Academic Promotions
By: WJO
Needless to say Dr. Harry Kowal, now in his third year as the Principal of the Royal Military College of Canada, is delighted with the recent promotion news for the professors and military faculty at the College.
He expressed his delight at the latest Faculty Board meeting in Currie Hall, after which we were able to obtain some background on the process that led to the announcement.
“What a difference a year can make,” said Dr Kowal, as he addressed Faculty Board last week for the beginning of another academic year. “I have been truly amazed at what we have been able to accomplish together as a Faculty and I believe our future continues to be very bright indeed.”
MORE…(Including the list of promotion recipients)
He talked about challenges and issues but he smiled broadly when he said, he has every confidence in the leadership of the College and the leadership in the Academic Wing. He personally thanked all the members of Faculty Board for all the great work they do on a daily basis for the College.
It was a very satisfying moment for the Principal and for so many others as he announced the most recent academic promotions for both professors and military faculty. Hard to believe, but the announcement of promotions was last made four years ago. “I want to say upfront,” said Dr Kowal, “that our ability to promote has come from the great work of many including our Deans (past and present), the Faculty Association and other key personnel, locally and right up to the Chief of Defence Staff and the Deputy Minister.”
Talking about the process:
He made a point to recognize Jennifer Carpenter, for her exceptional work in managing the promotion process. He elaborated. “This was a year-long process. It involved the coordination of files from 54 applicants, correspondence with approximately 750 prospective referees and over 300 referee letters, execution of the Preliminary Promotion Committee (PPC) and Final Promotion Committee (FPC) and the inclusion of three external scholars on the FPC.”
When asked to share other details of the process, he cited two other deserving individuals. “Dr Greg Phillips created the tools that enabled the scoring of the promotion committees” and he publically thanked Dr Jean-Marc Noel, President of the Faculty Association, for his “leadership in helping create the Career Progression Management Framework that enabled the promotion process and for his personal involvement in the process.”
“Academic promotions don’t just happen,” reflects Kowal, “The process is incredibly rigorous. It begins with a detailed application from the candidates themselves highlighting their many contributions in all three areas of Teaching, Scholarly Merit and Service. These applications are put through the lens of scrutiny at multiple levels, starting with our own university departments, including external review from experts in the corresponding discipline and finishing with a Final Promotion Committee that I had the privilege of chairing with membership including the Vice-Principals, Deans, Directeur des Études (CMRSJ), the President of the Faculty Association and three external scholars with senior academic administrative experience from universities represented by Universities Canada (the new name of the Association of Universities and Colleges Canada). Indeed, I am very proud of our promotion recipients and I am very appreciative of all the hard work and dedication that was put forward by so many to make these promotions happen.”
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The following promotions were announced with a heart-felt congratulations from Dr Kowal and an respectful round of applause from all those present:
UT-02 – UT-03 (Assistant to Associate Professor)
- Erika Behrisch Elce (English)
- Anne Caumartin (CMRSJ)
- Emily Corcoran (Chemistry / Chem Eng)
- Jim Denford (Mgmt and Economics)
- Kabin Konstantin (Physics)
- Karim Khayati (Mech and Aero Eng)
- Soundouss El-Kettani (Francais)
- Sidney Givigi (Elect and Comp Eng)
- Valerie Langlois (Chemistry / Chem Eng)
- Chantel Lavoie (English)
- Olivier Lebel (Chemistry / Chem Eng)
- Sylvain Leblanc (Elect and Comp Eng)
- Kodjo Moglo (Mech and Aero Eng)
- Danic Parenteau (CMRSJ)
- Ruben Perez (Mech and Aero Eng)
- Francois Rivest (Math and Computer Science)
- Georges Sabat (Physics)
- Kurt Schobel (Mgmt and Economics)
- Jennifer Scott (Chemistry / Chem Eng)
- Kristine Spekkens (Physics)
- Nick Vlachopoulos (Civil)
- Randy Wakelam (History)
- Diane Wowk (Mech and Aero Eng)
- Amal Zouaq (Math and Computer Science)
UT-03 – UT-04 (Associate Professor to Professor)
- Billy Allan (Mech and Aero Eng)
- Sophie Bastien (Francais)
- Azemi Benaissa (Mech and Aero Eng)
- Francois-Emanuel Boucher (Francais)
- Adam Chapnick (Defence Studies)
- Naceur Essaddam (Mgmt and Economics)
- Michael Greenwood (Chemistry / Chem Eng)
- Pat Heffernan (Civil)
- Manish Jugroot (Mech and Aero Eng)
- Rock Legault (History)
- Christian Leuprecht (Political Science)
- Allister Macintyre (Military Psychology and Leadership)
- Sean Maloney (History)
- Eric Ouellet (Defence Studies)
- Danny Page (Chemistry / Chem Eng)
- Laura Robinson (English)
- Greg Siemens (Civil)
- Mohammed Tarbouchi (Elect and Comp Eng)
MilFac Promotions (from Lecturer to Assistant Professor: effective 1 Jul 15)
Civil
Capt Omar Hadad
Elect and Comp Eng
Maj Randy Hartman
Capt Kyle Davidson
Capt Adrian Lapointe
Capt Vincent Roberge
Capt Guillaume Vigeant (Cyber Det)
Mech and Aero Eng
Maj Lee Merchant
Maj Tom Connerty
Capt Sean Leithead
Chemistry / Chem Eng
Capt Lisa Carnduff
Capt Charles St-Denis
Applied Military Science
LCol Sylvain Gagne
Maj Steve Dominico
Capt Colin McConnell