Veritas, Vol. 36, No. 06, March 1994

              For the Faculty and Staff of the University of Miami	March 1994 Volume 36 Number 6
Ernest Boyer leads University-wide discussion on scholarship
Ernest Boyer, one of the nation’s leading experts in higher education, addressed hundreds of faculty, administrative staff, and students during his day-long symposium on “Scholarship Reconsidered,” held February 3 on the Coral Gables campus.
Boyer’s visit began with a breakfast at the Faculty Club with members of the Faculty Senate and student affairs administrators. He met with President Edward T. Foote II and senior administrative staff later in the morning, with student leaders over lunch at Stanford Residential College, with faculty at an afternoon symposium at the Beaumont Cinema, and he gave a brief mid-day press conference at Stanford Residential College.
Most of the fundamental debates taking place on campuses today, are in a sense, a “struggle for the soul of the institution,” said Boyer, the former U.S. Education Commissioner under President Jimmy Carter and now president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. “The time has come to move beyond the tired, old ‘teaching vs. research’ debate and ask, ‘what does it mean to be a scholar?’”
Consistently cited as one of the foremost educators in our time, in 1990 Boyer was named “Educator of the Year” by U.S. News and World Report. He also served as Chancellor of the State University of New York, a university system with 64 campuses and 350,000 students. His numerous honors include some 120 honorary degrees.
“One of the main goals of Dr. Boyer’s visit was to engage people in a discussion about what scholarship means to them based on their roles and responsibilities within the University community,” says Diane Christophel, assistant professor in the School of Communication and director of the Instructional Advancement Center (IAC), the office responsible for organizing Boyer’s visit. “Just because we have viewed scholarship one way in the past doesn’t mean we can’t reconceptualize it.”
At his first stop, Boyer told an audience of nearly 100 that the barriers, or the “walls,” that are sometimes created—between departments, students and faculty, faculty and administrators—are in our minds.
“Once we realize these barriers are our own creation, we can tear them down ourselves.”
He spoke with 65 students over lunch about the role of student
leadership in enhancing the student experience.
“When he stood up to speak to the students, you could see that he was a bom teacher. He had that special sparkle,” says Valerie Manno Giroux, lecturer in speech communication and IAC faculty consultant.
Approximately 150 faculty members attended the afternoon faculty symposium, held in the Beaumont Cinema. After presenting an historical context for his remarks, Boyer summarized a new paradigm of scholarship which is detailed in his book, Scholarship Reconsidered:
Priorities of the Professoriate. He defined each of four interlocking dimensions—the scholarship of discovery, the scholarship of integration, the scholarship of application, and the scholarship of teaching—and challenged the University of Miami, together with other colleges and universities, “to search for common language that will help build bridges across the disciplines, engage students more actively in the scholarship quest, and serve as a bridge between the university and the larger world.”
Responses were given by four professors representing diverse
disciplines: Zack Bowen, professor of English; Michael Gaines, professor of biology; Perri Lee Roberts, associate professor of art and art history; and Sharon Vaughn, professor of teaching and learning. Each one highlighted the main points of his or her position
paper, which were later discussed at follow-up meetings during February and early March.
During the lively question-and-answer period that followed Boyer’s address, Foote suggested implementing a new administrative structure that
would encourage collaborations and professional associations across departments and schools. Faculty members would teach half their courses within their own departments and the other half (or percentage they choose) they would teach cooperatively with faculty from other departments. Faculty response to the idea was enthusiastic.
Boyer’s visit to UM helped to initiate a dialogue similar to the national dialogue taking place in higher education today regarding faculty roles and rewards.
“What do we ask faculty to do, and what do we reward them for?” asked John Masterson, vice provost and professor of communication.
“It is important for us to broaden our definition of scholarship so our faculty can use their talents in the best way.
“Our hope was that Dr. Boyer would help generate an ongoing discussion on our campus that may or may not lead to change. But if change does come, it should come from the faculty. Our hope in all this is that faculty will now pick up the torch.”
—Susan G. Lichtman
Boyer’s remarks to faculty, page 4
Ernest Boyer speaks to faculty members at a symposium on the Coral Gables campus. Behind him are (l-r) Sharon Vaughn, teaching and learning; Steve Ullman, Provost’s Office; Pern Lee Roberts, art and art history; and Michael Gaines, biology.
Deans named for Law, Engineering, and Graduate School
Three new deans have recendy been named at the University of Miami.
Samuel Thompson, Jr., a professor at the UCLA School of Law and a specialist in tax law, has been named dean of the School of Law, effective July 15; M. Lewis Temares, UM’s vice president for information resources, will assume the additional responsibility of dean of the College of Engineering, and Tarek M. Khalil, chairman of the Department of Industrial Engineering, has been named dean of the Graduate School, both effective June 1.
Thompson, who teaches corporate and business tax law, was a partner and head of the tax department of the Chicago firm of Schiff Hardin & Waite before joining UCLA’s faculty in 1990.
“I am delighted by our good fortune,” says UM President Edward T.
Foote n. “Professor Thompson is a nationally recognized and highly respected scholar. Building on Dean Mary Doyle’s excellent leadership, he and his new school form a highly promising partnership.”
After eight years as dean, Doyle will step down at the end of the academic year in May. She will return to full-time teaching after taking a year-long sabbatical.
Temares joined UM in 1980 as assistant vice president for computing. He is currently responsible for academic and administrative computing, University-wide strategic planning support, the Office of Planning and Institutional Research, and the Testing Center.
Khalil, in addition to his duties as chairman of industrial engineering.
Samuel C. Thompson, Jr.
M. Lewis Temares
Tarek M. Khalil
heads the ergonomics and bioengineering division of the UM Comprehensive Pain and Rehabilitation Center at the medical school.
“Lew Temares did a very good job of helping steer the planning process at the College of Engineering, and his knowledge of information technology is unique in our university setting,” said Provost Luis Glaser, announcing the appointments. “Tarek Khalil is a world-recognized authority in ergonomics. He is committed to making the graduate school a major force in developing academic and interdisciplinary grant programs.” Martin Becker, the current engineering dean, will return to full-time teaching and research activities. He holds a tenured position as the Victor P. Clark Chair in the College of Engineering.