Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Susan R. Wente has appointed a new advisory task force comprised of faculty from across the university to holistically review the Trans-Institutional Programs initiative. TIPs, an internal faculty funding program, completed its sixth and final award cycle last academic year as part of the university’s $50 million strategic investment.
The task force members will consider whether it would be of value to launch a new initiative, and if so, develop and submit recommendations by the fall of 2021.
The program was designed to serve as a catalyst to support new ideas, groundbreaking research and the development of infrastructure by supporting emerging and existing trans-institutional centers and institutes.
“The TIPs initiative played an essential role in our One Vanderbilt approach, solidifying the university’s status as a leader of cross-disciplinary learning and discovery and enabling us to tackle some of society’s grandest challenges,” Wente said. “I look forward to reviewing the findings and recommendations of the task force and working together to chart a path forward that will keep our community at the cutting-edge of innovative research.”
The task force is co-chaired by Dana Nelson, Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor of English, and Eric Skaar, Ernest W. Goodpasture Chair in Pathology.
“As a member of the TIPs Council since the inception in 2015, I’m excited to review the initiative’s overall impact and to help consider future investments that will inspire our knowledge in diverse areas of critical academic and societal interest,” Nelson said.
The TIPs initiative task force is charged with:
- conducting analyses to determine successes and/or missed opportunities;
- determining if it would be of value to launch a new trans-institutional investment initiative; and
- developing recommendations for a new investment initiative that takes into consideration the findings.
“As director of a trans-institutional center, the Vanderbilt Institute for Infection, Immunology and Inflammation, I’ve seen firsthand the importance of leveraging knowledge from across Vanderbilt,” Skaar said. “The success of our institute depends on a highly innovative, multidisciplinary approach, and I look forward to working to determine a plan that continues to support comprehensive and collaborative faculty engagement.”
Members of the task force are:
- Dana Nelson (co-chair), Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor of English
- Eric Skaar (co-chair), Ernest W. Goodpasture Chair in Pathology
- Kelly Haws, Anne Marie and Thomas B. Walker Jr. Professor of Marketing
- Kelly Holley-Bockelmann, Stevenson Chair in Physics and Astronomy
- Rolanda Johnson, assistant dean for diversity and inclusion in the School of Nursing, professor of nursing
- Peter Kolkay, associate professor of bassoon, chair of the woodwinds department
- David Lewis, Rebecca Webb Wilson University Chair in Political Science
- Christopher P. Loss, associate professor of public policy and higher education
- Larry Marnett, dean of Basic Sciences in the School of Medicine, University Professor of Biochemistry, Chemistry and Pharmacology, and Mary Geddes Stahlman Professor of Cancer Research
- Kimryn Rathmell, Hugh J. Morgan Chair in Medicine
- Lisa Thompson, associate professor of Black homiletics and liturgics
- Holly Tucker, Mellon Foundation Chair in the Humanities and professor of French
- Sharon Weiss, Cornelius Vanderbilt Chair in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, director of the Vanderbilt Institute of Nanoscale Science and Engineering
- Tracey George (ex officio), vice provost for faculty affairs, Charles B. Cox III and Lucy D. Cox Family Chair in Law and Liberty
- Sally Parker (ex officio), senior assistant provost
- Jennifer Pietenpol (ex officio), executive vice president for research at VUMC, director of the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, B.F. Byrd Jr. Professor of Oncology and professor of biochemistry, cancer biology and otolaryngology
- Padma Raghavan (ex officio), vice provost for research