UCR College of Humanities, Arts, & Social Sciences

College Milestones 2004-05

Faculty Achievements

Scott Coltrane and Peter Burke, both professors of Sociology were awarded fellowships in the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

John Divola, Professor of Art, received a fellowship from the American Academy in Rome.

Maurya Simon, Professor of Creative Writing, was nominated to the National Book Award in Poetry.

Initiatives

The Public Policy Initiative, created this year by Interim Dean Joel Martin and chaired by Professor Anil Deolalikar, has already generated much activity. A very successful Town Hall meeting was held during the Spring quarter which resulted in, among many things, the establishment of a task force to plan for a professional school. The task force has already met and is identifying the necessary steps that will bring a School of Public Policy into reality.

The College undertook a significant in-depth analysis of faculty workload this past year, identifying key areas of strength along with areas where additional attention will need to be paid. A task force has been established to continue this work and to develop college-wide policies in this area. Already seen as a positive influence for incoming CHASS students, a formal evaluation of the College’s first year experience programs has provided valuable information that will allow us to build upon and strengthen the program even further. In keeping with renewed attention on the staff infrastructure, a number of staff positions were reclassified in recognition of the increasingly complex work in which College and departmental staff are involved. This effort allowed us to retain several excellent employees.

The College achieved great success in collaborative efforts with the City of Riverside in obtaining financial support for the Culver Center. This site will provide an additional venue for the well-regarded Gluck Fellows program which brings the excellent work of Dance, Music, Theatre, Creative Writing, Art, and Art History to the larger community. The College, in collaboration with Computing and Communications, undertook the upgrading of the multimedia labs in the Arts Building, assuring that these facilities will continue to provide state-of-the-art equipment for faculty and students. The College also completed work on and celebrated the opening of the state-of-the-art sculpture lab which will allow our students and faculty to continue to develop unique and cutting-edge artwork.

As noted above, the College, joined by the University, developed a partnership with the City of Riverside for the renovation of the Rouse Building to house the Culver Center of the Arts. This multi-million dollar project will continue to engage the local community in UCR arts programs and activities, enhanced by its location adjacent to the UCR/California Museum of Photography.

The existing arts outreach program, the Gluck Fellows Program, presented over 500 programs for the Riverside community during the past year, ranging from theatrical presentations at local elementary schools to musical programs at retirement communities, from readings at the Riverside Library to the Gluck Day of the Arts, which brought over 100 elementary school children to campus for a day spent engaged in several arts experiences. As a result of these excellent programs, the Gluck Foundation renewed the grant for another two years. The Director of the Blakely Center for Sustainable Suburban Development is in the process of being hired. This Center has already had a significant impact on the local community and the hiring of the director, with a satellite office downtown, will only increase that impact and engagement. The Public Policy Initiative, noted above, has as one of its key components, working with local communities, governmental agencies, and non-profit organizations in providing important research on issues of public policy, the impact of existing policies, and ways in which modifications to public policy could enhance not only the economic development of the region, but the quality of life, as well.

The Center for California Native Nations has launched a major research project, funded by the California Native Indian Gaming Association (CNIGA), that is focused on tribal governments and economic development, specifically the impact of tribal gaming operations on the tribes, the surrounding communities, and those tribes without gaming operations.

Students

The Dean’s Office launched a series of summer internships, offering students the opportunity to participate in research activities of their own design, focused on a number of key public policy issues.

CHASS College Computing (C³), working in collaboration with the Statistical Collaboratory, has played a key role in a major grant from the Homeland Security Department to develop a “data mining” program. Undergraduate interns working in C³ have been intimately involved in the development of this technology. As a result one has been hired for a summer internship by Bell Labs, a division of Lucent Technologies, the principal agency overseeing this project. To further enhance and expand the research opportunities for CHASS undergraduate students, an undergraduate research coordinator has been hired and will develop and coordinate research opportunities during the coming year.

A number of new graduate degrees are either in the approval process or have recently been approved: Religious Studies’ doctoral program was recently approved. Proposals for graduate programs in Ethnic Studies and Southeast Asian Studies are at various stages in the review process. In addition, work has begun on a major and minor in Public Policy. Efforts are continuing on the revision of the business degree curriculum. The campus’ first self-supporting graduate program, the MFA in Creative Writing/Writing for the Performing Arts, has been established at the new Palm Desert campus.

The College has begun a review of breadth requirements across the departments and has initiated efforts to change unit values of those courses where more units are justified by the current level of work. The efforts, when combined, demonstrate a commitment to the continual enhancement of the curriculum, with an eye toward increasing the student enrollment at both the graduate and undergraduate levels, and assisting undergraduate students in completing their degrees in a timely manner.

Diversity

Of the 31 faculty hired this past year, 17 were women, while 11 contributed to ethnic diversity. For the coming hiring cycle, the College will be initiating a cluster hire in African – American Studies and a second cluster in Global Studies with an emphasis on Latin American Studies.