Internal Service
Ergun Akleman
Home Visualization Program Department of Architecture College of Architecture Texas A&M University
Although many people may agree about what needs to be done, there is always a need for ``gophers'' who can make it really happen. I am one of those gophers who can make change happen.

I have worked as coordinator of the Visualization Sciences Master's program for two years. One of my accomplishments as a program coordinator is efficient use of faculty time, which is particularly important for probationary faculty. By making some small changes, I have significantly reduced the time faculty spend in meetings and provided them extra time for research and creative activities. One significant reduction came from admission meetings. We used to spend at least one day a week working on making admission decisions during the Spring semester. By using a system that comes from conference management systems, faculty now spend much less time for admissions. Usually program coordinators are expected to teach a smaller number of courses. But, it is the opposite in my case. For example, when Fred Parke had one semester off, I taught his two courses in addition to mine. Similarly, I currently teach an additional undergraduate course.

Another one of my accomplishments is to increase the availability of visualization courses to architecture and computer science students. Although many people are involved in the process, I was the one who prepared the course descriptions and proposals for eight cross-listed courses between Computer Science and Visualization. Similarly, I have prepared four new course proposals that have already been approved or are about to be approved. I have split highly demanded Viza 613, 3D Modeling and Animation course into two sections, which has doubled enrollment capacity, to allow students outside of Visualization better access to the course. All these efforts help our program to better integrate with other programs in the University.

A major weakness of the visualization program is that we do not have a separate Ph.D. program, severely limiting our research abilities. We are currently exploring the idea of either creating our own Ph.D. program or a joint Ph.D. program with Computer Science. One of my goals in the near future is to further this process.

To improve the quality of a program also involves efficient faculty recruiting. I have served three faculty search committees and one architecture department head search. During all regular faculty search processes, we were able to hire new faculty members. Based on these hires, the depth and breath of Visualization Science program has been significantly improved.



The summary of internal service

    College

  • 2006-Present, Chair, College of Architecture Transition Sub-committee of Visualization Department Committee.
  • 2006-Present, Member, College of Architecture Visualization Department Committee.
  • 2005-2006, Member, College of Architecture Department Head Search Committee.
  • 2003-2004, Member, College of Architecture, Visualization Signature Faculty Search, Committee.
  • 2002-2003, Member, College of Architecture Academic Affairs Committee.
  • 1998-1999, Member, College of Architecture, International Programs Committee.

    Department

  • 2003-Present, Member, Department of Architecture Promotion and Tenure Committee.
  • 2004-2006, Coordinator of Visualization Sciences Program.
  • 2003-2004, Chair, Department of Architecture, Visualization Signature Faculty Search, Subcommittee.

    Program

  • 1995-Present, Member, Visualization Sciences Faculty Committee.
  • 1996-Present, Member, Visualization Sciences Program Admission Committee.
  • 1998-99, Member, Visualization Sciences Program Faculty Search Committee.