Omicron Kappa Upsilon
Bulletin
| Supreme Chapter Volume XXXVII October 2002 |
NEW EDUCATOR'S RESEARCH GRANT
Since its inception in 1914, OKU has been committed to encouraging students of dentistry in the achievement of academic excellence. 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 is given early in their careers to encourage newly appointed faculty to strive for teaching excellence.
Last year at the annual meeting of the Supreme Chapter, incoming president, Dr. James Delahanty, proposed the establishment of the "OKU New Educator Research Grant” which would provide research monies to newly appointed faculty members who have never previously applied for nor 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, utilization of the funds and then finally in the publication of our new educator’s research in a refereed dental journal.
It was suggested that 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.
The Board of Directors, in approving the “New Educators Research Grant”, believes that OKU 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, the Board is proposing the establishment of a
$100,000 endowment to be invested conservatively with at least a 5% return.
The Board of Directors has agreed upon a
mechanism for raising the funds necessary to endow this program.
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 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.
