In recognition of the importance of undergraduate advising to university life, Stephen Ashley, a Cornell alumnus and member of the Cornell Board of Trustees, has established the Kendall S. Carpenter Memorial Advising Awards.
The two types of awards, which will be granted each year to both individuals and programs, honor Ashley's former adviser, Kendall S. Carpenter, a professor of business management at Cornell from 1954 until his death at the age of 50 in 1967.
"These awards reinforce the Cornell commitment that advising undergraduate students is a top priority at the university," said President Hunter Rawlings in announcing the awards. "Faculty advising, when accomplished with care, contributes significantly to the intellectual life of the university and to students' undergraduate experience."
In making the gift, Ashley said, "It is now more than 40 years since I first sat across from Professor Carpenter and discussed my interests. Unquestionably, I was a nervous, gawky, 18-year-old from a small town in upstate New York. As I look back to my undergraduate days, graduate school and the first job on a career ladder, Ken Carpenter was a dominant influence in all of the important decisions. His advice was sound, direct and usually unequivocal. He was a significant influence, and I was immensely lucky to have had that relationship."
Ashley has committed to funding the awards initially for five years.
The Kendall S. Carpenter Memorial Advising Awards for individuals recognize "sustained and distinguished contributions of professorial faculty and senior lecturers to undergraduate advising." Four $5,000 awards will be made each year.
Isaac Kramnick, vice provost for undergraduate education, said nominees must be "active contributors to college teaching and to their field, as appropriate to their appointments, and not have won the award previously." The award will be paid into a departmental research account, which each winner may use to support her or his own research, travel, books or other professional activities.
|
| Trustee Stephen Ashley, left, meets with Isaac Kramnick, vice provost for undergraduate education, in Day Hall to discuss the new Carpenter Memorial Advising Awards. Nicola Kountoupes/University Photography |
Nominations will be accepted from students, student groups, university staff, college deans and associate deans, alumni and department chairs. A committee of six faculty members and three junior students will advise Kramnick on selection of finalists. Rawlings will make the final selection of winners.
The Kendall S. Carpenter Memorial Advising Awards for Programs recognize creative solutions for the systematic improvement of the undergraduate advising experience.
"Although the value of faculty advising is universally acknowledged, the success of faculty advising is variable," Kramnick said. "In fact, Cornell undergraduates find advising more problematic than any other aspect of their undergraduate education. Consequently, in addition to honoring exceptional individual advisers, departments, colleges and other units need incentives for change."
Ashley said, "These programs should serve as laboratories for change in the academic departments, producing new and interesting approaches to advising."
Proposals are being sought from university faculty and staff, college deans and associate deans, and department chairs and other relevant units -- such as Athletics, Residence Life and the Dean of Students -- for creative projects designed to improve the undergraduate advising experience. An award, or awards, will be made annually from a pool totaling $10,000.
A committee of associate deans involved in undergraduate education will advise Kramnick on the selection of finalists for the program awards. Rawlings will make the final selection of winners.
The deadline for submitting nominations to the Office of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, 433 Day Hall, is March 15. For more information, call 255-3062.
Ashley graduated from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences in 1962 and received his master's in business administration from the S.C. Johnson Graduate School of Management in 1964. He is chairman and chief executive officer of The Ashley Group, a family of related companies focused on management, brokerage, financing and investment in commercial and multifamily real estate.
Ashley was elected as a Cornell trustee fellow in 1998. He serves on the Alumni Affairs and Development, Executive, Finance, and Land Grant and Statutory College Affairs committees. He is chair of the Buildings and Properties Committee.
Ashley and his wife, Janice, have been named Cornell Foremost Benefactors, and in 1991 they established the Stephen B. and Janice Ashley Graduate Fellowship in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
Ashley is a director of Fannie Mae, Genesee Corp. and The Exeter Fund. He serves as a trustee of the International Museum of Photography and of ViaHealth, a multihospital health system.
| Cornell Chronicle Front Page | | Table of Contents | | Cornell News Service Home Page |