President Rollin Richmond highlighted the initiatives at the 2013 Fall Convocation Aug. 19 in Van Duzer Theater:
- A comprehensive Campus Diversity Plan – It is designed to monitor and spur the success and inclusion of underrepresented students, augment workplace diversity and ensure equity in faculty hiring. The new framework is similar in method to the university’s national sustainability program, STARS, the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System.
- The new MAP-Works Program, which will provide early assistance to students who are encountering difficulties
- A new general education freshman writing course that includes a guided exercise of self-evaluation, developed by composition faculty in the Department of English
- A restructuring of the general education curriculum so that courses fit better with one another and mesh closely with majors. The goal is to streamline degree programs, speed time to graduation and provide graduates with skills adaptable to a rapidly changing world. “We need to be deliberate about designing each program so that it can be navigated and completed successfully by more students,” Richmond said.
- The year-old Residential Academic Mentoring Program (RAMP) for first-year students, who are mentored by peer undergraduates
In parallel, the Academic Affairs and Student Affairs Divisions are consolidating student support into a new unit named Retention and Inclusive Student Success. It comprises the Advising and Career Center, the Educational Opportunity Program, the Learning Center, the MultiCultural Center and Native American student support programs, among others.
The new unit also includes multiple Centers for Academic Excellence, to be created this academic year. These new entities will focus on culturally-relevant academic and co-curricular support for students, particularly those from underrepresented populations.
Richmond announced that HSU’s Centennial has received official recognition from U.S. Representative Jared Huffman, 2nd District CA, in the Congressional Record and from the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors.
“There will be more Centennial proclamations from local cities and others in coming weeks and months and it is so gratifying to know there is that kind of support for Humboldt State,” Richmond stated.
The president noted that Humboldt State earned a STARS silver rating in its first year in the program, placing it among the top 200 universities nationwide. This achievement is due in large part to student-led efforts, Richmond said. “It is confirmation of the good sustainability work we have done for many years and, perhaps as importantly, it provides us with the guidance for doing even more going forward.”
Associate Vice President for Faculty Affairs Colleen Mullery introduced 26 new tenure-line faculty and librarians at Convocation:
- College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences – Brandice Gonzalez-Guerra (Art); Laurie Pinkert (English); Monica Stephens (Geography); Sarah Jaquette Ray (Geography, Environmental Studies); Joice Chang (Politics); Renee Byrd (Sociology); Meredith Williams (Sociology); Mark Swetz (Theatre, Film and Dance); Chris Salvano (University Library, College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences); Katia Karadjova (University Library, College of Natural Resources and Sciences)
- College of Natural Resources and Sciences – Jenny Cappucio (Chemistry); Brian Kyte (Chemistry, Jan., 2014); James Graham (Environmental Science and Management); Abeer Hasan (Mathematics); Brian Tissot (director, Telonicher Marine Laboratory); Daniel Barton (Wildlife Management); Tim Bean (Wildlife Management)
- College of Professional Studies – Meenal Rana (Child Development); Hyun-Kyung You (Child Development); Marisol Ruiz (School of Education); Lyn Scott (Education); Young Sub Kwon (Kinesiology and Recreation Administration); Shelia Alicea (Kinesiology and Recreation Administration); Sangwon Kim (Psychology); Jennifer Maguire (Social Work); Cesar Abaca (Social Work).
Richmond presented a Presidential Medal to Bob Gearheart, Professor Emeritus of Environmental Resources Engineering, for nearly four decades of service to the improvement of water quality, from local to international. His contributions stretch from Arcata’s wetland treatment system to multiple stateside locations and countries spanning the globe, among them Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Cuba, Egypt, Indonesia, and Mexico.
Gearheart has served with the World Bank, U.S. AID (Agency for International Development), the Asian Development Bank and Humboldt State’s student chapter of Ingénieurs sans Frontières (Engineers without Borders).
A former HSU Scholar of the Year (1989), Gearheart has more than 50 publications and was an author/contributor for the 1999 EPA Constructed Wetland Design Manual and the Bureau of Reclamation Environmental Technology Initiative. He is a member of the International Water Association, the American Water Association and the Society of Wetland Scientists.