A NOTE FROM THE PROVOST
As we approach the end of another calendar year, it is time to reflect and also to look forward.
As you may have read, this will be my tenth and final year as provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at GSU. Beginning next year, I will become a full-time faculty member here, continuing my research and teaching interests in urban geography, and climate change policy.
I have been fortunate to work with all of you in the university’s exciting transformation. We are now seen as one of the nation’s most innovative universities, with a strong strategic direction for its future. I want to thank all of you for your hard work in getting GSU to the important place it now holds.
Continuing our progress will be Dr. Nancy Kropf, who will succeed Dr. Peter Lyons as dean of Perimeter College effective Feb. 1, 2019. Dr. Kropf, the current dean of the Byrdine F. Lewis College of Nursing and Health Professions, has a unique set of skills, experience and knowledge, and an understanding of the role, value and importance of a two-year college at a research-intensive university. Dr. Huanbiao Mo will serve as interim dean of the Lewis College until a national search can be conducted. We are grateful to both Dr. Kropf and Dr. Mo for their commitment to their new roles and anticipate continued success as they take on these vital leadership positions.
Over the coming year, we will continue to enhance our academic quality. One example that is part of our SACS-COC reaffirmation is the College to Career program, being launched as part of the university’s Quality Enhancement Plan. This initiative seeks to develop curricular enhancements that help students become aware of career competencies, connect those competencies to the work they do in the major, and demonstrate their proficiency of transferable skills.
In this newsletter, you will also learn more about other pioneering educational efforts, including the Digital Learners to Leaders program. We also have updates about the university’s record-breaking research expenditures, the Commission for the Next Generation of Faculty, the Provost’s Visiting Scholars program, Women Inspire, and the Next Generation Program.
I wish you and yours all the best during the winter break, and I look forward to seeing you again when we return in January 2019.
Risa Palm
Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs
NEWS
Dr. Nancy Kropf Named Dean of Perimeter College
Dr. Nancy Kropf has been named as the next dean of Perimeter College, effective Feb. 1, 2019.
She first joined Georgia State in 2006 as director and professor in the School of Social Work, then became an associate dean in the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies in 2013. In 2015, she was appointed dean of the Lewis College. In that role she has worked to implement the seamless integration of the nursing programs in Perimeter College and the Lewis College.
Dr. Kropf has a Ph.D. in social work and social policy from Virginia Commonwealth University, a master’s degree in social work from Michigan State University and a bachelor’s degree in sociology and psychology from Hope (Mich.) College.
Dr. Huanbiao Mo will serve as interim dean of the Lewis College until a national search can be conducted. Professor Mo has served as chair of the Nutrition Department since July 2014. His significant accomplishments include initiating an online master’s program, starting a concentration in clinical nutrition in the Ph.D. in chemistry, and playing a critical role in the success of the Panther Food Pantry.
College-to-Career
College to Career is a university-wide initiative that will increase students’ abilities to recognize and demonstrate the career competencies that they are learning through their curricular, co-curricular and extracurricular-experiences.
The initiative is part of the university’s Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP), a requirement for the reaffirmation of the university’s accreditation by SACSCOC. As part of that process, SACSCOC will visit Georgia State Feb. 26-28, 2019.
Through College to Career, faculty and staff will help students become aware of career competencies, ensure students connect those competencies to the work they complete in their respective majors, and encourage students to demonstrate and share their understanding of career competencies in coursework and co-curricular programs through Portfolium, a career e-portfolio.
Beginning in Spring 2019, College to Career will provide resources for faculty to engage students with the initiative and integrate career readiness course modules into 1000-level, 2000-level, and major and pathway courses. The College to Career initiative will also offer academic funding opportunities in support of the initiative, including faculty fellowships and department grants. Through these resources, in addition to introductions to university services, and major and pathway career options, College to Career will foster students’ awareness of major competencies expected by employers during the 21st century.
A dedicated College to Career website will be available soon. In the meantime, please visit https://provost.gsu.edu/college-to-career-initiative-qep/ for more information and keep an eye on your email for updates about the initiative, program resources, and grant and fellowship opportunities.
Visit https://provost.gsu.edu/college-to-career-initiative-qep/#1544125557719-5059ea3b-f0c7 for more information about newly announced Departmental Incentive Grants; proposals are due Dec. 21 and winners will be announced on Jan. 14, 2019.
Breaking Research Records
For the first time, Georgia State University’s total research expenditures exceeded $200 million. This achievement was recorded in FY 2017, as reported by latest the National Science Foundation Higher Education Research and Development (HERD) Survey.
The university now ranks 108th out of 902 universities in the U.S. for research expenditures, having risen from the rank of 123 last year.
From fiscal year 2010 to fiscal year 2017, expenditures increased by 248 percent, making Georgia State one of the nation’s fastest-growing research universities. For the past two years, Georgia State has been ranked first in the nation in research expenditures for universities without either an engineering or a medical school.
Several Georgia State faculty members received major awards of more than $1 million, including faculty in the Institute for Biomedical Sciences, the College of Education & Human Development, the Center for Diagnostics and Therapeutics, the Gerontology Institute, and the Urban Studies Institute.
To learn more details about these major awards and their recipients, visit https://provost.gsu.edu/2018/11/28/georgia-state-research-expenditures-top-200-million-for-the-first-time/.
The university is proceeding on the third phase of the Science Park complex, which has been approved by the Georgia Board of Regents. The new building, now in the architecture phase, will house advanced laboratories and is meant to cement Georgia State’s reputation as a national leader in biomedical research.
Digital Learners to Leaders
Georgia State’s Digital Learners to Leaders (DLL) program, part of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, is a co-curricular program to develop the next generation of digital problem-solvers through experiential and project-based learning.
Started with a Digital Economy Initiative grant from the Silicon Valley Community Foundation in partnership with Cisco Corporate Social Responsibility, the program engages students in exploring solutions to local challenges using digitization and the Internet of Things (the growing network of everyday objects that collect, share and act on data using computing technology and Internet connectivity).
DLL particularly encourages women and minority students, who are often underrepresented in the technology industry, to explore their technology interests. This year’s students, seeking degrees in 33 different majors, are attending workshops taught by technology professionals from across Atlanta’s education, business, government and non-profit communities on topics such as ideation, computational thinking, project management, entrepreneurship and professional communication. The program challenges students to use the digital skills they acquire to create new solutions to problems in their communities.
To learn more, visit https://provost.gsu.edu/2018/11/12/digital-literacy/.
Update: Commission for the Next Generation of Faculty
The Commission for the Next Generation of Faculty wishes to thank to the participants of November focus groups where participants shared their lived experiences as Georgia State faculty, in recruitment, retention and engagement.
The groups, organized and facilitated by an outside firm, provided valuable insight needed by the Commission to fulfill its mission to identify challenges and opportunities for addressing faculty diversity, equity and inclusion.
In the new year, the Commission will move to the next phase of study, with a campus-wide climate survey during the spring semester. The survey will be sent to all full-time faculty, with distribution anticipated in February 2019.
With the participation of Georgia State’s faculty community, the Commission will be better equipped with the development of programs and strategies to strengthen, distinguish and diversify the institution’s faculty.
To learn more about the Commission for the Next Generation of Faculty, please visit https://nextgencommission.faculty.gsu.edu/about/commission-goals/.
(Note: The Commission is a separate endeavor from the Next Generation Program.)
In Case You Missed It: Watch The Latest Women Inspire Lecture
As many Americans give genetic testing kits to family members this holiday season, an important question arises: How can the genetic data you share with private companies be used?
Georgia State University’s Leslie Wolf provided insight about the subject during the first Women Inspire lecture for the 2018-19 academic year this November. Wolf is a Distinguished University Professor and director of the Georgia State College of Law’s Center for Law, Health & Society and shares a joint appointment with the Georgia State School of Public Health.
Wolf discussed confidentiality of genomic data after the Golden State Killer case in California, where investigators tracked down a suspect through genomic data the man had uploaded to a genealogical website. Millions of Americans have shared their genomes with companies to learn more about their ancestry. The recent arrest of the Golden State Killer case highlighted how law enforcement and others may be interested in accessing such databases.
Open to the university community, the Women Inspire speaker series showcases women faculty who are making a difference through their scholarly work.
To watch the Leslie Wolf lecture, please visit https://provost.gsu.edu/2018/11/26/women-inspire-leslie-wolf-on-genomic-data-and-the-law/.
Provost’s Visiting Scholars Program Update
The Office of Faculty Affairs is pleased to announce the awarding of the first Provost’s Visiting Scholars Program grant of 2018-19 to the School of Music. The school submitted a proposal for a one-week residency by respected composer George E. Lewis, the Edwin H. Case Professor of American Music at Columbia University. Further details about the residency will be announced next year.
The Office of Faculty Affairs continues to accept applicants for the program. The program brings promising and leading faculty from underrepresented minority groups for one-to-two-week visits to Georgia State. These scholars will enrich the intellectual life of the campus at the department level and will be positioned to communicate Georgia State’s strengths to potential future faculty members, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. The program enhances faculty recruitment efforts as well.
Department chairs are highly encouraged to submit proposals. More information about the program and how to apply can be found at https://faculty.gsu.edu/provosts-visiting-scholars-program/. You can also email [email protected] if you have questions.
Launch Into Leadership: Advancing Undergraduates to Graduate and Professional Programs Through CASA
Georgia State University students attended the first-ever Launch Into Leadership event this October at the Rialto Center for the Arts, sponsored by the Center for the Advancement of Students and Alumni into Graduate School and Professional Programs (CASA) and the Molecular Basis of Disease (MBD) Area of Focus.
As part of Goal 2 of the university’s Strategic Plan, CASA serves as an institutional hub that supports the progression of students from all backgrounds into graduate programs such as Ph.D. programs, medical school, and law school. The goal of the center is to develop a more diverse population of leaders in academic and professional positions in the U.S. and beyond.
The event included a professional development panel, including leaders in business, biotechnology and academic deans. The keynote address was delivered by Dr. Laura R. McNeal, J.D., Ph.D., an associate professor of law at the Brandeis School of Law at the University of Louisville.
To learn more about CASA, visit http://sites.gsu.edu/TheCASA/. For a photo gallery of the event, please click here.
News from the Office of the Provost is a bimonthly e-newsletter highlighting news and activities in academic affairs at Georgia State University. For questions about the newsletter, email [email protected].
Keep up-to-date by visiting https://provost.gsu.edu/news.
To read previous editions of the newsletter, visit https://provost.gsu.edu/news/newsletter/.