The Office of the Provost has a redesigned website. It looks better (right?), and the important information on the website has been reorganized in a way that should make more sense. Please explore the site and use the search function – top right of every page – when you don’t find the item you are looking for. The faculty handbook has a new look, too, and is linked at the top of every page just to the left of the search field.
Send questions and comments to [email protected].
September 12, 2022
Dear Faculty, Students, and Staff,
Welcome to week three of the 2022-23 academic year! The start of the school year is an exciting time full of fresh perspectives and new opportunities. We can now take full advantage of all the university and Ann Arbor offer. What opportunities will you embrace? What impact will you have on our world? Whether you are a new first year student, a recently promoted faculty member, or an experienced staff member, we can all individually and collectively, make a difference in our world. And here at the University of Michigan we have lots of possibilities to do so.
Immerse yourself in all our campus has to offer:
Be a civic minded citizen. Vote. Be informed about the topics we will vote on and/or help others become informed. Expressing our opinions through voting can lead to empowerment and positive change. UMMA will be offering an opportunity to register and vote on campus!
Generate new knowledge. This is what research universities do so well. Experience the joy that comes from expanding what we know. Our faculty and researchers do this every day. New students may want to embrace this engaging opportunity.
Create a piece of art or admire one. Art can turn heads, make people think, inspire others to act, bring joy and calm tensions. It’s all around you on campus and in our galleries.
Move. Go for a hike in the arboretum, play tennis, lift weights, meditate. Nourish your body and your mind will thrive.
Be a sponge. On a campus as broad and deep as ours, the opportunities to learn are endless. Focus on an area you want to excel at and learn as much as you can. Education can change the world.
Embrace change. Express your gratitude to our beloved two-time president Mary Sue Coleman and welcome our new president Santa Ono who is eager to join us in October.
Respect others. Participate in the campus DEI Summit, and in all you do this fall term – be kind, compassionate and respectful to others.
We have the good fortune of coming together to study and work and immerse ourselves in the life of the university. We get to interact with interesting people and expand our knowledge and experiences. I hope you will take advantage of all that the University of Michigan offers you. I wish you a successful, exciting year. You are an important part of what makes this university so amazing.
Sincerely,
Laurie K. McCauley
Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs
William K. and Mary Anne Najjar Professor
August 22, 2024
Dear Colleague,
I am writing to deans, associate deans, department chairs, and academic program directors to announce the thirty-seventh competition for the Thurnau Professorships and to invite you to nominate your most extraordinary educators for this high honor.
Each year, Thurnau Professorships honor a highly select group of five tenured faculty for their outstanding contributions to undergraduate education. Those appointed to Thurnau Professorships hold this title along with their other university titles and receive a $20,000 grant to support activities associated with further enhancing their teaching (e.g., travel, books, equipment, graduate student support). The Professorships are named after Arthur F. Thurnau, a student at the University of Michigan from 1902 to 1904, and are supported by the Thurnau Charitable Trust that was established through his will.
The Thurnau Professorships recognize and reward outstanding faculty who devote their attention to providing an excellent undergraduate experience for U-M students. Thurnau Professors have a sustained record of excellence in undergraduate education, as demonstrated by a combination of the following:
It is extremely helpful to the selection committee when the nomination letter keeps this track record in mind and explicitly addresses each criterion delineated in the attached Guidelines. I would be especially grateful if you would identify a diverse pool of nominees with respect to such factors as gender, race/ethnicity, and school/college representation.
Any dean, associate dean, department chair, or academic program director may submit a nomination, with the signature of a dean signifying endorsement of the nominee (see attached Cover Sheet). It is common for candidates to be nominated more than once before being selected. Please note that it is somewhat unusual, though not impossible, for nominees to be selected early in their post-tenure career. Thurnau Professors will be recommended to the Regents at their February meeting and recognized at the Honors Convocation in mid-March.
We are mindful of the time and effort it takes to craft a strong proposal. We take the nominations for these Professorships very seriously and hope you will give them your careful attention as well. Nominations must be submitted no later than Monday, December 2, 2024. (Nominators in LSA and COE, please note that the deans’ offices have set internal deadlines of October 4, and November 15, respectively.)
If you have questions about the Thurnau Professorships or the nomination procedure after reviewing the attached guidelines, please call or email Ryan Hudson, Center for Research on Learning and Teaching (CRLT), 763-0159 ([email protected]). We look forward to receiving your nomination(s).
Sincerely,
Laurie K. McCauley DDS, MS, PhD
Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs
William K. and Mary Anne Najjar Professor