The 2015 Center for the Advancement of Research and Scholarship (CARS) May Celebration was titled, “Unexpected Consequences” and the two-day event featured a broad spectrum of topics covered in a variety of lectures and panel discussions.
Approximately 150 faculty, librarians and members of the administrative staff participated.
Many of the sessions focused on the decidedly practical – such as “Back to the Black(board): How to Get The Most Out of Your BB9 Course site” and “Giving Voice and Vision to Your Teaching, Scholarship and Service: Reappointment, Tenure and Promotion Portfolios” – to issues of global concern, such as “Mentoring Undergraduate Research Abroad” and “Lessons from Ebola.”
President Dana Mohler-Faria delivered the welcoming address at the opening of this year’s celebration.
“This is one of the events that I look forward to every year,” he said. “The CARS celebration marks such an important milestone for our faculty, for students and for our entire community because it is the capstone we embrace as a symbol of our commitment to teaching and learning at Bridgewater. As I prepare to move on from the presidency in just a matter of six weeks, I look back, and will always look back, with pride in being affiliated with you in this endeavor.
“One of the things about leaving that I enjoy is now I can tell some of the stories from the past that, before this, I hesitated a bit to share. Today we have CARS but 20 years ago, when the concept first came up, its name was CART – The Center for the Advancement of Research and Teaching, and not everyone was sure this was an idea that would work. John Bardo, then our provost and vice president for economic affairs, came up with the concept and brought it to President Tinsley’s cabinet. I had just arrived at Bridgewater as the new vice president for administration and finance and I remember that the initial discussion focused on how we could improve teaching and build support scholarship using faculty driven initiatives.
“It was of course a new idea and among the members of the cabinet I recall that not everyone was convinced our faculty was ready for this or even wanted it. The primary question was, ‘How can we develop this in a way that is not only beneficial to all but sparks genuine enthusiasm for the mission?’ But by the end of the first year it was evident that the members of the faculty were eager for this and ready to give the concept the full measure of hard work. Over these past 20-plus years CART, and now CARS, has become the centerpiece of faculty development at Bridgewater.
“Yesterday someone asked me a question. The person said, ‘You’ll be leaving soon. What will be the achievement that you most remember, the one you of which you are most proud?’ Without hesitation, I responded, ‘It’s not the number of new buildings, nor the increased enrollment, nor the advances we’ve made in acquiring a host of new technology resources, as vital as all those are to us. It’s not any of the physical things that people see. What I most value is that I have played some part in supporting our faculty in particular, and our community in general, in the effort to make teaching, learning, scholarship and the education of our students the absolute center of our attention. The evidence of that is everywhere. We see our students today achieving feats of research that would have been unimaginable at the start of this century, and that is the result of the intense engagement that all of you have created. It has been remarkable in every respect.
“As you know, I’m getting ready to leave this institution at the end of June, but as I leave I will look back in retrospect at all that has happened here and I want you to know how proud I am of each and every one of you. We continue to make a difference in the lives of people here in Southeastern Massachusetts, throughout the Commonwealth and the rest of the country and in nations around the world. I congratulate all the members of the faculty and the university’s librarians for all they have done to make CARS XX such a great success and I thank you for inviting me to share this event with you.”
Fred Clark, ’83, executive vice president and vice president for external affairs, delivered the remarks at the close of the two-day session and said,
“Thank you for giving me the honor of closing out this year’s CARS Celebration and for giving me an opportunity to talk about the ‘scholar’ part of ‘teacher-scholar.’ I truly appreciate the pleasure of having these moments with you today and, also, for the privilege I had to be here yesterday for the opening session of this year’s program. “It was enlightening for me to hear President Mohler-Faria talk yesterday about the origin and evolution of CARS over the years. That was good to hear and good to know as I prepare to come to campus in this new role starting July 1. I’m so impressed with what an amazing celebration you’ve had this year -- I went through the list of presentations and panel discussions listed in the CARS schedule and I was, frankly, exhausted just reading it, never mind presenting or attending all of them.
“One of the presentations really struck me and it stopped me in my tracks, and that was the celebration of (late history Professor) Jean Stonehouse, a recollection of her life and her dedication to Bridgewater State. I know personally why that dedication is important to remember and to celebrate because I’m a product of Jean Stonehouse. Many years ago I was a student in her class -- two of her classes in fact -- and I learned from her that excellence is what’s most important, most valued at this university. I learned that preparation is important, and so is having high expectations of students. I also learned a great deal from Professor Stonehouse about integrity and I learned about how critical passion for knowledge is, not only for the discipline itself but for this place as a whole, which was her alma mater as well as mine. What a tremendous legacy she left and I certainly benefitted enormously from it. “Most distinctly, I recall that when Jean Stonehouse grabbed the lectern and scanned our faces as she started talking about Benjamin Disraeli, we students better have been prepared to respond intelligently. I went to law school after I graduated from Bridgewater in 1983 and I thank her for introducing me to the ‘Socratic method’ of teaching. As a student of Professor Stonehouse, I worked hard and I got A grades from her and, decades later, when I told her that, she went back to check the records just to make sure I was correct. As you know, we will name one of our new residence halls in her memory, and how fitting and appropriate that is because she was such a remarkable teacher who devoted her life to Bridgewater.
“I’d like to take a few moments now to talk about why I think CARS is so vitally important to our university. Bridgewater State has had a proud tradition of supporting the teacher-scholar model, which stresses the value of the faculty working closely with students in the classroom and with other instructional venues on campus to guide them in the search for knowledge, to stimulate their critical thinking skills, to enhance their career opportunities and to deepen their appreciation of the liberal arts.
“Bridgewater has some of the best instructors in public higher education in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and I know that’s true because as I said, I’m a product of that high quality and caring instruction. Joined with the superb teaching here at BSU is a commitment on the part of the faculty to pursue an active research agenda. Faculty here are fully engaged in their respective academic disciplines and are producing valuable and cutting-edge scholarship and work in the form of books and book chapters, conference papers, research grants, art, theater, dance and music performances, workshops, professional presentations and a whole host of other examples of an ongoing dedication to their area of scholarly interest.
“Faculty scholarship remains at the core of a liberal arts university. I continue to be immensely impressed with the enthusiastic commitment of our faculty to pursue scholarly research and meld that work with their teaching. This commitment to research as a pathway to expanding the universe of knowledge and to utilize that research within the classroom is what makes BSU unique and a true center for excellence.
“The linkage of quality instruction with a commitment to scholarship has many institutional benefits. The teacher-scholar model provides our students with valuable opportunities to understand a particular subject in greater depth, to explore a yet-to-be analyzed problem or to delve more deeply into an important event, individual or issue. By linking scholarship with teaching, our students are not only better prepared for the world after graduation but also have a greater appreciation of the life of the mind.
“I am proud to say that within the BSU community there are a wealth of examples of how we have advanced -- and how we continue to advance -- the teacher-scholar model with great success: our nationally recognized undergraduate research program that often leads to published papers and presentations by our student scholars; our award-winning Bridge magazine guided by faculty mentors; the highly successful faculty magazine, The Bridgewater Review, in continuous publication since 1982; $1,315,525 in faculty grants for 2013 and 2014 in the form of fellowships, research awards, education programs and community service; cooperative research projects with our global partners in Belize, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, China and Jordan; professional conferences hosted here on campus and abroad; regular visits by international scholars who work closely with our faculty; expert analysis in the media, in government and in the community by our faculty; art, music, dance and theater performances and exhibitions that make BSU a cultural hub in the region; and each year, CARS presents an ever-longer list of faculty who have contributed to their disciplines with their research. That is quite a record of accomplishment.
“When I assume the presidency of the university I can assure you that I will continue to support the work of CARS and to advance our tradition of enhancing the teacher-scholar model. You have my full support and my strongest commitment.
“As a public institution of higher learning, I believe it is important that we work to enhance the role of our faculty as both teachers and scholars. A public institution such as BSU has a responsibility to ensure that our students, many of whom are first generation of attendees to our university, receive the mentoring, the rigor of conducting research, the career skills and the appreciation of the liberal arts that will, I believe, provide them with a step up the ladder of success.
“What we are doing at BSU through CARS and with the commitment of our dedicated faculty will go a long way to providing our students with that step up to success. I want to thank you for all that you do here at BSU in making this university a model for teaching and research and for student success. Together let us continue our proud traditions that make BSU such a special place to learn and to succeed.” (Story and photos by David Wilson, ’71, University News)
