ITEM ______

TENURE FOR NEW FACULTY APPOINTEES

PERTINENT FACTS

University policy stipulates that faculty appointees must serve a minimum of a one-year probationary period except when the President of the University may make an exception and recommend immediate tenure. Such cases involve senior faculty, always with outstanding reputations, and usually with tenure elsewhere, who are being recruited by this University. The record of the individuals named below have been carefully reviewed by the faculty committee in the respective academic units, following established procedures and published criteria, and endorsed by the Chair, the Dean, the Vice President for Academic Affairs and the Provost and Executive Vice President.

Dr. Alan B. Albarran is an accomplished teacher, researcher, and member of the academic community. Dr. Albarran received a Ph.D. from Ohio State University. He currently serves as Associate Dean of Research and Information Technology in the Meadows School of the Arts and holds the rank of Professor with tenure at Southern Methodist University. He was also granted tenure at Sam Houston State University. His teaching and research interests include the management and economics of the broadcast, cable, and telecommunications industries. His research is recognized nationally and internationally. Dr. Albarran serves as the Editor of the Journal of Media Economics, and is on the Editorial Boards of the Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media and Mass Communication and Society. He is past President of the Texas Association of Broadcast Educators and currently is a member of the Board of Directors of the Broadcast Education Association. He has held many administrative appointments at SMU, and has had extensive experience in managing budgets, curriculum development, strategic planning, promotion and tenure, mentoring faculty, and other responsibilities required of a department chair. Dr. Albarran’s leadership, organizational skills, and dedication to education will contribute to his success as Professor and Chair of the Department of Radio, Television, and Film

Dr. Bradley S. Chilton is an accomplished teacher, researcher, and member of the professional community. Dr. Chilton received a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Georgia in 1988 and a J.D. from the University of Toledo College of Law in 1980. He currently holds the rank of Associate Professor with tenure at the University of Toledo. Within the past year, he was awarded $246,590 for 8 research grant proposals for which he was principal or co-principal investigator. His work has focused on prison reform, criminal justice policy and ethics, and constitutional issues. His work experience in the law area includes prosecutorial and the public defender’s offices. From 1993-1997, he was Director of the Criminal Justice Program at the University of Toledo. He was responsible for the overall administration of a multi-college program which included long-range plans, day-to-day operations, budget management, faculty and curriculum development and evaluation, student recruitment and advising, and co-curricular activities. Dr. Chilton’s leadership, organizational skills and dedication to education will contribute to his success as Associate Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice.

Dr. Jeffrey A. Cokely is an accomplished teacher, researcher, and member of the professional community. Dr. Cokely received his Ph.D. from Northwestern University in 1989 and holds the rank of Associate Professor with tenure at Baylor University. He is currently the Director of Graduate Studies for the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Baylor. During his tenure in this position, the department saw an increase of over 100 points in the mean performance of graduate students on the Graduate Record Examination. He managed to recruit top-notch students from nationally ranked universities from throughout the country and has increased the ethnic, geographic, and religious diversity of the program. As a civic leader, he initiated, implemented, and directed an interfaith community project in Waco which involved securing external funds, coordinating the activities of 100 volunteers and their pastors from fourteen religious congregations, preparing volunteers, conducting workshops, overseeing publications, and interacting with public health agencies and other community programs at local and state levels. Dr. Cokely is an outstanding teacher, having received many honors for his teaching while at Baylor University. Dr. Cokely’s dedication to education, strong leadership, and organizational skills will contribute to his success as Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences.

Dr. Rebecca Dickstein is an accomplished researcher and teacher. She received her Ph.D. from John Hopkins University and holds the rank of Associate Professor with tenure at Drexel University. She is a broadly trained biochemist/molecular biologist working in plant biology. In addition to her heavy teaching workload at Drexel, she maintained an extramurally funded research program. Since 1991, she has supervised 14 undergraduate students doing research in her laboratory. Six of these students have gone on to graduate programs in biological sciences and seven others are employed in the biotechnology field. In addition, six high school students have done research in her lab, one of whom won the Westinghouse Science Talent Semifinalist Prize in 1996. Dr. Dickstein’s dedication to research and teaching will contribute to her success as Associate Professor of the Department of Biological Sciences.

Dr. Terry David Golding is an accomplished researcher and teacher. Dr. Golding received his Ph.D. in 1989 from the University of Cambridge. He currently holds the rank of Associate Professor with tenure in the Department of Physics at the University of Houston. He has significant experience in semiconductor synthesis, processing, and characterization. His early research on antimonides is considered pioneering and is still frequently cited and widely admired. He is an outstanding motivator and developer of students, having capitalized on every opportunity to professionally mentor those under his guidance and help launch them on productive careers. Dr. Golding has enviable success in building, funding, and maintaining a network of collaborations throughout the state and the country. Dr. Golding’s research, leadership, and dedication to education will contribute to his success as Professor in the Department of Physics.

Dr. Reza Mirshams is an accomplished researcher, teacher, and member of the professional community. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Birmingham, England. Dr. Mirshams currently holds the rank of Professor with tenure at Southern University, Baton Rouge. Dr. Mirshams has taught courses in the areas of manufacturing processes, engineering mechanics, and materials engineering and has established a modern instructional laboratory in the area of materials testing. In the area of student mentoring and recruitment, he is Co-PI for a special program in the Timbuktu Academy for high school students and undergraduate research experience in the College of Engineering and in the College of Sciences. He has been very active in conducting research, writing competitive proposals, and publications, with his main research interest being in microstructure-mechanical properties-manufacturing relationships in metallic and crystalline materials. Dr. Mirshams has held a record at Southern University for his publications and involvement in national and international symposiums and conferences and is the only faculty member to receive two Southern University Chancellor’s Awards in research and leadership recognition. Dr. Mirshams’s research, leadership, and dedication to education will contribute to his success as Professor in the Department of Engineering Technology.

Dr. Peter Shillingsburg is an accomplished administrator, teacher, scholar, and contributor to the university community. He earned his Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of South Carolina. He currently holds the rank of Visiting Professor of English at UNT. From 1997 to 1999, Dr. Shillingsburg was Associate Dean of Graduate Studies and Research at Lamar University. From 1979 to 1997, he was Professor with tenure at Mississippi State University. Dr. Shillingsburg has received many awards and honors from Mississippi State University, including the Giles Distinguished Professor award. In addition to his professional achievements, Dr. Shillingsburg has served as section chair within the South-Central Modern Language Association and was elected to the Executive Board from 1994 to 1997. As a scholar, he has an excellent national and international reputation. Dr. Shillingsburg’s leadership and dedication to education will contribute to his success as Professor in the Department of English.

RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF REGENTS

It is recommended that the Board of Regents approve the award of tenure for Drs. Alan B. Albarran, Bradley S. Chilton, Jeffrey A. Cokely, Rebecca Dickstein, Terry David Golding, Reza Mirshams, and Peter Shillingsburg effective September 1, 2000.

This item was approved