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Avery Point Director Annemarie Seifert Reappointment Announcement

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Dear Members of the UConn Avery Point Campus Community,

I am writing to announce the reappointment of Annemarie Seifert as director of the Avery Point Campus, following the conclusion of a five-year review process.

The review process works best when it is collaborative and comprehensive. I am grateful to all of the faculty, staff, administrators, and other key partners of the campus who shared your feedback on Dr. Seifert’s leadership.

I also want to thank the review committee for their thoughtful oversight of this process. The committee was chaired by Michael Bradford, Vice Provost for Faculty, Staff, and Student Development, and included the following members: Edith Barrett, Associate Dean for Social Sciences, Regional Campuses, and Community and Global Affairs in CLAS; Janene Vandi, Associate Campus Director; Evan Ward, Professor and Department Head, Marine Sciences; Jamie Kleinman, Associate Professor in Residence, Psychological Sciences; Noemi Maldonado-Picardi, Director of Student Services (Avery Point); and Daniel Mercier, Director of Academic Affairs (Avery Point). Alexis Cassan, Executive Assistant to the Provost and Chief of Staff, managed administration of the committee.

Dr. Seifert was first appointed in July 2016. During her tenure she has developed and enhanced a number of partnerships for the campus within UConn across campuses, as well as externally with regional and federal initiatives. She has also implemented several measures to address mental health needs of students, respond to COVID, and advance diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives for the campus. She has also been a consistent advocate for resources from the University to support the unique needs of the Avery Point campus.

The job of regional campus director poses distinct challenges, and I appreciate all that Dr. Seifert has done to both deepen Avery Point’s connections to external partners, as well as to identify opportunities for the campus to make its mark within the broader UConn system. She has expressed a strong commitment to advancing Avery Point for the benefit of its students, staff, and faculty through this challenging time, and we have jointly developed an approach to seek feedback from the campus through anonymous surveys in the near future and throughout this next term of service.

Sincerely,
Carl

Carl Lejuez
Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs

Guidelines on FY23 Collective Bargaining Increases for Members of the AAUP Bargaining Unit

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Dear Colleagues,

We write to share guidance with deans, regional campus directors, and institute directors regarding the salary increases negotiated under the collective bargaining agreement between the University and AAUP for Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23) effective August 23, 2022. This includes the administration of merit-based increases and the Provost Fund categories of retention, compression/inversion equity, and special achievement.

Please review the attachment for detailed guidance, and share as appropriate with department heads.

Questions on this guidance should be directed to Bridget Inzirillo, Director of Academic Finance and Administration, and Rachel Wice, Academic Personnel Coordinator.

Sincerely,
Carl and Anne

Carl Lejuez
Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs

Anne D’Alleva
Interim Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs

Provost’s Message: Supporting Refugees at UConn

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Dear UConn Community,

As Afghan refugees continue to arrive in the United States, including the 300 who will soon be welcomed in Connecticut, many of us may wonder what we can each do to help. At the University of Connecticut, we have a number of partnerships, programs, and organizations that support those who have been forced to leave their homes from around the world, with Afghanistan just the most recent example. The Human Rights Institute, Office of Global Affairs, School of Law’s Asylum and Human Rights Clinic, School of Social Work, and UConn Health, for example, each provide unique, collaborative opportunities to support refugees and asylum-seekers through experiential learning, internships and practica, or clinics.

One of the most immediate ways to help Afghan refugees is to partner with refugee support organizations. This can include both volunteering with and providing donations to organizations that assist refugees. UConn is home to the Huskies for Refugees student group, which is actively identifying opportunities to help Afghan refugees. One of the leading resettlement organizations in Connecticut is Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services, also known as IRIS. They offer a variety of ways to welcome refugees through community sponsorship groups and volunteering or interning at their main office in New Haven or satellite office in Hartford (to open in October). In Storrs-Mansfield, the IRIS community co-sponsor group is Quiet Corner Refugee Resettlement (QCRR). To inquire about volunteering, email qcrr.411@gmail.com, providing a brief description of your interests, skills or experience and general availability.

Another key action is to learn. UConn is one of few institutions with a human rights major. Many of our faculty across a broad array of disciplines bring a human rights focus to their scholarship and their classes. Students can take a variety of courses that will deepen their understanding of the complexity of events and circumstances that force refugees to leave their homes. We also organize public programming to provide a range of perspectives on refugee matters, including two key upcoming events. On September 23 Global Affairs will host “From Afghanistan to Connecticut: Afghan Perspectives on Forced Migration,” with details at https://s.uconn.edu/refugee-panel. On September 29, American Studies, Middle East Studies, and Asian and Asian American Studies will host “Afghanistan and the Course of U.S. Empire,” with details at https://s.uconn.edu/afghanistan-empire. The Benton Museum of Art is also currently hosting an exhibition, “Immigrant Eyes,” featuring the stories of immigrants in the state through the photography of Joe Standart.

Additionally, UConn can leverage, and has, its institutional resources and networks to support refugees. Through the Scholars at Risk program, we regularly host scholars from other countries where their research and teaching put their safety at risk. UConn is also a member of the New University in Exile Consortium, the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, and the Open Society University Network. The Office of Global Affairs and its Human Rights Institute will be reaching out to academic and administrative units to explore opportunities to expand these types of efforts to broaden our capacity to support refugees, including the potential to host Afghan refugee students and scholars at UConn.

These events can also affect members of our community at a personal level. Our Office for Diversity and Inclusion and the cultural centers and the Dean of Students Office are tremendous resources for support. Another source of community and action can be found in faith groups, a listing of which can be found on the UConn Faith website. SHaW is also available for students to seek counseling and therapeutic activities, and the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is available through HR for counseling and referrals for employees.

One other way that we can contribute is by sharing our knowledge and experiences with each other and our communities. Many of our scholars present their research regularly through invited talks across the state, nationally, and globally. Students intern or volunteer in local community groups and agencies that work with refugees and asylum seekers, including conducting research or doing community needs assessments as part of that work. For example, through the Center for International Social Work Studies, student interns provide support for Hartford-based refugee initiatives. There are also numerous examples of community-engaged practices across UConn, including UConn Law’s Asylum & Human Rights Clinic, in which law students, working under faculty supervision, represent people who have fled from persecution and seek asylum in the United States. The Asylum and Human Rights Clinic collaborates closely with faculty and students at the School of Social Work and UConn Health, and has developed an innovative program in which interdisciplinary teams conduct week-long service trips to assist detained asylum seekers.

Our mission as an engaged, public research university includes sharing opportunities to help lift and support all, particularly those most vulnerable and in need. As a global university, we embrace this chance to lend our knowledge, our energy, and our resources to welcoming these newcomers in a spirit of solidarity. We encourage you to get involved and help us make an impact individually and collectively. We are always inspired by the ways Huskies rise to the occasion.

Sincerely,

Carl Lejuez
Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs

Daniel Weiner
Vice President for Global Affairs

Provost’s Message: Returning to In-Person Academics

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Dear Colleagues,

As we approach the start of the fall semester, I am sharing details on several items related to the classroom and other academic activities. Some of you have been on our campuses regularly over the past year and a half, while many others are beginning to make your first return back to your offices or classrooms in many months. This message provides information on a variety of resources and guidance to prepare for the start of this new academic year. I also encourage you to visit the University’s COVID website, to find information on our plans in one location, at covid.uconn.edu. Additionally, the Provost’s Office maintains a set of academic-related FAQs on our website.

I understand that our community is experiencing a mix of emotions as the first day of classes draws near. Our plans for the fall are intended to allow as much of a return to in-person operations as possible while still prioritizing the health and safety of our community. This includes keeping close watch of new developments such as the spread of the Delta variant. This is a true community effort, as multiple offices and teams have led our planning and preparations to come together again on our campuses.

At the same time as many of you are preparing for a return to our campuses, you’re also continuing to manage the complications of caregiving, family, and community responsibilities amid COVID. Self-care and compassion for others in this challenging time will be crucial to our success as we all navigate our return to in-person operations over the coming months.

Sincerely,
Carl

Carl Lejuez
Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs

Fall 2021 Guidance and Resource Highlights

Classrooms and In-Person Teaching

  • Masking: Masks are required in most indoor scenarios on campus, including the classroom, until further notice. The most up-to-date information on mask requirements across University settings can be found by visiting the UConn COVID website.
  • Distancing: We shared earlier this summer that classrooms would return to full capacity with the removal of distancing requirements. The most up-to-date information on distinctions in distancing across University settings can be found by visiting the UConn COVID website. We will continue to monitor the status of COVID-19 and guidance from the state regarding distancing throughout the semester.
  • Ventilation in classrooms: Facilities Operations has been performing a number of strategies to improve ventilation in spaces, particularly in classrooms. Guidance for re-opening over the last year has focused on increasing ventilation rates, enhancing filtration, and increasing the percentage of outdoor air that circulates where possible. Please review their full report by clicking here.
  • Instructional modality: For Fall 2021, about 90% of classes are listed with an in-person modality. This includes lectures, discussions, labs, seminars, and hybrid courses. It does not include independent studies, field placements, practicums, etc. It also includes undergraduate and graduate courses, and all regional campuses.

    Aside from an ADA accommodation, the only instances in which classes may be taught in an online modality are based on sound pedagogy and the best interests of academic programming. With the semester set to begin shortly, additional changes based on pedagogical and academic programming reasons will be extremely limited and will require department head and dean approval.

    • Teaching assistants: Whether they serve as instructors of record or as leaders of a discussion or laboratory section, teaching assistants are expected to offer instruction in the modality for which a course was scheduled. Any change in teaching modality requires approval of the relevant department head and dean.
  • Classroom technology: IT provides a wide array of guidance on classroom technology in its Knowledge Base. These can be viewed here: https://confluence.uconn.edu/ikb/teaching-and-learning. In particular, you may want to bookmark the Classroom Quick Start Guide, https://s.uconn.edu/startclass.

    Instructors can request training on classroom and instructional technology from IT staff. Please click this link to be directed to the request form (requires NetID login).

  • Classroom and quarantine management: Throughout the last year, our office provided guidance in our FAQs on how to set expectations of behavior in your classrooms, managing accommodations for students in quarantine, and a host of other academic scenarios affected by COVID-19. Please click here to view our FAQS.

Other Academic Considerations

  • Travel: Travel Services has shared a number of updates regarding work-related travel. Please see their website, travel.uconn.edu, for the latest information. In addition to guidance from Travel Services, Human Resources has provided guidance on returning to campus post-travel.

    Employee personal travel follows guidance issued by the State of Connecticut. Visit their website for the latest guidance and restrictions at portal.ct.gov/Coronavirus/Travel.

  • Field trips: There are no formal restrictions on domestic travel out of state. However, all faculty or instructors planning field trips should work with their department head and dean to assess potential COVID-related risks associated with their field trip. Guidance may also change throughout the semester, so faculty or instructors planning such trips should ensure they are following updated travel guidelines if these change at the State or University level.
  • Library Services: The Library is working to complete some projects that will both welcome our community back in a safe and welcoming manner, as well as increase the discoverability of resources. Changes have been made to platforms that access collections, including databases and the extension of electronic access to course reserves to the degree possible. Click here to learn more.
  • Events and Meeting Scheduling: Units will be permitted to host outside guests and speakers, subject to University public health restrictions. Because conditions can change quickly, any invitation to outside speakers should include a strong indication that changes or cancellation may be required if conditions worsen again. Please consult the latest UConn Campus Visitor Guidance for more information on hosting guests and events by clicking here.

    When scheduling events and meetings, consider how the time and format may affect the accessibility for potential attendees. For instance, an in-person event at 4 p.m. meant to appeal to junior colleagues may conflict with pick-up times from school or day care, and may be better suited to a different time and a virtual format.

  • Incident Reporting: The InForm website is a tool to help the UConn community navigate the reporting process and support available for a variety of incidents including bias, harassment, safety concerns, and other types of misconduct. InForm is available to anyone coming into contact with UConn, including students, faculty, staff, visitors, and community members who have a concern to report, including bystanders.
  • Syllabi: CETL has created a portal for faculty and instructors to upload their syllabi for students to review before starting classes. We encourage all faculty and instructors to upload your syllabi here as soon as they are available. Please click here to get started.
  • SET feedback: The Provost’s Office had for several years sent letters to faculty and instructors with feedback on high or low SET scores. After consultation with deans, the Faculty Standards Committee of the University Senate, and the AAUP, we have decided to no longer distribute these letters. SET scores will continue to be collected and shared; however, we heard growing concerns that these letters elevated the importance of SETs beyond their intended purpose. SET scores should be considered one of a set of measures to evaluate successful teaching. We appreciate the work being done in the classroom to support our academic mission and we will continue to find other ways to acknowledge our many examples of outstanding teaching and support continuous improvement in our educational mission.

    Campus Operations

    • COVID-19 testing: The University will offer testing for employees. The details are still being established and more information is forthcoming.
    • Training: Environmental Health and Safety has updated its COVID-19 safety training for this academic year. Please visit this link to access the training on the EHS website.
    • Tech check: ITS encourages faculty and staff to return early to test their on-site setups and notify ITS staff of any issues or equipment deficiencies. On and after Aug. 16, ITS will operate using a tiered approach that will allow their staff to efficiently serve as many people as possible with available resources.
      • If additional support is needed, faculty and staff are encouraged to request assistance remotely first, by submitting a support ticket through techsupport.uconn.edu. If issues remain unresolved at this point, ITS staff will schedule a time to assist you in-person.
    • Future of Work and Future of Learning reports: These two committees have produced reports with an overview of their recommendations. You may view the Future of Work report at this link, and the Future of Learning report at this link.
    • Cleaning and disinfection: Facilities Operations will follow guidance and best practices from the CDC. For more information, please click here to see a detailed update from Environmental Health and Safety.
    • Signage: University Communications has updated signage to reflect UConn’s restrictions and guidance in place for Fall 2021 as it relates to COVID-19 protocols. Many of these signs will be placed in university buildings by Facilities Operations; however, these are also available for departmental and office use. Please click here to view and download this signage.

    Updates from the Provost’s Office, April 30, 2021

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    Dear Colleagues,

    Our office and many partners across the University continue to be busily engaged in activities and planning in response to the operational impact of COVID-19. I share here a summary of notable updates, most of which stem from our planning efforts, as well as a few related to ongoing operations.

    In-person teaching exemption

    As vaccination rates increase and COVID-19 infection rates stabilize at lower rates, we have been preparing for a more fully in-person academic experience for fall 2021. We asked departments and faculty to use fall 2019 course proofs as their guide for course offerings this coming fall, which has resulted in the large majority of fall classes listed as in person.

    We hope to maintain in-person offerings as close to this level as possible. However, we also want to ensure accommodations are available for instructors and their household with significant health risk associated with COVID-19. Thus, we are setting up a process by which University representatives will review potential exceptions for individuals to switch their teaching modality from in-person to fully virtual instruction. The review will be based on age, pregnancy status, and the individual or someone in their household meeting CDC criteria with significant immunity suppression health conditions and based on medical documentation voluntarily supplied by the instructor from their medical provider. Exceptions will be considered in this process through the end of May. Full details will be provided next week.

    **Please note, these exceptions are specific to teaching assignments that are being brought forward now to ensure sufficient time for students registering and the class instructors to adjust to any modality changes. A separate process for employee re-entry in the fall is forthcoming at the end of May based on recommendations from the Future of Work Committee.

    COVID Impact Statements

    The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in disruptions in faculty’s teaching, research, and service activities. Because of that, UConn is engaged in large-scale efforts to account for the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and find ways to provide needed support. As a specific strategy, the Provost’s Office has been researching COVID Impact Statements for inclusion in future performance review processes (e.g., Annual/Merit Review, PTR, and P&R).

    At this time, we encourage faculty to document COVID impact to their teaching, research, and service activities. We have developed guidance on COVID Impact Statements that includes a list of potential COVID-19 impacts that faculty may wish to address in such a statement. This is available on our website. Faculty who are interested should create a COVID Impact Statement that can be included in their PTR and annual review materials. Over the coming year we will work with deans, department heads, and faculty as well as the senate and AAUP to further develop the process for documenting and considering the short- and long-term impact of COVID-19 on our faculty.

    COVID PTR Extensions

    Tenure-Track faculty

    At the Board of Trustees meeting on April 28, we presented several informational items regarding COVID impact. These information items will be presented again at the May 19 meeting for a vote on adoption of each. We will be back in touch following the May 19 board meeting with more details.

    We have asked the Board to consider a one-year tenure clock extension for tenure-track faculty if they meet one of the following criteria: a) began their employment between March 2, 2020 and March 1, 2021; b) qualified for an FMLA-related additional year on their tenure clock during the COVID-19 pandemic and were thus prevented from taking the COVID extension as well; or c) did not take the extension in the previous year but whose work was impacted in this past year such that they would like to take the extension now. While this proposal does provide extensions to new faculty and several faculty who did not take the extension last year, it’s important to note that this proposal does not increase the number of extensions one may be granted and it does not allow for someone to take two COVID-related extensions.

    Clinical, In-Residence and Extension faculty

    The Provost’s Office has signed an MOA with UConn AAUP that allows non-tenure track faculty in their final one-year appointment prior to becoming eligible for a multi-year appointment to request a one-year delay toward their P&R review for their initial multi-year appointment effective academic year 2022-23. Provost’s Office staff will reach out directly to individuals who are eligible for this delay to provide more detail on process.

    International student needs

    As we look toward a more in-person fall semester, we know that many of our international students who went home due to COVID-19 may have difficulty returning to UConn for in-person classes even though some restrictions on travel are being lifted. While UConn will again offer international undergraduate students the opportunity to study at some of our partner institutions abroad, this option may not suit all students. Many of our upper-level students need very specific courses to graduate that are offered only in-person. Other students have major course requirements that are not offered through our partner institutions. We are working now to assess the extent of international student need for alternative course arrangements, and in the coming weeks the Registrar may be reaching out to departments for assistance to find a solution for our international students who cannot return to campus. Department Heads and Program Directors are encouraged, in agreement with their Deans, to identify flexible alternatives where appropriate.

    For more information about international graduate students, please plan to attend the Timely Topics session next Wednesday, May 5, at 11 a.m. Registration for the session is available in this online form.

    Core Curriculum forums

    After four years of research and consultations, the University Senate’s Delta General Education Taskforce (comprised of representatives of each school and college, as well as key administrative stakeholders) has published a proposed undergraduate Core Curriculum for Leadership and Global Citizenship: https://delta.senate.uconn.edu/

    First presented in an outline accepted by the University Senate in 2019, the taskforce has refined and developed the Core Curriculum based on feedback from students, faculty, and staff. The taskforce scheduled five forums in April and May, with two still remaining this semester:

      • Tuesday, May 4: 1-2:30 p.m.
      • Thursday, May 6: 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

    Click here, Delta GE Forum Registration, or if you are unable to attend one of these forums, feedback may be sent via email at delta@uconn.edu.

    Emeritus eligibility

    At the Board of Trustees meeting on April 28, we presented an informational item to expand eligibility for automatic emeritus status. Previously, any faculty member who was not at the rank of full professor and who had not served in this rank for at least five years had to apply to the University Retirement Committee to request emeritus status. The proposed changes, with the support of the University Senate, allow faculty who are at the rank of associate professor or equivalent in non-tenure track faculty ranks, and who have been at the University for at least five years, to automatically receive emeritus status. The changes also clarify the route through which emeritus status may be revoked and update the name of the Retirement Committee to the Emeritus Committee. These information items will be presented again at the May 19 meeting for a vote on adoption of each. We will be back in touch following the May 19 board meeting with more details.

    Future of Journal Subscriptions

    The Future of Journal Subscriptions continues its work to explore new strategies for providing access to journal articles for our faculty, staff, and students. Currently we are making progress but will need the upcoming academic year to test and evaluate potential new approaches. In the meantime, we will continue to support existing approaches to maintain existing access and services.

    Sincerely,
    Carl

    Carl Lejuez
    Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs

    Celebrating Promotion and Tenure Awards, 2021-22

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    Dear Colleagues,

    I write you all today in the spirit of celebration. I am very pleased to share that the Board of Trustees approved on April 28 the award of tenure and/or promotion to 72 individuals across the Storrs and regional campuses.

    This is a notable milestone for each faculty member awarded these promotions. I congratulate each of them on this culmination of many years of dedication to their disciplines, the advancement of knowledge, and service to UConn and the broader community. They are a credit to UConn’s reputation as a leading global research university.

    Applications for promotion and tenure are reviewed at the department level, school or college level, and finally at the Office of the Provost before recommendations are forwarded to the Board of Trustees. This process involves significant work on the part of each faculty member, as well as assistance and support of colleagues and administrative staff who provide guidance and manage many of the logistics through each stage of the promotion and tenure cycle.

    The awards of promotion and tenure are listed below, by school or college. Please join us in congratulating your colleagues who have been awarded this year.

    Sincerely,
    Carl

    Carl Lejuez
    Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs

     

    College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources

    Promotion to Associate Professor with Tenure

    • Yangchao Luo, Nutritional Sciences

    Promotion to Associate Extension Educator

    • Anoushka Concepcion, Extension
    • Jennifer Cushman, Extension

    Promotion to Extension Educator

    • Laura Brown, Extension
    • Cary Chadwick, Extension

    Promotion to Professor

    • Lindsay DiStefano, Kinesiology
    • Tricia Leahey, Allied Health Sciences

    Promotion to Research Professor

    • Laijun Lai, Allied Health Sciences

    School of Business

    Promotion to Associate Professor with Tenure

    • Alina Lerman, Accounting
    • Jose Martinez, Finance
    • Steven Utke, Accounting

    Promotion to Associate Professor In-Residence

    • Yaacov Kopeliovich, Finance

    Promotion to Professor

    • David Souder, Management
    • David Weber, Accounting

    Neag School of Education

    Promotion to Associate Professor with Tenure

    • Milagros Castillo-Montoya, Educational Leadership
    • Kenny Nienhusser, Educational Leadership

    Promotion to Professor

    • Robin Grenier, Educational Leadership

    School of Engineering

    Promotion to Associate Professor with Tenure

    • Kelly A. Burke, Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
    • Bin Feng, Biomedical Engineering
    • Sheida Nabavi, Computer Science & Engineering
    • Xinyu Zhao, Mechanical Engineering

    Promotion to Associate Professor In-Residence

    • David Giblin, Mechanical Engineering
    • David Kaputa, Biomedical Engineering
    • Jason Lee, Mechanical Engineering

    Promotion to Professor

    • Jeongho Kim, Civil & Environmental Engineering
    • Helena Silva, Electrical & Computer Engineering
    • Yufeng Wu, Computer Science & Engineering

    Tenure as Associate Professor

    • Syam Nukavarapu, Biomedical Engineering

    School of Fine Arts

    Promotion to Associate Professor with Tenure

    • Christina Bullard, Dramatic Arts
    • Heejoo Gwen Kim, Digital Media & Design

    Promotion to Professor

    • Alexis Boylan, Art & Art History

    College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

    Promotion to Associate Professor with Tenure

    • Robert Bagchi, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
    • Andrea Celli, Literatures, Cultures, & Languages
    • Ariel Lambe, History
    • Christin Munsch, Sociology
    • Jessica Rouge, Chemistry
    • Jonathan Trump, Physics
    • HaiYing Wang, Statistics
    • Ryan Watson, Human Development & Family Sciences
    • Jill Wegrzyn, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
    • Eiling Yee, Psychological Sciences

    Promotion to Associate Professor In-Residence

    • Laura Bunyan, Sociology
    • Miranda Davis, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
    • Darcie Dennigan, English
    • Anthony Rizzie, Mathematics
    • Diego Valente, Physics

    Promotion to Professor

    • Nathan Alder, Molecular and Cell Biology
    • Carol Atkinson-Palombo, Geography
    • Iddo Ben-Ari, Mathematics
    • Brendan Kane, History
    • Gustavus McLeod, Philosophy
    • Barbara Mellone, Molecular and Cell Biology
    • Emily Myers, Speech, Language, & Hearing Sciences
    • Spencer Nyholm, Molecular and Cell Biology
    • Jeremy Pressman, Political Science
    • Luke Rogers, Mathematics
    • Peter Schweitzer, Physics
    • Lynne Tirrell, Philosophy
    • Epapante (Penny) Vlahos, Marine Sciences

    Promotion to Professor In-Residence

    • Amit Savkar, Mathematics

    School of Nursing

    Promotion to Associate Clinical Professor

    • Marybeth Whalen

    Promotion to Clinical Professor

    • Annette Jakubisin Konicki
    • Annette Maruca

    Promotion to Professor

    • Steven Kinsey
    • Natalie Shook

    School of Pharmacy

    Promotion to Clinical Professor

    • Jennifer Girotto, Pharmacy Practice
    • Lisa Holle, Pharmacy Practice

    Promotion to Professor

    • Brian Aneskievich, Pharmaceutical Sciences
    • Kyle Hadden, Pharmaceutical Sciences
    • Nathaniel Rickles, Pharmacy Practice

    School of Social Work

    Promotion to Associate Professor with Tenure

    • Caitlin Elsaesser

    Promotion to Professor

    • Rebecca Thomas

    Provost’s Message: Updates on our strategic planning process

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    Dear UConn Faculty, Staff, and Students:

    What is UConn at its best? This simple question is at the heart of our strategic planning process.

    Since the fall, the Provost’s Office has facilitated dozens of Visioning sessions and presentations to members and stakeholders throughout our UConn community. This question of “UConn at its best” has generated hundreds of thoughtful responses, all of which show a deep commitment and interest across our University to be a dynamic, inclusive, innovative, and entrepreneurial institution.

    By now, many of you are also well-versed in the three priorities of our strategic planning efforts set forth by President Katsouleas: doubling research and scholarship; providing Life-Transformative Education to every UConn student; and becoming a more powerful engine for the State of Connecticut. Without my prompting, I hear these priorities repeated in many of my meetings and conversations, which I see as an indicator that these priorities provide value as guideposts in future planning and align with goals broadly across the University.

    Our challenge now is to develop a process to identify the ideas with the greatest potential impact to realize a shared vision of “UConn at its best.” We have convened a broadly representative group of faculty, staff, and students from across our campuses and operations to serve on the Strategic Planning Steering Committee. We have also tapped into the expertise of our own faculty: Greg Reilly, professor and department head of Management, is a leading expert on strategic planning and has joined our efforts as a co-chair. I encourage you to review the membership of the Strategic Planning Steering Committee on the Provost’s Office website.

    In the coming month, we will circulate a draft statement of UConn’s shared values that emerged from Visioning sessions. The aim of creating a statement of shared values is to capture and communicate collective beliefs about the most important facets of UConn culture. This statement helps remind us to stay true to our priorities and how we expect to work together. We will seek feedback on the draft from the full UConn community before the statement of shared values is finalized.

    This semester, the steering committee’s work is focused on refining a framework for our community to develop strategic challenges and opportunities that will help focus our actions to advance UConn in our three priorities. The committee members have begun to define a range of specific challenges to be considered for inclusion in the strategic plan. Additionally, the committee is developing a process for including the ideas and opinions of the wider UConn community in defining our highest priority challenges. We expect to share next steps in this effort early in the fall.

    This year has been focused, necessarily, on the immediate and the urgent. In many ways, this is the best time to be involved in strategic planning. It provides us with an opportunity to step away from day-to-day demands and look at the big picture. It also has the potential to bring us together as a community after so much time spent physically apart. And after a year of significant disruption, it’s a mechanism to help us think about where that change has been a catalyst and where it has been an obstacle.

    I look forward to engaging further with the community in strategic planning and encourage you to send any questions or comments to provost@uconn.edu.

    Sincerely,
    Carl

    Carl Lejuez
    Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs