Making Strides

COUNCIL OF ALLIANCES UPDATE: Under the leadership of Bob Miller, the university's new vice president for research, the Council of Alliances has been discussing its future and how it can be transformative and bring distinction to the university. The council's first phase of activity focused primarily on cross-school initiatives and competition for investment funding from the provost. The council is now looking at new cross-alliance initiatives to add value during the next phase. If you have suggestions for the alliances, send them to Miller or Chris Ash.

DIRECTOR OF OUTCOME ASSESSMENT: Susan Perry has joined the Case Western Reserve community as the director of outcome assessment. In this newly created position, Perry will be responsible for implementing a process of educational outcome assessment, which focuses on measuring and documenting the knowledge, skills and attitudes students acquire in their degree programs. The university's institutional-level accrediting body requires an assessment of student learning outcomes for all degree programs. Perry, who received a doctoral degree in experimental psychology from the University of Tennessee and most recently served as the director of academic institutional research and assessment at Baldwin-Wallace College, will report to Don Feke, vice provost for undergraduate education. She will play a leadership role in establishing guidelines for outcome assessment for each unit and/or degree program; organizing and chairing an outcome assessment coordinating committee; developing a website to publish the educational objectives for each academic program; analyzing outcome assessment data being collected; and increasing awareness and visibility of outcomes to promote a culture of assessment at the university.

INFORMATICS ALLIANCE SYMPOSIUM: The Informatics Alliance co-sponsored a symposium, "Informatics: Driving Discovery, Improving Health," on April 6. Nearly 100 participants from around Cleveland attended the event, which showcased presentations from informatics leaders from the University of Michigan, the University of Pittsburgh, Harvard University, Ohio State University and Explorys Inc. Topics included information integration, "Big Data," next-generation sequencing, reducing the knowledge gap and training the workforce. Pamela Davis, dean of the School of Medicine and vice president for medical affairs of the university, welcomed participants, while alliance leader GQ Zhang chaired the symposium. For conference slides and videos, visit informatics.case.edu.

SJI STUDENT LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE: On April 21, the Social Justice Institute held its first student leadership conference, "Power Up!" After an opening session addressing "What is Social Justice?" high school and college students and volunteer facilitators broke into groups to identify the most critical social justice issues facing youth today and to develop action plans. Each group shared its results with all attendees and discussed next steps for implementing the action agendas. The event culminated with a keynote lecture and performance by Jonathan Lykes, a University of Chicago undergraduate student who was the 2008 ACLU Student Activist of the Year and founder of the Ohio Youth Voices.

FACULTY AND STUDENT FELLOWSHIPS: The Social Justice Institute is offering faculty fellowships for course redesign and student research fellowships. Questions on the program may be directed to Shelley White at 368.7568 or stw3@case.edu.

Budget committee update: The University Budget Committee (UBC) continues to meet weekly. Over the past year, it has met with nearly all of the deans and vice presidents from across campus to discuss plans, priorities, challenges and opportunities. The committee is developing a recommendation to the provost and chief financial officer for improvements to the multi-year financial planning process launched last fall; members hope these improvements will result in a more integrated model. The UBC was established on a trial basis in 2011; its status is expected to become permanent in the near future. UBC Chair Chris Cullis has worked closely with the Faculty Senate Budget Committee to distinguish the roles of the two groups. The committee's final report for FY12 will be on the provost's website at the end of June.

FACULTY DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL: The Faculty Development Council has met for nearly 18 months, and its members recently met with the provost to present the council's first report and set of recommendations. The provost endorsed the council's recommendations, and the council will meet with the Deans' Council this month. Stay tuned for the results.

PEER EDUCATION PROGRAM: Do you know a high school student who could use a summer job? The Infectious Disease Alliance will launch its Peer Education Program this summer at J. Glen Smith Health Center in Glenville. The program is open to Cleveland high school students interested in designing an educational campaign for their peers about how to prevent sexually transmitted infections. Just like a part-time job, all peer educators are paid for their time. Peer educators will undergo a 12-week training program beginning in June. For an application or to request more information, contact IDAlliance@case.edu.