Sabbatical fellowships offered

The Office of the President has announced the first annual USEMS Sabbatical Fellowships, a new faculty honor to be given this spring to two members of the faculty.

The fellowships will be named for University alumni Thomas I. Storrs of Charlotte, N.C., and Dennis J. Shaughnessy of Baltimore, Md., in acknowledgement of their support for the program.

The winners, who will be selected through a competitive application process of full-time faculty who have taught at least one University Seminar (USEM) between fall 1996 and the present, will be granted a semester's sabbatical research leave at full pay. During the sabbatical, they will be expected to pursue a research project aimed at producing a publishable work that also can be the subject of a USEM the following semester. The Shaughnessy Fellowship will be awarded to a candidate whose work focuses on innovative uses of new technologies.

The application deadline is April 17, and winners will be notified by the end of April.

University Seminars -- small classes taught by prominent faculty members -- were designed to give first-year students the opportunity to develop critical-thinking skills and explore new ideas in an environment that encourages interactive learning and intensive discussion.

"University Seminars grew out of the belief that we educate students best when we allow them close intellectual engagement with faculty and fellow students. At its best, the program has brought first-year students into partnerships with faculty who teach them the issues and excitement of scholarship," said University President John T. Casteen III. "These two awards will promote faculty scholarship that nourishes such academic encounters and, in the process, will bring dynamic new technologies and techniques into the classroom."

For more information, contact Barbara Nolan, vice provost for instructional development and innovation, Office of the Vice President and Provost, Madison Hall.