UPbeat

News for and about University of Portland faculty and staff.

Matthew Kuhn

New Innovation Minor Director Announced: Salvador Orara

The University’s new campus-wide minor in innovation will be led by Salvador Orara, who will be hired as a Franz Center professor of practice and housed in the Shiley School of Engineering, according Shiley School dean Sharon Jones. Orara has a BFA in graphic design and a MFA in media design. His experience includes numerous UX (user experience design) roles including Jaguar Land Rover. He also has considerable teaching experience, most recently with Pacific Northwest College of Art. He is currently the AIGA Portland Chapter president (the professional association for design). Orara will begin in his new position on Thursday, August 15.

Orara’s new position is part of UP’s push to increase cross-disciplinary learning. Matthew Kuhn, incoming interim dean, says “Sal will add a new aspect to our students’ learning, by building upon their expertise and developing an interdisciplinary innovation mindset to solving complex problems that involve the human and societal dimensions.”

The new innovation minor will be offered campus wide and will be housed in the Shiley School of Engineering. Classes offered through the innovation minor include “Introduction to Design and Innovation,” “Sketching and Prototyping,” and “Empathy, Observational Research and Human-Centered Design.”

For more information contact the Shiley School at x7292 or engineering@up.edu.

Matthew Kuhn Appointed Interim Dean, Shiley School of Engineering

Matthew Kuhn, Brother Godfrey Vassallo, C.S.C. Professor of Civil Engineering, has accepted an invitation by University president Rev. Mark L. Poorman, C.S.C., to serve as interim dean of the Donald P. Shiley School of Engineering. His appointment will begin upon the departure of outgoing dean Sharon Jones and will continue until her permanent successor has been named.
For more information contact the president’s office at x7101 or simek@up.edu.

2018 Faculty Award Winners Announced

The University’s Faculty Awards were presented on Tuesday, May 8, at the Faculty Awards Dinner, with the following results:

  • The James Culligan Award, established in 1953 in memory of a dedicated servant of the University and presented annually to a faculty member in recognition of distinguished service, was presented to Matthew Kuhn, Br. Godfrey Vassallo Professor of Civil Engineering (pictured). Winners of the Culligan Award wear the medal with their academic regalia, as a sign of the University’s highest faculty honor.
  • The Deans’ Award for Faculty Leadership, presented annually to a tenured faculty member who exemplifies, in an extraordinary way, the qualities of teaching and scholarship described in the University’s Articles of Administration for appointment, advancement in rank, and tenure, was presented to Lorretta Krautscheid, nursing.
  • The Outstanding Teaching Award, presented annually by the University’s Committee on Teaching and Scholarship to a faculty member who is a particular exemplar of the University’s commitment to superb teaching, was presented to Tara Prestholdt, biology..
  • The Outstanding Scholarship Award, presented annually by the University’s Committee on Teaching and Scholarship to a faculty member who presents unusually significant and meritorious achievement in professional scholarship during the past two academic years, and whose work substantively enhances the effectiveness of his or her classroom teaching, was presented to Alexandra Hill, international languages and cultures..
  • The Faculty Award for Outstanding Service, presented annually by the Committee on Committees to a faculty member “who engages in creative service work that transforms not only local communities but also those afar and acknowledges distinguished contributions that express the University’s commitment to responding to the needs of the world,” was presented to Anissa Rogers, sociology and social work.

For more information contact the provost’s office at x7105 or provost@up.edu.

Faculty Development Day Program Available Now

The program for Faculty Development Day, scheduled for Tuesday, May 8, is now available through the Committee on Teaching and Scholarship. To save paper, the committee encourages faculty to download a copy of the program in advance so they can use it to orient themselves between sessions using their mobile devices. A limited number of paper copies of the program will be available on the day of the program.
For more information contact Matthew Kuhn, TAS chair, at kuhn@up.edu.

Submit Spring Butine Proposals and Reports through Moodle

The Committee on Teaching and Scholarship invites all regular faculty to submit spring cycle proposals to receive funding from the Arthur Butine Faculty Development Fund. Faculty can download Butine application materials, review selection criteria, and consult the timeline for applications by visiting this link to the Moodle site. Submissions of post-Butine reports, new Butine applications, and all supporting letters are also done through the Moodle site.
The deadline for submission through Moodle and the applicant’s respective dean and chair (if CAS) is no later than noon on Friday, February 16, 2018. Please note that applicants must discuss their Butine proposals with their respective deans prior to submitting applications for consideration.
Please contact Matthew R. Kuhn (TAS@up.edu) for further information.

Call For Proposals: Faculty Development Day

The Committee on Teaching and Scholarship welcomes proposals of themes for Faculty Development Day on May 8, 2018. The theme will be the morning’s focus of this special day. Interested faculty should submit a 1-2 page proposal identifying the keynote speaker and breakout panels for Session One of Faculty Development Day. Sessions later in the day will remain open for other distinct topics proposed by faculty across campus (these specialty sessions will be solicited in the spring).
If you are interested in putting forward a central theme for the keynote and Session One, please send your proposal to tas@up.edu by Groundhog Day, Friday, February 2, 2018. Contact Matthew Kuhn, chair, for more information at tas@up.edu.

Nominate Now: 2017-2018 Teaching Award, Scholarship Award

The Committee on Teaching and Scholarship is accepting faculty nominations for the 2017-2018 Teaching Award and Scholarship Award.  These awards are an opportunity for the University community to recognize and celebrate two of its own for outstanding achievements in teaching and scholarship. The committee will accept nominations until noon on Friday, January 26. Nominations should be submitted on the Committee’ Moodle site.  Submission of supporting materials by nominees will be due by noon on Friday, March 16. Visit the Academic Senate resources pages for information regarding the nomination process, award criteria, and supporting materials that will be needed by the Committee.
Contact Matthew Kuhn, TAS chair, at tas@up.edu for more information.

2017-2018 Butine Faculty Development Fund Recipients, Fall Cycle

The Committee on Teaching and Scholarship (TAS) has determined award recipients for the 2017-2018 Butine Faculty Development Fund Fall cycle, according to committee chair Matthew Kuhn, engineering. Congratulations are in order for the Butine award recipients:
  • Ami Ahern-Rindell, biology: WORLD Symposium on Lysosomal Storage Disorders, Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego, CA, February 5-8, 2018, $1,850
  • Richard Askay, philosophy: “The transcendental function of nothingness in a synthesis of Eastern and Western world-views, $5,000
  • Kathleen Bieryla, engineering: “Quantifying fitness of collegiate field hockey athletes during one season,” $3,000
  • Alexa Dare, communication studies, “Meaningful work in the sharing economy,” $2,020
  • Carol Dempsey, theology: “Isaiah and the Twelve; Jesaja und die Zwolf,” Catolic University of Eichstatt-Ingolstadt, Germany, May 31-June 3, 2018, ,$2000
  • Maria Echinique, international languages and cultures, sabbatical leave research project, $1,520
  • Ted Eckmann, environmental studies, “Modeling microclimate and air quality impacts of Sequoiadendron giganteum,” $3,285
  • Eli Goldwyn, mathematics, “The North American Gypsy Moth and its two pathogens,” $3,000
  • Christina Ivler, engineering: “System identification methods for flight simulation models of small unmanned aerial vehicles,” $4,300
  • Lorretta Krautscheid, nursing: “Untethered lecture capture: a qualitative investigation of student experiences,” $1,432
  • Nazanin Mansouri, engineering: “Exploring new trends in optimizing the power consumption of today’s digital systems and developing educational platforms to experiment and develop power optimization design techniques,” $1,900
  • Laura Mood, nursing: “Enhancing educational capacity at Tipitaka Eye Hospital in rural Myanmar,” $,2741
  • Susan Murray, biology, “Summer salary support for immunology research,” $3,000
  • Katie O’Reilly, biology: Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology Annual Meeting, San Francisco, California, January 3-7, 2017, $1,213
  • Cara Poor, engineering: “Evaluation of plant species and residence time for nutrient removal in constructed wetlands,” $5,000
  • Kristin Sweeney, environmental studies, “Installation and design of slope-stability monitoring station on the Bluff,” $5,000
  • Sara Weiger, English: Archival research: Henry David Thoreau, $1,750
  • Christine Weilhoefer, biology: “Predicting the effects of warming atmospheric temperatures on Oregon coastal wetland ecosystems,” $3,718

For more information contact Kuhn at tas@up.edu.

Submit Butine Proposals and Reports through Moodle

The Committee on Teaching and Scholarship invites all regular faculty to submit proposals to receive funding from the Arthur Butine Faculty Development Fund. Faculty can download Butine application materials, review selection criteria, and consult the timeline for applications by visiting this link.  Submissions of post-Butine reports, new Butine applications, and all supporting letters are now done through the Teaching and Scholarship Moodle site at this link.  The deadline for submission through Moodle and the applicant’s respective chair (if CAS) is no later than noon on Friday, October 6, 2017.  Please note that applicants must discuss their Butine proposals with their respective deans prior to submitting applications for consideration.

A final reminder:  All interim or completed project reports of previously funded proposals are due to the Teaching and Scholarship Committee through Moodle, as well as the appropriate dean, no later than October 1. Report forms can be downloaded from the Moodle site listed above.

Please contact Matthew R. Kuhn (TAS@up.edu) for further information.