THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT ARLINGTON

UNIVERSITY FACULTY AND ASSOCIATES

MINUTES

 

 

The Spring Meeting of the University Faculty and Associates was held at 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 15, 2003, in the E.H. Hereford University Center Rosebud Theatre.  Interim President Charles A. Sorber presided.

 

AWARD PRESENTATIONS.  The following faculty members were recognized for their achievements:

 

Provost’s Award for Excellence in Teaching – Awardee received a plaque and cash award of $500.

 

            Vicki Sapp, Senior Lecturer, Department of English

 

Piper Professor Nominees – Awardees received a plaque and cash award of $500.

 

            Jennifer Gray, Assistant Professor, School of Nursing

            Joseph Ignagni, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science

            Robert Neill, Professor, Department of Biology

 

President’s Award for Excellence in Distance Education Teaching – Awardee received a plaque and cash award of $750.

 

            Jeannine St. Pierre Hirtle, Associate Professor, School of Education

 

Chancellor’s Council Award for Excellence in Teaching – Awardee received a $5,000 cash award from U.T. System and a plaque.

 

            David Woody, III, Assistant Professor, School of Social Work

 

Academy of Distinguished Teachers – Academy inductees receive a $2,500 salary increase, a medallion, and a plaque.

 

            Merlynd Nestell, Professor, Departments of Mathematics and Geology

            Josie O’Quinn, Associate Professor and Assistant Dean, School of Nursing

            Allan Saxe, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science

 

Arlington Star-Telegram Service Learning Award – Awardee receives a plaque and cash award of $750.

 

            Rebecca Deen, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science

 

Outstanding Research Achievement – Received a plaque and cash award of $1,000.

 

            Sharma Chakravarthy, Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering

 

Distinguished Record of Research Achievement – Received a plaque and cash award of $1,500.

 

            Alexander Weiss, Professor, Department of Physics

 

Outstanding Academic Advisor – Undergraduate: 

 

Steve Quevedo, Assistant Professor, School of Architecture

           

Outstanding Academic Advisor – Graduate: 

 

Rasika Dias, Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry

 

Faculty members receiving Faculty Development Leaves for the Academic Year 2003/2004 were announced:

 

            Pranesh Aswath, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

            Mary Lou Bond, School of Nursing

            Jinny Choi, Department of Modern Languages

            Victoria Farrar-Myers, Department of Political Science

            Leonidas Fergaras, Department of Computer Science and Engineering

            Yue Liu, Department of Mathematics

            Charles Nussbaum, Department of Philosophy and Humanities

            Kimberly Van Noort, Department of Modern Languages

 

Faculty members receiving Research Enhancement Program Grants were announced:

 

            Hua-Mei Chen, Department of Computer Science and Engineering

            J. Andrew Hansz, Department of Finance and Real Estate

            Sharon Judkins, School of Nursing

            JungHwan Oh, Department of Computer Science and Engineering

            Andrew Ortiz, Department of Art and Art History

            Alejandro Rodriguez, School of Urban and Public Affairs

            Michael R. Roner, Department of Biology

            Melanie Sattler, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

            Mary Weber, School of Nursing

            Barton Weiss, Department of Art and Art History

            Judy R. Wilson, Department of Kinesiology

 

REMARKS BY THE INTERIM PRESIDENT.  Interim President Sorber stated that UTA is a very good institution and is destined to be a great one.  Our success will continue to ride on the backs of the faculty, who conducts scholarly activities and research and bring in sponsored research and graduate doctoral students.  This is how research institutions are measured.  Some time ago UTA made the transition from a university of convenience to one of excellence.  A number of very important changes on campus reinforce this transition:

 

• We continue to launch new degree programs, both on site and online—for example, we have a new MS in Exercise Science, a new Masters in Public Administration online, and we anticipate approval of a new doctoral program in Nursing later this month when the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board meets.

 

• We have witnessed continued expansion at the Fort Worth campus with enrollment up 75 percent over last year—approaching a total headcount of 400 students.

 

• We continue to invest in new technology and have equipped numerous new multimedia classrooms and labs around the campus.

 

• There are numerous new building projects underway—Kalpana Chawla Residence Hall, a special residence hall that will be a living learning community for students, and also a new Arts Annex.  A new Science building is planned as well, and has been recently approved by the U.T. Board of Regents.

 

• UTA has experienced new heights in research.  External sponsored awards at UTA increased from over $19 million in FY 01 to approaching $27 million in FY 02.

 

• Visitors to our state-of-the-art NanoFab facility thus far this year include Congressmen Joe Barton and Martin Frost, Assistant Secretary of Commerce David Sampson, Chancellor Mark Yudof, Director of Texas Economic Development Jeff Moseley, and assorted chambers of commerce, city and county leaders.  Furthermore, our nanotechnology program or INSERT has been awarded over $3 million in earmark federal funding this year.

 

• As a result of creating the Arlington Technology Incubator, intellectual property disclosures at UTA are up significantly to the point that the IP committee must meet every month instead of twice a year.  Furthermore, ATI will soon be moving into a new home on Border Street as a result of a $1.4 million grant from the Economic Development Agency of the Department of Commerce.

 

• Our enrollment continues to increase to where we have almost 24,000 students, making UTA the fastest growing university in the State of Texas.  This past fall, we had the second highest number of master’s students enrolled in the state of Texas, second only to U.T. Austin.  We had the third highest number of master’s and doctoral student enrolled in the state.

 

• Honors College enrollment alone has increased from 200 students in 1995 to 1,000 students now.

 

We should be proud of all of these accomplishments.  However, there are some dark clouds over the Austin horizon.  We have a major deficit in the state budget, and this will be coming out of all the state agencies.  We are hopeful that the impact will be not so severe that we can’t stick to our two major premises—minimizing any reduction in service to the students and maintaining the quality of those services.  There is also legislation that would change the status of this institution from one belonging to the U.T. System to a different system or a free-standing institution.  For the time being, that has been set aside.  It is my hope that we can continue to maintain the momentum of this institution.  My commitment to you is to do as best as I can to help maintain the momentum that has been created at UTA, so we can move ahead to be what we want to be. 

 

Dr. Sorber does believe we can expect great things at UTA.

 

ADJOURNMENT.  The meeting adjourned at 5:00 p.m.  A reception followed.

 

 

 

 

Recorded by Connie Frazier