A photo rendering of the proposed clinical health sciences and wellness building on the Oxford campus.
A photo rendering of the proposed clinical health sciences and wellness building on the Oxford campus.
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Trustees approve 35 faculty for promotion and/or tenure; new clinical health sciences and wellness building approved

Showcasing the research, scholarship and service excellence of faculty, Miami University's board of trustees Friday approved 12 faculty members for promotion to full professor and 23 for promotion to associate professor with tenure, effective July 1.

Provost Jason Osborne recognized some of the honored faculty, including:

  • Katherine Kuvalanka from the department of family science and social work, who was promoted to full professor. At Miami since 2007, Kuvalanka’s research focuses on issues faced by families of children who identify as being trans and gender non-conforming.
  • Mahmud Khan of the department of physics, whose research focuses on the use of magnetic materials to make refrigeration more sustainable, was promoted to associate professor with tenure. Khan has been at Miami since 2013.

View the complete list of promotion and tenure online.

“This is an elite group. We are proud to have them here,” Osborne said.

To support growing demand for Miami’s health-related programs, trustees also authorized awarding contracts up to $96 million to build a clinical health sciences and wellness building on the Oxford campus, including the renovation of Harris Hall for swing space to temporarily house the university’s health services center. The project, Miami’s first new academic building in a decade, should be completed in mid-2022.

Miami’s nursing and speech pathology and audiology programs continue to grow, and the Boldly Creative academic development fund has awarded funding to establish a physician’s assistant program on the Oxford campus. Co-locating clinical health programs in a health corridor anchored by the new 170,000-square-foot building will increase learning opportunities for students.

Funding sources would include state capital funds, sponsorship or naming opportunities, existing budgets and newly issued bonds. Trustees authorized the issue of bonds up to $125 million for multiple projects.

In another move to expand health programming at Miami, trustees approved spending up to $10 million to renovate University Hall on the Hamilton campus for classrooms and high-fidelity simulation and skills laboratory space for Miami’s nursing program. The nursing program expanded to Oxford last year and continues to thrive at Miami Regionals. Construction will launch in May and be completed in early in 2021.

In other actions, trustees:

  • Authorized Miami to join a newly formed esports conference aligning with the Mid-American Conference, another step for a growing program that has earned national recognition.
  • Approved launching a bachelor’s degree in education with a primary education major, pending University Senate action.
  • Approved separating the department of sport leadership and management from the department of kinesiology and health, forming a new department.
  • Approved consolidating the classics department into the department of French and Italian.
  • Approved room and board fees for new incoming Oxford students, an increase of 2 percent for new students in fall 2020, compared to fall 2019. Under Miami’s Tuition Promise, fees will not increase during a student’s four years at Miami.
  • Approved spending up to $4 million to continue renovation of the south chiller plant on the Oxford campus.
  • Authorized filing a patent application for the research of Assistant Professor Andrew Jones into the psychoactive compound psilocybin and negotiating any licensing or royalty agreements arising from the research.
  • Approved naming of the Bowman Family Speech and Hearing Clinic Suite in the new health building and the Richard and Carol Puzzitiello Retired Jersey Wall in the athletic performance center.

Approved appointment of three professor emerita, three professor emeritus, two administrator emerita and one administrator emeritus.

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The new clinical health sciences and wellness building will be located off of Campus Avenue on a large parcel that includes the health services center.