April 28, 2014
College of Arts and Sciences selects 15 for faculty enhancement program awards
The College of Arts and Sciences has established a faculty enhancement program to increase the numbers and proportion of faculty members engaging in research, scholarship and creative activities, particularly those with the potential for garnering extramural funding and recognition. The program emphasizes enhancing opportunities for faculty in those disciplines that have not historically enjoyed access to substantial start-up or extramural funding opportunities.
Tenure-earning faculty members within three years of hire were eligible to apply for funding for summer salary and research support. Applicants were expected to identify a particular project culminating in a work product that would enhance their research capabilities, such as a book or national grant proposal. The funding provided by the program will be complemented by mentoring from a senior colleague at K-State or elsewhere, in addition to group activities among the awardees.
The third annual competition for the Faculty Enhancement Program was recently completed. Nearly 20 applications were peer-reviewed and 15 faculty members were selected for awards. The awardees are: Dwanna Robertson, American ethnic studies; Matthew Garcia and Dukno Yoon, art; Gregory Paul, communication studies; Hugh Cassidy, economics; Andrew Orr, history; Necia Chronister and Li Yang, modern languages; Anna Marie Wytko, music, theatre, and dance; Nathaniel Birkhead and Zhiwei Zhang, political science; Wendong Li and YoungAh Park, psychological sciences; Heather Loyd, sociology, anthropology, and social work; and Valerie Padilla Carroll, women’s studies.
Dean Peter Dorhout said, "We recognize that we have a unique opportunity through this program to provide some critical investments to make progress on the college thematic goals of K-State 2025. Equally as important, we combined the financial investment with a commitment to mentoring junior faculty who are our next generation of educators and who will help us build a Top 50 research university."