Graduation ceremony changes:

 

According to Ron Sudol, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, this December’s commencement ceremony will be the last one to use the current format. On Tuesday, Oct. 20, he told the CAS assembly that the Oakland University president’s office is working out the details right now, but that generally, starting Winter 2010, commencement will be split up between Saturday and Sunday. The ceremony for graduate students will be held on Sunday.

 

Some faculty members at the meeting asked who had the power to make the changes, and why faculty’s input hasn’t been taken into account.

 

Sudol said he noted all faculty input given by those who attended a meeting in April, and forwarded the comments to the decision makers. He said the the president’s office has the authority to make ceremony changes because it funds the ceremony.

 

He also said one possible change was shot down because it was unpopular. The rejected idea was that the entire graduating class would gather in a large place like the Palace, and the graduates from one school or college would stand up and be recognized simultaneously. And then the schools and colleges could’ve chosen to hold separate commencement ceremonies.

 

Statistics about College of Arts and Sciences and other departments at OU

 

Reports done by Office of Institutional Research and Assessment: https://www2.oakland.edu/secure/oira/

 

LEAP

 

LEAP stands for Liberal Education and America’s Promise, and is an initiative by the Association of American Colleges and Universities. OU adopted the program recently, and Sudol said this means putting an emphasis on learned skills.

 

He said it won’t make any concrete changes, but rather change a way of thinking, so that instead of organizing by departments, OU would try to focus on outcomes. He said it would be better to think in terms of “discovery, learning and engagement” instead of “research, teaching and service.”

College of Arts and Sciences’ advisory board abolished

 

Sudol said advisory boards are more suitable for professional schools like the school of business administration. He said this was abolished because it was time to “eliminate the charade.”

 

“I don’t need advice from a board. I get advice from you, right?” he said to the about 50 faculty members present at the CAS assembly.

 

The board is being replaced with two entities: the CAS Ambassadors, a large group to help with community engagement, and the Dean’s Campaign Council, a small group to help OU with development. The two entities would mostly work with university outreach and fundraising.

 

CAS gets $9 million from $111 capital campaign

 

According to a handout from Sudol, CAS’ goal in the capital campaign, finished earlier this summer, was to raise $10.7 million for the CAS. But only 85 percent of this goal, $9.1 million, was reached. Some of the significant gifts to CAS include:

 

–Barry M. Klein Endowed Chair in Culture and Globalization Endowed Fund: a $2 million endowment to pay for expenses or a world-class scholar in culture and globalization in the department of sociology and anthropology.

 

–Burke Visiting Scholar Endowment: a $500,000 gift to begin an annual lecture featuring noted speakers in philosophy with an emphasis on religion and society.

 

–Joan Rosen Endowed Fund: a $30,000 pledge that supports the Joan Rosen Writing Studio and Writing Center at OU. Another $150,000 gift was given to renovate space at Kresge Library for this studio.

 

–Baskin Judaic Studies Gift Fund: a $150,00 donation by OU trustee Henry Baskin to support the Judaic Studies program at OU.

 

New capital campaign planned, faculty input sought

 

Sudol said despite the old capital campaign being completed, fundraising always goes on, and the next capital campaign is in “silent phase” right now, because “capital campaigns don’t start during a financial crisis.” When the new campaign officially starts and a goal is set, the university can say they already raised this amount of money toward the goal, Sudol said.

 

Sudol said he is seeking the faculty’s input and help in identifying the College of Arts and Sciences’ priorities, and what they hope to get out of the next fundraising campaign.