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♪ [music playing-- no dialogue] ♪♪.
(Dr. William Weber). Good afternoon everyone.
Good afternoon.
I'm William Weber, professor of economics, Director of Summer
Session, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs,
Interim University Budget Director--Provost Lord,
that's a minor hint that my business card is full,
no more duties.
[laughter].
Anyway, it's my pleasure to welcome you to our annual
new faculty wine and cheese reception.
And to start off our program today, I'd like to introduce
some officers from the EIU Dancers who are going
to perform for us.
We have Kimberly Zydek, Laura Kracik, Allison Brinati,
and Lynn Gearica.
They're under the direction of Jeanne McFarland.
So please welcome the EIU Dancers.
[audience applause].
[no audio].
[audience applause].
[no dialogue].
Thank you very much.
That was Kimberly Zydek, Laura Kracik, Allison Brinati,
and Lynn Gearica.
Thank you very much.
Next on our agenda, let me introduce Dr. John Henry Pommier
Chair of the Faculty Senate.
[audience applause].
(Dr. Pommier). I'll tell you, every year I come
to this and I think that Mildred and everybody on staff here,
you outdid yourself, this is beautiful.
The dancers, wow, I wish I could...
I hope to see this video tape and learn how to dance
as well as they can, it's amazing.
[laughter].
One thing, this is your day, especially for the new faculty
that are here.
The good thing about this, I asked for a list of everybody
that needs to be attending.
I'm thinking [unclear audio] maybe six or seven individuals,
new faculty, I get to rub shoulders with them
and introduce myself.
Then I saw the list.
This is just amazing to see all the new faculty here, but also
we have several mentees, we have the Faculty Senate here,
we have a lot of administrators that are here.
I don't remember the exact title, but it looks like
veteran faculty as well.
But anyway it's really good to see that we have all these new
faculty here that are hopefully going to just recognize a face.
To me, [unclear audio] always talk about how Eastern
[unclear audio] and how we [unclear audio].
But I think what also makes us different is that we're
personable with our faculty, and we hope to make
the faculty feel welcome, and so we hope that we will invite you
to take us up on that.
The new faculty here.
A lot of new faces here, in fact I saw some of our
[unclear audio] staff or faculty that have been here
for quite some time.
It's almost unique, in that we're looking at so many
different faces wondering, what's going on here,
we get a lot of new faculty here we get a lot of retirements,
but the neat thing is that we have a lot of different,
different diversity, a lot of different perspectives that
have come here on this campus.
One last thing before I get going here.
It's amazing how time flies.
For a lot of us, you may have thought of yourselves maybe
being here for a year or two years until
something else opens.
But also what you're going to find is that once you're here is
that there's not a better place out there.
This is an incredible university and we also want to thank you
for choosing to come here to Eastern.
Just as we go out there and try to get the best students,
and also you think that we're trying to get you to
[unclear audio] two or three other candidates,
remember you have to choose us, too, and we want to thank you
for choosing Eastern and hopefully [unclear audio].
Thank you.
[audience applause].
(Dr. Weber). Thank you Dr. Pommier.
Next, I would like to call to the podium Dr. Blair Lord,
our Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs.
I would tell some sort of joke about the Provost, but it might
be dangerous to do that.
[laughter].
So I think I will just turn it over to Dr. Lord.
[audience applause].
(Dr. Blair Lord). Thank you, Bill.
I do want to welcome everybody here,
especially the new faculty.
I'm getting to give a lot of greetings these days.
The president is traveling again although I see Linda over here
[unclear audio], but I get to do the ceremonial greeting on both
behalf of myself as well as the president.
I suspect that the new faculty in the room have actually heard
more greetings from me than the president
because of his travels.
[laughter].
In fact, we were talking in the office today and reflected that
we have this tradition here, years of service lunch,
where we give out certificates and pins.
If we keep having greetings for the new faculty, we'll be giving
you pins while I'm still welcoming you.
[laughter].
I've said many times that you have joined a great faculty
system, great faculty at Eastern, we do very well
by our students.
And I want to reflect what John Pommier just said, thank you
for choosing us, I think you've made a great choice.
You know, the president usually has a cute story,
something about himself and his past when he talks
and gives greetings like this.
But it's been so long since I was a new faculty member that
I can't remember any.
[laughter].
I do want to say, however, that I know when I started many,
many years ago, one of the first groups I got connected with was
the Faculty Development group at the University of Rhode Island,
my first institution.
And I ended up staying there 25 years and I wouldn't have done
so if I had not been connected with that.
So one of the sponsors of today's events, of course,
is the Faculty Development unit, and I encourage you all
to look into that.
Again, thank you for choosing us, and welcome to
Eastern Illinois University.
[audience applause].
(Dr. Weber). Thank you, Dr. Lord.
Next on the program, I'd like to call our Assistant Director
of Faculty Development, Krishna Thomas, who's been doing this
roughly just over a year now.
(Krishna). A year and two weeks.
(Dr. Weber). [unclear audio],
and so I'll turn this over to Ms. Thomas,
who will introduce Dr. Pearson.
(Krishna). Thank you, Dr. Weber.
It's great to see you all here today, definitely a wonderful
day to come out for this kind of event.
Hopefully this weather, and this is a shameless plug, by the way,
this weather will hold for Faculty Appreciation Day
on Friday.
We do have a giant slide, we all know that you like getting on
the slide.
[laughter].
So anyway, I would like to go ahead and introduce
Dr. Mildred Pearson.
Dr. Pearson has served as Director of Faculty Development
for the last five years.
She's also teaching in the Early Childhood, Elementary,
and Middle Level Education Department.
Please welcome Dr. Pearson.
[audience applause].
[no dialogue].
(Dr. Mildred Pearson). Dreams do come true,
and it was a dream that I would see all of you today.
To President Perry in his absence and his lovely wife
Linda Perry, Provost Lord, vice presidents, deans,
administrators, faculty advising committee, staff,
and special guests, thank you for joining us today
on this special occassion to welcome our new faculty.
It is a time to celebrate.
Nationally renowned author and speaker Dr. Robert
[unclear audio] purports that a dream is an idea that
involves a sense of possibilties rather than probabilities,
a potential rather than limits.
A dream is the well spring of passion, giving us direction
and pointing us to lofty heights.
There are many things in life that will capture your eye,
but very few will capture your heart.
Those are the ones we are to pursue, and those are the ones
worth keeping, so keep the dream alive.
To dream is an expression of optimism, hope, and values,
lofty enough to capture the imaginiation and engage
the spirit.
Dreams grab us and they move us.
They are capable of lifting us to new heights and overwhelming
and overcoming self-imposed limitations.
Seventy-two years ago before Dr. Martin Luther King shared
his dream in a soul stirring oration on the steps of the
Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC,
Eastern Illinois State Normal School then was founded in 1895
after a group of leaders lobbied in Mattoon for the state
of a Normal School.
Twelve communities competed to have this new school
but on September 7, 1895, in Charleston, Illinois,
a board of trustees selected the new site.
That small band of citizens who lived in a small rural town
called Charleston, established the institution
of higher learning.
They too had a dream, and like Dr. King's dream it was
realized, and little did they know 113 years later
Illinois Teacher's College of Higher Education would stand
as a beacon of light, for all Americans, all races,
and all ethnic groups.
And from 125 students then to 12,040 students today,
yes Eastern Illinois University, we are alive and well, and
its rich history stands on a solid menu of academic programs.
Dreams do come true.
We have a university president with a vision and a dream for us
to be the best in class, promoting interdisciplinary
teaching and learning, focusing on personal development
for our students.
We have a provost with a vision for study abroad, so that our
students can compete in a global society.
He believes in a relationship-driven education
which leads us to student and faculty mentoring.
We have a supportive administrative team
of vice presidents, deans of four academic colleges,
a graduate dean, honors college dean, the dean of the School of
Continuing Education, and a dean of a showcase library,
Booth Library.
Dreams do come true.
We have an active faculty development program that began
as a steering committee, who have now been recognized for its
innovation and its programs to enhance teaching and learning.
We have talented faculty and staff who believe in serving for
the good of our institution and our students.
Let us continue to strive for excellence as we learn
about teaching, our students' various learning styles when
Dr. Sandra McGuire will join us on November 6.
And as we learn about academic rigor and academic success with
Dr. Barbara [unclear audio] April 1 and 2, 2009.
Dreams do come true.
They are revealed when you serve on committees new faculty,
and become the next leaders of tomorrow to bring about change,
renewal, and restoration to distressed students
and hurting faculty.
They are revealed with mentors year after year,
volunteering their time to lift up others as they climb,
to serve as models and as a guidepost for the new colleagues
that are on the roads least travelled.
And they are revealed when veteran faculty are remembered
for those who have laid the foundation in order for us
to be successful.
So today, we do celebrate you, our new colleagues.
And on Friday we'll celebrate all faculty at the
Faculty Appreciation Day.
And we are going to celebrate all faculty for sacrificing
their time, for research, for teaching and service.
Remember, the greatest discovery that one can make is that
nothing is impossible.
Keep the dream alive and never, never give up.
[audience applause].
♪ [music playing--Dr. Pearson performs "Never Give Up"
by Yolanda Adams] ♪♪.
♪ "Visions that can change the world" ♪
♪ "Trapped inside an ordinary girl" ♪
♪ "She looks just like me Too afraid to dream out loud" ♪
♪ "And though it's simply your idea" ♪
♪ "It won't make sense to everybody" ♪
♪ "You need courage now If you're going to persevere" ♪
♪ "To fulfill divine purpose" ♪
♪ "You gotta answer when you're called" ♪
♪ "So don't be afraid to face the world, against all odds" ♪
♪" Keep the dream alive, don't let it die" ♪
♪" If there's something deep inside" ♪
♪" Keeps inspiring you to try, don't stop and never give up" ♪
♪" Don't ever give up on you Don't give up." ♪
♪" Every victory comes in time Work today to change tomorrow" ♪
♪" It gets easier, who's to say that you can't fly" ♪
♪ "Every step that you take" ♪
♪ "You get closer to your destination" ♪
♪ "You can feel it now, don't you know you're almost there" ♪
♪ "To fulfill your divine purpose" ♪
♪ "You gotta answer when you're called" ♪
♪ "So don't be afraid to face the world, against all odds" ♪
♪ "Keep the dream alive, don't let it die" ♪
♪ "If there's something deep inside" ♪
♪ " Keeps inspiring you to try, don't stop and never give up" ♪
♪ "Don't ever give up on you" ♪
♪ "Sometimes life can place A stumbling block in your way" ♪
♪ "But you've gotta keep the faith" ♪
♪ "Reap what's deep inside your heart to fly" ♪
♪ "And never give up, Don't ever give up on you" ♪
♪ "Who holds the pieces to the puzzle?" ♪
♪ "The answer that can solve the mystery, yeah" ♪
♪ "The keys that can unlock your understanding" ♪
♪ "It's all inside of you You have everything you need" ♪
♪ "So keep the dream alive, don't let it die" ♪
♪ "If there's something deep inside" ♪
♪ "Keeps inspiring you to try, don't stop and never give up" ♪
♪ "Don't ever give up on you" ♪
♪ "Sometimes life can place A stumbling block in your way" ♪
♪ "But you've gotta keep the faith" ♪
♪ "Reap what's deep inside your heart to fly" ♪
♪ "And never give up, don't ever give up on you, don't give up" ♪
♪" No, no, no, no, no Don't give up"♪
♪ "Don't you give up Don't you give up" ♪
♪ "Don't give up." ♪♪
[audience applause].
(Dr. Weber). Thank you Dr. Pearson,
I can't wait for the next karaoke night.
[laughter].
As Dr. Pearson mentioned, we have a very strong
administrative team to help the faculty in their work here,
and let me get out my cheat sheet and see if I can find
everyone who's here.
First of all from the President's Council,
as was mentioned earlier by Dr. Lord and Dr. Pearson,
Dr. Perry could not be with us but his wife Linda is here.
[audience applause].
Mrs. Perry is also teaching for us this term
in the School of Business.
Also from President's Council, I believe I saw Jill Nilson,
Vice President for External Relations.
[audience applause].
Then am I missing anyone from President's Council
besides the Provost?
Okay, moving on to the staff in the Provost's office.
We have Dr. Jeff Cross who is Associate Vice President
of Academic Affairs
[audience applause].
And let's see, is Dr. Harrington-Perry here today?
There she is.
[audience applause].
Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs.
Is Dr. Hoadley, Michael Hoadley here today?
For those of you who like to play with the tech toys,
he's in charge of our Center for Academic Technology Support,
so get to know him when you have a chance.
I think that's everyone from the Provost's Office, let me move on
to the Dean's Council.
Let's see if I can do this in alphabetical order, let me start
with the College of Arts and Humanities, Dean Jim Johnson.
[audience applause].
And also note that Associate Dean Jeff Lynch is here.
[audience applause].
And they have spectacular new office space if you haven't
seen it, or will have before another month or so before
the Provost and I move in.
[laughter].
Moving on to the College of Education and Professional
Studies, we have Dean Diane Jackman who I saw there.
[audience applause].
And Associate Dean Doug Bower is here as well.
[audience applause].
From the College of Sciences Dean Mary Anne Hanner.
[audience applause].
And Associate Dean Gadzino Diaz, is Gadzino here?
(female speaker). Not yet.
(Dr. Weber). Not yet, look for him.
[laughter].
From the Lumpkin College of Business and Applied Sciences,
Dean Diane Hoadley.
[audience applause].
And we have a new Associate Dean in that College,
Jeannie Schnieder.
[audience applause].
Also, in the Dean's Council, Dean Bob Augustine
from the Graduate School.
[audience applause].
Dean Allen Lanham from Booth Library.
[audience applause].
Dean Bonnie Irwin from the Honors College,
is she here today?
Don't see her yet.
And Dean Will Hine from the School of Continuing Education.
[audience applause].
Okay, I think I got everyone from Dean's council.
I'm not going to go through the full list of chairs
and introduce them individually, because I know you'd rather get
to the wine than listen to me.
[laughter].
But we do have some new additions to the Council of
Chairs that I would like to recognize.
Dr. John Mase from Psychology is here.
[audience applause].
Dr. Linda Gent is a [unclear audio].
[audience applause].
Dr. James Ochwa-Echel is our new chair of
African American studies.
[audience applause].
He is there, in front.
And, let's see, and we have Dr. Cheryl Noll has assumed
the chair in the School of Business.
[audience applause].
Our chairs have a wealth of experience and so, new faculty
one of the best pieces of advice I can give you is do seek out
their advice whenever you have a question in your department.
We have several other directors in attendance
and I will be lucky if I get them all.
Let's see, I saw Kay Woodward here, who is [unclear audio].
[audience applause].
Who else have I seen here, Michael Watts who runs the
Tarble Arts Center, and the new Assistant Dean at the College of
Arts and Humanities.
[audience applause].
Let's see, who else am I seeing, Karla Sanders is here from
[unclear audio].
[audience applause].
And have I missed any other Deans or Directors?
Okay, wonderful.
Also, whoops did I miss someone?
(female speaker). Women's Studies.
(Dr. Weber). Women's Studies,
and I can't remember, Jeannie Ludlow, I'm sorry we haven't had
the chance to meet.
[audience applause].
Okay, as Dr. Pearson mentioned we have an advisory committee
for Faculty Development.
They put in a lot of work behind the scenes and so let me just
briefly recognize them.
Please acknowledge if you're here, Dr. Tishoma Niveta
from Economics.
[audience applause].
Dean Hanner from the College of Sciences.
[audience applause].
Dr. Karla Kennedy-Hagan from Family Consumer Sciences.
[audience applause].
Dr. John Oliver from Kinesiology and Sports Studies.
Is John here today?
Dr. Susie Park from English.
[audience applause].
Dr. Joy Russell who is the chair of [unclear audio].
[audience applause].
Joceyln Tipton from Booth Library.
[audience applause].
And Bill Bouton from the School of Business, is he here today?
Okay, and finally, I should turn this back over to Dr. Pommier
to introduce anyone here from Faculty Senate who is here.
John, do you want to do this or do you want me to keep going?
(Dr. Pommier). Just have them raise their hand.
[laughter].
John Best from Psychology.
[audience applause].
And [unclear audio] from Booth Library.
[audience applause].
Johnny [unclear audio] from history.
[audience applause].
Marie Farrel from Early Childhood Development.
[audience applause].
Ruth Hogerman from English.
[audience applause].
May Yen-Lee from special ed.
[audience applause].
Robin Murray from English.
[audience applause].
Karen Padmaraju from Early Childhood, Elementary,
Middle Level Education, she was here earlier I know.
Joy Russell who does anything.
[audience applause].
John Stimac, the chair of Geology-Geography, is he here?
Don Von Drutten from Secondary Education and Foundations.
Andrew White from Mathematics and Computer Science.
And Marjorie Worthington from English.
So anyways, those are you representatives in the
Faculty Senate, and again feel free to consult and work
with them if you have any issues.
Dr. Pearson, have I forgotten anything at this point?
Okay, thank you so much, I am going to let you go back
to your socializing.
♪ [music playing-- no dialogue] ♪♪.