ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ has announced faculty promotions, including tenure awards and full professorships, effective for the 2017–18 academic year.

“Our newly tenured and promoted faculty are exemplars of the scholar-teacher-mentor ideal,” said Matthew Auer, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty. “They are leaders in their disciplines, deeply engaged in our community, and focused on the success of their students with sincerity and purpose.”

Recommended by the faculty’s Committee on Personnel and approved by the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College Board of Trustees, the promotions have been awarded to faculty members in the fields of education, French and francophone studies, history, neuroscience, politics, and psychology.

Meet the seven newly promoted professors, learn their research fields, and discover why they teach:

Promotions to associate professor with tenure

+Jason Castro

Jason Castro has been promoted to associate professor of neuroscience at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

+Caroline Shaw

Caroline Shaw has been promoted to associate professor of history at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

+Mara Tieken

Mara Tieken has been promoted to associate professor of education at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

Promotions to full professor

+�slaug �sgeirsdóttir

Ã�slaug Ã�sgeirsdóttir has been promoted to professor of politics at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½. (Josh Kuckens/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

+Helen Boucher

Helen Boucher has been promoted to professor of psychology at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½. (Josh Kuckens/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

+Alex Dauge-Roth

Alex Dauge-Roth has been promoted to professor of French and francophone studies at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

+Karen Melvin

Karen Melvin has been promoted to professor of history at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½. (Ryan Donnell for ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

Three hundred and eighty ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ students — about a quarter of the entire ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ student body — are poised to showcase their academic prowess at the 16th Mount David Summit on March 31.

“After a long winter, the Mount David Summit is kind of a tropical oasis for the mind and soul,” says Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty Matt Auer.

“You can’t come away from the presentations, posters, and performances without feeling completely inspired. It’s my favorite day of the year at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½.”

Here’s a 40-second walkthrough of the 2016 Mount David Summit:

With its home base in Pettengill Hall, the college’s annual celebration of student academic achievement begins at 1:30 p.m. with a welcome featuring the seven-member ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Brass Ensemble performing “Swingtime” and remarks from Auer and President Clayton Spencer.

Presentations follow at 1:45 featuring all manner of knowledge-sharing: research poster presentations; short talks, panel discussions, and video screenings; plus literary readings, demonstrations, and performances.

Also on view in Pettengill Hall is the annual Barlow Off-Campus Study Photography Exhibition, featuring images and brief texts by students who have returned from study-abroad programs.

A summit roster of 380 students, or 22 percent of the college’s 1,700 enrollment, are scheduled to participate in this year’s summit. Scholarly and worldly, the summit is also a fan friendly event that typically draws an audience of several hundred, including fellow students, faculty, and staff, as well as visitors, including alumni, parents, and newly admitted students of the Class of 2021.

Jeremy Glover ’17 of Cleveland Heights, Ohio, takes part in a panel discussion on Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales during the 2016 Mount David Summit. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

All told, the summit is expected to draw up to 1,000 presenters and guests.

Students will present more than 100 research posters in three afternoon sessions in Pettengill’s Perry Atrium, addressing issues like Korea–Japan relations, the impact of families on jury decisions, and links between periodontal disease and diabetes.

Academic fields represented are biochemistry, biology, chemistry, economics, education, geology, German, history, mathematics, neuroscience, physics, politics, psychology, religious studies, sociology, Spanish, and theater.

Elsewhere in Pettengill, students will give brief talks on topics including the comparative politics of climate change; the rhetoric of the recent presidential campaign; the value of living with families while studying abroad; women’s literature in England, Japan, and Latin America; and senior thesis research in anthropology, neuroscience, philosophy, psychology, and sociology.

The strength of the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ academic community is a theme of the Mount David Summit. Here, senior religious studies majors Emilie Muller, Esperanza Gilbert, Wendy Goldman, Melissa Carp, and Alex Tritell pose for a photo before their presentation at the 2016 summit. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

Classics students will demonstrate how new digital technologies enhance understanding of the ancient Roman world, and the college’s Community-Engaged Research Fellows will share research conducted with Lewiston-Auburn community partners.

Also reflecting the college’s robust engagement with the community, students in French and francophone studies will present findings from an oral-history project involving Lewiston’s francophone community, from French Canadians to Franco Africans.

Arts-flavored offerings include original fiction and poetry readings and presentations by dancers and ceramic artists on their creative methods.

Ian Ramsey ’16, a mathematics and biochemistry double major, laughs with Assistant Professor of Neurocience Jason Castro at the 2016 Mount David Summit. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½)

Nearby in the Benjamin Mays Center, students and staff present a series of short plays, My America Too, beginning at 4:45 p.m.

In the evening, the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Dance Company presents the first of at 7:30 p.m. in Schaeffer Theatre (and again on April 1 at 5 p.m.), and the college choir and orchestra perform the starting at 8 p.m. in the Olin Arts Center.

Kathryn Graff Low, professor of psychology and associate dean of the faculty, has been appointed interim dean of the faculty and vice president for academic affairs, President Clayton Spencer announced today.

Low, whose appointment begins on July 1, will serve during the 2017–18 academic year pending the search for a new, permanent dean. Low succeeds Matthew Auer, who departs ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ on June 30 to become dean of the School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Georgia.

“I am very grateful that Kathy has agreed to serve in this vitally important role during this transition year,� said Spencer. “Kathy is a widely respected member of the senior faculty, and because of her current role, she is uniquely situated to carry forward the work of the Dean of the Faculty’s Office.�

Kathryn Graff Low will serve as interim dean of the faculty and vice president for academic affairs during 2017-18. President Clayton Spencer. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

Spencer added, “I very much look forward to working with Kathy over the next year to advance the priorities of the faculty and to continue to strengthen the resources supporting the academic core of the college.�

“I am deeply honored to serve ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ in this way,â€� Low said. “I look forward to working with faculty colleagues to map out a plan for the year that will keep faculty processes moving forward and allow us, as appropriate, to continue to advance strategic priorities. The faculty are at the heart of the academic experience at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½. I welcome the opportunity to work with this group of dedicated colleagues to provide an exceptional liberal arts experience that is consistent with our mission and history.â€�

In her current role as associate dean of the faculty for the sciences and social sciences, Low’s responsibilities include oversight of academic assessment, research compliance, departmental reviews, and Title IX compliance. She also serves as the Office of the Dean of Faculty’s director of faculty research and scholarship, overseeing the distribution of internal faculty grants; management of student research and other grant funds; and research mentoring, including training in responsible conduct of research.

In previous years, Low served as chair of the Department of Psychology and has served on a wide range of faculty committees related to personnel, educational policy, curriculum, and the academic calendar. She oversaw the successful completion of the college’s interim accreditation report, and participated in recent institutional planning efforts.

Before assuming the associate dean position, Low was also responsible for new faculty development activities, and she has successfully mentored faculty during their transition to ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½. In her current role, she is responsible for hiring visiting faculty and assists with faculty orientation and programming. This year, she is also co-leading the STEM diversity initiative, an effort designed to support all students, particularly those from underrepresented groups, for success in STEM fields.

A member of the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ faculty for 27 years, Low has expertise in areas related to women’s health and sexual health, including sexual function, sexually transmitted infections, body image and weight, and cardiovascular disease. She has also published on college student mental health and well-being. A licensed clinical psychologist in Maine, Low has served on the staff of St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center and Central Maine Medical Center.

Respect for Low’s teaching and research runs deep at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½, typified by work with her former thesis student Nicolette Robbins ’11 that yielded groundbreaking research on asexual coming-out experiences. Robbins calls Low a model professor, clinician, and researcher who “always has a million things going on but she always makes time. Not many people have the opportunity to get that close and feel so supported by a professor.â€�

Low earned a bachelor’s degree from Bowdoin College, master’s from Harvard University, and doctorate from Stanford University. Appointed to the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ faculty in 1990, she was promoted to full professor in 2003 and has served as chair of the Department of Psychology.

The search committee for the next permanent dean will be formed this spring, with elections in April and the search will begin early next fall.

ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Sustainability

The Canadian company that makes ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½’ biofuel seeks more customers before it can build a Maine plant — Portland Press Herald

Portland Press Herald energy reporter Tux Turkel of why a company that makes heating oil from wood waste is considering expansion into Maine.

ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ just started burning a proprietary biofuel, manufactured by Canada-based Ensyn Corp., in one of its three campus boilers, cutting college-wide carbon emissions by 83 percent.

Ensyn makes the fuel in Quebec but intends to build new plants, and Maine would be “an ideal place to locate a facility,â€� Lee Torrens, president of the subsidiary Ensyn Fuels Inc., told the Press Herald.

The newly installed Renewable Fuel Oil tank is shown on Jan. 19, 2017. Newly clad in siding to match the adjacent Cutten Maintenance Center, it’s surrounded by temporary scaffolding. (Doug Hubley/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

Ensyn would expand only if it can lock in contracts with more Maine companies and institutions, according to the paper. Currently, ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ is the only Maine business burning Ensyn’s Renewable Fuel Oil. In fact, ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ is the only college in the country burning RFO.

At ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½, using Ensyn’s Renewable Fuel Oil is a case of so far, so good, said energy manager John Rasmussen. “They’ve been burning this stuff for 25 years, so there shouldn’t be many surprises,â€� he told the paper.

Less U.S. spending on foreign aid isn’t good for U.S. defense — The Washington Post

Dean of the Faculty and Vice President for Academic Affairs Matt Auer’s argues that the Trump administration’s plan to cut foreign-aid spending “is actually less-than-ideal news for the Defense Department.”

Auer is a widely recognized international scholar and expert in environmental policy, energy policy, sustainable development, and foreign aid.

“Foreign aid is instrumental to national security. Spent wisely, it fosters economic opportunity and social stability,” Auer says.

‘I have never written anything from beginning to end’ — The Guardian

For the Guardian‘s Books section, novelist Elizabeth Strout about how she creates her Pulitzer Prize–winning fiction.

For one thing, she says, “I have never written anything from beginning to end…. I just collect different scenes, and the ones that aren’t any good to me get slipped onto the floor and eventually into the wastebasket. (There are many of those.)â€�

While personal, the essay has tips for writers; one is a variation on the rule of “writing what you know”: Write the feelings that you know, Strout says.

“I have learned over the years to take anything that is most pressing to me — it may be as mundane as a concern about upcoming dental work, or as serious as worrying about the safety of my child — and to transpose that emotion into a character. This will give the scene life, as opposed to having it wooden.”

Twins have identical impact on Bobcats — Lewiston Sun Journal

Marcus Delpeche ’17 tells Lewiston Sun Journal writer Randy Whitehouse that he laughed when his high school guidance counselor in Delaware suggested he look at a college in Maine.

He and his identical twin brother, Malcolm Delpeche ’17, are from Wilmington, and Malcolm agrees with his twin. “If someone ever told me I was going to be in Maine of all places, I would have told them, ‘You’re crazy.'”

Marcus Delpeche ’17 (left) and Malcolm Delpeche ’17, identical twin brothers from Wilmington, Del., pose during practice in Alumni Gym. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

That was then. As the Sun Journal feature story makes clear, the basketball-playing brothers and psychology majors consider ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ to be a sane and savvy choice.

For evidence, they point to support from head coach Jon Furbush ’05, on and off the court, who “lets us know we’re not just here to play basketball. We’re here to establish a bond that’s going to go on beyond the season and beyond ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College,” said Malcolm.

The Bobcats went 15-10 this year, bowing out in the quarterfinals of the NESCAC tournament. Marcus was a 6-foot-7 forward; Malcolm, a 6-8 center. They were one-two in scoring, with 15.1 and 13.2 points per game respectively.

Betsy DeVos as education secretary is bad news for rural schools — Charlestown (W.Va.) Gazette-Mail

In a Feb. 5 op-in the Charlestown (W.Va.) Gazette-Mail, Assistant Professor of Education Mara Tieken as secretary of education.

Assistant Professor of Education Mara Tieken works with students in Muskie Archives. (Sarah Crosby/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

Noting that DeVos is a “strong proponent of school choice” and of “expanding charter schools and reducing their oversight,” Tieken, who is an expert in rural education, argues that “choice only works when you have options, and many rural communities don’t.”

Most rural communities, “with their small populations and vast geographies…cannot sustain a variety of brick-and-mortar options, public or private.”

The U.S. Senate confirmed DeVos on Feb. 7.

Legal in Maine, pot is still illegal on Maine college campuses, including ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½’ — Portland Press Herald

Maine voters decided in November to make marijuana use legal, but that doesn’t change the rules on college campuses, the Portland Press Herald reported, quoting Dean of Students and Vice President for Student Affairs Josh McIntosh.

“The federal law and the state law are in conflict with one another and our perspective is — like many of our fellow institutions of higher education — that we will continue to follow federal law,� McIntosh told the paper.

“Our approach to it and our policies toward it remain unchanged and will likely remain unchanged until that conflict between the state and federal governments gets worked out.�

Massachusetts clergyman elected bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina — The Boston Globe

Samuel Rodman, the newly elected bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina, was for his “exceptional combination of gifts,” reported The Boston Globe.

The Rt. Rev. Alan Gates, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts, said in a statement that Rodman, currently a special projects officer for the Diocese of Massachusetts, has a “creative imagination, engaging personal interaction, keen organizing skills and the heart of a pastor. He will be a strong and wise shepherd.â€�

Ordained in 1988, Rodman majored in English at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ and earned a master’s degree from Virginia Theological Seminary. He previously spent 16 years as the rector of St. Michael’s in Milton, Mass.

A longtime advocate for Lewiston-Auburn now heads its chamber of commerce — Portland Press Herald

Beckie Swanson Conrad ’82, currently vice president for institutional advancement at Maine College of Art in Portland, is the new president and CEO of the Lewiston Auburn Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce.

Beckie Swanson Conrad ’82. (Mike Weymouth photograph)

“We were looking for specific attributes, and one of the biggest is someone who is a relationship builder and collaborator,â€� said Jen Hogan, president of Community Credit Union in Lewiston and the chair-elect of the board for the L-A chamber. “That’s who Beckie is — it’s her nature.”

Conrad worked at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ for 21 years, including from 1999 to 2003 as executive director of LA Excels, the college’s nonprofit community development partnership in Lewiston-Auburn.

A member of the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ faculty since 2003, Ryan Bavis became the second holder of the Helen A. Papaioanou Professorship in Biological Sciences this year, succeeding Pam Baker ’69, who retired in 2013.

On Jan. 20, the college celebrated Bavis’ appointment with an afternoon lecture, followed by an evening reception and dinner. Among the guests were Ralph Perry ’51 and his wife, Mary Louise Seldenfleur, whose gift established the professorship.

A respiratory physiologist, Bavis researches how the brain controls breathing and, in particular, how the environment can alter how our breathing changes as we mature. His research has won two grants from the National Institutes of Health’s Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute as well as two awards.

“His research has significant implications for our understanding of how humans — such as premature babies — develop in settings where their access to oxygen is too low or too high,� said Dean of the Faculty Matt Auer in introducing Bavis’ talk.

Here are seven things we learned by spending some time listening to Bavis discuss his research.

1. His first research thrust didn’t get off the ground.

As a doctoral student at the University of Montana, Bavis wrote his dissertation on the “Physiological Consequences of Exposure to Elevated Carbon Dioxide During Development in Birds.�

He was interested in burrowing birds, which are “less sensitive to changes in oxygen and carbon dioxide in the air� than other birds, as he explained during his talk. “I was interested in how much is environmental and how much is genetic.�

“Surprisingly,� he said with characteristic dry wit, “there aren’t many postdoc opportunities in labs where burrowing birds are the model.� So he let his bird idea fly away (at least for now).

2. His successful current research is the result of a “happy accident.�

“I did not expect to be doing this,� said Bavis of his current research.

For his postdoc, Bavis found a lab that was looking at the intersection of breathing control with “plasticity,� the ability of an organism to change in response to its environment.

“And that decision has fueled my grants ever since.�

The lab was in the Department of Comparative Biosciences at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine. “They’d been using a rat model to examine hyperoxia,� which is when an animal’s tissues get too much oxygen. “They had looked at the long-term effects of hyperoxia but thought it was a dead end and didn’t want to continue,� Bavis said.

Bavis saw value in using the same rat model but with a different question in mind.

Ryan Bavis delivers a talk on “Learning to Breathe in a New World: The Complicated Role of Oxygen in Postnatal Developmentâ€� during the celebration of his appointment as the Helen A. Papaioanou Professor in Biological Sciences on Jan. 20, 2017, in Pettengill Hall. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

“My idea was to look at changes in the breathing of babies themselves, since some forms of plasticity would only be evident in that age group and not persist into adulthood,� he said. “That decision has fueled my grants ever since,� not to mention the early-career Giles F. Filley Memorial Award for Excellence in Respiratory Physiology and Medicine from the American Physiological Society, which Bavis received in 2006.

When exposed to low oxygen (hypoxia) in the first few weeks of life, a baby will initially breathe harder — as we would — but will not sustain that high level of breathing as we would. The immature breathing is called the “biphasic hypoxic response.�

Bavis’ lab looks at myriad questions about the biphasic hypoxic response, how it matures to an adult’s sustained response, and how a high- or low-oxygen environment affects all that.

3. He involves lots of students in his research (and has won an award for that).

“My work has been supported by an army of students, and some are here today,� said Bavis, sweeping an arm toward the audience.

For the quality of how he’s mentored that army, Bavis received a 2016 Mentor Award from the Council on Undergraduate Research’s Biology Division.

CUR quoted his students, who praised Bavis for teaching them that “science is an ever-evolving collection of facts, ideas, and windows of opportunity� and that “life works out in its own way and if you put your mind to it, you can reach your own goals.�

Some Bavis numbers:

• 59: number of thesis students he’s advised since arriving in 2003.
• 20: number of publications that include student co-authors
• 27: number of presentations at scholarly meetings with student co-authors.

The Papaioanou Professor Emerita Pam Baker has said that Bavis gives students a rock-solid foundation in the science that they do, and he teaches them how to communicate what they know

Ryan Bavis’ student researchers have praised him for teaching them that “science is an ever-evolving collection of facts, ideas, and windows of opportunity.â€� (Phyllis Graber Jensen/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

“His students become articulate science communicators,” she said, “because Ryan himself is such an effective communicator. In this age, it is critically important that we can explain science to nonscientists.”

4. His students prove him wrong. And he’s fine with that.

Bavis has found that lengthy exposure to low oxygen will slow down breathing’s maturation, and high oxygen speeds it up. “That’s a great story,� he says. “And if I had stopped there, life would have been a lot easier. But I didn’t.�

He wanted to look at the mechanistic changes going on as a baby’s breathing control was being hastened by hyperoxia to see if those changes were identical to the changes in normal maturation.

At first, the mechanistic changes seemed identical. “It was looking good,� Bavis said. “But then Andrew came along.�

That’s Andrew Lachance ’17 of Augusta, Maine, and his experiments have shown that the hyperoxia-induced maturation didn’t really sustain itself — when the oxygen was reduced to normal, the baby rats’ hypoxic responses became biphasic again.

Ralph Perry ’51 and his wife, Mary Louise Seldenfleur, whose gift established the endowed Papaioanou Professorship in 1999, listen to Ryan Bavis’ talk. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

“I’m going to let Andrew figure out what this means,� Bavis said as his audience laughed. “We have to do more experiments. But that can be for next year’s thesis students.�

5. Rats have proven their worth as a human model once again, Bavis says.

During the Q&A, Bavis was asked, “How do you know that a rat’s life stages are comparable to human life stages?�

“That’s a fantastic question,â€� he responded. “I’d love to show you a paper in my office called ‘’â¶Ä�

The answer, it turns out, depends on what trait you’re looking at. For some aspects of the nervous system, a newborn rat is equivalent to a third-trimester human fetus. “So if we’re thinking about studying premature animals, a rat is a very good model,� he said.

6. He believes that there can be too much of a good thing.

In terms of how hypoxia and hyperoxia affect the physiology of a growing mammal, Bavis has been looking at the carotid body, a tiny structure located where our carotid artery forks in our neck.

The carotid body, by acting as a sensor that responds to changes in oxygen in the blood, plays a role in regulating breathing. In a newborn rat, “high oxygen tends to slow the growth of the carotid body and reduces its size at adulthood,� he said.

Ryan Bavis talks with Associate Professor of Biology Lee Abrahamsen after his talk. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

In that sense, there can be too much of a good thing when it comes to oxygen.

“Prolonged exposure to high oxygen in a developing infant can be bad,� he said. “It seems to tip a balance from something that initially strengthens and speeds up the development of the nervous system� — by helping to the maturation of breathing control — “toward something that is potentially harmful,� in terms of a smaller carotid body later in life.

Just what a smaller carotid body means in terms of health is not known, Bavis said.

“In newborns, this could delay a baby’s arousal if the sleeping baby is not getting enough oxygen,� he said. “In adults, it could affect how we perform at high altitudes. But more research is needed.�

7. More researchers and clinicians are paying attention to the effects of high oxygen in human babies because of Bavis’ work.

For a long time, it’s been known that giving baby extremely high oxygen can damage the developing eye. It’s the believed cause of Stevie Wonder’s blindness.

“But moderately high oxygen levels that clinicians think are safe now may still be having an effect,� Bavis said.

Clinicians weren’t thinking about the breathing of people exposed to moderately high or low levels of oxygen “until they looked at my lab and the work of my postdoc mentor ,� Bavis said. “And now they’ve started.�

The that Matthew Auer, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College since 2013, has been appointed dean of its School of Public and International Affairs.

Auer, whose appointment is effective July 1, will continue at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ through the end of the academic year on June 30.

“This appointment confirms what we have learned about Matt these past four years,� said President Clayton Spencer. “He is a brilliant and creative academic leader with impeccable judgment, unwavering integrity, and a tireless devotion to the job at hand.�

She added, “Apparently, these qualities were evident to the University of Georgia, and their gain is most certainly our loss. But it is a tribute to ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ that Matt has been given this leadership opportunity at a time so critical for public policy.â€�

Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty Matt Auer, photographed at Convocation on Sept. 3, 2013. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

“Auer’s accomplishments at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½,â€� Spencer said, “belie the relatively short time that he has been at the college. Under Matt’s leadership, ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ has created a new Digital and Computational Studies Program, successfully recruited exceptionally strong cohorts of scholars into tenure-track faculty positions across the curriculum, and strengthened the college’s approach to teaching, learning, and student success. I am happy for Matt and very grateful for his many contributions.”

“I have loved my time at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ and am proud of what we have accomplished,â€� Auer said. “The high quality and intense commitment of this faculty are among ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½â€™ defining strengths. I have been blessed to work with such talented colleagues.â€�

Auer added, “It is very hard to leave ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½, but I am excited by the opportunity to combine my interest in public policy with this unique leadership position. Until then, I look forward to working closely with my ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ colleagues to continue our progress.â€�

Auer, who holds a faculty position as professor of environmental studies at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½, is a prolific and widely recognized international scholar and expert in environmental policy, energy policy, sustainable development, and foreign aid. He is an award-winning author of more than 50 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters.

In , Pamela Whitten, senior vice president for academic affairs and provost, praised Auer’s commitment “to creating extraordinary learning experiences for students while also advancing scholarship and service that has a national and international impact. He is an ideal choice to lead UGA’s highly regarded School of Public and International Affairs into a new era of excellence.�

Since 2013 at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½, Auer has overseen the development of the college’s new Digital and Computational Studies Program and has helped to guide the first expansion of the faculty in more than a decade. Both achievements were announced in February 2016 with the creation of six new endowed professorships funded by new gifts of $19 million.

Auer has also overseen the successful recruitment of 28 long-term faculty with approximately nine more to be appointed in the current academic year. Integral to faculty hiring has been ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½â€™ more robust, better resourced, and more sustainable approach to achieving gains in faculty diversity. Auer has been instrumental in ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½â€™ deployment of the Mellon Diversity and Faculty Renewal Postdoctoral Fellowship Program, which offers the early-career value of a postdoctoral fellowship with the career-advancement potential of a tenure-track position.

Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty Matt Auer listens to the keynote address during the 2016 Martin Luther King Jr. Day observance at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

Last year Auer announced funding for and establishment of the innovative Summer Science Research Experience, a program that funds 15 new summer research positions for students in STEM fields while giving those students a more structured and unifying summer experience with their faculty mentors. ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½â€™ position in the top 30 liberal arts colleges in the proportion of graduates going on to earn doctorates in the sciences is largely due, Auer said, to the “high-quality science mentorshipâ€� they receive during summer research.

In 2016, ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ launched the grant-funded Academic Resource Commons to promote learning and skill-building through a peer-tutoring model. Located in Ladd Library and funded by a grant from the Davis Educational Foundation, the dedicated ARC space and grant resources are strengthening the college’s support for writing, peer-assisted learning, and peer tutoring.

Prior to ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½, Auer was dean of the Hutton Honors College of Indiana University. He earned a doctorate and master’s from Yale University, a master’s degree in law and diplomacy from Tufts University, and a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University.

Spencer said that she will work closely with the faculty to determine the appropriate timing for a search for Auer’s successor and possible interim arrangements.

Director of Athletics Kevin McHugh announced that he will step down on June 30, 2017, after a decade of service to ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ athletics marked by competitive success, a growing national reputation for inclusivity and community engagement, and significant improvements to ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½â€™ athletics facilities.

ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College Director of Athletics Kevin McHugh will step down at the conclusion of the 2016-17 academic year. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

“I have truly valued my time at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½, and after a decade in the role, I am ready to seek new challenges,â€� said McHugh, who is chair of the Department of Physical Education. “I am extremely proud of the progress we have made on and off the field, as well as the student-athletes and staff with whom I have had the privilege of working.â€�

McHugh added that he feels “great fulfillment in how ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ athletics helps our student-athletes ‘engage the transformative power of our differences,’ in the words of our mission statement. Every student-athlete is supported by so many others — from professors and staff to a wide community of friends, family, and alumni. I appreciate the power of Bobcat spirit and am proud to have been a part of this community during so many notable athletic achievements.â€�

Dean of the Faculty and Vice President of Academic Affairs Matthew R. Auer, in sharing the news with the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ campus community today, praised McHugh’s “vital contributions to our athletics program at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½,â€� adding that “I am extremely grateful for his leadership of this essential area of college life, his dedicated support of our student-athletes and coaches, and his personal contributions to our institutional ideal of educating students not only as competitors but as whole persons.â€�

“I have admired Kevin’s extraordinary dedication to our students and coaches and his service to the college as a whole since I first arrived on campus four years ago,â€� said President Clayton Spencer. “Kevin has strengthened ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½â€™ national identity and our position in NESCAC, the most competitive Division III academic and athletic conference in the country.”

The ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ athletics program comprises 31 varsity sports and 11 club sports as well as numerous intramural programs. Approximately half of the college’s 1,750 students participate in varsity or club intercollegiate athletics.

Since arriving in 2007, McHugh has overseen historic achievements on the field, including the college’s best-ever ranking, in 2015, in the annual Directors’ Cup measuring U.S. collegiate success at the NCAA tournament level.

His tenure has included ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½â€™ first NCAA team championship, in women’s rowing in 2015; individual national titles in track and field, squash, and tennis; a first-ever NCAA tournament bid for men’s lacrosse; a return to the NCAAs for women’s lacrosse and men’s basketball; and the improvement of the football program, now at its strongest in 30 years and winners of a share of the Colby-ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½-Bowdoin Conference title for five straight years. ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ athletes have earned more than 200 All-America honors since 2007, and the college has hosted two NCAA championships, in skiing and men’s tennis.

In October 2010 Director of Athletics Kevin McHugh and then-President Elaine Hansen shared ribbon-cutting honors to dedicate major donor-funded renovations of Garcelon Field. (Photograph by Janet Ciummei / Northeast Pro Photo)

Off the field, McHugh and his staff have led numerous initiatives designed to improve the student-athlete experience, to support ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½â€™ historic commitment to diversity and inclusion, and to foster community engagement.

In 2013, ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ joined the national You Can Play initiative to support LGBTQ inclusion. Featuring President Spencer and ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ athletes, the college’s testimonial video for the project was the first in the nation to include a college president. In May 2012, ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ was one of 10 colleges to be included on Campus Pride’s first ever “Out to Play List,â€� for its inclusive tradition and practices.

Other student-focused initiatives include leadership training for captains and emerging team leaders; sexual-assault prevention and education programming; and co-sponsorship of campus climate and social justice programs.

“ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ has a commitment to offer athletics opportunities for anyone who wishes to stay active.”

ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ athletics’ engagement with the Lewiston-Auburn community includes, among other examples, free youth clinics and after-school programming; raising funds for holiday support for families in need; volunteering at a local food bank; donating sports equipment; and “adoptingâ€� a child facing a life-threatening illness. The athletics program enjoys an extensive partnership with Special Olympics and sponsors an annual Student-Athlete Advisory Council Field Day that brings local children and ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ athletes together on campus for a day of play.

Facility improvements during McHugh’s tenure include the major renovation of historic Garcelon Field in 2010 and a new rowing boathouse in 2016, both 100 percent funded by donors. Speaking about the Garcelon Field renovation, McHugh underscored its importance to all students who wish to stay active. “ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ has a commitment to offer athletics opportunities for anyone who wishes to stay active,â€� he said. “Those lights will often be on until 11 p.m. for everything from varsity practices to intramural games, smack in the middle of campus near all our other great facilities.â€�

Prior to his arrival at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ in 2007, McHugh served in a variety of leadership positions at Yale University, Bowling Green State University, and The College of New Jersey, where he served as director of athletics from 1987 to 2007 and was inducted into the college’s hall of fame in 2013.

After the academic year opens in September, the college will begin the process of organizing a search, which will include broad consultation with the college community.

Students in physics professor Travis Gould’s microcontroller laboratory give ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ President Clayton Spencer a chance to test technology they adapted for a lab project. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

Was it déjà vu all over again?

The easels in Perry Atrium with eager students standing by, ready to discuss what they learned in class projects. The crowd of faculty, friends, and fellow students avid to hear those presentations. The breakout session ready to go in a nearby Pettengill classroom.

Not to mention the hustle and bustle around the buffet. But if a visitor was reminded of another academic bonanza, the signature Mount David Summit nearly two months ago, this end-of-Short Term gathering was its own kind of happening: The second annual Curricular Innovation Showcase.

Introduced by a droll President Clayton Spencer as a “wild rumpus,” the May 27 showcase was a window into two academic programs that debuted last year in pursuit of major ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ goals — and that have taken Short Term to the next level as an incubator for curricular development.

Involving students as integral partners, the Course (Re)design program speaks to a comprehensive effort to make the curriculum more current and relevant than ever. Meanwhile, as part of the Purposeful Work initiative, the Practitioner-taught Courses give students a chance to learn about real-world work from non-faculty teachers, mostly alumni, who have built robust careers in disparate occupations.

Both programs generated a slate of Short Term courses distinguished by bold thinking and deep student involvement. And the outcomes of those courses, exploring topics from music production to environmental geochemistry, were on ebullient display at the Curricular Innovation Showcase.

Shannon Griffin ’16 of Philadelphia describes her work in a practitioner-taught Short Term course on mediation and conflict resolution. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

Shannon Griffin ’16, a double major in Chinese and psychology from Philadelphia, took the “Practicum in Restorative Justice and Mediation,” one of the five practitioner-taught courses. Griffin was attracted by the theme of restorative justice, but ended up intrigued by the mediation piece, taught by Elaine Bourne of the Community Mediation Services Program, Volunteers of America.

The class envisioned scenarios that could bring ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ students into conflict — with each other, with local residents, even with the college administration — and worked with Bourne to understand how formal mediation could alleviate the conflict.

“It’s about being nonjudgmental, not taking sides, not making decisions, but basically being there to facilitate the conversation, have ground rules about respect and make sure both sides feel they are being represented equally,” Griffin explained.

Her particular interest lay in a topic current in Lewiston: the impact of student voters on local elections, with some residents feeling that people who aren’t in town for the long haul shouldn’t have a say in major issues.

Mike Lydon ’04, principal at The Street Plans Collaborative, led the “Practicum in Urban Planning,” which included the creation of a bike lane in downtown Lewiston. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

An important role for a meditator would be to propose steps, Griffin said, that would “change the optics” — that is, public perceptions. “Instead of, ‘We’re doing stuff for Lewiston,’ it would be, ‘We’re doing stuff with Lewiston.'”

The course “just gave me skills for daily life,” she added.

Also on the practitioner-taught side, students in “Entrepreneurship,” taught by Darrell Williams ’86 of HealthTech Maine, pitched business ideas in a nearby classroom. In the atrium, two practitioners communed as a headphone-wearing Craig Saddlemire ’05 (“Social Change Organizing and Advocacy”) grooved to sounds fine-tuned by students in “Music Production, Recording and Mixing” as engineer-producer Jonathan Wyman ’97 pointed out nuances.

When Matt Auer, dean of the faculty and vice-president for academic affairs, looks at the Course (Re)design program, which uses Short Term to develop courses that will live on for years as part of the fall-winter curriculum, “it’s hugely renewing and exciting,” he said in his showcase welcome.

Intriguing in and of themselves, each of the five course-design programs addressed a different curricular need. Recognizing the need for ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ to better address the looming role of Big Data in academe and beyond, for instance, economist Nathan Tefft met it head-on with “Big Data and Economics.”

Charles Kenyon ’15 of Buffalo, N.Y., discusses what he learned in the practitioner-taught course “Social Change,” taught by Craig Saddlemire ’05. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

Physicist Travis Gould, meanwhile, worked with students to design new laboratory projects exploiting the Arduino line of open-source microcontrollers. His goal: updating the longstanding Short Term course “Electronics Laboratory” — which Gould happened to be teaching even as his (Re)design students were designing new projects for the next time around.

His early goal for the Short Term course was to create two new lab units, Gould said. “In the end, the (Re)design students produced six new labs in total. Considering that none of them had any previous experience with microcontrollers or the programming language we used, this is impressive.”

“This is enough material for about half of a full course based on modern electronics,” Gould explained, adding, “The students absolutely blew me away with the level of maturity, thoughtfulness, and hard work they put into this course.”

Sociologist Emily Kane, who played a central role in developing ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½’ recent Short Term programming, listens as Tynan Daly ’15 of Lake Forest, Ill., describes the “Big Data and Economics” course he took. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

The student role in Course (Re)design is huge, said Kirk Read, professor of French and francophone studies and associate dean of the faculty. “The luxury of having students right there in the class to say, ‘Boring! Here’s why that’s not going to work, or here’s how it would work better’ — in real time as you redesign something, or build it from the bottom up — is an incredible benefit,” he said.

And the students gain as well as give. “Having small groups of students work with professors on designing or redesigning a course,” Read said, “teaches them so much about teaching and learning — not to mention the content of the course.

“I just think in terms of going back to the roots and principles of Short Term and what it was originally all about: experimentation, cooking up new ideas, intensive experience, a close-knit group of people. This is the total answer to that.”

The days are long gone when the phrase “Here be dragons” on a navigational chart warned captains away from unknown and perilous waters.

From left, Dean of the Faculty Matt Auer, Student Government President Alyssa Morgosh ’15 and college President Clayton Spencer relax after speaking at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½’ 2014 Convocation. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

At ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½, though, “the professor-navigator knows where the dragons are and…might actually lead you into them,” Matt Auer told the college’s Class of 2018 during Convocation on Sept. 2.

And that’s good because, in fact, there be things you can learn from the dragons.

“The whole dragon question is about probabilities, choices and moments where you have to decide how to proceed in the absence of complete information,” said Auer, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty.

“ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½â€™ navigators can help you think through the risks and benefits. But at the end of the day, and the days are short here in the winter, it’s your analysis and it’s your decision.” And learning to make such decisions, and to own the results, is one of the greatest rewards.

Likening the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ experience to a voyage of discovery, Auer’s address was the centerpiece of the midday ceremony. Also addressing the assembly on the Historic Quad were Acting Multifaith Chaplain Emily Wright-Magoon, Student Government President Alyssa Morgosh ’15 and college President Clayton Spencer, who opened Convocation with her remarks.

Convocation video, including address by Dean of the Faculty Matt Auer:

Spencer’s welcome looked at the ways ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ practices the concept of community. She quoted feminist writer Bell Hooks: “We need to work against the danger of evoking something we don’t actually practice.”

What does it mean to “actually practice” community? For one thing, Spencer said, “it means actively struggling against the powerful human tendency to divide the world into ‘us’ and ‘them.’â€�

From left, Dean of the Faculty Matt Auer, Student Government President Alyssa Morgosh '15 and college President Clayton Spencer prepare to speak at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½' 2014 Convocation. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

Convocation at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College, Sept. 2, 2014. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

Matt Auer, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½, gave the Convocation address on Sept. 2, 2014. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

Mathematics professor Chip Ross shields himself from the early September sun during a warm and muggy Convocation 2014. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

Grace Ingabire '18 of Kigali, Rwanda, takes notes during the 2014 Convocation address by Matt Auer, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

For another, it means to seek out our common humanity, to approach each encounter with openness toward and respect for the other. “If you do this consistently,” Spencer said, “you will find that you have the solidarity and support of community not only in the good times, but also in times of worry and anxiety, regret or longing.”

In greeting the 498 new kids on the Quad, Morgosh used her own ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ experiences to exemplify and amplify Spencer’s theme. From the upperclassmen who walked her through a chemistry problem-set in her second week at the college to the alumna of the Class of ’49 who celebrated the friendly ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ greetings that prevailed in her day and still do, Morgosh sketched out the human virtues that, she said, “make ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ an incredible place.”

Titled “Hoisting the Mainsail at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½,” Auer’s convocation address was rich with shouts-out to faculty and students doing exemplary academic work. He began with a quick look at on Instagram, whose images reflect adventures both recreational and academic — such as a Short Term in London, led by professor Sanford Freeman, that Auer described as a “period of very intense and concentrated discoveries.”

“Deep learning and truly transformative discoveries sometimes require you to slow down.”

That’s what ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ is about, Auer said, going on to explain the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ voyage of discovery with metaphors from the Age of Discovery, an era that revealed much of the world to European explorers in wind-powered ships.

ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ faculty, he said, resemble both navigators and lookouts— with some notable differences from their antecedents in history. For instance, there’s that dragon thing. And the lookouts may want to bring you closer to those icebergs that the Titanic should have avoided, because now more than ever, in this age of climate change, icebergs have much to teach us.

And unlike the navigators of old, ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ faculty often want students to take the long way around, Auer pointed out. “Deep learning and truly transformative discoveries sometimes require you to slow down.”

It was with one last nautical metaphor that Auer hove to. What kind of ship are we sailing, anyway? A schooner, he said. And the schooner is a beautiful ship — but that beauty is a community project. “It’s hard to find idle hands or deck chairs. Everybody has a job to do. Your job is to actively discover and learn.”

Wright-Magoon steered the nautical theme into more spiritual waters to conclude the ceremony. French author André Gide once wrote that “one does not discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time.” But, Wright-Magoon said, to look beneath the surface of that seemingly featureless sea is to discover a new world of connections and resources that may leave us feeling less isolated and alone.

Wright-Magoon concluded, “Even though our journey is unclear, we have fellow travelers beside us. Let is set sail, confident that safe harbors will be found in the company of each other.”

A few days before Convocation, Kwamae Delva ’18 of Conley, Ga., begins his ascent of a rock wall in Rumney, N.H., as student leader Sean Enos ’15 of Lynnfield, Mass., provides belay. The trip was one of many enjoyed by groups of first-years as part of AESOP, the Annual Entering Student Outdoor Program. (Sarah Crosby/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

“Touchstones for moving through this new world that you have chosen.”

Joshua McIntosh joins ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ as the college’s vice president of student affairs and dean of students. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)