
English Department Meeting Information
- Meeting Date: 03/18/21
- Meeting Minutes Taker: David Hanauer
- John Marsden will monitor the chat for any issues we need to discuss
- Since we are taking minutes at the meetings, we will not be recording meetings unless there is some pressing need to do so
- Zoom Meeting Link:
- Upcoming Department Meetings and Minutes Takers:
- Apr. 1 Thursday Extra Meeting 2:00-3:15 p.m. Tony Farrington
- Apr. 15 Thursday 2:00-3:15 p.m. Tanya Heflin
- English Department Minutes Takers Archive
“Go forth! Be brave! Be proud! Be true!”
- IUP English Professor Jane Leonard (1840-1925)

Congratulations
- To Chris Kuipers on being awarded a sabbatical for Fall 2021
- To Emily Wender on being awarded a sabbatical for Spring 2022
Big Thanks!
- Thanks to Blane Dessy who has given a generous donation to create an endowed scholarship: The Blane Dessy Scholarship for English
- The paperwork has just been finalized; This scholarship will be used to support English majors studying myth
- Blane’s donation also funded creation of the new Myth Collaborative space in our department atrium
- Funds from Blane’s donation will also support publication of a myth-focused journal, Arestia, speakers, and related activities
- Mike Williamson and Melanie Holm will serve as Co-Directors of the Myth Collaborative
- A grand opening of the new space will be video taped in April for dissemination
Approval of Department Meeting Minutes
We will vote to approve Minutes from the English Department meetings held on the dates below:
- 2/18/21 (Minutes Taker: Jean Nienkamp)
Minutes are available in the Microsoft Teams English Department Group folder called English Department Meeting Minutes.
Agenda Items
1. Guest: Dr. Curt Scheib, Dean of the new College of Arts and Humanities
Dean Scheib will be visiting our meeting.
We will begin with brief faculty introductions (SHORT PLEASE!).
Then we will ask Dean Scheib to address these broad questions:
- What is your vision for the new College of Arts and Humanities?
- What role do you hope the Department of English will play in that vision?
- What is your work style and approach to serving as a dean?
- What are your priorities for faculty in the new college?
- Please tell us about your sense of the importance of IUP’s Liberal Studies Program and the English writing and literature courses that are required components in that program.
- How do you hope to support undergraduate majors, minors, and certificate programs, such as the English B.A. Program, the English Education, and the ESL Certificate Program scheduled to launch in Fall 2021?
- With multiple large English graduate programs moving into the new college, what do you see as the priorities for graduate education at IUP?
- Please share some thoughts on your view of supporting efforts that reach beyond our college, such as the Honors College, the Writing Center, Sustainability Studies, Women’s and Gender Studies, the Center for Digital Humanities and Culture, and the newly established Myth Collaborative.
After Dean Scheib makes some general remarks, we will open things up to questions and comments.
2. IUP English Scholarships Update
- Scholarship awards are being centralized
3. Department Suite Information
- There is no cleaning staff in the building after about 3:00 p.m.; if you are working in your office in the late afternoon/evening, please lock the door to the office suite as you leave
- There was small vandalism issue in HSS 306, so we need to be more on guard about security
Announcements
- If anyone has an important announcement, we’ll use the last few minutes of the meeting to cover this
