Several well-qualified faculty applied for this position. The decision followed a careful review of the applications plus interviews of three finalists. It is a sign of the strong interest already on this campus to have so many able people involved in research with undergraduate students and willing to dedicate their talents to furthering this endeavor. We sincerely appreciate their interest and hope they will continue their contributions and support for this effort.
Dr. Heldrich, a Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, brings to this post a deep and long-standing commitment to undergraduate research. Rick first got his start in research as an undergraduate student at Washington and Lee University and went on to earn his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Emory University. He has been at the College of Charleston since 1982. Within his own discipline, he has established an active research group with external grant support and has numerous publications with undergraduate students. With his colleagues, he was awarded grant funding for improving laboratory instrumentation for undergraduate courses and research. On a broader scale, he initiated the first campus-wide Research Poster Day in 1989 expanding a small internal event to include papers from other disciplines. At his urging, the College became an institutional member of the Council on Undergraduate Research (which has recently expanded its scope beyond the sciences to include psychology and the other social sciences). He was part of a three-member College team which attended a PKAL faculty conference on inter-disciplinary teaching and undergraduate research. During 2001-2002, Rick served as Acting Chair of his department.
Rick will have a busy first year as the Director of Undergraduate Research. One of the first activities will be to promulgate the guidelines for the undergraduate mini-grants and later for the summer grants program. He has also indicated his intentions to gain greater familiarity with the nature of joint faculty-student research and professional development across the campus. Through his past service on the Tenure & Promotion Committee, he has some insight but is committed to learning much more. He will also work with an advisory committee and with the various schools to promote, support, showcase and further institutionalize the undergraduate student-faculty research activities at the College of Charleston.
Please join us in congratulating Rick for his appointment to this important position.
Members of the committee were: