FORUM ON COMMUNITY-ENGAGED SCHOLARSHIP — A UC Davis advisory committee on community-engaged scholarship will hold a forum at 4 p.m. Friday (March 13) in 203 Mrak Hall.

The committee, led by retired UC Davis Extension Dean Dennis Pendleton, is consulting with leaders in the field to identify best practices at distinctive, public research universities known for community engagement.

This week’s forum will feature a couple, Nancy Franklin, a community-engagement consultant with Rutgers University, and Tim Franklin of the New Jersey Institute of Technology, a state university.

Nancy Franklin also consults with the New Jersey Institute of Technology, and has worked for Virginia Tech, Penn State and Indiana State University on community engagement and academic innovation.

Tim Franklin is associate vice president for business and economic development and special adviser to the president at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, and vice president and chief operating officer of the New Jersey Innovation Institute, which has four labs that apply the institute’s intellectual and technological resources to challenges identified by industry partners.

Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Ralph J. Hexter has charged Pendleton and the advisory committee with developing a strategic plan for advancing community engagement and outreach in the university’s academic mission and strategic communications. Read the charge letter.

WORK GROUP STUDIES L&S REORGANIZATION — In January, Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi and Provost Ralph J. Hexter established a work group to advise them about possible changes to the administrative organization of the College of Letters and Science.

Chaired by economics professor Alan M. Taylor, the group comprises 18 people from across the three divisions of L&S, mostly faculty. Read the provost's charge letter to the committee.

The establishment of the group was prompted by ongoing discussions about the optimal configuration of the College of Letters and Sciences and its three divisions. 

To provide insight into the nationwide range of organizational options at comparable universities, Hexter and Taylor have arranged for five distinguished academic leaders to confer with the work group.

Visitors who have or will soon engage with the work group:

• Bob Stacey, dean, Arts and Humanities, University of Washington
• Mark Richards, immediate past dean, Division of Physical Sciences, and executive dean, College of Letters and Science, UC Berkeley
• Paul Koch, dean, Physical and Biological Sciences, UC Santa Cruz
• Ruth Watkins, senior vice president, Academic Affairs, University of Utah
• Karen Hanson, senior vice president, Academic Affairs, and provost, University of Minnesota

Chancellor Katehi and Provost Hexter said they look forward to receiving the recommendations of the work group and the reflections of the external visitors on them.

‘DA VINCI INSTITUTE’ — A half-day colloquium has been scheduled for next week to discuss the proposed establishment of a UC Davis institute connecting art, science and the humanities, perhaps to be named the “Da Vinci Institute.”

“The program for the afternoon is designed to engage the scholars, scientists and artists of the UC Davis community,” said Diane Ullman, professor of entomology and co-founder of the Art-Science Fusion Program at UC Davis.

The colloquium program includes a keynote by Roger Malina of the University of Texas, Dallas, where is co-director of the Arts and Technology program. He is a professor of art and technology, and physics.

He founded UT Dallas’ ArtSciLab in 2013 in support of in-depth collaborations involving art, scientific research, technology development and education.

The colloquium is scheduled from 1 to 5 p.m. Monday (March 16) in 2001 Plant and Environmental Sciences. A reception is planned from 5 to 6 p.m. RSVPs are requested by Saturday (March 14), by email to Ullman.

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