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Eyl
The Lion’s Eye
Maich ls 2010
0 hn : Pie:nn Sate:
Toni Morrison is a
Nobel Prize and Pu-
litzer Prize-winning
American author,
editor, and profes-
sor. Her novels are
i known for their
vivid and dynamic
i themes and are
centered often times
around intricate
* N African-American
§ characters. Among
her best known
books are The Bluest
Eye, Song of Solo-
mon, and Beloved.
(Photo courtesy of
grimfandango.com)
Novelist
Toni Morrison To
Receive IAH
Medal
Spocidl to The Lion’s Eye
Toni Morrison, winner of the 1988 Puller
Prize for Fiction, the 1993 Nobel Prize for Literature,
and recipient of the 2000 National Humanities Medal
(among numerous other awards), will receive the
2010 Institute for the Arts and Humanities Medal for
Distinguished Contributions to the Arts and Humani-
ties. Prof. Morrison follows a distinguished line-up
of former IAH Medal recipients: Salman Rushdie
(2006), Daniel Libeskind (2007), Mario Vargas Llosa
(2008), Emanuel Ax, Yo-Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman
(2009). SEE
The Medal ceremony and Toni Morrison’s
public lecture are scheduled for Wednesday, April 7,
2010 at 8:00 p.m. in Eisenhower Auditorium on the
University Park campus. Prof. Morrison is known
to be extremely selective in the engagements she ac-
cepts, so this is indeed an unprecedented and unique
opportunity to have her among us. Please encourage
students, colleagues, friends, and members of the ex-
tended community to attend her free public lecture.
The IAH Medal for Distinguished Contribu-
tions to the Arts and Humanities was established in
- 2006. Awarded annually, the purpose of the Medal is
to honor individuals whose work has helped define
the best of our times and, by bringing such individu-
als to campus, to stimulate a dialogue that reaches be-
yond traditional disciplinary limits. Medal recipients
are individuals whose presence on campus helps raise
the level and tone of the intellectual and artistic life of
the university. The Medal recognizes the accomplish-
ments of those individuals whose work in the arts and
in the humanities has furthered public awareness of
the importance of scholarship, literature, and the arts
and has reached a wide public audience while main-
taining the highest standards of scholarship, creativ-
ity, and originality. The Medal was commissioned by
the IAH in 2005 and designed by medalist and Penn
State alumna Jeanne Stevens-Sollman, recipient of
the 1999 Saltus Award for Signal Achievement in the
Art of the Medal. Presentation of the IAH Medal is
‘made possible by generous support from the National
Endowment for the Humanities.
Additional details on Prof. Morrison’s visit
will be announced in due course, but for now please
mark your calendars and plan to join us on April 7 for
a very exciting evening!
aris Strategic Plan
Already Proof Positive
Special to The Lion’s Eye
University Park, Pa. -- Just seven months after its launch,
Penn State’s strategic plan is already making headway in a
number of key areas identified for improvement.
Rodney Erickson, executive vice president and
provost, said leaders of some of the plan’s strategies have
provided a mid-year progress report that includes details
of progress in several targeted activities, including assess-
ing student success; reorganizing program administration;
expanding the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center’s reach
in Centre County; improving research opportunities for un-
dergraduates; and finding the appropriate balance between
centralized and dispersed support services, to name a few.
“We are moving forward on a number of levels and
working to expand access to Penn State programs through
technology,” Erickson said. “We are looking at faculty and
staff productivity and looking for ways to reduce the rate of
increase in our health care costs.” :
Recently adopted, the strategic plan, at http://stra-
tegicplan.psu.edu/index.php online, outlines seven goals ~~
that will guide the University community over the next five
years and beyond. Thirty-eight strategies have been estab-
lished as a way to reach these overarching goals.
The goals and some of the progress reported to
date follow:
Enhance student success -- A student transitions steer-
ing committee has been formed to study how the student
transition process can be made seamless. Additional activi-
ties include increasing information to Penn State students
changing campuses or other transfers to University Park.
A University Park visitation day is being planned for April
for students in their first year at the campuses who intend to
enroll at University Park for their junior year.
Advance academic excellence and research prominence
-- The College of Medicine and Penn State Hershey Medical
Center have several major initiatives to increase research
and clinical capabilities: the Regional Medical Campus
planned for University Park, the Penn State Hershey Cancer
Institute and the Northern Appalachia Cancer Network,
Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospital, scheduled to begin
construction in 2010, Penn State Hershey Rehabilitation
Hospital, currently under construction, and the Clinical and
Translational Science Institute, implemented by the College
of Medicine in partnership with colleges and institutes at
University Park. :
Realize potential as a global university -- The University
Office of Global Programs has been restructured and new
student exchange programs have been approved in four
countries, with six more possible new programs under
review.
Maintain access and affordability and enhance diversity --
Since June 2009 more than $17 million in additional funds
have been raised toward the “Ensuring Student Opportu-
nity” component of the capital campaign.
Serve the Commonwealth and beyond — Outreach is es-
tablishing a Video Based Learning Network to better serve
adult learners. The network will aggregate students across
the campus system and leverage faculty capacity to serve
learners across the Commonwealth. Eleven campus loca-
tions have been identified, with a goal of having five campus
locations readied during the first half of 2010.
Use technology to expand access and opportunities — Ef-
forts continue to increase World Campus enrollment. A com-
mon set of course delivery standards have been established
The Tomezsko Classroom Building at Penn State Brandywine was
dedicated in 1998 and is named after Edward S. J. Tomezsko, for-
mer campus executive officer, who led the campus from 1986-2005.
The building contains computer classrooms, seminar rooms, faculty
offices, and reception and Study space. (photo courtesy of Penn State
University)
to ensure a consistent look, feel and functionality across all
online courses. One centralized Student Technical Support
(Help) Desk has been created; the number of budgetary
and revenue sharing models is being decreased to reduce
complexity and to increase transparency for participating
campuses and colleges; and new online programs are being
identified.
Control costs and generate efficiencies -- Penn State Her-
shey will open a new clinical practice site in Centre County
in 2010. This practice will increase the number of providers
in the region and enable Penn State to offer an increasingly
robust set of wellness and prevention benefits to its com-
munity. The increase of future University health care costs
will be reduced through changes to employee benefits that
continue into retirement for those hired starting in January
2010.
“We are looking to be more productive and looking for
ways we can remain sustainable financially, environmentally
and in every way,” Erickson said. “We need to be able to
advance knowledge, keep up with expectations for a high-
quality educational experience and control costs.”
Faculty and staff who have suggestions about how we can
be more efficient, cut costs and maintain quality are encour-
aged to submit their ideas at http://www.psu.edu/president/
pia/strategic_planning/efficiencies/ online.
Implementation of the strategies in the current plan has just
begun. Progress reports will continue to be shared with the
University community, according to Erickson. For more in-
formation on progress, go to http://www.psu.edu/president/
pia/features/Issue126.html online.
Brandywine Campus
Promotes |
Undergraduate
Research With New
Membership
Special to The Lion’s Eye
In an effort to expand its ef-
forts to promote more engagement
with and recognition of undergraduate
research, Penn State Brandywine re-
cently became an institutional member
of the Council on Undergraduate Re-
search (CUR). The new relationship is
- designed to assist the campus with its
continued development and support of
undergraduate research.
Benefits of this relationship
include special opportunities for fac-
ulty professional development in re-
search and curriculum, opportunities
for the campus to add its voice to the
national policy debate, priority notices
of CUR institutes and other events and
reports on the status of undergraduate
research, among many others.
Associate Professor of Earth
Science Laura Guertin currently serves
as the chair of the Geoscience Divi-
sion of CUR and on CUR’s Executive
Board, and Professor of English Phyl-
lis Cole was recently named coordina-
tor for undergraduate research at the
campus.
“CUR and its affiliated col-
leges, . universities and individuals
-share a focus on providing undergrad-
uate research opportunities for faculty
and students at all institutions serving
undergraduate students,” according
to its Web site. Nearly 600 colleges
and universities are Institutional CUR
Members.
For more information on
CUR, visit http://www.cur. rg/abon
html online.
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