Introduction

  • This election is for University Research Funding Committee College of Arts and Sciences Representative. The rules for this election are listed below.
  • The nominees for the University Research Funding Committee College of Arts and Sciences Representative election are listed to the right. The list to the right is not a ballot.
  • This list in not official until nominations have been closed and the list of nominees has been reviewed and verified by the APSCUF Nominations and Elections Committee.
  • The statements the candidates submitted with their nominations are given below. By clicking on a name in the list of candidates, you will be taken to that candidate's statement.
  • Clicking on the words Return to Top will return you to this part of the page.
  • If you are a nominee and wish to modify your statement or withdraw your nomination, click on the "Modify" button. You will need your password to make any modifications.
  • When you are finished, you may choose to view nominees for other elections, nominate yourself, view the list of elections, return to the APSCUF Nominations and Elections homepage, visit the APSCUF homepage, or visit the WCU homepage.
The nominees for University Research Funding Committee College of Arts and Sciences Representative are:

Richard Burns
Randall Cream
Xin Fan
Allison Kolpas

Nominations close Apr 14, 2015.
Regular Faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences may be nominated.

Rules for the Election

    • Each department can have at most one representative on the University Faculty Development Committee.
    • The committee has nine faculty representatives--four from the College of Arts and Sciences, one from each of the Schools of Health Sciences, Education, Music, and Business and Public Affairs, and one from the non-classroom faculty--and four additional members representing various university groups.
    • The election is decided by a plurality of those casting votes unless such results violate the previous rules or the number of candidates does not exceed the number of positions to fill. In the later case, each candidate will be voted on by an approve/disapprove ballot.
    • Vacant seats will be filled one at a time with the current vacant seat filled by the candidate with the highest vote count. As each seat is filled, the candidate filling that seat and any other candidates from the same department as the candidate filling that seat will be disqualified. Votes cast for disqualified candidates, as just defined, will not be considered in filling remaining vacant seats.
    • Each candidate selected counts as a cast vote.
    • All regular terms begin the first day of the academic year.

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Richard Burns


Department: Computer Science

I am a tenure-track faculty member in my third year at WCU.

I fully realize the challenges of succesfully performing good teaching and scholarship at WCU. Given our heavy teaching load, I believe that it is crucial for WCU to have appropriate internal funding opportunities as well as external grant support in order for faculy to effectively engage students in quality research.

I am very familiar with internal funding opportunites at WCU. I have been awarded CASSDA funding, a pair of GA assistantships from CAS, and a team of undergraduates whom I am advising jointly with collaborators in the Mathematics Department recently received a CAS Research Award. I also recently submitted a PASSHE FPDC proposal (still awaiting funding announcement).

If elected, I will support all grant funding opportunities, both internal and external, and work to improve university research funding. Thank you for your support.


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Randall Cream


Department: English

I'm excited at the chance to serve on the University Research Funding Committee and work to support and develop a culture of research here at WCU. A faculty member from English may seem like a strange fit for this position, but my scholarship comes largely from building and developing externally-funded grant projects. I've collaborated on multi-departmental and multi-institutional grants for NSF, NEH, NIH and foundations such as Google and Mellon. I'd bring my passion for collaboration and an energetic nature to supporting my colleagues to this important committee.


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Xin Fan


Department: Biology

I would appreciate your vote to serve the University Research Funding Committee. I have more than twenty years of research experience in the area of microbiology. I have also received both external and internal research fundings for the past eight years at WCU. My undergraduate research students have also received many fundings or awards for their research projects and presentations.


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Allison Kolpas


Department: Mathematics

I know how important internal funding opportunities can be for new faculty members or faculty members starting new projects, having myself been the recipient of such awards. I just recently completed a two year term on the College of Arts and Sciences Support and Development Award (CASSDA) Committee and would like to continue this work at the university level.

I have extensive grant writing experience. Early in my career, I was the recipient of two internally funded grants. I recently obtained a three-year National Science Foundation grant to support my interdisciplinary research program in mathematical biology with undergraduates. I am excited to review faculty member proposals and provide useful feedback to help them pursue their research goals.

Thank you for your support.


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