At the September Faculty Council meeting, President Wagner announced that researchers at Emory received $572.4 million from external funding agencies in fiscal year 2015, a 9.69 percent increase over last fiscal year. This marks the largest amount of research funding in Emory’s history and is the sixth consecutive year that research funding has exceeded $500 million. Federal agencies awarded nearly $375 million, or nearly 66 percent of the total, led by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) with nearly $300 million in awards. NIH funding represented 80 percent of total federal dollars awarded to Emory.
Category: General News
2016 Distinguished Faculty Lecturer
Distinguished Faculty Lecture Committee Chair Jaffar Khan announced that Dr. Bruce Levin has been selected as the Distinguished Faculty Lecturer for 2016. Dr. Levin’s research focus is cell biology with a special interest in evolutionary biology. Additionally, Dr. Levin is a pioneer in the field of experimental biology. The Distinguished Faculty Lecture was developed in 1995 by the University Faculty Council as a means to recognize excellence among faculty across the university. Each year a lecturer is nominated by a special committee of the Faculty Council and approved by the University President and Provost. The Distinguished Faculty Lecture is held during Founder’s Week.
Campus Construction Projects
President Wagner highlighted several campus construction projects during his report at the September Faculty Council Meeting. After recently completing the Atwood Chemistry Center addition and renovations to the Manuscript, Archives and Rare Book Library, Emory is continuing several major construction and renovation projects designed to provide cutting-edge facilities for teaching, learning, research and patient care. Some projects are expected to be finished as early as this fall, while others will continue into 2016 and 2017. Current projects include the Emory University Hospital bed tower, a new science building at Oxford College, and the Library Service Center (LSC). The LSC is a collaborative project between Emory University and Georgia Institute of Technology that will house a shared collection of materials, provide delivery services, and free up space on the main campuses at both universities.
Provost’s Remarks
In her closing remarks, Provost Claire Sterk highlighted the recent accreditation review of the Carlos Museum and the self-study review of Oxford College conducted in the fall. A self-study review of Emory College of Arts and Sciences will also be released soon. Provost Sterk commented that it was a good practice to have a mix of both internal and external reflection and review.
Provost’s Remarks – January Faculty Council Meeting
Provost Claire Sterk discussed new faculty seminars that will be offered to Emory trustees at their February board meeting. Nine Emory professors will present a series of educational sessions to provide the experience of “what it is like to be a learner, to be exposed to different ways in which faculty can teach, to get a sense of what it takes to prepare a class,” she said. The second part of the seminar will focus on “the value of the topic being discussed, what’s the social impact, how does it contribute to the public good, how does it link to public scholarship?”
Ebola Advisory Task Force
Dr. David Stephens, Director of the Division of Infectious Diseases and Chief of Medicine for Emory Healthcare, spoke about the work of Emory’s Ebola Advisory Task Force, which he co-chairs with S. Wright Caughman, CEO of the Robert W. Woodruff Health Sciences Center and chairman of Emory Healthcare. The task force was created to advise the University President on issues and policies rapidly unfolding around the ebola viral disease epidemic, including biosafety, infection control, preparedness and response; research, education, communication and ethics; and institutional policies on travel. Dr. Stephens said plans are being explored to host a forum about Ebola research opportunities. In the spring semester, an academic discussion group will be held for the Emory community to examine the ebola virus through a multidisciplinary lens, including its impact upon business, law, religion and ethics, said Dr. Debra Bruner, Robert W. Woodruff Chair in Nursing, who is on the Emory Ebola Advisory Task Force.
Emory’s Global Strategies
Phillip Wainwright, Vice Provost for International Affairs and Director of the Halle Institute for Global Learning at Emory, spoke about Emory’s Global Strategies. Central goals include:
- Initiatives that position Emory as a university noted for its global impact, and
- Integrating Emory’s international community into the life of the university.
Faculty Council examines governance
Faculty governance will be a central theme that will guide the work of the Emory Faculty Council during the 2014-2015 academic year, according to Council Chair Kathryn Yount. The prospect of increased faculty governance advanced with the Faculty Council voting at its Sept. 16 meeting to approve a task force to help define the criteria. The vote followed a presentation by Justin Remais, associate professor of environmental health at the Rollins School of Public Health, who outlined the recent history of shared governance at Emory and suggested that the council create a structure for more specific study and action. The discussion that followed among the council members examined whether Emory’s existing governing bodies are sufficient, where faculty voices might help fill gaps, how university governing bodies should be structured, and the future of faculty governance at Emory.
Creating a process for faculty mediation
A new faculty conflict and mediation process may be in the works after the Faculty Council voted at its first meeting of the 2014-2015 academic year to create a special committee to study this potential. The vote followed a presentation by Sheryl Heron, professor at the School of Medicine, and Michael Sacks, associate professor at Goizueta Business School. They noted that costs associated with unresolved conflict include lower job motivation, lost work time, departure from the university, increased health care costs, and damage to the university’s reputation. They also called for a program tailored to faculty needs, which currently are being unaddressed through existing options (including consultations with the Faculty-Staff Assistance Program and with the general counsel’s office). Council chair Kathryn Yount suggested that a faculty process for mediation could enhance the capacity to improve working relationships. Marc Bousquet, associate professor of English, and Deb Houry, past council chair, suggested that the committee involve faculty from different ranks.
Provost’s welcome to new academic year
Provost Claire Sterk took the opportunity of the Faculty Council’s first meeting of the 2014-2015 academic year to welcome new faculty, and she encouraged council members to visit the provost’s website to learn more about their new colleagues. She called on faculty to consider interdisciplinary opportunities as the implementation phase of recommendations presented by the Commission on the Liberal Arts begins in earnest. With the addition of new programs, including a master’s degree in environmental sciences and a neo-natal nurse practitioner program, Sterk also suggested that the council look closely at the role of master’s degree programs at Emory and the opportunities they present for the university.