<\/p>\n
Dr. Christopher Culbertson,\u00a0the dean of arts and sciences and professor of chemistry at Kansas State University, presents himself in an open forum to UCF over his candidacy for the new UCF dean of the College of Sciences in the SPRK building on Thursday. Culbertson was the final of three candidates to present themselves in forums over the past two weeks.<\/p>\n
Rachel Jones<\/p>\n
Dr. Christopher Culbertson, dean of arts and sciences and professor of chemistry at Kansas State University,\u00a0pitched his plans Thursday in the UCF SPRK building conference room as a\u00a0candidate for the College of Sciences dean position.<\/p>\n
Culbertson’s forum marked the final in the series for the college’s dean search.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
During his forum, he said above all \u2014 should he be selected as dean \u2014 he\u00a0intends to lead the college with transparency and efficiency. This includes being highly collaborative with faculty and staff.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He said he already does so and practices this leadership style in his current dean position at Kansas State University, including monthly meetings with\u00a0the Kansas State Faculty Senate.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Culbertson has held his current position for four years. During this tenure, he was able to\u00a0increase the\u00a0first-time\u00a0freshman\u00a0enrollment rate by 45%\u00a0over three years\u00a0and\u00a0the four-year graduation rate by 13%, he said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Culbertson hopes to bring similar metric success to UCF, which\u00a0aligns\u00a0with the university\u2019s overall goals, such as\u00a0increasing\u00a0faculty retention, increasing graduate research and promoting student\u00a0success, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s an issue with the high faculty-to-student ratio,\u201d Culbertson said, citing\u00a0an article from\u00a0<\/a>The Charge<\/a> for local insight into the UCF community.\u00a0<\/p>\n “Faculty and staff workloads and morale \u2014 there\u2019s a challenge in that area. And on top of all of that, we have AI driving change in the workplace,\u201d he added.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Culbertson said he sees artificial intelligence as a tool to promote success, if used correctly, and\u00a0seeks\u00a0to strategically integrate it into the College of Science\u2019s framework, he said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s imperative now that we adopt AI to help us streamline, reduce the cost of education and make our students more successful in the process,\u201d Culbertson said. \u201cI think that\u00a0there\u2019s\u00a0a good opportunity to personalize learning\u00a0at\u00a0a large scale for foundational courses\u00a0[with AI].\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Culbertson\u2019s proposal to integrate AI tutoring, developed from discipline-based educational research, starts at the beginning of the\u00a0learning process, he said. The goal of the AI agents is to free up faculty time\u00a0and increase\u00a0student-to-faculty interaction.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not so that faculty are replaced,\u201d Culbertson said. \u201cWe\u2019re\u00a0going to be mentors, coaches\u00a0and designers of the learning experience.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Talat Rahman,\u00a0UCF trustee chair professor and Pegasus professor of physics,\u00a0said she\u00a0left Culbertson\u2019s\u00a0forum with questions\u00a0regarding\u00a0his proposed AI integration and how it would affect faculty contentment.\u00a0But, she said,\u00a0she liked the way\u00a0Culbertson has\u00a0made an effort\u00a0to understand UCF.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHe seemed to be aware of what\u00a0is\u00a0going on at UCF,\u201d Rahman said. \u201cI was glad to see that he\u00a0was aware of the fact that\u00a0faculty morale is low.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Dr. John Buckwalter invited the UCF community to submit feedback on the dean candidates before midnight on Feb. 23 to the\u00a0College of Sciences Dean Search webpage<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n