Dean s Weekly Significant Activities Report

Transcription

1 kkkjk Dean s Weekly Significant Activities Report 17 May 2017 The Dean s Weekly Significant Activities Report is an internal report on all activities conducted within the Departments, Centers & Staff. The Report is provided to the Dean for situation awareness, throughout the organization for shared situation awareness, and to select external organizations for outreach and communication. POC for the report is MS Lesley Beckstrom at Follow WP_Scientist on Twitter Picture of the Week On 7 May 2017, cadets of the Native American Heritage Forum (NAHF) organized and hosted the 7 th annual Keepers of the Peace Powwow held at Gillis Field House. 1

2 Center for the Advancement of Leader Development and Organizational Learning CALDOL Helps Deployed Unit Read2Lead The Center for the Advancement of Leader Development and Organizational Learning (CALDOL) recently completed its Read2Lead session with the Iron Rangers of Task Force (TF) 1-16 IN, forward deployed in Korea for a nine month rotation. CALDOL provided copies of East of Chosin: Entrapment and Breakout in Korea by Roy Appleman to the TF's officer leadership. The TF crafted discussion questions for a weekly series of discussion forums, led at varying times by the company/troop commanders, the field-grade staff officers, and the TF commander. Every companylevel officer in the TF wrote a reflective essay; CALDOL compiled those essays into a single volume and posted it on the JuniorOfficer Forum ( MAJ Jared Nichols, TF XO and former USMA faculty member, remarked "This program has forced leaders in the battalion to talk about hard issues and to talk about leadership...it has provided a common reference point that we can all look to in planning and execution of operations." LTC Jon Meredith, TF CDR, agreed: "Read2Lead had a profound effect on my formation because it showed my leaders the price of failure. We would not be where we are, or as ready as we are, if we had not used Read 2 Lead." Units interested in running their own Read2Lead session should contact CALDOL at 8CALDOL@usma.edu. LTC Meredith, TF 1-16 CDR, discusses the context of East of Chosin with the Battalion Staff. 2

3 Department Of Law US Circuit Judge Rosemary Pooler spoke with cadets in the Advanced Constitutional Law seminar taught by Department of Law Professor and Constitutional Law Chair, Tony DiSarro. Judge Pooler was appointed to the federal appeals court by President William J. Clinton in Prior to that, she served in a variety of positions with the governments of the City of Syracuse and the State of New York. Judge Pooler discussed criminal sentencing with the cadets and led an interesting class discussion concerning the efficacy and prudence of long-term incarceration. Cadets in the Advanced Constitutional Law Course with federal circuit judge Rosemary Pooler. 3

4 Department of Geography and Environmental Science Keepers of the Peace Powwow: On 7 May 2017, cadets of the Native American Heritage Forum (NAHF) organized and hosted the 7 th annual Keepers of the Peace Powwow held at Gillis Field House. The master of ceremonies for the powwow was the Redhawk Native American Arts Council. The powwow included the singing of the National Anthem by Cadet Katelin Guettlein, a birds of prey expert who presented two shows that described how owls, hawks, and eagles hunt and capture prey, and traditional Native American singing, and dancing. The Native American vendors sold beadwork and other handmade articles and the food vendor had plenty of venison and buffalo. The event included students from Columbia University s Native American Club joining the powwow. The POC is LTC Mark Smith, mark.smith@usma.edu. Cadet Michael Murray (2017) joins wins the Potato Dance at the 7 th Annual Keepers of the Peace Native American Powwow held May 7 th, 2017 at the Gillis Field House. 4

5 Department of Behavioral Science and Leadership West Point's Entrepreneurial Management cadets Joe Karsonovich, Andrzej Tomczyk, and Parker Meytrott competed in the New York Business Plan Competition State Finals, the biggest business plan competition in the country. They took 3rd place in the Products category, and received a cash prize of $1500 to continue pursuing their startup business, "Footsies Footwear". The Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership offers the "West Point Shark Tank" course (PL470) every Spring, and its only prerequisite is curiosity and creativity. POC: Dr. Lissa V. Young; Lissa.young@usma.edu Engineering Psychology Presentation at the 2017 ARL GIFT Symposium From May 2017, MAJ Charles Rowan, CDTs Christina Pico, Savannah Murray, and Kirsten Redmon traveled to Orlando, Florida to present at the 2017 Generalized Intelligent Framework for Tutoring (GIFT) Symposium. GIFT is an empirically-based, service-oriented framework of tools, methods and standards to make it easier to author computer-based tutoring systems (CBTS), manage instruction and assess the effect of 5

6 CBTS, components and methodologies. GIFT is being developed under the Adaptive Tutoring Research Science & Technology project at the Learning in Intelligent Tutoring Environments (LITE) Laboratory, part of the U.S. Army Research Laboratory - Human Research and Engineering Directorate (ARL-HRED). The Cadets earned the highest marks on their GIFT project in the colloquium course in Engineering Psychology. Consequently, they were offered the opportunity and resources to travel to present their research by Dr. Bob Sottilare of ARL-HRED. Their project specifically developed a new prototype for creating a course wizard in GIFT, using empirically-based human factors design principles and theories. The colloquium course investigated the role of human factors in simulations this semester. The Cadets presented their work to over 50 conference participants from industry, academia, and the government. Their work is already being used to improve the next iteration of GIFT and is an excellent example of the great partnership that the Engineering Psychology program enjoys with ARL-HRED and their affiliated organizations. (l) Cadets Murray, Redmon, and Pico with Dr. Anne Sinatra, ARL-HRED advisor for their project. (r) Group photo of participants of the 5 th Annual GIFT Symposium. The POC for this event is MAJ Charles Rowan; Charles.Rowan@usma.edu On 11 May, ten cadets from MG390, Negotiations for Leaders, presented the results of their final projects to GEN John W. Nicholson (Commander, US Forces Afghanistan). In concert with the EastWest Institute (partners of the West Point Negotiation Project), the cadets sought to offer prescriptive advice to the Foreign Minister of Afghanistan on bilateral trade and/or security commitments prior to the upcoming Kabul Economic Forum occurring July The top three cadet teams were selected to present their concepts to GEN Nicholson. These included: Afghan-China agreement on the Mes Aynak mine in Logar Province, Afghan-Uzbekistan agreement on a bilateral trade deal for cotton exports, and Afghan-Iran agreement on water rights in the Helmand River Delta. The cadets were fortunate to have 60 minutes with GEN Nicholson and regional experts from his commander's action group over a secured VTC. BS&L and WPNP are 6

7 grateful for the assistance of Mr. Paul Scullion (NEC Director) for facilitating the session. POC: MAJ Timothy McDonald, On 02 MAY 2017, West Point hosted the 91 st Anniversary Ceremony for Margaret Cochran Corbin at the Old Cadet Chapel. LTC Lolita Burrell co-officiated the event and several Corbin Forum cadets, including Cadet-in-Charge, Lisa DeLacey, attended the annual ceremony in honor of Revolutionary War Heroine, Margaret Cochran Corbin. Several New York State Representatives from the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) along with active DAR members throughout New England also partook in the afternoon s events. Following the honors and wreath recession, there was West Point Cemetery tour and then a luncheon at Herbert Hall. POC: LTC Lolita Burrell; Lolita.Burrell@usma.edu On Friday May 12 th, 2017, the Management Program inducted 15 new members into the West Point Chapter of Omicron Delta Kappa (ODK) the National Leadership and Honor Society. These 15 cadets have distinguished themselves academically, and within the Corps of Cadets. In addition to their incredibly academic accomplishments, members of ODK celebrated their service efforts namely their support of the Toys for Tots Program, and Special Olympics. At the induction ceremony was a representative from the Hudson Valley s Toys for Tots Program. Cadet volunteer collection efforts allowed the ODK chapter to present donated funds to the Toys for Tots Program. 7

8 Additionally, ODK members recently planned and supported Special Olympics at West Point which brought approximately 1000 athletes to USMA to compete. POC: Steve Fennessy; Department of Physics and Nuclear Engineering Completed Events NE450 Tabletop Exercise: On 3 May, Cadets enrolled in NE450: Nuclear Weapons Effects, conducted the semi-annual "Persian Gold" Tabletop Exercise, in which they use their knowledge of nuclear weapon design, effects, proliferation, and policy, to simulate the formation of national-level strategy regarding Iran's fledgling nuclear program in light of current events. The exercise was facilitated by Dr. Mark Mattox and Mr. Nima Gerami from the National 8

9 Defense University. Dr. Mattox is a senior research fellow at NDU and an expert on nuclear ethics and policy, and Mr. Gerami is a regional expert on Iranian policy. Dr. Mattox engages Cadets during the spring Persian Gold Tabletop Exercise, 3 May Hail and Farewell: On 12 May, the D/PaNE held a Hail and Farewell at the West Point Bowling Center. A good time with food, families, and fun, we welcomed our new Physical Science Technician, Jeremy Bishop, and farewell valued members of our department, without whose contributions the D/PaNE could not have been so successful: retiring Civilians, Dr. Brian Moretti and Nancy Spreer; retiring Officers,; rotating faculty, LTCs Dave Morrow and Chad Schools, MAJs Ed Peskie, Mark Haseman, Dean Mathis, and Josh Molgaard, and departing Civilian faculty, Drs. Dave Hutchinson, Carolann Koleci, and Eric Myers, and Mr. John Shannon. We wish all of our departing staff and faculty every success and happiness in their respective futures. Departing Faculty Honorees (l-r): Dave Hutchinson, John Shannon, and Mark Haseman; Dean Mathis, Josh Molgaard, Dave Morrow, Chad Schools, and Brian Moretti 9

10 Departing Faculty Honorees Eric Myers and Nancy Spreer Future Events AIADs: The D/PNE is preparing to send 32 Cadets on AIADs this summer. Department Of Social Sciences XH Enrichment Workshop On Thursday evening in the Haig Room, our XH faculty hosted 40 plebes and yearlings for an enrichment workshop that explored the importance of properly gauging and taking risks in our personal and professional lives. These workshops are designed as intellectual outreach for the broader cadet community in hopes of generating ideas and helping foster interest and relationships amongst future potential XH cohorts. 10

11 MAJ Jacob Sheehan speaks about taking risks. American Politics Course Directors Conference The inaugural iteration of the conference ran from May. The event is designed to help military rotators jump from being core course instructors to elective course directors. The sessions cover admin essentials, how to craft evaluations, assessment, and panels on pedagogy and teaching "Generation Z." The conference invited two administrators from a private high school in Connecticut to deliver a presentation on specific teaching insights to reach the current generation of students. Additionally, the conference invited senior faculty members from the History and DEP to participate in a round table discussion on evaluation techniques. 11

12 Breakout panel to provide new faculty members the opportunity to engage in small groups with senior faculty. 12

13 Roundtable discussion to facilitate the transition from instructor to course director. American Foreign Policy with LTG (R) McChrystal SS473 combined with XH497 (Ryan and BG Jebb's course) skyped with LTG (R) McChrystal to discuss American foreign policy, civ-mil relations, and on-going conflicts in Syria and Afghanistan. The interaction provided cadets the opportunity to think about strategic level decisions and their future impact on policy decisions. 13

14 Combating Terrorism Center On 10 May, the peer-reviewed academic journal Contemporary Security Policy published an article by the Combating Terrorism Center s Director of Research Dr. Daniel Milton. Entitled Dangerous Work: Terrorism against U.S. diplomats, Dr. Milton s piece focused on the threat of terrorist attacks against diplomats. Dr. Milton analyzed 471 attacks against U.S. diplomats from 1970 to 2011, finding that while U.S. alliances and foreign aid increase the likelihood of attacks against diplomats, U.S. 14

15 military intervention and civil war, on the other hand, increase the risk of terrorism against non-diplomatic targets. On 12 May, the Combating Terrorism Center was pleased to welcome Isaac Slade, lead singer of the group The Fray, and Jim Yacone, Class of 1987 graduate and former FBI Assistant Director, for a briefing. Following his meeting with the CTC, Slade headed to the Firstie Club where he performed for a packed audience of cadets. Isaac Slade (center), lead singer of The Fray, and Jim Yacone (center left), former FBI Assistant Director and a 1987 West Point graduate, are pictured after their briefing by the CTC. 15

16 Isaac Slade of The Fray also performed at the Firstie Club for cadets. Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering 1. C&ME Run to Remember Honors Fallen Heroes. On 16 May 17 the semi-annual C&ME Run to Remember to honor fallen graduates from the civil and mechanical engineering programs took place. Thirty-seven faculty, staff, cadets, and family members ran or walked to the West Point cemetery where the group read the names of the 17 fallen heroes and visited the gravesites of the four fallen graduates buried in the West Point cemetery (1LT David Bernstein, CPT Matthew August, CPT Ralph Harting III, and 1LT Nick Dewhirst). POC is COL Daisie Boettner, 16

17 C&ME Faculty, Staff, and Cadets read names of the fallen C&ME Graduates at the gravesite of CPT Matthew August Department of Foreign Languages Current Week HIGHLIGHTS: Chinese On 9 MAY, LTC Gregory spoke at the final 17-2 meeting of the Chinese Language Forum. Over 40 Cadets attended the lecture on law and society in modern China. After a strong 17-2, the Chinese Language Forum hopes to expand its activities in developing cultural insight in

18 LTC Gregory speaks to a packed house at the final Chinese Language Forum of the semester Ten Cadets returned from Semester Abroad in China and Taiwan on 14 MAY. Cadets studied at Peking University (Beijing), National Tsinghua University (Taiwan), Fu Jen University (Taiwan), and National Taiwan University. One Cadet continues his studies at the Inter-University Program (IUP) at Tsinghua University (Beijing), run by the University of California at Berkley. After the end of his semester on 29 MAY, he will begin an AIAD with the Law Department and DFL. Center for Language, Culture, and Regional Studies (CLCRS): On 16 MAY, CLCRS hosted its 4 th and final Monthly Forum of the semester. Dr. Fang-yi Chao shared her CLCRS funded research and DFL faculty discussed LREC research and instruction. Upcoming HIGHLIGHTS Next two weeks: German On 19 MAY the German section will welcome six cadets home from their Semester Abroad in Germany. They will have spent the last three weeks of their time abroad training with a German Army unit in a fashion similar to CTLT. 18

19 29 MAY marks the beginning of another summer full of international travel as the German section sends four cadets to Germany on AIAD, followed by eight more over the course of the summer. Chinese On 22 MAY, faculty and Cadets from DFL, GENE, and HIST will meet with the Asia Society Policy Initiative (ASPI), including Kevin Rudd, the former Prime Minister of Australia. The goal is to establish a working relationship for collaboration on future projects for Cadet and faculty research. Dr. Chao and five Cadets will travel to Beijing on 28 MAY to begin the Chinese Section s first summer AIAD. In addition to studying at Tsinghua University, Cadets will also teach preventative care at a junior high school in Beijing using Helping Others Today s methodology hoping to ensure people can take care of themselves medically and to bridge the cultural divide between the United States and China. CLCRS On 17 MAY, CLCRS will lead the year s final meeting of the Region-Culture Thread, bringing together course directors from DFL, GENE, HIST, and other departments to better integrate LREC learning across departments. CLCRS will wrap up the year on 18 MAY with a final meeting. MAJ Kessler will assume duties as the CLCRS Deputy and the Center will conduct a final coordination touchpoint before the end of the school year. 19