I am pleased to announce that on August 1, 2005, I received the final report prepared by the Standards Committee on the Scholarship of Engagement. As many of you are aware, during the last academic year, in 2004-2005, we launched a major new initiative on our campus with the goal of integrating the scholarship of engagement into the faculty recognition and reward structure at BGSU. The Standards Committee was established last spring in order to develop guidelines for the evaluation and documentation of the scholarship of engagement at our university.

I would like to express my appreciation for the diligent and hard work undertaken by all faculty who served on the Standards Committee, and to Dean Don Nieman who served as the Committee's chair. I had the opportunity to meet with members of the Standards Committee last week and express my appreciation in person, and also to discuss with them the major recommendations of the report they have submitted.

A copy of the report of the Standards Committee is attached electronically with this email, as well as a copy of the transmittal letter that was forwarded to me, with the report, by the Committee chair, Don Nieman. I hope you will take the opportunity to review the report in its entirety, as we continue to work together this year to integrate the scholarship of engagement into our faculty recognition and reward structure at the college and academic department/unit levels and throughout the university.

Before I provide you with my preliminary response to the Standards Committee report and announce the steps we will be taking this academic year, I should also note that at the June 24th meeting of the university's Board of Trustees, members of the Board unanimously passed a resolution in support of the integration of the scholarship of engagement into the faculty recognition and reward structure at BGSU. I am attaching an electronic copy of the Board's resolution.

Please note that each of these documents mentioned above - the Board Resolution on the Scholarship of Engagement, the Final Report of the Standards Committee on the Scholarship of Engagement, and the Transmittal Letter from the Chair of the Standards Committee to the President - are all available on the university's Office of the President web site. Please feel free to contact my office if you have any difficulty in accessing these documents, either with regard to the electronic attachments provided herein, or with the web site links that I have cited.

In response to the final report of the Standards Committee, I have made the decision to move forward with the following action items during the 2005-06 and 2006-07 academic years:

1. Both the Standards Committee on the Scholarship of Engagement, and the earlier Task Force on the Scholarship of Engagement that was established in the fall of 2004, concur in their recommendations that it is critical that we provide adequate faculty development as we move forward with the scholarship of engagement initiative on our campus. As a result of this recommendation, I have made the decision to appoint an interim director of faculty development in the area of the scholarship of engagement this fall, in order to assist deans, academic chairs and directors, and faculty with the integration of the scholarship of engagement into promotion and tenure documents within their colleges and academic departments and units. The interim director of faculty development in the scholarship of engagement will also provide workshops and training to faculty who serve on tenure and promotion review committees and assist them in the development of guidelines that will help them to assess and evaluate the scholarship of engagement in their colleges, departments, and units. The interim director will also develop workshops and professional development opportunities for faculty who wish to incorporate the scholarship of engagement into their own academic work.

I am presently reviewing a number of recommendations for individuals to be considered for this interim appointment, recommendations that include retired faculty as well as current faculty who might be given release time in order to fill this position during the current academic year. My goal is to announce the appointment to this interim position within the next few weeks.

2. Another recommendation of the Standards Committee is the recommendation that the university adopt the policy and procedure of developing faculty success plans for all tenure-track faculty, including, but not limited to, faculty who elect to include the scholarship of engagement as part of their scholarly work. I have discussed this matter with the Provost and we both agree that the development of faculty success plans for all new tenure track faculty is the direction that the university should take. We will begin to work with the deans and academic department chairs and directors in order to implement success plans for all tenure track faculty beginning in the fall of 2006. Although the Standards Committee report recommends that we implement this policy immediately this fall, the decision was made to wait one year before going forward with these plans, in order to provide deans, chairs and directors with the time they may need to prepare for this change and to receive professional development and assistance as we move in this direction. Both the new interim director for faculty development in the scholarship of engagement, and the director of the Center for Teaching, Learning and Technology, will be working together to provide workshops and training for the development of faculty success plans in order to meet this target time line.

3. The Standards Committee report also recommends that the scholarship of engagement be integrated into departmental and college promotion and tenure documents by December 2006. I agree with this recommendation, and have charged the Provost and deans with working with their academic departments and units to review their promotion and tenure documents to ensure that we recognize the full breadth of scholarship that faculty undertake at the university, including the scholarship of engagement. Last year, as many of you are aware, the Provost and I held a retreat with the deans (March of 2005) at which time we began this process. At that time I was highly impressed with the deans' leadership on this initiative, and I will be meeting with the Provost and deans on September 12 to discuss our next steps and how best we might proceed to meet this newly established time line of December 2006.

4. The Standards Committee has developed seven standards (referred to by the Committee as "characteristics") for the scholarship of engagement, along with the recommendation that these standards or characteristics be adopted by colleges, academic departments and units. These standards are intended to serve as guidelines for the evaluation and documentation of the scholarship of engagement at BGSU. The intention is that these standards, along with the additional materials developed by the Standards Committee and included in their report and appendices, will serve as guidelines and benchmarks for the integration of the scholarship of engagement into the faculty recognition and reward structure at BGSU.In summary, both the Provost and I concur with the recommendation of the Standards Committee that by December of 2006, the university will integrate the scholarship of engagement into the promotion and tenure documents of each of the colleges and academic departments and units of the university. In order to accomplish this, we are aware that we will need to develop the appropriate infrastructure and support mechanisms to assist the deans and academic chairs and directors in achieving this goal. As I indicated above, the appointment of the interim director of faculty development is critical to the success of this initiative, and I will be moving ahead with this appointment over the next few weeks. I will also be meeting with the deans to discuss their needs, as well as the needs of their department chairs and directors as we move forward with the implementation of this initiative.

I have also held an initial meeting with the leadership of the Faculty Senate, and look forward to working with Dr. Bob Boughton and Dr. Rich Hebein and other members of the Faculty Senate as we move forward with the Engagement Initiative this year. As I have stated on numerous occasions over the last few years, public expectations for higher education have never been greater, and legislators - as well as other members of the public to whom we are accountable - are calling upon all higher education institutions in our state to work together to connect our intellectual resources to the pressing economic and social challenges of our state and regions. The Engagement Initiative at BGSU is our effort to do our part in responding to this call, as we work together as faculty, staff and students to step up to the plate and do our part to enhance the economic and social well-being of all residents of our state and region.

I look forward to working with the deans, chairs and directors, and all faculty and staff throughout the fall semester as we move forward with the Engagement Initiative at our university.