research

Dr. Kristine Swenson to be Department Chair

April 1, 2009 by gdoty

Dr. Kristine Swenson, Associate Professor of English and Technical Communication, has accepted the position of chair of the department. Dr. Swenson’s duties will begin on July 1, 2009. Dr. Swenson’s years of experience at Missouri S&T (UMR when she came here in 1998) make her well-qualified to handle the demanding job of administering the department.

During this academic year (fall 2008 – spring 2009) Dr. Swenson has been on research leave, pursuing her book project on the Kenealy sisters, Arabelle and Annesley. The sisters were trained in medicine, one as a doctor, the other a nurse. They were active feminists and popular writers. I was privileged to hear Dr. Swenson’s presentation on this research at the 2007 Woman of the Year banquet. It’s very promising.

Please join me in welcoming Dr. Swenson as department chair.

Weathering the Storm

December 6, 2008 by gdoty

Surely everyone knows by now that a series of economic catastrophes are shaking up our lives. Everyone I know has more questions than answers, and the answers seem to shift each day–or more often. The University of Missouri system faces serious budget cuts; the amount isn’t known yet.

This post expresses strictly my own views, stating my attitude more than what I know, because what I know isn’t much. The serious budget cuts that the University of Missouri system faces will affect the way each campus, each department, and each faculty member functions. The cuts will affect the educational process of students.

As chair of the Department of English and Technical Communication, my goal is to do all I can, and to support the department’s faculty and staff to do all they can, to ensure that we come through this storm with the least possible damage. The quality of our courses, our degree programs, our research will remain as high as before the crises.