Dean's Office

CU Arts & Sciences seeks input on deans of divisions postings

Anonymous — Thu, 09 Feb 2023 18:47:48 +0000

CU Arts & Sciences seeks input on deans of divisions postings Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 02/09/2023 - 11:47

The College of Arts and Sciences has posted job announcements for its deans of division for arts and humanities, natural sciences and social sciences

The positions are being advertised as a further implementation of the college reorganization. These three dean positions are now official officers of the university, as defined by the CU regents, and as such, require formal searches to fill the positions.

Those job announcements are now posted online:

The job posting for the dean of division for natural sciences is at this link.
The job posting for the dean of division for social sciences is at this link.
The job posting for the dean of division for arts and humanities, which is open to internal candidates only, can be found this way:
Log in to the MyCUInfo portal
Select CU Resources > Business Tools > CU ��«��Ƶ Jobs Internal Job Board
Use the Keyword Search to find this posting number: 45916

Also, with respect to arts and humanities, the college will hold a second “listening session” with the community to solicit your views about the attributes most desired in this key leadership position, as well as gather feedback on the structure of the upcoming interviews.

This listening session, led by Robert McDonald, chair of the search committee and dean of university libraries, is set for 11 a.m. to noon on Thursday, Feb. 16. The meeting will be held via Zoom, at this link.

Participants’ feedback will be guided by a survey at this link. The college encourages people to come to the listening session, but in addition to or instead of going to the session, people can submit feedback or nominations for candidate via the survey.

“Please share this information widely and encourage anyone who fits the descriptions to apply,” said Glen Krutz, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, adding, “As we move to the next stages of the process, I will report back to you on our progress.”

The College of Arts and Sciences has posted job announcements for its deans of division for arts and humanities, natural sciences and social sciences.

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At a new conjunction, dancer turned dean heralds the ampersand

Anonymous — Wed, 25 May 2022 06:20:20 +0000

At a new conjunction, dancer turned dean heralds the ampersand Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 05/25/2022 - 00:20

Tim Grassley

Erika Randall, new associate dean for student success, wants CU ��«��Ƶ to be a university in which students feel that their authentic selves are woven into the campus community

Posters from dance performances and paintings created by friends, family and colleagues adorn Erika Randall’s bright blue walls.

She points to one referencing the children’s book, The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, where one of the story’s characters, a woman who is soaring through the air with the assistance of a flock of flying books, is made to look like herself.

“I love this book so much and its messages about writing one’s own story and the importance of taking care of the stories of others,” says Randall. “My partner, Megan, knew how much I loved it and re-imagined a character from the book as me. … The painting hangs in my office as a reminder to be both a custodian to the dreams of others and the author of my own imagination and becoming.”

Which is a mission Randall, the College of Arts and Sciences’ new associate dean for student success at the ��«��Ƶ, has taken to heart. She’s determined to bring people together and celebrate their passions with an apparent ease and tireless excitement.

At the top of the page: As the new associate dean for student success in the the College of Arts and Sciences, associate professor Erika Randall’s mission is to bring people together and celebrate their passions with an apparent ease and tireless excitement. Above: Teaching at CU ��«��Ƶ, associate professor Randall emphasizes the importance of collaboration, embrace of failure and celebration of individuality.

She believes in her students' potential and wants to make CU ��«��Ƶ a place where each student feels what she calls “their authentic selves woven into the community’s fabric.”

“Student success asks, ‘what are we doing to support each individual student, and how are we supporting those students to want to become part of something bigger?’” says Randall. “How are we finding ways to truly meet the student where they are and help move them through the university that they need?”

From narrow conservatory thinking to the broad liberal arts

For Randall, part of the process of helping students discover a broader purpose begins with expanding what the university believes it and its students can achieve. She frequently speaks of her interest in widening ideas, fields of study and points of view by identifying, playing with and crossing self-imposed boundaries.

“People talk about how selfish artists are,” notes Randall. “Any discipline can get into this: Is it right for me? What am I going to do? And what am I going to get back? Versus what am I going to give back. … Often in the arts and within other disciplines, there is a fairly narrow container of identity and understanding of success.”

Randall grappled with these constraints early in her dance education. She studied at The Julliard School but found conservatory instruction narrow and restrictive. When she transferred to the University of Washington and later completed her Master of Fine Arts at The Ohio State University, she discovered what she felt was boundless creative possibility by synthesizing disparate fields.

“I was dancing and studying feminist theory and film and working with independent film artists to make multidimensional performance-scapes,” says Randall. “It got me really excited about what liberal arts education could do for artists.”

Randall began to collaborate with thinkers, researchers, artists and makers—what she calls “imaginearians”—and realized that her field could improve her capacity as a dancer and help transform communities for the better.

“The work at a university level and a learning level didn't just stop with the bound of my body or a student's body,” says Randall. “It became about knowing ourselves, so that we can give back to communities and be in service to ourselves, to our art and to the planet.”

As her interest in teaching at the university level grew, she found CU ��«��Ƶ’s theatre and dance department especially compelling because of its desire to improve lives through innovation.

“The call that went out to hire me was steeped in social justice and anti-racism work,” says Randall. “This was in 2006 and 2007, before schools were using language around decolonization, particularly with regard to dance programs. … The humans here were both kicking ass in the field and transforming it at the same time.”

Inverting students’ relationship with higher education and the academy’s relationship with students

Once at CU ��«��Ƶ, Randall developed a teaching style noted for its emphasis on collaboration, embrace of failure and celebration of individuality. Rachel Halmrast, who has worked closely with Randall throughout their undergraduate experience and especially in ballet classes, notes that Randall’s distinct style and her approachability were transformative.

“I would be a completely different person if I hadn't met Erika, and I attribute so much growth to her and my relationship with her,” says Halmrast, a senior earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts in dance. “Through her guidance, I can see how the field (of dance) can fit onto me, instead of how I can fit into the field.”

Over 15 years as a faculty member at CU ��«��Ƶ, Randall excelled in helping master dance while leaving space to break from conventions and innovate. She says that when people give themselves permission to embrace their disparate interests, they achieve increasingly compelling, creative work. She calls this process “anding” or “ampersanding.”

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KGhUz8QT6w]

“It has been really exciting how galvanizing the notion of ‘anding’ and ‘ampersanding’ has been,” says Randall. “It’s why I wanted to leave conservatory thinking—to be in a liberal arts education where, when I study the history and theory of French feminist scholars from the 1970s, the way they speak of the body changes my making with my own body.”

She believes the inversion allows faculty, students and staff to become their most creative selves and unleash their imaginations, no matter the problem they are trying to solve. Randall’s fascination with unlocking new pathways and ideas using a broad, liberal arts education matches the vision James W.C. White, acting dean of the College of Arts and Sciences established for the college.

“Erika is the person we ask to be the visionary when it comes to student success,” says White. “To think about new ways in which we can serve our students and then be the messenger of that ethos of service that we want to establish in the college.”

White created the position in 2017 to move the college away from reacting to student needs and, instead, to proactively connect students with caring, responsive networks that anticipate barriers to their success. He believes Randall will broaden the vision of the college and improve the college’s ability to connect meaningfully with students.

“We wanted someone with compassion for students,” notes White. “This is a person who will be out there talking to students when they first come to campus, meeting with student government organizations and conveying to students that we are, indeed, there for them. This is one of Erika’s great strengths.”

If you meet Erika or you cross paths with her or you even bump into her, your trajectory will change because, with her, you have so much space to believe in yourself.”

The College of Arts and Sciences is committed to improving its student retention and graduation rates, especially for Black, Indigenous and people of color, underrepresented students, and students who are the first generation in their families to complete college degrees. Randall’s ability to recognize the complexity of students’ distinct backgrounds combined with her desire to understand the way students experience CU ��«��Ƶ position her to fulfill this goal, observers say.

“Erika is responsive; she is communicative, and she is highly transparent,” notes White. “That combined with her warmth and her humaneness make her the perfect person for this job.”

Randall and the A&S student success team—faculty, academic advisors, academic coaches, program staff and recruiters—focus their programs on student belonging, which they hope underscores students’ wellness and gives them opportunities to flourish.

“I wish that I could set up a little lemonade stand like Lucy that says, ‘the dean is in,’” says Randall. “And then talk to everybody, because it's when I have those conversations—when I get to actually meet someone—it helps me learn through their experience. I want to be a dean with an open door. I really do.”

For Halmrast, having Randall as the associate dean for student success is exciting because it means Randall can share her openness and approachability with students across campus. Simply by being herself, Halmrast says, Randall will strengthen the CU ��«��Ƶ community.

“If you meet her or you cross paths with her or you even bump into her, your trajectory will change because, with her, you have so much space to believe in yourself,” says Halmrast. “You see it reflected in her, you can see how much she shows up for you and cares for you and believes in you.”

“Because you see that, you can start doing it for yourself.”

Erika Randall, new associate dean for student success, wants CU ��«��Ƶ to be a university in which students feel that their authentic selves are woven into the campus community.

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Students, staff, others honored for diversity work

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Apr 2022 20:10:03 +0000

Students, staff, others honored for diversity work Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 04/14/2022 - 14:10

Recipients, chosen by faculty committee, ‘work tirelessly and most times in the dark’ for diversity and inclusion

Students, employees and a unit are being honored for their efforts to promote diversity and inclusion in the ��«��Ƶ College of Arts and Sciences.

The winners are the recipients of the second annual awards from ASCEND, or the Arts and Sciences Consortium of Committees on Climate, Equity, Inclusion and Diversity.

The 2022 winners were selected and announced by the Diversity Committee of the Arts and Sciences Council, which is the primary representative body for the college’s faculty.

Celine Dauverd, associate professor of history and diversity-committee member, said the awards aim to acknowledge the “outstanding work of faculty, staff and students who work tirelessly and most times in the dark” in support of diversity and inclusion.

Emily Frazier-Rath

The 2022 faculty winner is Emily Frazier-Rath, a lecturer of German through the Anderson Language and Technology Center (ALTEC). She is an active member of the Coalition of Women in German, the German Studies Association, the forum for Diversity and Decolonization and the German Curriculum, the Modern Language Association, and the American Council of the Teaching of Foreign Languages/American Association of Teachers of German.

Additionally, she is the executive director of the Black German Heritage and Research Association, a nonprofit dedicated to documenting and supporting the activities of Black Germans internationally and promoting scholarship relating to the historic and contemporary presence of Black people in Germany, Black Germans in the United States and beyond.

Claudia Numan

The 2022 staff winner is Claudia Numan, whose passion for volunteering is perhaps what best describes her, the committee states. Within a few months of joining CU ��«��Ƶ as an academic advisor for physics and math students, she volunteered to join the physics department’s Equity, Inclusion and Cookies committee, where she has helped organize many workshops and events designed to promote diversity, equity and inclusion in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) disciplines.

She has also volunteered her time as an integral member of the CU ��«��Ƶ Rural Network, which operates with no budget, and where she “put to work her remarkable combination of expertise and approachability to support rural students who often come from very diverse backgrounds,” the committee states.

Irfanul (Irfan) Alam

The graduate-student winner is Irfanul (Irfan) Alam, a PhD student in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, who has been instrumental across campus in enhancing equity, diversity and inclusion. Alam has had a particularly large effect in the transformation of curricula, the committee states.

Alam has mentored underrepresented undergraduates through the SMART and the Uplift research program. As the Graduate and Professional Student Government DEI chair, Alam re-designed the DEI award in collaboration with BIPOC students to acknowledge the social-justice efforts taken by students and professionals for their departments.

Alam represented graduate student voices at the IDEA council and was asked by the Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance to serve as a stakeholder for the Campus Culture Survey. As the Center for Teaching and Learning’s graduate student lead, Alam served as a pedagogical resource for teaching assistants in ecology and evolutionary biology.

Also, as one of the designers of Center for Teaching and Learning’s Just and Equitable Teaching micro-credential program, Alam established a network of faculty and staff members who will mentor participants undertaking DEI capstone projects.

Jordan Lee

Jordan Lee is this year’s ASCEND undergraduate student winner. Ever since joining CU ��«��Ƶ in 2019 to study linguistics and geography, she has devoted her boundless energy to the advancement of DEI.

Following the latest wave of violence against the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community, she co-founded a group called Unmask the Racism. The impressive work she has done for this student-led initiative includes organizing social media campaigns and workshops designed to raise awareness about the history and contributions of the AAPI community. She has also been a strong advocate for the LGBTQIA+ community.

One of her projects was especially noted by the committee: the Queer Conversations and Cookies event series, which created an empowering space that, in Jordan’s words, “foster vulnerability, authenticity and inclusion.”

At the top of the page and above: Honors Residential Academic Program students in Smith Hall use artwork to demonstrate diversity, inclusivity and community.

The 2022 Departmental DEI Passion Project Winner is the Honors Residential Academic Program (HRAP), which launched a mural project titled "Deeper than Demographics.”

The mural is a visual representation of the HRAP’s goal to depict and integrate the themes of diversity, inclusivity and intersectionality into its community living and learning spaces.

The original concept, which provides the foundation of the mural, is to demonstrate social inclusivity as it is perceived and represented through student voices.

HRAP students participated in focus groups, art workshops and individual interviews to generate information that led to the mural. The mural contains images based on student voices and includes student haikus and framed student artwork, which is updated through an art competition each year.

The Arts and Sciences Council’s ASCEND and Departmental DEI Passion Project Awards are supported by James W.C. White, acting dean, and Patricia Gonzalez, assistant dean of inclusive practice. The diversity committee includes:

Cecilia J. Pang, theatre and dance, chair
Aun H. Ali, religious studies
Celine Dauverd, history
Kieran Marcellin Murphy, French and humanities
Stephanie Su, art and art history
Nicholas Villaneuva, ethnic studies

ASCEND Awards go to faculty, staff, graduate students and undergraduate students who have demonstrated a commitment to the principles and actions of diversity and inclusion in curriculum, creative teaching practice, community building endeavors and/or communication.

Departmental DEI Passion Projects honor a department or unit that has completed a special project that promotes DEI and creates a lasting impact by applying one or more of the following values: creativity, originality, interdisciplinary, social impact and sustainability.

Recipients, chosen by faculty committee, ‘work tirelessly and most times in the dark’ for diversity and inclusion.

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Join the dean’s office for bagels and banter

Anonymous — Fri, 10 Sep 2021 15:52:51 +0000

Join the dean’s office for bagels and banter Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 09/10/2021 - 09:52

As the college kicks off the new semester, the dean’s office would like to invite staff and faculty to join us in person for a bagel, perhaps some other breakfast goodies and some banter at Old Main in the garden level, grassy areas outside.

The event is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 24, from 10-11:30 a.m.

Please RSVP if you will be joining us by close of business on Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2021.

RSVP for the event

The event is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 24, from 10-11:30 a.m.

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College lactation spaces draw kudos from health department

Anonymous — Thu, 27 May 2021 16:54:53 +0000

College lactation spaces draw kudos from health department Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 05/27/2021 - 10:54

College of Arts and Sciences recognized by ��«��Ƶ County Public Health as a Breastfeeding Friendly Organization

James W.C. White’s daughter was nursing an infant while she attended the ��«��Ƶ, and she mentioned that there was really no place on campus to breastfeed.

Lactation room in Ketchum on CU ��«��Ƶ's campus.

The news was “really quite personal to me,” says White, now interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, but then director of the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR) on the university’s east campus.

At INSTAAR, White worked to create places in which mothers could nurse their young. Last year, the college realized a similar initiative, establishing two private lactation rooms on the main campus.

I’m thrilled to see A&S at the forefront of this initiative on ��«��Ƶ’s main campus."

The rooms reflect a lactation space policy that guides the college’s pursuit of lactation space. Because of these efforts, ��«��Ƶ County Public Health has certified the college as a Breastfeeding Friendly Organization, a designation made possible by the 2008 Colorado Workplace Accommodations for Nursing Mothers Act.

Lactation room in Hale on CU ��«��Ƶ's campus.

The college’s journey began in 2017, when White asked Zack Tupper, the college’s assistant dean of infrastructure, to assess the support system for nursing mothers. Tupper secured funding to create lactation spaces in Hale Sciences Room 165 and, later, Ketchum Room 330.

The Hale space opened in 2019, and the Ketchum space opened in November 2020.

Tupper collaborated with Sarah Westmoreland, a CU ��«��Ƶ employee who works in the Education Abroad office and who volunteers with the Colorado Breastfeeding Coalition.

Westmoreland, who graduated in 2003 from CU ��«��Ƶ with degrees in molecular, cellular and developmental biology and French, introduced Tupper to ��«��Ƶ County Public Health, which helps employers better accommodate employees—and in the university’s case, students—who are breastfeeding.

In February, the county health department recognized the college as a Breastfeeding Friendly Organization. The designation reflects the fact that the college “has prioritized the needs of its breastfeeding staff and students with a written lactation policy that guarantees time and a private space for milk expression during the workday,” the county states.

Babies who receive breastmilk gain lifelong protections against many chronic conditions, acute illnesses and certain cancers, research suggests.

“And yet, a large number of new parents do not reach their breastfeeding goals because the juggling required when returning to work or school is too big of an obstacle,” said Heather Elkins, ��«��Ƶ County’s breastfeeding friendly environments program specialist.

Elkins added that by establishing lactation spaces and establishing a lactation policy, the College of Arts and Sciences “works to break down all barriers for staff and students to be able to do their best work, achieve economic vitality and provide optimal nutrition to their children.”

Westmoreland hopes that other colleges, schools and departments on campus follow suit and apply for a grant to improve a lactation space in their building. At present, there are nine lactation spaces on the CU ��«��Ƶ main campus and nine on the east campus.

“I’m thrilled to see A&S at the forefront of this initiative on ��«��Ƶ’s main campus. These spaces make a world of difference to lactating employees and students, and the benefits to their children are countless. I hope this is only the beginning of work with ��«��Ƶ County Public Health to establish more lactation rooms on campus,” says Westmoreland.

For White, taking this initiative was an obvious choice: “I thought it was a real, tangible illustration of how far we needed to go to be a university and employer that understood the differential challenges that men and women face in the workplace.”

He is troubled by the differential treatment of men and women in society. “We’ve got a way to go in terms of leveling the playing field,” White says, adding that establishing lactation spaces “says the right thing about how we value our employees and how we value our students.”

College of Arts and Sciences recognized by ��«��Ƶ County Public Health as a Breastfeeding Friendly Organization.

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