Pareena Gupta Lawrence
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA, MORRIS
The University of Minnesota, Morris (UMM), is a nationally recognized and ranked residential public liberal arts college that is a founding member of the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges (COPLAC). UMM is informally recognized as the public honors college of the University of Minnesota and in the state of Minnesota. UMM is well on its way to becoming a zero carbon footprint campus with two wind turbines, one biomass plant, several solar powered operations, and three LEED-certified new buildings. UMM enrolls approximately 1950 undergraduate students with a student-faculty ratio of 15:1, average class size of 16, and the average ACT score of incoming freshmen at 25. The college offers 43 majors or minors, and preprofessional programs. UMM students have received several prestigious awards such as Truman, Udall, and Boren scholars, approximately 50% of students, study abroad and over 47% of graduates go to graduate school.
Division Chair, Social Sciences June 2007-June 2011
The Division of Social Sciences houses 11 departments and supports several other interdisciplinary and self-designed majors. The Chair of the Division of Social Sciences reports to the Vice Chancellor, Academic Affairs, and their functions parallel those of an Associate Dean at other similar institutions. Responsibilities and accomplishments: providing successful leadership in curriculum development (including new programs), faculty development, and research; recruiting students and faculty; all promotion and tenure-related activities; assessment and program review; promoting and maintaining a high-quality learning environment for students; setting annual division goals and objectives; developing and updating divisional policies and plans, and preparing, prioritizing, and monitoring budget requests and expenditures; help built student research abroad and internship opportunities with institutions in India. Helped facilitate and build the one plus three program with Shanghai University of Finance and Economics in China.
Division Vice-Chair, Social Sciences June 2006-May 2007
Chair, First Year Seminar Program June 2005-May 2007
The Chair/Coordinator of the new First-Year Seminar (FYS) program (reports to the Vice Chancellor, Academic Affairs). Responsibilities: collectively develop program goals and assessment mechanisms, solicit and actively recruit faculty to teach in this program; review course topics and coordinate and facilitate group meetings; oversee program budget; plan the convocation and final project, and troubleshoot and make changes to the program as needed based on assessment data and program goals.
Department Chair, Gender Women and Sexuality Studies, and the Social Science Major
August 2006-May 2007
Interim Director, Multi-Ethnic Student Program June 2002-June 2003
This position reports to the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs. Responsibilities: work with the Office of Admissions to recruit talented multi-ethnic students and coordinate retention efforts; provide academic assistance and support in cooperation with the faculty and the Academic Assistance Center; provide academic advising; advise multi-ethnic student organizations; collaborate with students and student activities staff in educational and cultural programming; serve as a campus resource, catalyst and leader in campus efforts to build an inclusive, multicultural community; oversee diversity community outreach programs; oversee the department budget; develop new programs with other units that improve the academic and student life experience of multi-ethnic students; and work with others on campus and in the Morris community to support multi-ethnic students.
Department Chair, Economics and Management August 2001-May 2002
FACULTY LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA, MORRIS