|
Sustaining a 'can-do' attitude at MiamiAll of our planning and new initiatives reveal our ambitions - a new strategic plan, funding for Boldly Creative proposals, research on the Miami brand, a long-term budget plan and recognition for excellence in diversity and inclusion. The list goes on. Running throughout each of these initiatives is a common theme: a spirit of collaboration and optimism that we can transform Miami while respecting and advancing our storied history. I share this optimism.
| |
|
Three things I want you to know ...Congratulations to University Awards winners: We had a wonderful time March 19 at one of my favorite ceremonies of the year – the University Awards for Miami faculty. The Benjamin Harrison Medallion went to media, journalism and film professor Richard Campbell – with a table full of students there to cheer him on! Professors Lisa Ellram of management and Gary Lorigan of chemistry and biochemistry earned University Distinguished Professor honors. These awards are so important because they highlight something we always have known: Distinguished faculty are the lifeblood of any great university. I invite you to read about all of the award winners and congratulate your colleagues on these wonderful achievements. Climate Survey Task Force submits recommendations: I have received the report of the Climate Survey Task Force, following up on the survey that faculty, staff and students completed in 2017. Thank you to Ron Scott and the task force for their collective efforts to make a more inclusive Miami University. We will thoughtfully consider recommendations for action, including better communications about benefits and policies and leadership training for new directors and managers. Our goal, as always, is to promote policies and practices that make all employees feel valued and productive, and sustain a respectful and collaborative educational environment here at Miami.
Spring break meeting with Ohio Gov. DeWine: Miami students left campus for spring break, but many of them were not sleeping late or seeking warmer weather; they were around the country working on service or experiential learning projects. Last week, I joined about 60 students at the Ohio Statehouse for a conversation with Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, Miami Class of 1969. The governor talked about the impact Miami has had on his life and career, and answered questions about higher education from our Government Relations Network students. This is an important window of time, as Ohio is debating its budget for the 2019-20 fiscal year. We look forward to working closely with the governor, the Ohio General Assembly and other Ohio leaders – including seven alumni who are members of the General Assembly! – during the months ahead.
| |
|
Now let's meet a few members of our Miami family
| |
Staff - Bennyce HamiltonEven before coming to work at Miami in 2015, Bennyce Hamilton already had one fulfilling job, as a Cincinnati firefighter. She also worked at McDonald’s in the summer while in college. She taught high school.
“I had many, many, many jobs before I came to Miami,” says Hamilton, now director of diversity and multicultural services at Miami Regionals. “Now, I get to influence and impact faculty, staff and the communities where we live. Those were my jobs. This is my career.”
The native of Lexington, Ky., is a key part of Miami’s emphasis on inclusive excellence – empowering all members of the community to achieve their full potential. She does it in different ways, including keeping a basketball in her office in case someone pops in for a pickup game.
“We just lost yesterday,” she laments after a faculty-staff team played in intramurals. “We lost by two stinkin’ points."
Fostering a diverse community that unites around Miami’s mission is her ultimate goal. She does that through programs such as "Faculty Unhinged," a pilot program this semester featuring weekly conversations on hot topics including free speech and vaccinations.
“My job is to make everybody feel comfortable about who they are and how they fit in on campus,” she adds. “We just have to chip away, a little bit at a time. I try to get people to understand that everybody plays a part in the diversity puzzle.”
| |
Student - Bri ClementsBri Clements’ two favorite subjects in high school were art and math. "I always knew I wanted to pursue both interests, rather than have to choose between a technical field and a creative field," says Clements, now a Miami statistics major with a business analytics co-major – and a minor in Chinese – ready to graduate in May. She already has a job lined up at Columbus Collaboratory, which helps companies with analytics and cybersecurity challenges.
In her studies and research at Miami, Clements (center in the photo above) has used both art and math. She’s focused on data visualization, turning pure numbers into images that readers without a technical background can understand, and using those images to help create solutions to society’s biggest challenges.
“It allows me to work with the technical aspects of analytics, and bring out my creative side as well,” she says.
One example was an app on opioid overdoses in Butler County that Clements and colleague Katherine Shockey created last year, working with Professor John Bailer from the College of Arts and Science. The latest example from Clements and colleague Nichole Rook is data visualization that charts infant mortality in Butler County, sliced by demographic and risk factors such as the mother’s education and the frequency of prenatal visits. Clements has worked on a website chronicling multiple data visualization projects. Future innovations might include machine learning, which includes using data to predict behavior and set up interventions.
“The apps are for the community and for people who don’t have a technical background,” Clements says. “You can look at a picture, and you don't have to have any context. With both topics, there are things our community can do to help."
| |
Faculty - Andrew PaluchTo complement his classroom work teaching the MATLAB programming language to engineering majors, Andrew Paluch of chemical, paper and biomedical engineering created a YouTube series for students.
“It kind of originated from the class,” says Paluch, a native of Buffalo, N.Y., who came to Miami six years ago after earning his doctorate at the University of Notre Dame.
It’s one of dozens of examples of Miami faculty innovating to improve accessibility to information for their students – the same kind of creativity and flexibility that will be required in this new era of transdisciplinary academics.
In 2018, Paluch received the Affordable Education Leader award from Associated Student Government for his efforts to create open educational resources. And earlier this spring, Paluch was among nearly 30 Miami faculty awarded tenure.
His research on computational thermodynamics – studying the interaction of molecules and how it can impact the development of pharmaceuticals and other products – includes undergraduates. He has co-authored journal articles with 18 students.
“They’re enthusiastic and they’re eager to learn,” Paluch says. “I love it.”
| |
|
|
|
|
