Administrative Activities
Administrative Activities
Center for Water Quality in Urban Environmental Systems (Water QUEST)
Co-Director 2005-2008; Director 2008 - present
Lead faculty team responses to center-level funding opportunities.
Engage with corporate and foundation sponsors.
Present center research at Dean's Weekend, President's Weekend, Trustee Partners Weekend, and other select alumni development events.
Present center research to foundation program managers and boards.
Coordinate with watershed research groups in Southwestern Pennsylvania and build relationships with regional NGOs and university partners.
Brief local, state and national regulatory agencies regarding research results.
Coordinate field work with drinking water utilities.
Manage budget and supervise assessment and purchase of laboratory equipment.
Hire and supervise laboratory manager.
Lead Principal Investigator 2010-2017
Lead faculty team that wrote the proposal to leverage NSF/EPA Center on Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology (CEINT) to create the IGERT.
Hire and supervise IGERT program coordinator.
Select and manage interactions with external advisory board.
Prepare and deliver program briefings and presentations.
Coordinate educational program across five engineering departments.
Lead faculty through admissions, selection and regular evaluation of students.
Mentor graduate students in the program.
Prepare and deliver professional development seminars to IGERT students on topics including: adjusting to graduate school, interacting with your advisor, finding a mentor, organizing your time, giving presentations, avoiding procrastination, and project planning.
Program details at: http://www.ices.cmu.edu/neep/
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University.
Chair, Program Assessment Committee 2008-2015
Lead program assessment in Civil Engineering to demonstrate continous improvement processes aligned with requirements for ABET accreditation.
Complete comprehensive analysis of six years of data during self-study year (2011-12).
Write departmental self-study document, including work with external consultant.
Prepare materials for accreditation visit (Fall 2012).
Work with faculty to develop assessment tools and rubrics for courses and program.
Prepare and deliver tutorials to faculty and teaching assistants on development of rubrics and use of on-line assessment tools
Prepare and present annual assessment data for faculty evaluation at department meetings and retreats.
Facilitate decision-making regarding program changes in response to assessment results.
Supervise staff programmer on development of new on-line tool for management of all assessment data (including syllabi, assessment data by course and outcome, and sample of student work)
Represent department on college assessment committee.
Attend annual ABET Symposium. Completed training through Institute of the Development of Excellence in Assessment Leadership (IDEAL) in 2009.
Completed training as a program evaluator (PEV) with ABET in 2012.
University Research Council (URC). Carnegie Mellon University.
Vice Chair 2011-2013
The URC is tasked with special projects associated with research administration, as requested by the URC chair (Vice President and Associate Provost for Research) and the faculty senate.
Represent the URC chair on the faculty senate executive committee (Ex Com) and attend all meetings of the faculty senate.
Project 1. Revise university policy with respect to conflict of interest in research, as necessitated by changes in federal law.
Led URC review of federal conflict of interest law.
Collected input from stakeholders (faculty, staff, graduate and undergraduate students) on very tight timeline to meet federal regulatory change.
Presented details of new legal requirements to staff council, faculty senate, graduate student government, undergraduate student government, and multiple departments throughout the university.
Presented new policy and implementation procedures recommended by the URC to University President, Provost and management team.
Project 2. Reviewed and recommended changes to university policy on royalty payments to staff members.
Led URC review of invention policy and royalty payment policy.
Led URC review of copyright vs. patent considerations.
Collected input from original drafters of the policy and the history of implementation of the policy.
Collected input from current faculty and staff affected by the policy and interested in a revision.
Presented formal recommendation to faculty senate chair and executive committee.
Contact Information
Jeanne M. VanBriesen
Duquesne Light Company Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Phone: (412) 268-4603
Fax: (412) 268-7813
Email: jeanne@cmu.edu
Office Location: Porter Hall 123 G