Bulletin
| Supreme Chapter Volume XXXVI October 2001 |
NEW
EDUCATOR'S RESEARCH GRANT
(A proposal from Incoming President
James Delahanty)
Since its inception in 1914, OKU has been committed to encouraging dental
students to achieve academic excellence and we acknowledge student
accomplishment through scholastic awards. Recently, the Supreme Chapter of OKU
chose to expand these efforts through the establishment of the "Charles
Craig Teaching Award", which recognizes the excellence of newly appointed
dental educators. This recognition and the accompanying monetary award is given
to faculty members early in their careers to acknowledge those individuals who
have demonstrated new and innovative teaching techniques. It also serves as an
incentive to encourage other newly appointed faculty to strive for teaching
excellence.
I believe that OKU has the opportunity to take this concept of encouraging
dental faculty, early in their careers, one step further.
Consequently, this morning at the Board of Directors meeting, I proposed the
establishment of the "OKU New Educator Research Grant." This grant
would provide research monies to newly appointed faculty members who have never
previously applied for or received a research grant. In addition to awarding a
$15,000 grant, a mentoring mechanism would be established, in which an OKU
member will serve as a resource to the newly appointed faculty member throughout
the application of the grant and then finally in the publication of our new
educator’s research in a refereed dental journal.
OKU will actively promote the program to the dental education community at
large; and in particular, the members of ADEA Special Interest Group for Career
Development for the New Dental Educator will be targeted as a source for
potential grant applicants.
I believe OKU, with the establishment of the "New Educator Research
Grant", can significantly contribute to the existing body of
knowledge while simultaneously encouraging the career development of new dental
educators.
In order to insure that sufficient money is available to provide a grant of
$15,000, once every three years, I am proposing the establishment of a $100,000
endowment to be invested conservatively with at least a 5% return.
I believe that the $100,000 necessary to establish this endowment can be raised
by this organization in approximately 5-6 years via a 50/50 raffle.
The legalities of this venture have been investigated. As a non-profit organization incorporated in the State of Nebraska we are eligible to apply for a license to conduct a raffle under Nebraska law.
The Board of Directors feels that the "OKU New Educator Research Award" is a doable project and would be a great way to increase the visibility of this society. At this morning's meeting, the Board agreed to go forward and investigate the feasibility of this project. Dr. Suzuki will be obtaining bids from 2-3 Nebraska accounting firms who we could hire to administer the lottery. At this time I would like to assemble an ad-hoc committee* to develop criteria for the application process and the granting of this award. Dr. Suzuki has agreed that he would be willing to serve as an advisor to this committee. With the recommendations of the ad-hoc committee, I hope to have a final proposal for your consideration at next year's meeting.
*The
following members have agreed to serve on the ad-hoc committee:
Dr. Curtis Kuster-Alpha Alpha Chapter
Dr. Michael Siegel-Phi Chapter
Dr. Anthony Vernillo-Omega Chapter
