ACADEMIC & FACULTY NEWS Welcome, Provost Ashish Vaidya

July 2015
ACADEMIC &
FACULTY NEWS
E-newsletter from the Office of the Provost/Academic Affairs
Welcome, Provost Ashish Vaidya
Please join us in welcoming Dr. Ashish K. Vaidya as our new Provost and Vice President for
Academic Affairs, effective July 1, 2015. President Earl H. Potter said he is pleased to bring
“someone with significant accomplishments as a provost to
the university’s administrative team.”
Dr. Vaidya holds degrees in economics from St. Xavier’s
College in Mumbai, India and the University of Mumbai as
well as a master’s degree and Ph.D. in economics from the
University of California, Davis. In 2007, he participated in
American Association of State Colleges and Universities’
(AASCU) professional development program for senior
higher education administrators, the Millennium Leadership
Initiative. In June 2008, Dr. Vaidya successfully completed the
Management and Leadership in Education (MLE) program
offered by the Graduate School of Education at Harvard
University.
Dr. Vaidya most recently served as Special Adviser to the President for Regional Economic
Development at California State University, Los Angeles. He was formerly the Provost and Vice
President for Academic Affairs at California State University, Los Angeles and served in a variety of
leadership positions at California State University, Channels Islands (dean of the faculty, MBA
director, and founding director of the Center for International Affairs). Dr. Vaidya began his career
as a professor of economics at California State, Los Angeles and Channels Islands.
Dr. Vaidya serves as the co-chair of AASCU’s Regional Engagement and Research Council (RERC)
and on the board of directors of the University Economic Development Association (UEDA). Dr.
Vaidya is married to Nita Vaidya – a sociologist and chef extraordinaire. They have two children,
Jaanhvi – a technology consulting analyst with Accenture, and Avaneesh – a sophomore at the
University of Arizona. The family loves watching the Food Channel with their two dogs – Frisco
and Coco. Dr. Vaidya is a Fitbit enthusiast, enjoys playing tennis, and rooting for the San Francisco
49ers. He is looking forward to getting to know the community of St. Cloud and discovering the
beauty of Minnesota and its many lakes.
Vaidya said he is enthused to be joining the St. Cloud State leadership team and working with its
“outstanding students, faculty, staff and alumni.” In addition, he said “I look forward to helping the
university collaborate with community partners to meet the educational, economic, social and
cultural needs of our region and state.” He added that “St. Cloud State is ideally positioned to take
advantage of community-university partnerships to develop new innovative programs that advance
our mission of preparing students for life, work and citizenship in the 21st Century.”
Academic Spotlights
Be sure to check out the updates on the 2014-2015 Provost’s Action Grants. The Provost’s Action
Grants fund projects that departments identify as developing and supporting an extraordinary
education. These awards allow SCSU faculty and staff to pursue new, high-impact practices to better
serve our students. Recipients of the grants give updates on their projects at the following links:
Provost’s Action Grant Updates (Part 1 of 3)
Provost’s Action Grant Updates (Part 2 of 3)
Provost’s Action Grant Updates (Part 3 of 3)
We’ve also made it easier to share your accomplishments with the Provost’s Office! The Academic
Affairs website homepage now includes a “Share your Accomplishment” feature that allows you to
share accomplishments, awards, and achievements with us. Click on the button on the homepage, or
use this survey to let us know what you’re doing!
Additionally, If you would like to nominate a faculty member or student to be featured in an
academic spotlight, please email [email protected].
Kudos! Grants and Awards
•
St. Cloud State University was selected as a recipient for a $10,000 grant from MnSCU
Academic and Student Affairs for regional educational summits for developmental
education. This developmental math conference, which will be held Fall 2015, will offer
discussion sessions to interested faculty, staff and administrators involved with
developmental math programs at MnSCU institutions. Read more.
•
St. Cloud State earned the Meritorious Achievement Award from the Minnesota Safety
Council. The award, which recognizes superior performance in workplace safety and health,
was presented at the Governor’s Safety Awards Banquet. Learn more about how St. Cloud
State’s efforts to create a safe campus.
•
Chunyang Huang (SCSU alumnus, Communication Sciences and Disorders) has been
awarded the Taiwan Ministry of Education's Study Abroad Scholarship to complete his
Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota. This award is worth $32,000 and is the highest
recognition awarded by the Ministry of Education. While he was a graduate student with us,
Chunyang was the recipient of several scholarships on our campus and in 2012 was the
recipient of the Minority Student Leadership Award from the American Speech Language
Hearing Association.
•
Megan Coffman (M.S. student, Communication Sciences and Disorders) was one of four
recipients of the Minnesota Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation Scholarship for 2015.
Coffman was selected for the $2,500 award based on her work and volunteer experiences in
communication settings.
Updates and Announcements
•
Please join us in welcoming Provost Vaidya at a reception on Wednesday, July 1 from 2:003:30 p.m. in the Voyageurs Room of Atwood Memorial Center. Refreshments will be
served.
•
Fall Commencement: Please note that Fall Commencement will be held on Friday,
December 18, 2015.
•
In the interest of everyone’s safety, St. Cloud State will be conducting mandatory fire drills
on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, September 28th, 29th, and 30th. Visit the
announcement for more information.
•
Important Calendars: Please review the 2015-2016 Academic Calendar and check out the
new Faculty Duty Day Calendar for 2015-2016.
•
Three new degree programs will be offered Fall 2015. Read the announcement for more
information on these exciting opportunities for our students!
•
Information and timelines for PDP/PDR processes are available. For more information,
visit the Faculty Resource Guide website.
•
Have you heard about St. Cloud State’s Digital Repository? The Repository at St. Cloud
State University provides open access to a diverse collection of academic, scholarly,
scientific, and creative content produced by faculty, students, and staff at the University. The
Repository collects, organizes, distributes, and preserves the scholarly and cultural record to
promote interdisciplinary research, maximize research impact, and support local, regional,
and global development and interests
•
All previous Provost Newsletters are now available on the Academic Affairs website! Check
out the Newsletter Archive.
Please email [email protected] if you have any comments,
questions, or concerns about this newsletter or the Academic Affairs website.
Copyright © 2014 St. Cloud State University.