News by Topic: Faculty

RIT is joining University of Rochester and others in a National Science Foundation-funded project to learn about the different creative skills that tomorrow’s workforce needs. The study is centered on the idea that intelligent machines are replacing the routine tasks that people do and creative skills will become even more valuable for future workers.

COVID-19 has challenged the university to consider an even more creative academic portfolio with blended, online, split A/B, and flex class options. To prepare for in-person instruction, RIT has upgraded academic buildings and classrooms. And physical distancing and face coverings, required of faculty and students in classrooms, together provide some of the greatest protection against the spread of COVID-19.

The Wall Street Journal talks to John Ward, principal Lecturer in the Department of Management, International Business, and Entrepreneurship, about Kodak shifting to pharmaceuticals.

RIT’s Upward Bound summer program is providing area high school students a preview of life as a college student. This year, 24 students from the Leadership Academy for Young Men and Greece Olympia High School participated in the six-week enrichment program, held virtually for the first time due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Editors and reporters from Rochester news outlets will discuss how they are fulfilling their duties of a free press during the COVID-19 pandemic during a panel discussion organized by RIT’s School of Communication. “The Future of News in ROC” will be held via Zoom on Sept. 8 and is free and open to the public.

Essay by Amit Batabyal, the Arthur J. Gosnell Professor of Economics, published by The Conversation.

The unexpected transition to remote learning during the spring semester challenged faculty across RIT to experiment, create, and deploy new methods of instruction to ensure student success. As the university gears up for in-person and online classes—or a combination of both—faculty members are applying a wide range of lessons learned from the spring to keep academic momentum moving forward in the fall.

Essay by Amit Batabyal, the Arthur J. Gosnell Professor of Economics, published by The Globe Post.

Douglas Merrill, who inspired countless students during his 40-year tenure in the College of Science and the College of Health Sciences and Technology, has retired. He developed the Premedical Advisory Program and created the Center for Bioscience Education and Technology. And he retires with numerous honors recognizing his outstanding teaching and commitment to diversity and inclusion.

RIT will use an unusual technique to search for surges in coronavirus cases before those infected even begin displaying symptoms. The university will test wastewater on campus for traces of COVID-19 twice weekly beginning Aug. 5 to get early indications if coronavirus is spreading in campus housing and other areas of campus.

RIT has partnered with Syracuse University College of Law to establish a “3+3” program for students interested in earning a law degree. A memorandum of understanding between the two universities was recently signed to allow students to complete three years of liberal arts and other studies at RIT, then transfer to the College of Law for three years to complete their doctorate in law.

Michael Heagy has been appointed the new head of RIT’s School of Chemistry and Materials Science. Heagy comes to RIT from the New Mexico Institute of Mining & Technology, where he began his academic career as an assistant professor in 1996 and has served as the chair of the Department of Chemistry since 2016.