Chairmen
and women discuss departmental policy on
retreat
By
Dhiya Reyes
On-line Forty-Niner
The
College of Liberal Arts held itsannual chairman
and chairwoman retreat in September despite
major cuts in the educational budget. Although
there have been slashes in state funds,
the college still gets operating and non-state
dollars from a variety of sources which
is put in a foundation fund that is used
to pay for these events.
The
retreat was funded entirely by the college.
Dean Dorothy Abrahamse said that the college
did not use any state funds. Instead,
it used these foundation funds that the
college received. This money comes from
donations, grant returns and other sources,
according to Abrahamse. The money is intended
to be spent for purposes such as the annual
retreat as well as other faculty travel,
hospitality, receptions for students and
faculty, to name a few.
The
purpose of the retreat was to discuss important
issues and strategic planning common to
all 22 departments in the college. Held
at the UCLA Conference Center in Lake Arrowhead,
the overnight retreat was attended by the
dean of the college, Abrahamse, the associate
deans and the department chairs.
The
retreat gave each of the department chairs
a chance to present their major priorities
and challenges to the rest of the college.
The most important issues were then picked
and discussed at length.
"It's
the only chance for chairs to really know
what's going on in all the departments,"
said Abrahamse.
The
major topics this year were internal and
external grants, development and fundraising,
and international priorities.
Grants
and contracts were discussed by guest speaker
Dr. Beth Ambos, the Associate Vice-President
for Research at
Cal State Long Beach. She provided the college
with information about how to apply for
research and instructionally-related grants
and funding from many national and state
sources, according to Sharon Downey, chair
of Communication Studies. The competition
for funds is hard, especially for the humanities
and social science departments.
"Our
departments are getting to the point that
we need to find our own resources to fund
research rather than to rely on the university
setting aside money for this purpose,"
said Downey.
Victor
M. Rodriguez, chairman of Chicano and Latino
Studies, said, "We learned the basics
of how to work with external funding agencies
and the probability of success each one
affords grants proponents."
Diana
Walker, the College of Liberal Arts development
officer, also attended the retreat. She
spoke to the college about how departments
can fundraise for projects and maintain
contacts with alumni.
Downey
said that "it makes a lot of sense
for departments to keep in touch with graduates."
Department chairmen and women are now working
on establishing a "friends of the college"
or "friends of the department"
program in hopes of reconnecting alumni
with the university.
International
education was also discussed at length.
Department chairmen and women discussed
study abroad programs, focusing on its benefits
and problems, procedures and policies, and
better ways to advise students who are interested
in them. Other topics discussed were
ways to promote international education,
according to Charles Noble, chairman of
the department of political science, and
the need to continue international field
experiences for students, according to Rodriguez.
The
retreat was very important for the college,
according to Abrahamse. "There
are so many departments in the college that
they don't always get to hear about each
other," she said. "There are a
lot of things they can do together."
It
was a good experience for Rodriguez, who
is a new chair to the college. "It
was a worthwhile learning experience,"
he said. "It was a good experience
that allowed me to meet other chairs and
learn from their experience."
Noble
said he enjoyed it as well. "It
was helpful and fun," he said. "The
setting was beautiful and there was time
to socialize without having to hurry off
to another meeting. The retreat definitely
helped focus CLA chairmens' and womens'
attention on these issues and helped chairs
share information."
The
College of Liberal Arts is not the only
college that sends its chairs on retreats.
The College of Education also holds annual
retreats each fall. According to Dean
Jean Houck, the retreats are used to plan
for the year and they are funded by income
from grants. The College of Health
and Human Services was also scheduled to
hold a retreat but cancelled it due to budget
concerns, according to Dean Ronald Vogul.
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