Provost Communications - Fall 2017

Message from the Executive Vice President and Provost: Welcome CBA Dean Dayle M. Smith, Ph.D.
December 27, 2017
 
Dear Colleagues:

Season’s greetings—I hope this message finds you well during the holiday break. I share good tidings: After considering many factors, including recommendations and feedback from our search committee, the Committee on Rank and Tenure, our faculty, and senior leadership, I am pleased to announce that Dayle M. Smith, Ph.D., will be the next dean of our College of Business Administration. Dean Smith brings the expertise, creativity, and vision to lead the CBA, and I am confident she is the right person to build upon its excellence and chart its promising future. She will succeed Dean Dennis W. Draper on June 1, 2018.

Dean Smith joins us from Clarkson University in upstate New York, where she serves as dean of the David D. Reh School of Business and is a tenured professor of consumer and organizational studies, holding the Elmer Gates Endowed Professorship for Innovation Culture. In her last five years at Clarkson, Dean Smith has been instrumental in growing a diverse faculty; developing new programs; merging two business schools; fundraising for student start-up funds, two new endowed faculty chairs, and the naming of the school. She successfully led the school through AACSB, ABET, CAHME, and Middle States accreditations. Dean Smith also co-leads the design and development of a boundary-spanning innovation hub and an innovation initiative at Clarkson with the dean of engineering. She was recently accepted into the international collaborative of deans and directors named to the Globally Responsible Leadership Institute (GRLI) to engage in dialogue and joint initiatives developing leadership and business practices worldwide. Last May, Dean Smith was elected chair of the Women Administrators in Management Education (WAME) Affinity Group at the AACSB, comprised of more than 600 business education leaders. She has been active in service learning in an academic environment, receiving numerous awards for her work in curriculum design and leading university-wide service learning curriculum initiatives.

Prior to joining Clarkson in 2013, Dean Smith was on the faculty at USC, Georgetown University, and spent 20 years at the University of San Francisco as professor of Leadership and Organizational Behavior. While at USF, she served in many roles, including associate dean, department chair, and director of the Business Honors Program. As a Fulbright Scholar, Dean Smith joined an interdisciplinary team of scholars on a multi-year initiative with seven Hong Kong public universities to reform Hong Kong’s General Education Curriculum. She continues to visit Asia as a senior scholar and adviser to Hong Kong Baptist University. Dean Smith has authored over 25 books and numerous articles, primarily on her research on leadership, communication, and organizational behavior. She is passionate about social entrepreneurship, innovation, and the emerging role of B-Corps on a global scale.

Dean Smith earned her Ph.D. and her M.A. in organizational communication at USC in 1986. She earned her B.A. in communication studies at the University of Texas, Arlington. Her personal interests include traveling, kayaking, golfing, playing tennis, and spending time with her husband and grandchildren.

I thank our search committee, co-chaired by Michael Waterstone, senior vice president and dean of Loyola Law School, and Larry Kalbers, professor and Dreier Chair in Accounting Ethics, for conducting a rigorous and comprehensive search that yielded a competitive and outstanding candidate pool. Their professionalism and engagement provided me with invaluable insights during the decision-making process.

We are planning for Dean Smith to visit campus again in the spring semester to provide opportunities to meet faculty, staff, and students. In the meantime, please join me in congratulating Dayle and welcoming her to the CBA and our LMU community.

Sincerely,
Thomas Poon, Ph.D.
Executive Vice President and Provost

Message from the Executive Vice President and Provost: Congratulations Dean Shane Martin

Nov. 28, 2017

Dear Colleagues:

I write to share with you that our longtime friend and colleague, Dean Shane Martin, Ph.D., will leave LMU in June 2018 to become the next provost of Seattle University. This new role is a logical progression for Shane, whose extraordinary leadership has transformed the School of Education and helped shape graduate studies here at LMU.

Shane’s connection to LMU spans more than forty years. He arrived at LMU in 1976 as an undergraduate student, and returned in 1992 as a counselor in the residence halls while completing his doctoral studies. In 1995, he became a full-time member of the faculty. Shane was named dean of the School of Education in 2005 and dean of Graduate Studies in 2012. During his tenure, SOE experienced an unprecedented rise in the U.S. News & World Report “Best Graduate Schools of Education” rankings, underwent successful reaccreditation, and launched and expanded the Ed.D. in Educational Leadership for Social Justice program. Under his leadership, SOE graduate student enrollment increased by over 60 percent to approximately 1,500 students; the university’s education unit received approximately $60 million in sponsored research and contracts and fundraised approximately $40 million; and saw nearly $8 million added to SOE’s scholarship endowment.

Thanks to Shane’s thoughtful guidance, three academic centers, the LMU Family of Schools, and multiple initiatives and institutes were developed in key areas such as STEM education, English Learner education, and Catholic education. SOE has been a leader in developing partnerships to support students and communities, including with Teach For America, the Los Angeles Unified School District, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, the dioceses of Orange and San Bernardino, and other school districts, corporate partners, and community-based organizations. Notably, the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education recognized the SOE for its teacher education with a national award commending the school’s focus on multicultural education and diversity.

As dean of Graduate Studies, Shane has strengthened graduate education support structures while advancing Theme Two of the current university strategic plan. This included hosting the first Graduate Education Summit, convening the Graduate Education Task Force, reestablishing the University Graduate Council in the spirit of shared governance, and developing a new graduate program budget model in collaboration with the Business and Finance Division. He also served as past chair of the Association of Graduate Schools in Catholic Colleges and Universities.

LMU is a bolder, stronger university because of all that Shane has accomplished here. We are grateful for his many impactful years of leadership in the School of Education and the Graduate Division, and are certain that his extraordinary experience and talents are a superb match for this premier Jesuit university in the Pacific Northwest.

On a personal note, I cannot thank Shane enough for his wise council and partnership since my arrival here at LMU. While I will be losing a valued member of my administrative team, I now gain a trusted peer and fellow CAO in the AJCU network.

We will have ample opportunities in the coming semester to appropriately wish Shane well as he prepares to move to this new role. In the meantime, please spread the news to colleagues in your area as appropriate, and join me in congratulating Shane on his new appointment.

Sincerely,

Tom Poon

Executive Vice President and Provost

September 12, 2017

The beginning of the semester is an opportune time to briefly remind faculty and staff about general responsibilities under the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act – FERPA – the federal law that protects the privacy of student education records from kindergarten through graduate school.

It is important that all of us have a working understanding of this law, as it affects every one of our students. The most salient point to keep in mind is this: Upon attendance at LMU, control of the FERPA consent process pertaining to an education record passes from the parents and/or guardians directly to the student.

The practical effects are:

• All community members have a role in protecting the confidentiality of student records. The security of student records is our foremost concern.
• Records may be disclosed with the consent of the student; if the disclosure meets one of the statutory exemptions; or if the disclosure is directory information and the student has not placed a hold on directory information.
• Students have a right of access to their records (but not necessarily the right to a copy of the record) and a right to request the correction of records that are inaccurate or misleading.

Any staff or faculty member who is asked about student records by any law enforcement agency should promptly refer the question to the Department of Public Safety. They are equipped to discreetly and efficiently coordinate with legal counsel to scrutinize the request. Additionally, should you happen to encounter any law enforcement on campus, other than Los Angeles Police Department personnel, please notify DPS immediately at 310.338.2893. Further information may be found by visiting the resources page on the DPS website.

Sincerely,

Thomas Poon, Ph.D.
Executive Vice President and Provost

Message from the Executive President and Vice Provost: Happy New Academic Year!
August 28, 2017

Dear Members of the LMU Community:

Welcome to the 2017-2018 academic year! During the three months since my arrival at LMU, I have had the great pleasure of meeting many LMU faculty, students, staff, parents, and friends, and I have been inspired by your dedication to this great University. I want to take this opportunity to thank you for all that you do for LMU, and to express my eagerness to partner with you as we seek to fulfill LMU’s Mission to foster the encouragement of learning, the education of the whole person, and the service of faith and the promotion of justice.

I am excited by the opportunities before us during this new academic year. In short order, we will be hosting an internationalization summit, undergoing a refresh of our Strategic Plan, preparing for the opening of our Playa Vista campus, and much, much more. I look forward to all the great work we will do together to advance our priorities and goals.

Please know that my Office and dedicated staff are ready to assist and facilitate your academic endeavors. In order to better understand your needs and to learn how we can best serve you, I have created a short survey with a few numerically based questions, as well as opportunities for you to provide open-ended feedback. The survey can be completed by clicking here, and I thank you in advance for your assistance.

It is traditional for the Provost to acknowledge our faculty colleagues who, during the last year, were either advanced to tenure, promoted in rank, or both. I do so here with great enthusiasm. Their work and creativity are truly inspirational. Along with joining me in congratulating them, I encourage you to visit their LMU websites via the provided links to learn more. Najwa al-Qattan (History); José Ignacio Badenes, S.J. (Modern Languages and Literatures-Spanish); Marne L. Campbell (African American Studies); David Y. Choi (Entrepreneurship); Gary Craig (Law); Deepa Dabir (Biology); Kam Dahlquist (Biology); Han Dai-Yu (Studio Arts); Kurt Daugherty (Recording Arts); Andrew Dilts (Political Science); Aimee Dudovitz (Law); Christina Eubanks-Turner (Mathematics); Nadia Y. Kim (Sociology); Garland Kirkpatrick (Studio Arts); Thomas Klein (Animation); Thomas Laurent (Mathematics); Jessica Levinson (Law); Rosalynde Loo (Theatre Arts and Dance); Yanping Ma (Mathematics); Carla Marcantonio (Film and Television Studies); Einat Metzl (Marital and Family Therapy); Adilifu Nama (African American Studies); Priscilla Ocen (Law); Margarita R. Ochoa (History); Stella Oh (Women's and Gender Studies); Jeffrey Phillips (Physics); Todd Shoepe (Health and Human Sciences); Joshua Spizman (Finance); Charles Swanson (Production); Heather Tarleton (Health and Human Sciences); Gustavo Vejarano (Electrical Engineering and Computer Science); Traci Brynne Voyles (Women's and Gender Studies); Yanjie Wang (Asian and Asian American Studies); Adam Zimmerman (Law).

In closing, I draw your attention to two important fall semester events. The first event is the Mass of the Holy Spirit at noon on Thursday, September 14th, in Sacred Heart Chapel. This inspiring liturgy is one of our most important fall semester events. The second event is President Snyder’s convocation to the LMU community, which will take place on Tuesday, October 17th at 11:30 am in Sacred Heart Chapel. Please look for further announcements regarding these events as their time draws near and please accept my best wishes for a fulfilling and productive year.

Sincerely,

Thomas Poon, Ph.D.
Executive Vice President and Provost