By Theresa Maddix
The Department of Biology is this year’s recipient of the $25,000 Departmental Award for Contributions to the Undergraduate Initiative. The honor was announced at the April 3 LS&A faculty meeting.
Associate Dean Terrence McDonald presented the award to Chair Julian Adams, citing a statement that noted the department’s “significant enhancements over the past several years.” Introductory students “will benefit through a more active learning model that focuses on key biological principles and presents strong integration of lecture, lab and discussion activities.”
Biology faculty, the statement noted, have “revised each of the five departmental concentrations and have implemented a set of new intermediate 200 [level] courses.”
The College Nominating Committee, chaired by Toni Antonucci, announced candidates to serve on the Executive Committee and the Curriculum Committee. Election ballots will be mailed this month to LS&A faculty. Results will be announced at the Oct. 2 meeting.
The six member Executive Committee has one seat open in the natural sciences division and one in the social sciences division. (Divisions elect members on a rotating basis—a member from the humanities division was elected last year.)
Nominated for the natural sciences seat are Philip Bucksbaum, physics; Dimitri Coucouvanis, chemistry; Charles Doering, mathematics; and Lynn Walter, geological sciences.
Nominated for the social sciences seat are Jill Becker, psychology; Rowell Huesmann, communication studies; Maris Vinovskis, history; and Milford Wolpoff, anthropology.
The Curriculum Committee will choose one faculty member from each of the three divisions. Nominated from the humanities are Sara Rappe, classical studies, and William Baxter, Asian languages and cultures, and linguistics. From the natural sciences are Meigan Aronson, physics; Robert Keener, statistics; Samuel Mukasa, geological sciences; and Robert Megginson, mathematics. From the social sciences: Charles Bright, Residential College, and Lloyd Sandelands, psychology.
Nominated for the position of Ombudsman is Eric Bermann, psychology.
