Arizona State University Update PFF Work

August 31, 2000 Activities Following the Receipt of the Grant

 

Cluster Institutions

Arizona State University Main
Arizona State University East
Arizona State University West
Grand Canyon University
Phoenix College
Chandler Gilbert Community College
Scottsdale Community College

 

Following the receipt of the grant, co-PIs Noel Stowe and Brooks Simpson met to outline the beginnings of our work. Here are the PFF features and activities at Arizona State University as they have developed to date.

1. Announcement to department faculty. An e-mail announcement went to all ASU Main history faculty describing the grant project and inviting members of the department to join a steering committee.

2. Attending the PFF Conference at Colorado Springs. Following the receipt of the grant, a team of four was assembled to attend the PFF gathering in Colorado. Noel Stowe, co-PI and Department Chair, and Andrew Barnes, Director of Graduate Study attended from ASU Main as did partner faculty from the cluster, Dr. Pete Dimas from Phoenix College and Dr. Douglas Dye from Grand Canyon University.

3. Broadening the PFF group. We set about broadening the PFF cluster. We invited history faculty from Scottsdale Community College and Chandler Gilbert Community College to join PFF and both agreed.

4. Steering Committee appointed; first meeting. Members of a Steering Committee were appointed and include the following:

From ASU Main: co-PIs Brooks Simpson and Noel Stowe; director of graduate study Andrew Barnes; the departmental graduate committee—Gayle Gullett, Vicki Ruiz, Lynn Stoner, Victoria Thompson, Philip VanderMeer; PFF doctoral students Steve Amerman and Mary Ann Villarreal; new ASU faculty members Laurie Manchester and Angela Wilson; volunteer faculty members Steve Batalden and Kyle Longley; Cluster faculty Candice Bredbenner (ASU West), Pete Dimas (Phoenix College); Douglas Dye (Grand Canyon University); Janice Miller (Scottsdale Community College); Pam Petty (Chandler Gilbert Community College); David Schwalm (dean, ASU East).

The Steering Committee met for a long breakfast meeting the week before fall classes started to get to know one another, review the planning for the project, and offer suggestions and recommendations for a cluster based PFF program.

5. Panel at the ASU History Faculty Retreat. At the department's annual retreat (the Friday before fall classes start) a 90 minute session introduced PFF to the department. A panel drawn from the Steering Committee and PFF History students presented the concept of the project and its goals from the points of view of the doctoral granting faculty, the cluster partner faculty, and the PFF doctoral students. Participants included the co-PIs, the director of graduate study, partner faculty from Phoenix College and Grand Canyon University, and two PFF history students from the Graduate College's PFF program. The panel stayed on for lunch and conversation with the ASU Main faculty.

6. PFF opportunities for doctoral students provided in the department. The department began outlining PFF opportunities within the department. Space for PFF students was made available on the department's Undergraduate Curriculum Committee, PFF Steering Committee, Quality of Instruction Committee, 2 Faculty Search Committees, and for projects in the department's advising office. PFF students were invited to apply to participate in this committee work. Two doctoral students were selected to work as graduate associates on the PFF project with the co-PIs, as required by the grant. A doctoral student began teaching at ASU East as a PFF teaching fellow.

7. College teaching classes in the department. The department's Quality of Instruction Committee conducted a teaching workshop during Orientation Week for TAs who would be teaching in the department this year (all ASU TAs teach independent courses). The workshop specifically offered teaching tips and training on how to use new technology in the classroom, including the use of Blackboard for class materials and discussion and the use of equipment (Proxima, for example). The chair of the Quality of Instruction Committee is teaching two classes this fall: Introduction to College Teaching and Issues in College Teaching.

8. Application materials for PFF participation. The co-PIs commenced establishing a procedure for department students to prepare and submit an application form to participate in the PFF work.

9. The opening PFF event scheduled for the University Club, September 27, 2000—Dr. Arnita Jones, Executive Director of the AHA has been invited to participate in an opening PFF event for the department. Her talk and a reception for the ASU Main history faculty, all doctoral students in history, and all faculty members from the partner schools will serve as a way of introducing the faculty more fully to the project and the importance and potential of the project to the department.

Last Updated: July 7, 2008