TENURE FOR NEW FACULTY APPOINTEES

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 records of the individuals named below have been carefully reviewed by the faculty committee in their respective departments following established procedures and published criteria, and endorsed by the Chair, the Dean, the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, and the President.

Dr. Krishna M. Kavi is an accomplished researcher and teacher. He received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from Southern Methodist University. From 1993 – 1995, Dr. Kavi was National Science Foundation Program Director in the Computer and Computations Research division of CISE directorate, with an annual budget exceeding $7 million. In 1997, he joined the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) as Professor and Eminent Scholar of Computer Engineering, after having spent fifteen years at the University of Texas at Arlington. Six of those years were at the rank of Professor with tenure. He also served as de-facto head of the Computer Engineering programs within the ECE Department of UAH. Since joining UAH, he has submitted proposals for nearly $1.5 million, of which nearly $750,000 is already awarded and approximately $500,000 is under review. Dr. Kavi’s primary research is in Computer Systems Architecture, dealing with dataflow and multithreaded systems and memory hierarchies. He has developed an innovative multithreaded architecture known as the Scheduled Dataflow that is supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation. While at UTA, Dr. Kavi was named the best teacher in the CSE Department by the class of 1985, Halliburton Outstanding Young Faculty member in the College of Engineering in 1987, and was instrumental in establishing an honors program in parallel processing. Dr. Kavi’s research and dedication to education will contribute to his success as Professor and Chair of the Department of Computer Science.

Dr. David Strutton is an accomplished teacher, researcher, and member of the academic community. He received his Ph.D. in Business Administration from the University of Mississippi, Oxford. He earned tenure at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (formerly the University of Southwestern Louisiana). He is currently an Associate Dean and MBA Director at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette where he is also the J. Wesley Steen Regents Memorial Professor in Business Administration. He received numerous academic awards and honors including the Blue Key Alumni Faculty Excellence Award from the USL Foundation, which is awarded to the university faculty member who best exemplifies the ideals of excellence in teaching and in service to the university and the USL College of Business Administration Award for Research Excellence. He also served as Secretary-Treasurer of Southwestern Marketing Association. He currently has a grant pending approval from Title III Planning Grant for the University of Louisiana submitted to the U.S. Department of Education. He was awarded the Health Informatics and the Enhancement of Population-Based Health Assessment in Louisiana grant, the USL College of Engineering/NASA Grant, and several Faculty Development Grants. Dr. Strutton’s dedication to education and research will contribute to his success as Professor and Chair of the Department of Marketing.

Dr. Timothy Wilson is an accomplished teacher, researcher, and member of the academic community. He received his Ed.D. from the University of Houston and has been Chair of the Department of Dance in the College of Fine Arts at the University of South Florida for the past ten years. During his tenure as Chair, he was responsible for the development and implementation of new degree programs including a B.F.A. in Performance, a B.A. in Dance Studies, and a B.S. in Dance Education. He has been active with The Sunshine State Standards for Arts Education (K-12) which is a statewide effort in the development of a Fine Arts Curriculum. Dr. Wilson maintains an involvement with Arts for a Complete Education, the National Association of Schools of Dance, and the National Dance Education Organization for which he serves on the Editorial Review Board for the Dance Education Journal. He also serves as Vice President for Policies and Procedures for the American College Dance Festival Association and is currently chairing a national committee on Diversity in Dance for that organization. He has served as Artistic Director and Producer of more than twenty faculty/guest artist concerts at USF. Prior to his arrival in Tampa, Dr. Wilson was a freelance choreographer, performer and teacher in Houston with commissioned choreographic works and performances set for several universities and with Houston’s major modern dance companies. While in Houston, he served on the dance faculties of the University of Houston, Rice University and University of Houston, Clear Lake. He was a frequent guest lecturer for Houston’s Society for the Performing Arts and held a long term appointment as a teaching/performing artist with the Texas Institute for Arts in Education as a part of a cooperative program with the Houston ISD. He served on the Artists Advisory Boards for the Houston International Festival, the Cultural Arts Council of Houston, and the Texas Commission on the Arts and for the Diverse Works ArtsSpace in Houston. Dr. Wilson is currently involved in teaching Dance Pedagogy, supervision of Dance Education Interns in the Public Schools as well as with the critique and development of creative research projects and advanced choreographic works. Dr. Wilson’s dedication to education will contribute to his success as Professor and Chair of the Department of Dance and Theatre Arts.

It is recommended that the Board of Regents approve the award of tenure for Drs. Krishna M. Kavi, David Strutton, and Timothy Wilson effective September 1, 2001.