1:12 p.m., May 12, 2010----The University of Delaware's Board of Trustees approved a number of resolutions involving the reorganization of a college and the transfer of several departments during its regular semiannual spring meeting, held Tuesday, May 11, in the Trabant University Center.

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The trustees also passed increases in student fees and housing and dining rates for the coming academic year.

Following an executive session at the start of the meeting, UD President Patrick Harker highlighted recent developments in academic areas and planned additions to the University's physical plant.

“This was a remarkable year in terms of our ambitions and our follow-through,” Harker said. “We initiated a lot of programs and partnerships critical to achieving our strategic plan's Path to Prominence^TM goals.”

Among faculty initiatives, Harker noted the continuing realignment initiatives, including the moving of two departments and the creation of a new college.

“The Faculty Senate just approved academic reorganizations, including a new College of Education and Human Development, which should better align us structurally with some of our goals,” Harker said.

Harker also noted action on a new faculty contract. “We're thrilled that, last week, the American Association of University Professors steering committee voted unanimously in favor of a new three-year faculty contract,” he told the board.

The latest college and departmental realignment, which was approved by the Faculty Senate on May 3, involves moving the Department of Fashion Design and Apparel Studies to the College of Arts and Sciences, and the Department of Computer Sciences choosing to be part of the College of Engineering, Harker said.

Global engagement initiatives, Harker noted, include the launching of the Institute for Global Studies to enlarge UD's international reach and the signing of an agreement bringing a Confucius Institute to the University.

“We will partner with China's Xiamen University to build students' and citizens' competence in Chinese language and culture,” Harker said. “We also will collaborate more closely with China's universities, industries and NGOs.”

Other research and energy initiatives include the installation of a 2-megawatt wind turbine on UD's Lewes campus and the signing of a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with the Army's Research, Development, and Engineering command at the Aberdeen Proving Ground.

“The agreement opens up all sorts of research and development possibilities with the Army,” Harker said. “We've already signed a Statement of Work around research in composites and antenna technology.”

Harker noted that the University has joined the nation's most prolific research institutions, breaking the top 100 in federal obligations for science and engineering research, while advancing the goals of the Delaware Health Sciences Alliance for better health research and health care delivery.

Humanities research, Harker said, includes the launching of the Interdisciplinary Humanities Research Center and the launching of the Center for Political Communication.

“The Center for Political Communication will be the cornerstone of a much larger public affairs/public policy effort, the biggest one we've ever undertaken,” Harker said. “With a new undergraduate minor in political communication and Delaware's congressional debates, both House and Senate, to be televised this fall, the national spotlight will be on UD as the battle for Congressional control heats up.”

By building a dynamic, diverse and intellectually exciting environment, the University continues to attract some of the world's best faculty, he said.

“So far, we've hired more than 30 faculty for fall, with several more expected, which is a fantastic number in the flushest years,” Harker said. “But at a time when universities across the country are dealing with hiring freezes and layoffs, it's nothing short of extraordinary.”

New additions to the University's physical plant include construction of a new bookstore on Main Street and a new interdisciplinary science and engineering facility on UD's East Campus.

“Over the coming months and years, the physical campus will go through a pretty dramatic transformation as well,” Harker said. “These new facilities will touch every segment of student life, including academics, housing, retail and recreation.”

Harker also noted the continuing implementation of Responsibility-Based Budgeting (RBB), including more proactive help for colleges from the UD Budget Office.

“If we are going to execute the ambitious plans we've set for ourselves, fiscal responsibility has to reside in our colleges and departments, where the tough choices are made every day,” Harker said. “We've worked hard, not just this year, but over the last few years to clearly identify our priorities and put in place the scaffolding that will support them.”

Board action

The Board of Trustees approved new rates, effective with the fall semester, including an annual increase of $212 to $3,862 in the full 19-meal per week plan and an annual increase of $360 to $5,826 for a traditional multiple residence hall room.

Student fees increases will result in a $225 Comprehensive Fee per semester (up $108), a Student Center Fee of $116 per semester (up $2) and a $243 Student Health Service fee per semester (up $1).

Based on recommendations of the faculty, the trustees approved several reorganizations within the University, all effective July 1.

Under the reorganization, the College of Human Services, Education and Public Policy is disestablished. The School of Education and the Department of Human Development and Family Studies, along with their affiliated centers, will form the new College of Education and Human Development. The Department of Fashion and Apparel Studies will move administratively to the College of Arts and Sciences, and the School of Urban Affairs and Public Policy will report to the Office of the Provost as a freestanding unit until a permanent resolution is presented to the Faculty Senate within the 2010-11 academic year.

In other organizational changes,

--the Sport Management Program now in the College of Health Sciences will move to the Department of Business Administration in the Lerner College of Business and Economics;

--the Department of Health, Nutrition and Exercise Sciences will be divided into two new departments: the Department of Behavioral Health and Nutrition and the Department of Kinesiology and Applied Physiology; and

--the Department of Computer and Information Sciences, now in the College of Arts and Sciences, will move to the College of Engineering.

The board also recognized the contributions of Richard Cordrey, who is retiring from the board after 13 years of service, and new board member William B. Chandler, III, who serves as chancellor of the Delaware Court of Chancery.

Cordrey served as a state senator and state representative, and was president pro tempore of the Delaware State Senate from 1976 until 1996.

Chandler, a UD alumnus, received law degrees from the University of South Carolina School of Law and the Yale Law School. A member of the American Law Institute, the Delaware Bar Association and the American College of Business Court Judges, Chandler also serves as a trustee of the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at UD and the Yale Law School Corporate Governance Center.

The Class of 2014

Louis L. Hirsh, director of admissions, noted that some 26,324 students from 48 states, the District of Columbia, and 77 foreign countries sought admission to the University of Delaware this year.

The average high school grade point average rose from 3.54 to 3.63, and the average combined verbal and math SAT scores increased from 1199 to 1213, Hirsh said.

“A year ago we had freshman deposits from 304 students with combined SATs of 1400 or higher, and today there are 374 enrolling,” Hirsh said. “Among our Honors students, the combined verbal and math SATs climbed from 1379 last year to 1402 today, and the average high school GPA went from 3.92 to 3.98.”

Hirsh also noted that the Admissions Office continues to reach out to Delawareans, visiting every high school in the state and participating in numerous evening programs and college fairs and expanding its efforts to include more middle schools and middle school families.

“Our goal is to increase significantly the number of our fellow Delawareans who are college-ready when they graduate from high school,” Hirsh said. “To accomplish this, we are not waiting until students start high school. We are starting a conversation with them and their parents while they are still in middle school.”

University Provost Tom Apple recognized the achievements of UD students and faculty who distinguished themselves since the board's last meeting in December 2009.

Apple also noted the recent appointment of George Watson as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and Suzanne Austin as interim dean of the College of Education and Public Policy, leading that college through the upcoming transition as it becomes the College of Education and Human Development.

In other action

In other action, the trustees passed resolutions:

--changing two academic programs - the Women's Studies program and the Black American studies program - to departments;

--authorizing the administration to proceed with several construction projects;

--awarding an honorary degree to T.W. Fraser Russell, who is the Allan P. Colburn Professor Emeritus at UD, at the 2010 Spring Commencement;

---granting permanent status to the Ph.D. program in entomology and wildlife ecology;

--establishing a new 4+1 BME/MEM program for students to pursue a bachelor of mechanical engineering degree and a master's degree in mechanical engineering in five years of full-time study;

--authorizing use of a $5 million unrestricted gift for the design and construction of the new Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Laboratory, to be built on Lovett Avenue;

--establishing a Restricted Permanent Endowment with the trust of Sylvia P. Jones and gifts from her family, with the income to be used for scholarships for a junior or senior majoring in English who meets the criteria established by the donors;

--expressing gratitude to several donors for their generosity, including Longwood Gardens Inc.; the Howard W. Swank, Alma K. Swank and Richard Kember Swank Foundation, Mrs. Anne S. Snellenburg; the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; the Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum; and the Delaware Council on Economic Education; and

--authorizing the president to confer degrees at Commencement on May 29.

Article by Jerry Rhodes
Photos by Kathy Atkinson