Texas A&M faculty and APS members who have made sustained outstanding contributions to the science of psychology in the areas of research, teaching, service and/or application. Amongst the 2023 Class of APS Fellows are our very own:
- Brian Anderson (Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, College of Arts & Sciences)
- Jessica Bernard (Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, College of Arts & Sciences)
- Rebecca Schlegel (Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, College of Arts & Sciences)
The National Humanities Alliance awards National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) grants in support of the research and writing of faculty across the nation. Awards for individual faculty support the use of emerging digital technology to further humanities research and increase to project funding. Dr. Hoi-eun Kim (Department of History, College of Arts & Sciences) has been awarded an outright $60,000 grant to complete research and writing of his forthcoming book Japanese Doctors in Colonial Korea (1910-1945): Medicine as Business, Education and Imperial Collaboration.
Provost APT Faculty Teaching Excellence Awardees Announced -
To cap the Fall 2022 semester, Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Alan Sams announced the 2022-2023 cohort for the Provost Academic Professional Track (APT) Faculty Teaching Excellence Award:
- Kati Stoddard, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology
- Joanna Goodey-Pellois, College of Arts & Sciences, Department of Chemistry
- Delaney Ivy, Irma Lerma Rangel School of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmacy Practice
- Johanna Heseltine, School of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences
- Gerard T. Coleman, Galveston Campus, Department of Marine Engineering Technology
- Jiling Liu, School of Education & Human Development, Department of Kinesiology and Sport Management
- Sandra Scamardo Lampo, Mays Business School, Department of Marketing
- Melissa Fogarty, School of Education & Human Development, Department of Educational Psychology
- Robin Rackley, School of Education & Human Development, Department of Teaching, Learning, & Culture
- Claire Carly-Miles, College of Arts & Sciences, Department of English
The Provost Teaching Excellence Award recognizes faculty who provide students with meaningful learning experiences, embrace effective teaching approaches, and value student-centered learning. These faculty are encouraged to collaboratively share their teaching expertise with the Center for Teaching Excellence and are rewarded with financial support for their teaching innovation and related academic activities.
Mark Your Calendars
- Faculty Evaluation Training (Session One) - Tuesday, January 24
- CTE Faculty Mentoring Academy (Session One) - Wednesday, January 25
- APT to Lead (Working Session One) - Friday, January 27
Amplify Your Impact
CTE Spring 2023 Faculty Mentoring Academy Schedule Announced -
To promote a culture of mentoring within and across the university, faculty can enhance their mentoring skills using seven evidence-based mentoring competencies developed by the Center for Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research (CIMER). Designed to maximize faculty interaction and dialogue, these workshops provide a safe environment to share and discuss experiences:
- Maintaining Effective Communication in Mentoring - Wednesday, January 25
- Fostering Independence in Mentoring - Monday, February 6
- Cultivating Ethical Behavior in Mentoring - Tuesday, February 7
- Addressing Equity and Inclusion in Mentoring - Tuesday, February 14
- Aligning Expectations in Mentoring - Tuesday, February 21
- Promoting Professional Development in Mentoring - Tuesday, March 7
- Supporting Wellbeing in Mentoring - Tuesday, April 4
- Enhancing Work-Life Integration in Mentoring - Thursday, April 6
- Assessing Understanding in Mentoring - Monday, April 10
- Graduate Mentoring Academy
Participation in the Faculty Mentoring Academy and the Graduate Mentoring Academy is on a rolling basis and faculty can join via Zoom as their schedules allow. Faculty who complete all TAMU Mentoring Academy competencies will receive a letter of completion from Faculty Affairs, the Graduate and Professional School and the Center for Teaching Excellence.
New Research Seed Grant Initiatives -
Following the President's State of the University address, the Offices of the President and Vice President for Research have collaborated in the launch of two new research seed grant initiatives predicated upon:
- growing interdisciplinary research team collaborations and expanding existing ones
- increasing the competitiveness and success of externally funded research programs
- developing next-generation research leaders
- creating new knowledge and technology to solve global challenges
As discussed in the President's Monthly Update, the ASCEND Initiative consists of the Research Leadership Fellowships (RLF) and Targeted Proposal Teams (TPT).
The Advancing Discovery to Market (ADM) Fund will provide Texas A&M researchers, faculty, staff, students and partnering state agencies (Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station, Texas A&M Transportation Institute and AgriLife Research) with the resources to advance the commercial development and/or demonstrate the market potential of their discoveries and innovations.
*Additional information about the ADM Fund will release next month*
John J. Koldus III Faculty and Staff Achievement Award (Nominations Open) -
In honor of Vice President Emeritus for Student Services, Dr. John J. Koldus III, the Division of Student Affairs will award two A&M faculty or staff members who have gone beyond their occupational requirements to enhance students’ experiences at Texas A&M - and the rest of their lives - through guidance, leadership and personal interest.
- Nominees can be from any Texas A&M University location, including main campus, branch campuses or off-site locations.
- Students, student organizations, faculty, and staff may nominate an individual for these awards through the Division of Student Affairs Awards website
- Nominations must be submitted by 5pm on Thursday, February 9, 2023
Texas A&M Faculty Continiue to Lead The Conversation -
Over the course of the fall semester, Texas A&M faculty contributors have authored and contributed to articles garnering hundreds of thousands of reads as a part of our partnership with The Conversation. Last month, two faculty members kept their focus on the holiday season:
- Troy Bickham (Department of History, College of Arts & Sciences) - "The Christmas Tree is a Tradition Older than Christmas"
- Maura Ives (Department of English, College of Arts & Sciences) - "How an American Magazine Helped Launch One of Britain's Favorite Christmas Carols"
Campus News
President Banks' Accessibility and Communication Initiatives for Faculty and Staff -
In direct response to feedback received during her town hall tour, President Banks has committed to the following actions to enhance faculty and staff communication and engagement with her office:
- A monthly President's Monthly Update communication
- A monthly Coffee with University Leadership event series
- Continued commitment to collaborative shared governance:
- New Committee to Evaluate Operational Improvements and Centralization Initiatives
- New Senior Faculty Council for Faculty Concerns and Administrative Processes Input
- Campus-wide University-Level Award Ceremony
President Banks' Town Hall Tour Update -
President Banks will conclude her scheduled town hall meetings with the following visits this spring:
- Texas A&M University McAllen / Kingsville Campuses (Jan. 24)
- View the full schedule here
Originally Released Monday, January 23rd, 2023