Nearly 70 faculty and researchers at the UA have received donor-supported endowed chairs, but what do they do?
By LA Monica Everett-Haynes, University Communications [Full Article]
The existence of competitive, donor-supported endowed chairs on a university campus has traditionally been upheld as a mark of academic greatness. Such highly coveted chairs, which require a $1 million contribution to be established at The University of Arizona, reward faculty who are considered among the most accomplished in their respective fields.
Unlike general donations, funds for an endowment are placed in a fund where the principal remains untouched while generating interest. Over time, that interest is provided to the faculty member as a salary boost or for spending on travel, research projects, new programming and to support students in their education. Nearly 70 faculty members hold endowed chairs at the University today.
Kris Bosworth, College of Education, Lester L. and Roberta D. Smith Endowed Chair in Education
Kris Bosworth focuses on changing school climate because schools are in a unique position to buffer students from risky behaviors and to promote healthy development.
“Most researchers who develop drug and violence prevention programs do not work in education. They are psychologists, physicians or sociologists, but not educators,” said Bosworth, whose research on prevention programs is nationally recognized.
“Schools are in a better position to know what is happening with youth,” she said, adding that given the amount of time teachers spend with their students, they can readily notice behavioral and mood changes.
In September, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration released a report that indicated that both illicit drug use and smoking among children age 12 to 17 had dropped during a period between 2002 and 2006. However, the report found that underage drinking had not changed during the same time period, and the misuse of prescription drugs had increased slightly.
What Bosworth has discovered is that schools are most effective when administrators and teachers can create a safe learning environment and incorporate prevention programs that educate students directly, but also while involving the outside community.
This proves to be a difficult task, as schools are already dealing with overwhelming to-do lists, said Bosworth, who also heads the UA’s Educational Leadership Program.
That’s why she has spent much of her time developing software programs and schoolwide projects to help educators, in somewhat of a consulting role, to make stronger prevention messages a larger part of their teaching.
Bosworth has authored video-based and other multimedia programs meant to educate youths about substance abuse, violence, and other risky behavior, earning recognition from the American Medical Association, the National Congress on Adolescent Health, and the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention.
Later this month, she will be presenting at the American Educational Research Association’s meeting in New York with a UA graduate student. The two will speak about student and teacher perceptions of the safety of their school after finding that perceptions were not tied to standardized test scores or economic conditions in the surrounding neighborhood.
A great deal of Bosworth’s work is the direct result of having the Lester L. and Roberta D. Smith Endowed Chair in Prevention and Education, which marked its 10-year anniversary this year. Bosworth said her chair has enabled her to be more actively involved in outcomes, especially in her work with southern Tucson-area districts through two federal Safe Schools/Healthy Students grants.
In another project that is now in its second year, Bosworth meets with principals on a model she worked to develop with local and national prevention experts.
Called the Protective Schools model, it helps educators complete a comprehensive assessment of a school’s protective factors, such as vision, leadership, academic programs, relationships with the community, and data-driven decision-making.
She has worked with about five school districts and presents the model in a “book discussion group.”
Bosworth said that, through an assessment, educators can determine what strengths they already have, and where they can improve.
Lester Lewis Smith, who died in November 2003, founded The Smith Foundation, which supported efforts to curb substance abuse among youth and teenagers. He established the UA chair in 1998 with a focus on substance abuse prevention and other concerns, such as suicide.
The endowed chair has “allowed me to shift my focus from trying to change the individual to changing the school climate,” said Bosworth, who also teaches a course focused on exploring ways that administrators can change school climate and infuse proactive prevention programs.
“That’s what Lester wanted. He wanted somebody out there working to get the information out and felt we should be creating change,” Bosworth said. “He wanted someone who would serve the community, not just someone who was going to sit in an office. That’s what I love doing.”