The College of Arts and Sciences’ newly revised Mission Statement (November 1997) provided the guiding principles for the College, and the faculty’s accomplishments this year clearly demonstrate how successfully we have fulfilled our primary mission of providing "an environment where intellectual challenge, the free exchange of ideas, and high standards of scholarship and creativity prevail." In fact, it was a year of unparalleled productivity and excellence.

Faculty in The College of Arts and Sciences clearly played a leading role in the University this year, garnering recognition of excellence in the areas of teaching, research, and service: four of the five Finalists for the Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award were College of Arts and Sciences faculty, The English Department earned the University Academic Award of Excellence, a member of the Chemistry department merited the University Scholar Award, a member of the Political Science/Public Affairs department attained The Paul A. Reid Distinguished Service Award, and two of the three Scholarly Development Assignment Awards were given to Arts and Sciences faculty.

This year’s significant increase in professional development activities further attests to the faculty’s commitment to excellence and to the College mission. Faculty members were highly visible regionally, nationally, and internationally, having attended 268 professional meetings (a 17% increase over last year), and reading 211 papers (a 106% increase). Ninety-eight workshops or seminars were conducted, and faculty attended 357 workshops/seminars (a 839% increase), many of which were computer related, revealing not only active professional development, but a college-wide commitment to the technology initiative. The faculty published 92 articles, 157 abstracts or reviews (a 21% increase), and perhaps most impressive, they published 17 books (a 325% increase), 12 poems (200% increase), and 1 monograph. The Art faculty held 14 exhibitions (a 75% increase), and the Music faculty gave a combined 225 performances/recitals/programs both on and off campus, in-state and out-of-state (including England). Nationally and regionally, the Music department performed to audiences totaling over 50,000 people. The Theatre faculty directed or designed 13 plays, including 4 main-stage productions, and 4 faculty members had acting roles in television programs and one in a television commercial. With a total of 360 other presentations, the faculty of the College was both very industrious and very visible.

Individual achievements include a member of the biology department continuing to serve as editor of the pre-eminentJournal of Morphology , while another member of the department is serving as President-Elect of the American Arachnological Society. A Member of the Music department received a National Service Award from the National Music Fraternity, another is serving a third term as president of the North Carolina Chapter of Percusive Arts Society, and another member received a Citation of Excellence from the National Band Association. Members of the Chemistry/Physics department received National Science Foundation grants totalling over $200, 000 to support their research. Fourteen members of the College earned Microgrants to support their professional development.

Some of our faculty’s marked excellence simultaneously brought visibility and prestige directly to our campus and our college programs as well: the Music Department’s Annual All District Band Festival brought over 300 secondary students to campus, the Annual Choral Festival over 150 secondary students, and the Annual Honor Band over 160 students. The Modern Foreign Language Contest brought over 350 students to WCU from area high schools as well. The English department sponsored the annual conference of the Georgia/Carolinas College English Association and The Chemistry Department will serve as host for the next Southeastern Regional Undergraduate Chemistry Research Conference. The English Department’s Mountain Area Writing Project again received grant funding ($12,000) from the National Writing Project to bring area high school teachers and graduate students to WCU for an intensive course in teaching writing. The Art department added 25 works to the permanent collection of Belk Gallery, bringing the total to over 100 museum quality objects in the gallery. All of these bespeak of the multi-dimensional approach to educating our students, offering a variety of opportunities for learning both inside and outside the classroom.

The high quality of our faculty manifests itself not only in the high quality of our academic programs and professional activities, but in our students and their successes. Many undergraduates successfully competed for admission to prestigious and well-respected graduate programs from Cambridge University (History), to University of Massachusetts (Music), to Wake Forest (English). Further, two students in the Art department were accepted into The University of Pennsylvania’s MFA program, and a student in the Biology department was granted a Board of Governor’s Scholarship for UNC-Chapel Hill Medical School. In addition, our students read papers at regional and national professional meetings, and several published articles in professional journals, some independently and some co-authored with members of the College faculty. Numerous students presented papers at the WCU Undergraduate Research Conference, as well as the WCU Graduate Research Symposium.

In fund raising activities, the faculty of the College participated in the annual Alumni Phonathon and raised a record amount of money to support programs in the college as well as renew many relationships with our alumni.

Members of the Music, Communication/Theatre Arts, Math and Computer Science departments will be consulting with designers and architects this fall about design, equipment needs, and implementation of activities in the new Workforce Development Building.

In a year of change and transition, the college performed admirably: both the new Geosciences/ Natural Resources Department and the Anthropology/Sociology Department successfully adapted to their new departmental reconfigurations. Departments were successful in their personnel searches, with a total of 15 new hires, seven of which were tenure-track positions. These structural and personnel changes will enhance the quality of instruction and programs as well as offer promise for the continued growth and development in the college. The Search Committee for the new Dean of Arts and Sciences worked arduously to select and present excellent final candidates to lead the college next year, a college which this year has been both productive and impressive in our continued efforts to provide the students with the best possible educational experience.