David DeMuth, Jr.
UMC Names DeMuth Department Head for Math, Science and Technology
University of Minnesota, Crookston (UMC) officials have selected David DeMuth, Jr., Ph.D. and associate professor of physics and math, to serve as department head for the Math, Science and Technology Department.
DeMuth holds a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Minnesota and a master’s degree in physics and a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of Louisville, KY. He has served as a faculty member at UMC since 1997. His research and teaching interests are in the areas of high energy astrophysics and computer assisted learning.
Additionally, DeMuth has published academic articles on the topic of neutrinos in high energy physics in international journals such as Astroparticle Physics. He is currently involved with research taking place at the Soudan Underground Laboratory, located in Soudan, MN. Earlier this year he also participated in the publishing of a white paper report on using nuclear reactors to search for a value of q13 (theta 13), an important concept dealing with neutrino mixing in particle physics.
DeMuth is also a fellow of the Frank W. Veden Endowment at UMC, which supports two half-time fellows for rural economic development. Through this fellowship, DeMuth has extended web-based technologies as a vehicle for economic development by supplying database applications to local companies and to produce regional software developers. This activity has also provided the foundation for UMC’s new academic degree program in computer software technology, slated to begin course offering this coming fall.
“I’m delighted that Dr. DeMuth has accepted this important position,” noted Dan Svedarsky, interim vice chancellor for academic affairs. “He’s an effective teacher, a respected researcher, and is committed to the success of UMC.”
The announcement caps a six-month discussion of academic restructuring at UMC. The process began in December of 2003 when Chancellor Velmer S. Burton, Jr., announced his intentions to examine the academic administrative structure in order to gain more efficiency—financially and administratively. An extensive series of open meetings to elicit feedback from faculty and staff occurred during the academic year. The administration made every effort to ensure that the entire campus community (faculty, staff, and students) had numerous opportunities to make suggestions regarding academic restructuring, as well as any concerns they may have had.
“The goal was to take the current academic administrative structure and align it more closely to the kinds of structures one would see at other four-year colleges,” said Burton. Burton believes the resulting structure of five departments, led by five department heads all reporting to the vice chancellor of academic affairs, achieves that goal. The five new departments are the Agriculture Department; the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences Department; the Business Department; the Math, Science and Technology Department; and the Natural Resources Department.
On July 1, 2004, the five new departments and department heads will consolidate administrative responsibilities from UMC’s current structure of twenty-two administrators—three center directors managing nineteen program managers, each with varying degrees of administrative responsibility. The efficiency is gained by moving from essentially twenty-two administrative points to five with more consistent administrative duties.
Each department head will hold faculty rank and also will be expected to continue teaching and research activities, while functioning as the administrator of a department. Primary administrative responsibilities include promoting a high-quality learning environment for students; providing leadership in curriculum development, faculty recruitment, faculty development, and research; communicating and implementing policy; formulating annual department goals, objectives, and plans; and planning, prioritizing, and managing budgets. The move to academic departments is consistent with the structure in place in departments at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities campus.
The administrative and budgetary efficiencies gained also may allow for the creation of a new position, an associate vice chancellor for research and planning. If determined feasible, the responsibilities of that position would be to coordinate institutional planning and research efforts, coordinate and promote grant writing, and manage course staffing and enrollments.
UMC’s Math, Science and Technology Department will include the following degree programs: applied health, computer software technology, dietetics, health management, health science – pre-professional, and information technology management. The department will also serve as home to the following disciplines: biology, chemistry, mathematics, and physics. Two searches are currently underway in the new department of Math, Science and Technology for tenure-track faculty positions in biology and chemistry. These efforts are consistent with the institution’s goals of expanding the base of academic degree programs and adding new tenure-track faculty to UMC.
The names of the other newly-appointed department heads will be announced over the next two weeks.
Posted 05/04/2004
Contact: Andrew Svec,
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