Dear Colleagues,

I am delighted to announce the appointment of Orianne Smith as Special Assistant to the Provost for Special Faculty Initiatives, effective September 1, 2022.

As Special Assistant to the Provost, Professor Smith will work with departments and programs to support their ongoing efforts to fully recognize faculty Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) activities in Promotion and Tenure (P&T) reviews, and work to recommend revisions to Digital Measures reporting that could assist faculty in better capturing their DEIA activities on a periodic basis. She will also engage in best practice research to better understand the impacts of the pandemic on the long-term career trajectory of junior faculty, and provide resources to assist the university in the on-boarding of new faculty and in their mentorship. Professor Smith will share resulting research, recommendations, and best practices with the Provost, the Council of Deans, shared governance, college deans, and department chairs.

These responsibilities build upon, and are an extension of, the impressive work in which Professor Smith has previously engaged to support faculty. She recently served two terms as Faculty Senate President, and in that position, and as a member of the COVID-19 Planning Coordinating Committee (CPCC), worked closely with senior leadership, and the faculty, staff, and student senates, to help the university and our faculty navigate the many challenges of the pandemic. During this time, Professor Smith also created and led the Faculty Caregiving Advisory Committee. Under her leadership, the Caregiving Committee facilitated a series of listening sessions and surveys to better understand the experiences of faculty caregivers. Recommendations from the Caregiving Committee that have been implemented include offering tenure-clock and start-up extensions to junior faculty members, and the development of a caregiver supportive toolkit and brochure for new chairs and administrators. Professor Smith also worked with the Office of Institutional Advancement, Human Resources, and staff shared governance leaders to establish the UMBC Cares Faculty & Staff Emergency Fund.

Professor Smith has extensive experience working collaboratively across the university to initiate and successfully shepherd significant policy changes through the shared governance process. These include the evaluation and improvement of teaching effectiveness in faculty reviews, and a proposed name change for Lecturer-rank faculty to better reflect the roles and duties of non-tenure track faculty. Most recently, Professor Smith worked with stakeholders across campus to develop and implement significant changes to UMBC's P&T policy to recognize and reward faculty DEIA efforts.

Professor Smith completed her Ph.D. in British Romantic literature at Loyola University Chicago and joined the UMBC faculty in 2005. Her book, Romantic Women Writers, Revolution and Prophecy: Rebellious Daughters, 1786 -- 1826, was published with Cambridge University Press (2013; paperback 2015). This book received the First Book Award from the British Association of Romantic Studies in 2015. Professor Smith served as the Chair of the English Department from 2012 -- 2018. She has also served in numerous other leadership roles across the university. 

Professor Smith looks forward to continuing to find meaningful ways to support our faculty and warmly invites members of the university to contact her at osmith@umbc.edu with suggestions or feedback.

Please join me in congratulating Professor Smith on her new appointment and supporting her in this important endeavor.

Provost Philip Rous