WMU News

Trustees okay administrative appointments for Bailey, Stillwell

June 25, 1999

KALAMAZOO -- The appointments of Dr. Thomas C. Bailey as an associate vice president for academic affairs and Dr. Janet E. Stillwell as interim dean of the College of Fine Arts were among personnel moves approved by the Western Michigan University Board of Trustees at its June 25 meeting.

In addition, the board okayed the appointments of Dr. William F. Santiago-Valles as director for the Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnic Relations; Dr. Robert C. Ulin as chairperson for the Department of Anthropology; and Dr. Earl E. Halvas as chairperson of the Department of Business Information Systems.

Bailey, a faculty member in the Department of English since 1970, has been WMU's ombudsman since 1994. In that role, Bailey serves as an impartial party who helps students, faculty and staff resolve academic and nonacademic concerns. In his new position, he will focus on student problems, subject-specific accreditation issues, teaching and classroom infrastructure matters.

Bailey has served as director of undergraduate studies for the Department of English and has served on a variety of departmental, college and University committees as well as been active in the American Association of University Professors. An expert on American women's poetry and environmental writing, Bailey has played an active national role in the Association for the Study of Literature and the Environment.

Bailey, whose appointment is effective July 1 through June 30, 2000, earned a bachelor's degree from Oberlin College, a master's degree from the University of Missouri at Columbia and a doctoral degree from Washington University in St. Louis.

Stillwell, associate dean of the College of Fine Arts, will step into the dean's position being vacated June 30 by Robert Luscombe, who is retiring. The search for his replacement has been extended and Stillwell's appointment as interim dean is effective through June 30, 2000.

Stillwell became associate dean of the college in 1986 after having served as assistant dean since 1982. She first joined the faculty in the Department of Dance in 1967.

She earned bachelor's, two master's and a doctoral degree from the University of Michigan.

The appointment of Santiago as the new director of the Institute for the Study of Race and
Ethnic Relations is effective Aug. 10. The board also approved faculty appointments for Santiago in
both communication and black Americana studies.

Santiago has held teaching and advising positions at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, where he completed his doctoral degree in 1998. He also has taught at the Interamerican University in San Juan, Puerto Rico and served as guest lecturer and visiting scholar at a number of other institutions.

His research on intercultural communication, relations between groups and intergroup communication has been widely published and he has conducted numerous workshops and seminars on those topics. Santiago also earned a bachelor's degree from Antioch College and a master's degree from the Graduate School of the Union Institute.

Ulin is coming to WMU from the University of Kansas, where he has served as visiting associate professor of anthropology for the past year. Prior to that, he had served as associate professor and chairperson of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Allegheny College since 1992 and as assistant professor there from 1985 to 1992.

He also has been a visiting scholar or adjunct faculty member at several colleges in the United States and France and has conducted field research and published on the topic of French wine cooperatives.

He earned a bachelor's degree from Whittier College and master's and doctoral degrees from the New School for Social Research. Ulin's appointment, which is effective Aug. 1, includes an appointment as a professor of anthropology with tenure. He replaces Dr. James C. Petersen, who has been serving as interim chairperson since July 1998.

Halvas, a faculty member since 1971, will replace Dr. Joel Bowman, who had been serving as interim chairperson of the Department of Business Information Systems and has returned to the faculty. His appointment is effective July 1.

Halvas has been active on department, college and University policy and governance committees. He has been a member of the Faculty Senate and a member of several committees for WMU's chapter of the American Association of University Professors.

Halvas' expertise is in the area of records management. He also has presented widely on the topic of time management. He earned bachelor's and master's degrees from Northern Michigan University and a doctoral degree from the University of Minnesota. He is a certified records manager and he earned a management information systems certificate, also from the University of Minnesota.

In other personnel moves, the board accepted the resignations of Jan Lyddon, director of Institutional Research and Planning, effective Aug. 31; and Dr. Vladimir Tsukruk, chairperson of the Department of Construction Engineering, Materials Engineering and Construction Management, effective Aug. 11. The board also accepted the resignation of Dr. Paul Thistle, associate professor of economics, which became effective April 18.

Trustees also completed a process that began in April when they approved the creation of two new departments in the College of Education. At the June 25 meeting the board approved changes in departmental affiliation for the affected faculty members.

The board approved a change of affiliation for 53 faculty members who were previously on the faculty of the Department of Education and Professional Development, the Department of Special Education or the Department of Educational Leadership. They now will be part of the Department of Teaching, Learning and Leadership, with Dr. Julie Stoffels serving as chairperson of that department, or part of the Department of Educational Studies, with Dr. Elizabeth Whitten serving as chairperson. One affected faculty member, Dr. Robert Brinkerhoff, has joined the faculty of the Department of Counselor Education and Counseling Psychology.

Media contact: Cheryl Roland, 616 387-8400, cheryl.roland@wmich.edu


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