Office of the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs

Past Academic Leadership Forums

September 28, 2004 - Faculty Mentoring that Succeeds - Speakers on the topic Effective Faculty Mentoring Strategies were Lori J. Bechtel, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Altoona College; Richard C. Benson, Head of the Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering, College of Engineering; Gordon W. Blood, Head of the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, College of Health and Human Development; and Sandra E. Gleason, Associate Dean for Faculty and Research, Commonwealth College. Speakers on the topic of Building Successful Mentoring Relationships were Glenn S. McGuigan, Business and Public Affairs Reference Librarian, Capital College; Gary W. White, Head of the Schreyer Business Library; Laura Cousino Klein, Assistant Professor of Biobehavioral Health, College of Health and Human Development; Elizabeth J. Susman, Jean Phillips Shibley Professor of Biobehavioral Health, College of Health and Human Development; Edgar I. Farmer, Senior, Head of the Department of Learning and Performance Systems, College of Education; and Edwin L. Herr, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Education, College of Education. James B. Stewart, Senior Faculty Mentor and Professor of Labor Studies and Industrial Relations, and African and African American Studies, McKeesport Campus spoke on the Cultural, Ethnicity, and Gender Dimensions of Mentoring Across 24 Locations and Graham B. Spanier participated in a lunch time conversation with the participants.

October 28, 2004 - Representing the University to the Public - Speakers on the topic of Representing the University to the Public: How We are Perceived and What We Can Do to Affect the Perception of the University in Harrisburg and Through the Media were James Eckert, Chief of Staff to Senator Corman, District Office; and Robert Heisse, Executive Editor of the Centre Daily Times. Stephen J. MacCarthy, Vice President for University Relations, spoke on the topic of University Relations: What It Is About and Why It Matters to Department and Division Heads and Other Administrators. William M. Mahon III, Assistant Vice President for University Relations and Director of Public Information, spoke on the topic of Media Relations: Proactive and Reactive Approaches. Richard D. DiEugenio, Special Assistant to the President for Governmental Affairs, and Susan L. Grimm, Director of Federal Relations, spoke on the topic of Governmental Relations: Current Challenges in Washington and Harrisburg and What Department and Division Heads and Other Administrators Can and Should Do Relative to Interacting with Legislators.

December 9, 2004 - Fund-Raising - Rodney P. Kirsch, Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations, spoke on Philanthropy and Penn State. Richard Koubek, Head of the Harold and Inge Marcus Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering; Judith A. Todd, P.B. Breneman Department Head Chair of the Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics; and David N. Wormley, Dean of the College of Engineering, discussed The Role of Development in Advancing Departmental Priorities. Panel presentations from the College of the Liberal Arts were, The Usefulness of Development to Departments, Divisions, and Centers, Susan Welch, Dean of the College of the Liberal Arts; A New Head Tackles Development, James P. Dillard, Head of the Department of Communication Arts and Sciences; Best Practices for Department Head Involvement in Fund Raising, Raymond E. Lombra, Associate Dean for Research, Graduate Studies, and College Advancement; and Virtuous Cycles: Reaping the Rewards of Best Practices, William A. Blair, Director of the Richards Civil War Era Center and Associate Professor of History.

January 28, 2005 - e-Learning at Penn State: New Visions and Practices for How We Teach and Learn - Opening remarks were given by Rodney A. Erickson, Executive Vice President and Provost. John Harwood, Senior Director of Teaching and Learning with Technology; spoke on the topic of What in the World Does e-Learning Mean? Janis E. Jacobs, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education and International Programs; and Gary E. Miller, Associate Vice President for Outreach and Executive Director for Continuing and Distance Education; spoke on the topic of The Blended Learning Initiative. Panelists Robert G. Crane, Associate Dean for Education in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences; Ronald L. Filippelli, Associate Dean Emeritus and Professor Emeritus of Labor Studies and Industrial Relations in the College of the Liberal Arts; David H. Monk, Dean of the College of Education; and John L. Fizel, iMBA Program Chair for the World Campus in University Outreach and the Behrend College; spoke on the topic of College e-Learning Strategies. Demonstrations of web sites were given by Michael G. Moore, Professor of Education in the College of Education; Natalie F. Harp, Instructional Design Associate in the World Campus; Richard J. Cyr, Professor of Biology; Eberly College of Science; Brian A. Orland, Professor and Head of the Department of Landscape Architecture in the College of Arts and Architecture; Wendy L. Mahan, Instructional Designer in Education Technology Services; Roman Ivashkiv, Instructor in Russian and Comparative Literature in the College of the Liberal Arts; and Cathy J. Holsing, Instructional Designer in Education Technology Services.

February 23, 2005 - The Penn State Experience: Building a Healthy Work and Learning Community That Is Respectful of Differences - Presenters and topics: Vicky L. Triponey, Vice President for Student Affairs, Becoming a Student Centered University; Dr. Triponey and Andrea L. Dowhower, Senior Analyst and Director for Student Affairs Research and Assessment, What Are Our Students Telling Us? (Student Satisfaction Survey); Leonard E. Pollack, Manager of the Human Resource Development Center, What Are Our Faculty and Staff Telling Us? (Faculty and Staff Survey). Demonstrations were given by George W. Franz, Director of Academic Affairs at the Delaware County Campus, The DelCo Experience; Joseph M. Selden, Assistant Dean and Lecturer, Multicultural Affairs in the College of Communications, Building a Climate for Diversity; Jana L. Peters, Advising Coordinator in the Department of Dairy and Animal Science in the College of Agricultural Sciences, Student Advising and Club Experiences; and John Lipski, Head of the Department of Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese in the College of the Liberal Arts.

April 28, 2005 - Evaluating Teaching Effectiveness Throughout the Academic Career - Keynote speaker was Larry A. Braskamp, Professor of Leadership, Foundations and Counseling Psychology at Loyola University Chicago. Panelists included Carla Zembal-Soul, Associate Professor of Education in the College of Education, Electronic Portfolios; Robert E. Loeb, Director of Academic Affairs at the DuBois campus, Peer and Portfolio; James B. Thomas, Dean of the School of Information Sciences and Technology, Student Quality Teams; Paula R. Golmobek, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Linguistics and Applied Language Studies, and Karen E. Johnson, Head of the Department of Linguistics and Applied Language Studies in the College of the Liberal Arts, spoke on Preparing and Evaluating International Teaching Assistants.