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Chemistry deans, chairs of Chinese universities visit UT |
| By
Shannon Wermer |
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Feb 20, 2008 |
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Chemistry deans and chairs of leading Chinese universities recently visited The University of Toledo as the first stop on a U.S. tour of chemistry departments that also took them to Harvard, MIT, Stanford and the University of California at Berkeley.
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| UT President Lloyd Jacobs and Dr. Nina McClelland, seated, posed for a photo with, from left, Dr. Song Gao, Dr. Alan Pinkerton, Dr. Zijian Guo, Dr. Peiqiang Huang, Dr. Ziling (Ben) Xue, Dr. Xirong Zhang and Dr. Peng Cheng. |
Initiative for these visits started last spring at an American Chemistry Society meeting in Chicago. Dr. Nina McClelland, a respected UT alumna and chair of the society’s International Activities Committee and past chair of its Board of Directors, helped to arrange the visit to UT.
The goal behind the visits to these universities, according to Bradley Miller, acting director of international activities for the American Chemistry Society, is to “create dialogue between the U.S. and China about how to effectively run chemistry departments through efficient teaching, research and service.”
Five Chinese deans and department heads visited UT, seeking information to develop and improve their programs.
McClelland said there is “nothing but happiness” coming from the delegates visiting UT, and she hopes that this visit will create opportunities to work more closely in the future.
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| Dr. Nina McClelland, UT alumna and chair of the American Chemical Society’s International Activities Committee, gave a presentation to the delegation. |
Dr. Alan Pinkerton, professor and chair of the UT Chemistry Department and president of the American Crystallographic Association, gave the group an explanation of the campus setup, going into further detail of program building, as this was a key interest of the visiting delegates.
Pinkerton went through recruitment tactics for faculty, undergraduate students and graduate students, and outlined ways UT attracts people. He then went into a financial breakdown, which allowed listeners to get a feel for how UT is funded through undergraduate tuition, state subsidy and agency grants.
He also covered the importance of mentoring new faculty members and touched on topics such as annual teaching evaluations for faculty members and how to get early tenure.
A visiting delegate asked about the tenure review process and how it worked. Pinkerton detailed the review process, explaining that the evaluation goes through the department, the college, provost, as well as on for external review.
A breakdown of department management was covered and allowed the delegates to understand who reports to whom and why.
The importance of balancing teaching and research efforts in the Chemistry Department was discussed. Going along with research efforts, Pinkerton was proud to report “all majors within the Chemistry Department are able to get substantial hands-on experience at UT before graduation.”
Dr. Bob Cryan, director of the UT Global Initiatives Office, said that this visit is “a very big event for UT and puts us in really good spot competitively.”
The tour of universities was sponsored by the American Chemical Society Committee on International Activities and the Office of International Activities.
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