News _ North Texas (UNT) - starting a thing you pass up.” m g">£2k ll V 1 new campus. The positions that those two V* UNT has launched an effort candidates have taken, Parente to create a Dallas campus and says, speaks to the quality of announced that they have se- the candidate pool as a whole, continued from front page lected Beehler as the new cam- “We have had, and have right pus’s inaugural provost and now, fantastic candidates for “The job was very similar to v j ce president for academic ex- this position,” she said. “The Behrend’s,” Parente said. “It ce llence and student success. fact that two of these candi was a great opportunity for “That’s the opportunity of a dates ended up taking such him, because he felt that it was lifetime,” Parente said. “To be high positions elsewhere good to be closer to home.” ab i e t 0 ’ start a university and speaks to the quality of the job Beehler accepted a unique mo id , t you rself, decide how to at this university. The final four position with the University of start things - that’s not some- candidates, too, were all on the CHANCELLOR CANDIDATE PROFILE Vice-President of Research, University of Houston ■pw>-v- ' Education: B.S. in engineering, University of California, Berkeley MBA and M.S. in bio-physics, Miami University in Ohio Ph.D. in electrical engineering, University of Dayton Ciinent Position: Vice Chancellor / Vice President of Research, University of Houston Notable Past positions: 1977-1996: Senior Systems Engineer, Vice President and Team Leader of Technology and New Ventures, Systems Research Laboratories, Dayton, Ohio 1996-2006: Director of the Phys ical Science Laboratory (1996- 2005), Interim Vice Provost and then Vice President for Research at New Mexico State University (2004-2006) 2006-Present: Current position -diversity of Houston . immunisations. jpai Dr. Donald Birx, Vice President for Research at the University of Houston. • Birx said that his first priority after coming to Behrend would be to talk and listen. “When I went to the University of Houston, I spent probably the first three months in constant communication. Outside the community, inside each department, meeting with faculty and students; I worked at understanding where the direction should be.” Then, he said, he wants to work with faculty and students to begin to lay the framework for five-year goals. What durileiiges does he see in the position? “I think .the interaction with University Park is a big issue,” he said. “I think the issues there with building a report, allowing Behrend to grow and become what it should be, is going to be tough.” “It’s not something which I dislike; I think there’s a lot of advantages and opportunities in being part of the Penn State program. I think Jack [Burke] has done a superb job.” Birx drew upon his experience in working as a vice president at a “large central” cam pus as giving him the viewpoint from the other side. “One advantage I have is getting to see both sides of the issues - the ideas that sell and work, and the ideas that failed, and why they didn’t work.” What does he plan regarding his inter action withstudents? “Behrend is a school of a size where a direct connection is possible,” he said. "It's only partially possible, to be honest, where I am right now with 37,000 stu dents at the main campus.” Bint said that Jack Burke’s model of di rect connection with students is some thing drat he will continue. “I also tend to use multimedia and other approaches, putting them on the Web so that students can see what’s going on if they want to,” he said. “If you want to see what’s up, you can go to the Web and see it. There’s a lot of transparency in what’s going on.” Dr. Donald Birx Accolades: • 2002, New Mexico “Top 25” Tech Leader • Davidson Memorial Award (2002), Distinguished Service Award (2001) and President’s Award for Vision (2000), NMSU What does he want to do here? • Expand diversity. Build sup ported programs, celebrate it, cre ate the environment, incentive and JXperience. work ing with diversity programs at the University of Houston, Birx says he had “doubled the number of grad uates in science and engineering that are minority female students.” • Birx put a high emphasis on bringing together studies in the lib eral arts and humanities with stud ies in technology and engineering. “That’s the way of the future,” he said. “Being able to pull all of those elements together is what will make U.S. universities stronger.” Daniel Smith / The Behrend Beacon During the two open forums held over the last 10 days, many Behrend community members came to hear ideas from the chancellor candidates. Above, in foreground, many employees of the Admissions Office came to watch. same level, so that makes Dr. University-Purdue. indication that the search is [Donald] Birx and Dr [Allen] Beehler, prior to accepting "going badly." Rather, she says, Soyster, the two remaining can- his position with North Texas, it proves how well the seaich didates, that much more im- was the Associate Provost tor has gone, pressive." Economic Initiatives and Dean , “It’s an exciting time," she Voland, before taking his po- of the Haile/US Bank College of said. It s a sad time, too, be sition with the University of Business at Northern Kentucky cause we will all miss Jack Michigan-Flint, was Dean ot University. His appointment Buike. But, seeing what oui the College of Engineering, with UNT was announced on candidates for this position Technology and Computer Sci- Feb. 4. have in mind tot the Univeisitv, ence, director of the Center for Parente says that the seaich it s a very exciting time with all Industrial Innovation and De- committee does not consider that we have ahead of us. sign, and professor of mechan- the two candidates accepting ical engineering at Indiana positions elsewhere any type ot CHANCELLOR CANDIDATE PROFILE Dr. Allen Soyster Dean, College of Engineering, Northeastern University Education: B.S. in industrial engineering, Pennsylvania State University M.S. in industrial engineering and operations research, Cornell University Ph.D. in operations research, Carnegie Mellon University Current Position: Professor and Dean, College of Engineering, Northeastern University Notable Past positions: 1981-1996: Professor, head of Industrial Engineering Department, Pennsylvania State University 1997-Present: Current position Accolades: • 1988, Fellow of the Institute of Industrial Engineers (HE) • 1992, Technical Innovation Award, lEE • 1993, Outstanding Faculty Mentoring, Penn State • 1997, Fellow of the World Con federation of Productivity Science What does he want to do here? • Strengthen and expand aca demic programming. Academia should include more experiential learning, and more globalization elements, he said. “The entire world marketplace is changing dra matically,” he said. “It would be nice if Behrend could have a par ticular niche in which a global ex perience could be made.” • Have Behrend ranked in U.S News - America’s Best Colleges. A five-year goal, he said, is to expect a #3 ranking in the North/Masters category of U.S. News. • Develop MS/MA programs in all schools. “You have one notable deficiency,” he said. “People who are [stimulating local economies] have graduate students. 1 can’t imagine that most faculty wouldn’t want to have graduate students as part of the work they do.” • Develop a Pine Arts Center, the idea for which is already under consideration and on Penn State Behrend’s strategic plan. “You have to have something on the table. Some thing you can show people when you go out on the road to try to generate enthusiasm.” What challenges does he see in the position? The biggest challenge, Soyster said in the open forum on Tuesday, is the relation be tween Penn State Behrend and University Park. “The one point I’m mostly concerned about is the first threat in the stragetic plan,” he said, “lire greatest advantage at Behrend is having the Penn State moniker. But this is always the joke, is that the biggest problem at Behrend is the Penn State moniker.” Soyster says that his experience at University Park, including 15 years as the head of the Industrial Engineering Department, will help him in figuring it out. “Being a product of University Park, I can deal with that,” he said. “There’s no one at University Park with more experience in my field than 1 do, so there’s not going to be anyone intimidating me and telling me I don’t know what the business is.” Behrend Beacon February 26,2010 www.thebehrendbeacon.com Daniel Smith / The Behrend Beacon Dr. Allen Soyster, Dean of the College of Engineering at Northeastern University in Boston, Mass. What does he plan regarding his inter action with students? Soyster draws upon his experience as a dean, during which time he “reli giously brought students together” in an engineering student council. He said that he took notes and assembled a monthly meeting where students could voice concerns about their curricula. However, in the chancellor position, he sees a different role. “If I were here, all the [School] direc tors would be meeting with the students on a regular basis, and maybe I would be on some kind of selective basis,” he said. “My role would not be as visible as the directors, but some contact shows students that the highest levels are con- cerned.”
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