A Message from the Dean

admin | Sep 14, 2017 | 0 comments

Dean of CAS College of Arts and Sciences Gregory Budzban

We are now a few weeks into our Fall 2017 semester and I do hope the academic years is going well for everyone. For me personally, the semester is off to a much better start than the last two years, with the 2017-18 budget for Illinois settled, for now. This month’s edition of This Month in CAS provides some great stories to start the year.

You can read about two of our faculty who have been honored in prestigious programs. Dr. Jessica Harris, in the Department of Historical Studies, has been named to the Penn Center for Minority Serving Institutions’ (CMIS) inaugural Aspiring Leaders Forum and Mentoring Program and will be working this year with national university leader that is chosen as her career mentor. In addition, Dr. Mark Poepsel in the Department of Mass Communications was elected Chair of the Participatory Journalism Interest Group (PJIG) for the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. Congratulations to Jessica and Mark!

You’ll also be able to read about some of great academic programming in this issue. Our Sociology program is collaborating with the Department of Psychology and introducing a completely online degree completion program in integrative studies with a focus on leadership in organizations. Geared toward non-traditional students who are currently working in their field, it offers a pathway to a degree and possible career advancement, and classes are starting this semester. Also to start off the 2017 Fall Semester, the SIUE Theatre and Dance Department is hosting another installment of Xfest, a week long experimental theatre experience for students and the public from September 12-15^th, 2017. There may still be tickets to tonight’s Arts and Issues performance, which caps of this great week of programming!

Finally, read about how SIUE welcomed almost 14,000 students back to campus on its first day, with a rare solar eclipse viewing on campus. Our Department of Physics was at the very center of these activities setting up solar eclipse viewing stations at various points on campus and at Korte Stadium. Thanks to Dr. Abdullatif Hamad and Dr. Tom Foster for helping to organize a great campus experience!

Until next month, here’s This Month in CAS.

Best wishes,

Greg

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