Preamble/
Introduction

New Initiatives

• Master’s of Oceanography established (BOG approval date: August 20, 1998).

• Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Molecular Genetics was transferred from the College of Arts and Sciences to the College of the Environment and Life Sciences (BOG approval date: June 18, 1998).

• Department of Marine Affairs was transferred from the College of Arts and Sciences to the College of the Environment and Life Sciences (BOG approval date: June 18, 1998).

• Coastal Institute was established (BOG approval date: June 18, 1998).

• Name of the College of Resource Development was changed to the College of the Environment and Life Sciences (BOG approval date: June 18, 1998).

• B.S. in Marine Biology established (BOG approval date: September 25, 1996).

• College of the Environment and Life Sciences graduate degrees restructured (BOG approval date: March 18, 1999).

Programs established:

Environmental Sciences, Ph.D.

Environmental Science and Management, M.S.

Previously suspended programs which were eliminated:

Natural Resources Science, M.S. and Ph.D.

Plant Science, M.S. and Ph.D.

Geology, M.S.

Entomology, M.S.

Fisheries, Animal, and Veterinary Science, Ph.D.

• The Metcalf Institute for Marine and Environmental Science Reporting was established to improve the quality of marine and environmental science reporting. (Temporary authorization given by the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. BOG approval will be sought this year)

• The first cooperative dual degree, Master of Community Planning and Jurist Doctorate, was awarded by URI and Roger Williams University School of Law.

II. Health

• Master’s of Public Health degree program approved contingent on new funding (BOG approval date: March 18, 1999).

• The University's College of Nursing and Memorial Hospital formalized a contract for a Center for Midwifery (Established October 1998).

• The six-year Doctor of Pharmacy (BOG approval date: December 1994) was revised to prepare for the elimination of the five-year B.S. pharmacy program as required by the pharmacy accrediting association.

• Health Promotion Partnership has funding (approximately $5 million) to examine aging, binge drinking in college students and weight management.

III. Children, Families and Communities

• URI’s School of Education established (BOG approval date: June 18, 1998).

• The National Center for Public Education on Social Policy (BOG approval date: August 20, 1998).

• A new presidential partnership, The Family Resource Partnership: Strengthening Services for Children and Families at Risk, was approved (funded in January 1999).

• An honors colloquium series on the Literacy Challenge was offered this year and broadcast on public television.

• The Historic Textile Gallery in Quinn Hall was established with its first exhibition on "Threads of History," featuring highlights of the 20,000 item collection.
• This year saw the first graduates of the joint URI-RIC Ph.D. in Education program.

IV. Enterprise and Advanced Technology

• A new Dean of the College of Business Administration, Dr. Edward Mazze, was appointed on July 1, 1998 and granted tenure with his initial appointment (BOG approval date: July 1999). He was assigned leadership in the Enterprise and Advanced Technology focus area.

• B.S. degree program in International Business Program established (BOG approval date: January 15, 1998).

• The URI Transportation Center for Research and Education was established with a $12 million federal grant and $12 million matching funds. This multi-disciplinary center will provide leadership in making national and regional contributions to the solution of immediate and long-range transportation problems and to establish a surface transportation program encompassing several modes of transportation. (Temporary authorization granted by the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. BOG approval will be sought this year.)

• The University's Sensors and Surface Technology Partnership was awarded an eight-year, multi-million dollar funding from the Samuel Slater Technology Partnership Program to establish a Center of Excellence in Sensors and Surface Technology.

• The International Engineering Program (IEP) added a third segment of the program, Spanish-Engineering, with a $280,000 grant from the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education.

• A new presidential partnership, The Partnership in Physiological Measurements and Computing, was approved (funded in March 1999). This Partnership is an interdisciplinary team effort aimed at creating new knowledge of human and animal physiology by using advanced instrumentation and computer technologies.

V. Crosscutting Focus Area Development

• The Feinstein Center for Service Learning was established (BOG approval date: August 20, 1998).

• A new presidential Partnership in Forensic Science was approved (funded March 1999). This partnership will formalize and extend the relationship which exists between the State Crime Laboratory and the University community and extend this partnership to other public and private partners for research and teaching in forensic science.

• The University’s Ocean Technology Center was reviewed by the Economic Policy Council and was renewed for another two-year period. The Center has awarded "re-grants" after evaluating proposals from for-profit companies (often start-up companies) with projects aimed at economic development through applications of ocean technology.

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GOAL #2 — The Liberal Arts Core: Shaping the Future and Preserving the Past

• Master’s of Arts in Communication Studies established (BOG approval date: October 29, 1998).

• B.A. in Public Relations established (BOG approval date: June 18, 1998). This is a joint offering of the Departments of Journalism and Communication Studies.

• A collaborative Bachelors of Arts in African and African-American Studies was established with Rhode Island College. (BOG approval date: June 18, 1998)

• Dr. Winifred Brownell was appointed to the position of Dean of Arts and Sciences, May 1999.

• The University made a conscious effort to increase artistic offerings.

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GOAL #3 — Compelling Learning Experiences in the Learner-Centered University

• The University's Partnership for the Coastal Environment achieved the most successful integration of the new partnership paradigm. The partnership has made the transition from overhead-based funding to a self-sustaining basis including substantial federal funding for research programs and for experiments in experiential learning.

• Established traineeship program sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency through the Atlantic Ecology Division (Narragansett Lab). Funding is provided for undergraduate, pre-doctoral and post-doctoral research training.

• Established a new Cooperative Ecosystem Study Unit of the National Park Service/National Biological Survey. This program links the University with two historically black colleges, the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore and Clark Atlanta University. The program provides funding for student research projects and for faculty exchange between the institutions.

• The College of Nursing students in Midwifery and Primary Care participated in distance education classes via satellite downlink from Northeastern University. The students have also regularly attended classes conducted through compressed video.

• A Multicultural Faculty Fellows Program was established. This program was funded by the Instructional Development Program and the Multicultural Center and seeks to enhance the multicultural understanding of a group of faculty.

• The Center for International Engineering facility was completed on October 29, 1998. A renovated former fraternity house, this facility and Center serves as both the administrative and residential location of the University's widely acclaimed international engineering program.

• The Multicultural Center opened in the fall of 1998 .

• A leadership minor is in its first year of its inception with 44 students participating. This minor requires an internship and service learning, as well as a capstone experience and portfolio development.

• Capstone Experiences: As part of our assessment initiatives, the Faculty Senate has sought to inventory and encourage wider use of integrating capstone educational experiences in undergraduate degree programs and identify these capstone experiences in our catalog.

• The Graduate School and the Instructional Development Program conducted a three-day symposium for training graduate students to be teaching assistants.

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GOAL #4 — The Research Mission: Growth and Application in Research and Graduate Education

• The following matrix provides an overview of progress toward our goal of Carnegie Research I Status:

• The first round of four presidential partnerships (Sensors and Surface Technology, Public Health Partnership in Infectious Disease Control, Partnership for the Coastal Environment, and the Health Promotion Partnership) were reviewed by the Council for Research and awarded additional funding to continue their successful growth in investigating multidisciplinary meta-issues in a teaching/research collaborative.

• A new Intellectual Property Policy was developed in cooperation with the Vice-Provost for Graduate Studies, Research and Outreach and the Council for Research (BOG approved in part March 18, 1999).

• The University's overhead policy was revised to provide resources in the Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs to support research (BOG approval date: June, 1997).

• A new disclosure statement was formulated to provide clear guidance for researchers regarding University policies (Submitted to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for approval: December 1998).

• The Office of the Provost and Vice president for Academic Affairs continues to refine the allocation of Graduate Assistants consistent with the established "Principles for the Allocation of Graduate Assistants" and in support of the focus areas and the Liberal Arts Core.

• Change in the numbers of graduate students and graduate degree programs has proceeded as follows:

• A special budget request for FY00 was submitted to the Board of Governors for Higher Education which included: 1) an increase in Graduate Stipends; 2) an increase in Academic Capital; 3) and an increase in Library Capital.

• The disciplinary areas of focus for our participation in the national minority Doctoral Scholars Program now includes Oceanography and Electrical Engineering.

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GOAL #5 — Outreach and Economic Development: A Core Component of the University’s Obligation

• Cooperative Extension (CE) is expanding outreach activities beyond the College of the Environment and Life Sciences. There are now faculty with CE assignments and CE support outside of that College.

• Positions were added in Computer Science and in Chemistry in part to foster outreach and economic development in Rhode Island.

• Research agreements have been signed for over $1 million with Rhode Island companies to assist their Research and Development efforts.

• Major components of the Centers of Excellence are facilities for the development of products from the new technologies.

• Federal grants in excess of $6 million were received to support URI outreach activities.

• Fifty U.S. patents have been issued to the University, and an additional fifty inventions have been disclosed by URI faculty.

• A televised series of town meetings on the challenges of the millennia was widely acclaimed.

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