April 2, 2018: University Senate Report

Office of the Provost

Appointment of Pamela Matzner as Director of the EOP/AIM Program

Following a full and open search, Pamela Matzner has been appointed Director of the Educational Opportunity Program/Advancement on Individual Merit (EOP/AIM) Program. Ms. Matzner has been a valued member of the EOP/AIM team for more than 16 years and will build upon this experience as she assumes this new position. Ms. Matzner brings a commitment to student success to the mission and vision of the EOP/AIM Program. She will be a member of the leadership team within the Division of Undergraduate Education. Since 1968, Stony Brook’s EOP/AIM Program fulfills New York State’s commitment to provide access to higher education for economically disadvantaged students who possess the potential to succeed in college, but whose academic preparation in high school has not fully prepared them to pursue college education successfully. The primary mission of EOP is to facilitate the recruitment, enrollment, retention, and graduation of these students. This is accomplished by providing EOP/AIM students with an array of educationally related support services.

April Provost’s Lecture Series

Weapons of Our Warfare: Martin Luther King, The Gospel of Publicity and Photojournalism

The Provost’s Lecture Series is pleased to host Larry H. Spruill on Thursday, April 5. Larry H. Spruill is Senior Assistant Professor of History at Morehouse College. His 1983 dissertation, “Southern Exposure, Photojournalism and the Civil Rights Movement” remains a seminal work. “Southern Exposure” is currently being rewritten as Weapons of Our Warfare. Dr. Spruill was co-founder and educational director of a special photographic preservation project co-sponsored by the New York State Martin Luther King, Jr. Commission and the New York State Museum. He initiated the Civil Rights Era Educational Database (CREED), a national movement to identify, collect, and preserve civil rights photographs. In collaboration with photojournalists Flip Schulke, Bob Fitch and Matt Herron, they identified 10,000 photographs for annotation and electronic storage into a central database. This innovative preservation project provided new research and educational tools for libraries/universities and general public. In each of the past four decades, he has worked as consultant and on-camera authority for major documentaries on civil rights photojournalism, including Eyes On The Prize, the Emmy Award winning definitive visual history of the Civil Rights Movement; the BBC's documentary Decisive Moments, featuring the dramatic 1963 Birmingham protest photographs taken by Charles Moore, Bob Adelman and Bill Hudson; and Stills Of The Movement, a documentary about the career of the late photojournalist Flip Schulke.

Abstract: The lecture introduces a doctrine coined “The Gospel of Publicity” in which Dr. King used photojournalism and orchestrated dramatic nonviolent conflict as strategic protest weapons. It unveils King’s private views of cameras and photographs as essential tools in the war for racial equality. It illustrates how the modernity of his ideas and photojournalistic media messaging shaped the nation. The “Millennial King” is best remembered for his avant-garde mass media arsenal used to obtain stunning legislative and social reforms. The lecture narrates how King’s mastery of photography and publicity enables digital-age Americans to re-evaluate King not merely as a “Dreamer” but a radical voice for the unfinished goals of the “Founding Fathers”—“ to make the world anew.” It highlights select photographs from the Civil Rights canon establishing Martin Luther King as Twentieth Century America’s premier mass media
communicator.

This lecture will take place on Thursday, April 5 at 4:00 PM in the Wang Center Theater. It is co-sponsored by the Division of Undergraduate Education.

The Dynamic Genome Program: A Model for Bringing the Excitement of Authentic Research into Foundational Laboratory Courses

The Provost’s Lecture Series is pleased to host Susan Wessler on Monday, April 9. Susan Wessler is Distinguished Professor of Genetics and the Neil and Rochelle Campbell Presidential Chair for Innovation in Science Education at the University of California Riverside. In 2011, she was elected Home Secretary of the National Academy of Sciences, the first woman to hold this position in the 150-year history of the Academy. She is a molecular geneticist known for her contributions to the field of transposon biology, specifically on the roles of plant transposable elements in gene and genome evolution. Wessler has contributed extensively to educational initiatives, including co-authorship of the genetics textbook, Introduction to Genetic Analysis. As a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor (2006), she adapted her research program for the classroom by developing the Dynamic Genome Courses where incoming freshman can experience the excitement of scientific discovery.

Abstract: The University of California, Riverside (UCR) is one of the most diverse research universities in the country. More than half of the 5000 students in our College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences (CNAS) are supported by Pell grants, are members of underrepresented groups, and are first generation college students. To improve student persistence in STEM, CNAS has focused on two experiential interventions for first year students: (1) Learning Communities, designed to engage groups of 24 students with faculty, academic advisors and near-peer mentors, and (2) the Dynamic Genome course, an authentic research experience where UCR research faculty take ownership of a section and bring the excitement of their research labs to the classroom. The Dynamic Genome (DG) course is an alternative to the traditional Intro Bio Lab where learning communities are randomly assigned to one lab experience or the other. Now in its sixth year at UC Riverside, DG is a hands-on bioinformatics/wet lab course that is taught in the state of the art Neil A. Campbell Science Learning Laboratory. First articulated in my HHMI Professor Program in 2006, the DG course was initially proposed as an undergraduate laboratory that replicated my research lab where students learned to navigate cutting-edge methodologies applied to eukaryotic genomes. UC Riverside has proven to be fertile ground for the rapid expansion of the DG course model to more than 550 students in 21 sections.

This event will be held on Monday, April 9 at 4:00 PM in the Student Activities Center Sidney Gelber Auditorium. It is co-sponsored by the college of Arts and Sciences.

Metaphors in Our Lives: "I Love You for Yourself"

The Provost’s Lecture Series is pleased to host Alexander Nehamas on Friday, April 20. Alexander Nehamas is Professor of Philosophy and Comparative Literature and the Carpenter Professor in the Humanities at Princeton University, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. He was born in Athens, Greece. His books include Nietzsche: Life as Literature, The Art of Living: Socratic Reflections from Plato to Foucault, Virtues of Authenticity: Essays on Plato and Socrates, Only a Promise of Happiness: The Place of Beauty in a World of Art, and On Friendship. He has also translated Plato’s Symposium and Phaedrus into English. At Princeton, he has chaired the Council of the Humanities, the Program in Hellenic Studies, and he was the Founding Director of the Society of Fellows in the Liberal Arts.

Abstract: Friendship is one of life’s greatest gifts, but surprisingly difficult to define. Nehamasrgues that friendship is an aesthetic, but not always moral, good. Like metaphors and works of art, friendships are inexhaustible and the people who matter to us always remain a step beyond the furthest point our knowledge of them has reached—though only if, and as long as, they still matter to us. Love for our friends shape who we are and who we might become.

This event will take place on Friday, April 20 at 3:00 PM in the Wang Center Theater. It is cosponsored by the Center for Integration of Business Education & Humanities, the College of Business, the Center for Hellenic Studies, and the Philosophy Department.

Faculty Participation in the 2018 Commencement Ceremony and Regalia Rental Information

Faculty participation during commencement creates a meaningful atmosphere for our graduates and their families. All faculty are invited to participate in the academic ceremony and are asked to RSVP. Please note that any faculty interested in walking in the academic procession or serving as a marshal must wear academic attire. The Office of the Provost will pay for the rental of academic attire for all faculty in departments that report to the provostial area. Orders can be placed at http://www.herffjones.com/faculty. Faculty from reporting departments should use the
following numbers:

Customer Number: 31100647111
Order Number: 4002866

Online Orders must be placed by April 15, 2018. Any order placed after this date are subject to shipping charges and an expedited handling fee. Regalia that has been ordered online by April 15 will be available for pick up beginning May 11, 2018 at Shop Red West, Mon-Thurs from 8:30 AM and 6:00 PM, Friday from 8:30 AM- 4:00 PM and Saturday, 11:00 AM- 3:00 PM.

For more information about commencement, please visit stonybrook.edu/commencement.

URECA’s Annual Celebration of Undergraduate Research & Creativity

URECA's Celebration of Undergraduate Research & Creativity is an annual event organized by the URECA Program that showcases undergraduate research. It is open to all SBU undergraduates conducting faculty-mentored research and creative projects. As the only university-wide research symposium, this event provides a way for faculty and students to see what's going on in their own and other departments. The success of URECA's Research Celebration relies on the efforts of faculty who provide time, resources, and encouragement to participate. Students who have done research off campus may also present these projects at URECA.

A central part of the Celebration is a large all-day poster session where students present their work to faculty, each other, and visitors. The Departments of English, History, Psychology, and Writing & Rhetoric are holding concurrent symposia featuring oral presentations. The College of Engineering and Applied Sciences will hold a senior design conference featuring talks from selected teams in each of the engineering departments. URECA also sponsors an undergraduate art exhibition at the SAC Gallery.

This year’s event will take place on Wednesday, April 25, 2018 in SAC Ballroom A from 10:00 AM-4:00 PM. All are welcome to attend.