Academic Affairs News

Welcome back!
 
August is an exciting time as students are returning to campus while others are arriving for their first semester on the Hill. We want to extend a warm welcome to these students as they start on their journeys to “Climb with Us.”
 
As we welcome our students, we also welcome 29 new faculty members to WKU. These new faculty have a great deal of knowledge, skills, and talents to share with our campus community. I urge you to introduce yourselves and build collegial and productive working relationships across campus. You will find a list of our new colleagues below.
 
WKU continues to transform to fit the needs of our students, community, businesses and industries, and educational institutions. I know many revisions and new programs were slated for review or approval last year; however, those approvals were delayed with the curriculum freeze. In an effort to expedite the curriculum approval process, I established a committee to review the process and make recommendations for streamlining and improvement. Our hope is to pilot these recommendations this academic year, and before voting on the recommendations, allow the Faculty Senate to evaluate the process for effectiveness. Today, I am pleased to announce the curriculum freeze is lifted.  More information on expectations for the curriculum workflow processes will be forthcoming.
 
While many programs have already started their transformational work, for consistency and clarity, I would like to establish an ad hoc Program Transformation Taskforce. The work for this Taskforce will involve identifying resources for information such as disciplinary trends, labor market trends, salaries, skills and knowledge bases, etc. Further, guidelines for Transformation and a Timeline will be developed. If you are interested in serving on this Taskforce, please let me know by return email.  I’d like to get this work started soon. I am eager to see the improvements, transformations, and enhancements made to our existing program inventory, and I am confident that faculty creativity and innovation in program development will produce fruitful results.
 
I look forward to a rewarding year serving as your Provost. All of us in the Office of Academic Affairs welcome your input and are readily available to assist you as requested.
 
Now, please join me in welcoming our new faculty to the Hill:

• Leah Ashwill, Instructor (Mahurin Honors College)
• Kayla Baker, Assistant Professor (Kinesiology, Recreation, and Sport)
• Melissa Baker, Visiting Assistant Professor (Psychology)
• Daniel Boamah, Lecturer (Social Work)
• Jeffrey Chandler, Assistant Professor (Management)
• Winifred Cohron, Visiting Assistant Professor (Education Administration, Leadership, and Research)
• Cole Crider, Visiting Assistant Professor (Management)
• Susan Eagle, Instructor (Public Health)
• Synthia Frank, Instructor (Nursing and Allied Health Sciences)
• Tiffany Frye, Instructor (Nursing and Allied Health Sciences)
• Kara Glenn, Professional in Residence (Communication)
• Elizabeth Groves, Assistant Professor (Nursing and Allied Health Sciences)
• Phillip Gunter, Assistant Professor (Agriculture)
• Marie Guthrie, Instructor (English)
• Courtney Hatcher, Clinical Associate Professor (Communication Sciences & Disorders)
• Charles Owen Kile, Assistant Professor (Accounting)
• Wren Mills, Pedagogical Assistant Professor (Education Administration, Leadership, and Research)
• Anthony (Tony) Morton, Instructor & Technical Director (Theatre and Dance)
• Golnaz Baradaran Motie, Visiting Assistant Professor (Economics)
• Ahmed Muhamed, Instructor (Modern Languages)
• Brian Myers, Assistant Professor (Kinesiology, Recreation and Sport)
• Antigoni Papadimitriou, Assistant Professor (Educational Administration, Leadership, and Research)
• Whitley Stone, Assistant Professor (Kinesiology, Recreation and Sport)
• William (Dan) Strunk, Assistant Professor (Agriculture)
• Danilo Tolusso, Lecturer (Kinesiology, Recreation and Sport)
• Melissa Travelsted, Assistant Professor (Nursing)
• Kelly Truelove, Instructor (Psychological Sciences)
• Brittany Vickous, Clinical Assistant Professor (Communication Sciences & Disorders)
• Dawn Winters, Instructor (English)
• Ruomeng Wu, Assistant Professor (Marketing)

 
Sincerely,

Cheryl Stevens