Category Archives: Provost Announcement

February 2016 Newsletter: Provost Update: A Culture of Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity

As Provost, I am always excited to learn about the amazing research, scholarship and creative activity (RSCA) our students and faculty accomplish. I also understand the dedication that is required to balance teaching, service and RSCA. From my own experience in conducting and publishing research, I know both faculty and students benefit from a campus culture that supports such endeavors.

I am committed to creating an environment that fosters this important aspect of higher education. In the last two years, we have invested $2.2 million to support university-wide workshops and college-specific programs to assist faculty in starting or continuing their RSCA agendas. Annual funding for RSCA has been built into our budget and we are finalizing a plan to ensure it remains a key priority.

My hope is that our current planning efforts will foster more stellar research like that of two faculty members honored at the Celebration of Research this month with Early Career Investigator Awards. Aaron Romanowsky, from the Department of Physics and Astronomy in the College of Science, and Virginia San Fratello, from the Department of Design in the College of Humanities and the Arts, both exemplify the Spartan spirit of innovation. Romanowsky and his students are discovering new galaxies while San Fratello is using 3-D printing to create sustainable building materials. Both have been recognized by colleagues in their disciplines and have been successful in securing funding to further their research.

At the Celebration of Research, I was also pleased to highlight our Undergraduate Research Pairs program and see the wide range of projects students are pursuing with faculty mentors, some of which we highlight in this month’s newsletter. High-impact practices, including undergraduate research, improve student learning and support student retention, but faculty also benefit from students as research assistants. I applaud our faculty for their commitment to engaging students in their research along with attracting public and private funding to support regional, national and global collaborations.

The SJSU Research Foundation plays an essential role in sustaining our efforts. In 2014-15, the Research Foundation oversaw more than $63 million in revenues that included resources from grants and contracts with government agencies, corporations and private foundations to support more than 150 RSCA projects. See the full list of contracts and awards along with stories of faculty and student work in the San Jose State University Research Foundation 2014-15 Annual Report published this month. I am dedicated to the continued growth of the SJSU research enterprise and the role of the SJSU Research Foundation in supporting our campus.

Interim AVP for Student Academic Sucess Services appointed

Stacy Gleixner, left, has been appointed the interim associate vice president for Student Academic Success Services. She will maintain her role as chief of staff to the president.

Stacy Gleixner, left, has been appointed the interim associate vice president for Student Academic Success Services. She will maintain her role as chief of staff to the president.

Dr. Stacy Gleixner has been appointed as the interim associate vice president for Student Academic Success Services, effective Feb. 8. Stacy will help to lead the ongoing conversation on student success as we finalize a university-wide plan this semester.

She has been chief of staff to the president since Aug. 2014 and will continue in that role, sharing time between the two positions. Stacy is deeply committed to supporting a smooth transition between presidents while also keeping the momentum going around campus priorities such as student success.

Stacy started as a lecturer at SJSU in the Charles W. Davidson College of Engineering. She joined the faculty as an assistant professor in the Biomedical, Chemical and Materials Engineering Department in 1999, and became a full professor in 2011. She served as associate chair of the department from 2008 to 2014. During her tenure on campus, she has been committed to improving student success as well as increasing access to STEM programs for women and underrepresented minority students. Her dedication to teaching has been honored with the College of Engineering Award for Excellence in Service, in 2010, the Dean Newnan Excellence in Teaching Award for Faculty in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, in 2008, and the SJSU Teacher Scholar Award for 2007-2008.

In Engineering, she helped to establish a summer transition program and served as the director of the program, EXCEED, for three years. She also served as the director of the Microscale Process Engineering Lab from 2007-2014, during which she co-designed multiple new courses to include hands-on education. She created a service-learning program through CommUniverCity that has engaged up to 500 engineering students a semester since its inception. Stacy has served as the principal investigator on multiple research projects focused on improving student learning through the use of active and service learning methods.

Stacy has shown a strong ability to collaborate across departments, disciplines and divisions. She has a deep understanding of the university from her service on the Academic Senate Executive Committee, the University Curriculum and Research Committee and the University Instruction and Student Affairs Committee.

Stacy, who is herself a first-generation college student, holds a bachelor’s in materials science and engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and a master’s and a doctorate in materials science and engineering, from Stanford University. She has said her undergraduate experience transformed her through the opportunity she received to engage in high-impact practices with caring professors. She brings with her a strong background that will build on the strong foundation provided by Maureen Scharberg who has taken a position as the dean of Undergraduate Studies at CSU, East Bay.

RTP transition website offers info on new policies

San Jose State has new retention, tenure and promotion policies that will go into effect in 2016-17. The Professional Standards Committee members will use the current year to prepare the campus for the transition, with updates available on the RTP Transitions website.

In June 2015, the president signed university policies S15-6, S15-7, and S15-8, which revised the appointment, retention, tenure, and promotion policies for SJSU. The appointments policy, S15-6, went into effect fall 2015. The RTP policy revisions will be effective fall 2016.

In preparation for that transition, the Professional Standards Committee, the Center for Faculty Development and the Office of Faculty Affairs are planning workshops, creating training materials, and developing the new documents and forms needed for the new system of review.

A “Quick Facts” document outlines the major changes in RTP policies and procedures, comparing the old and new policies side-by-side.

Another document shows the regular timelines for RTP reviews under the new policies for all RTP candidates.

Provost Announcement: Interim dean appointed for Lucas College and Graduate School of Business

Dr. Marlene Turner

Dr. Marlene Turner

Dear SJSU Community,

I am very pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Marlene E. Turner as the interim dean for the Lucas College and Graduate School of Business, effective Nov. 16, 2015. Dr. Turner succeeds Dean David Steele who has accepted a position as president of Woodbury College in Burbank.

Dr. Turner has had an integral role in moving forward strategic initiatives in the college since becoming an associate dean in 2010 and has a long history with the college as a faculty member in the Department of Organization and Management, starting in 1987. She has shown her leadership and consensus building skills in her role as associate dean. She led faculty teams charged with enhancing the undergraduate curriculum, investigating the possibility of bringing business doctoral education to Silicon Valley professionals, and improving the use of strategic intelligence to support key college goals such as alumni engagement.

She also brings with her a strong understanding of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) accreditation process and a commitment to maintaining this elite accreditation that is bestowed to less than five percent of business programs worldwide.

Dr. Turner has maintained a strong research agenda throughout her career. Her findings have been presented in briefings to the United States Congress, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the California State Legislature and various civil rights groups. She is especially proud that her research was awarded a custom baseball bat from the Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball History and American Culture. She received the award in honor of her work on Branch Rickey, Jack Robinson and the integration of baseball.

She completed her Ph.D. in Industrial Administration from Carnegie-Mellon University’s Graduate School of Industrial Administration, with a major focus on organizational behavior and theory, and a minor focus on research methods and statistics. She also holds a bachelor’s in psychology and business administration from the University of Delaware; a master’s in dance from Ohio State University and a master’s from Carnegie-Mellon University’s Graduate School of Industrial Administration.

I am confident the students, faculty, staff, alumni, and supporters of our Lucas College and Graduate School of Business will find Dr. Turner to be a capable, enthusiastic and resourceful leader. Please join me in congratulating her on her interim appointment and thanking Dean David Steele for his many years of service to San Jose State.

Sincerely,

Andy Feinstein

Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs