KNOXVILLE — The Research Council of the Faculty Senate at the University of Tennessee will host the first in a series of research forums at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 5 in Room 307 of the Science and Engineering Research Facility on campus.
The forums will provide an avenue for faculty to have free and open discussion about the state of research on the Knoxville campus. The theme of the forums will be “Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity: The Road Ahead.”
“This is a time of transition for our campus community, and we hope these forums help UT Knoxville faculty to find a way forward in research across the academic spectrum,” said Joanne Hall, a professor of nursing and president of the Research Council.
A panel of faculty members from a variety of disciplines will make brief comments to stimulate discussion, but the event is intended to create open dialogue, according to Hall.
“In planning the forums, we sought a less formal environment to ensure that all those present feel free to share their thoughts,” she said.
Panel members for the forum are: Doug Birdwell (Electrical Engineering and Computer Science), Dorothy Habel (School of Art), Soren Sorensen (Physics), Erec Koch (Modern Foreign Language), Becky Fields (Nursing), Jeff Becker (Microbiology) and Hamparsum Bozdogan (Statistics).
The questions that will be used to frame the discussion include: Is the UT Knoxville intellectual community growing? What are our opportunities and constraints? Are research and scholarship promoted and recognized? What are visions for the future of UT Knoxville as the flagship of the university?
Three additional forums are planned over the course of the semester and in the early fall. The next one is set for March 26.
More information on the forums can be found online at http://web.utk.edu/~senate/rc/announcements/forum1.shtml. The forums are open to all faculty, and refreshments will be provided by the Office of Research.
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Contacts:
Jay Mayfield (865-974-9409, jay.mayfield@tennessee.edu)