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Read Brief on the Web at http://www.umn.edu/umnnews/Publications/Brief/Brief_1172007.html.
Vol. XXXVII No. 2; Jan. 17, 2007
Editor: Gayla Marty, brief@umn.edu

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

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GENERAL COMPENSATION FOR FACULTY AND STAFF is a primary component ($69.5 million) of the U's $123.4 million request to the legislature for the 2008-2009 biennium, since the U is a people-driven institution with nearly two-thirds of its budget devoted to salaries. The entire request focuses on (1) sustaining quality and competitiveness and (2) creating Minnesota's future. Register by Jan. 18 to attend the Legislative Briefing, Jan. 24, 5:30-8 p.m., McNamara Alumni Center, UMTC. Learn how you can support the U. Light dinner buffet followed by a program; short training sessions available. Read a summary of the request at http://www.umn.edu/umnnews/Feature_Stories/U_makes_push_for_increased_state_funding.html .

CIVIL SERVICE EMPLOYEES MAKE A DIFFERENCE: Debra Haessly, administrative director of the School of Kinesiology and winner of the 2006 Civil Service and Bargaining Unit (CSBU) Staff Award, was nominated for the award by professor and director Mary Jo Kane. The deadline for the 2007 CSBU Staff Award is Feb. 15--take this opportunity to nominate a staff member who makes a difference in your work day. Read more at http://www.umn.edu/umnnews/Faculty_Staff_Comm/Civil_Service_Committee/ Recognize_a_U_staff_member.html .

PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT SPOTLIGHT: APPRENTICE TO CIVIC ENGAGEMENT. UMD marketing professor John Kratz applies The Apprentice as a framework for students to create marketing campaigns, and it's producing great results. One campaign is raising public awareness of methamphetamine. The campaign is just one outcome of Kratz's decision to work with UMD's Office of Civic Engagement to identify meaningful partnerships in the Duluth community. Read more at http://www.umn.edu/umnnews/Faculty_Staff_Comm/Office_for_Public_Engagement/ Apprentice_to_civic_engagement.html .

INSTITUTE ON THE ENVIRONMENT'S 15 FOUNDING FELLOWS, named last week, will be Susan Galatowitsch, Sagar Goyal, Lucinda Johnson, Anne Kapuscinski, Bradley Karkkainen, David Mulla, Lance Neckar, Paige Novak, Christopher Paola, Stephan Polasky, Lanny Schmidt, Richard Skaggs, David Tilman, Lawrence Wackett, and Elizabeth Wilson. The new institute, led by interim director Deborah Swackhamer, will coordinate U-wide environmental resources to make it easier for researchers to share knowledge. For more information, see http://www.umn.edu/umnnews/news_details.php?release=070112_3102&page=UMNN .

PEOPLE: UMM vice chancellor for student affairs Sandra Olson-Loy has been appointed to the Commission on Judicial Selection by the Minnesota Supreme Court; UMD professor James Boulger won the Lake Superior Medical Society President's Award; retired professor Brad Pedersen was honored by the Minnesota Nursery and Landscape Association; U of M Foundation's new VP of marketing and communications is Lisa Meyer; Graduate School's 2006 Distinguished Master's Thesis Award winner; and more. Read more at http://www.umn.edu/umnnews/Faculty_Staff_Comm/people.html .

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CAMPUS ANNOUNCEMENTS AND EVENTS

University-wide:

QUALITY FAIR PROMOTES INNOVATION: The U's first Quality Fair will feature innovative ideas from staff and faculty across the state. More than 50 poster and breakout sessions will address topics such as executing strategy through a balanced scorecard and fostering engaged learning inside and outside the classroom. Keynote speaker Doug Lennick, Lennick Aberman Group, will address aligning personal values, aspirations, and behavior with organizational strategy and culture. With the theme of the Great University of Minnesota Get-Together, the fair will feature prizes, mini-donuts, and cotton candy. Jan. 25, 8 a.m.-noon, McNamara Alumni Center, UMTC. Sponsored by the Office of Service and Continuous Improvement and the improvement liaisons. To register or get more information, see http://www.umn.edu/osci/fair.html . Presentations will be streamed live online the day of the event; advance testing of your computer's reception capabilities is recommended.

BOARD OF REGENTS: Names of 11 finalists, including two incumbents, for four open seats have been forwarded by the Regent Candidate Advisory Council to Gov. Pawlenty. By Feb. 15, he will forward at least one name for each seat to the legislature for a vote. Public interviews will be held at a date to be announced. Finalists for the Fifth Congressional District seat are incumbent Peter Bell (Minneapolis), Pat O'Connor (Golden Valley), and Jacob Sullivan (Minneapolis); for the two at-large seats, incumbent Cynthia Lesher (New Brighton), Linda Cohen (Minnetonka), John Derus (Minneapolis), Rondi Erickson (Duluth), and Dean Johnson (Willmar); for the student at-large seat, Stephen Barrows (Minneapolis), Maureen Cisneros (West St. Paul), and Venora Hung (Golden Valley). Current regents Berman (at-large) and Ransom (student) did not seek reelection. For more information, see http://www.commissions.leg.state.mn.us/rcac .

TEACHING QUESTION? If you sometimes wish you could pick up the phone or send a quick e-mail message to a faculty colleague about a teaching question, the U-wide Academy of Distinguished Teachers (ADT) offers just such a resource. See http://www.adt.umn.edu/rfaculty.html for a list, by topic, of ADT members willing to be contacted. For more information, contact Karen Zentner Bacig, Office of the Senior VP for Academic Affairs and Provost, kbacig@umn.edu .

THE OFFICE OF REGULATORY AFFAIRS will sponsor Good Laboratory Practice (GLP), a one-day training course, Feb. 28, Continuing Education Conference Center, St. Paul. The course covers federal regulations for GLP in 21 CFR Part 58. $250 for anyone with U affiliation. Faculty, staff, and students can register at https://onestop2.umn.edu/training/category.jsp?category=CONTSUBST . For more information, contact Dawn Walden, walde010@umn.edu .

NOMINATIONS FOR THE JOSIE R. JOHNSON HUMAN RIGHTS AND SOCIAL JUSTICE AWARD are due Feb. 9. The award honors current faculty, staff, and students who have made exceptional contributions in the areas of human rights and social justice. Nominations must be made by U faculty, staff, or students. For details, see http://www.academic.umn.edu/equity/awards/josie_johnson.html . For more information, contact Sue Hancock, hanco004@umn.edu .

NOMINATIONS FOR OUTSTANDING COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARDS are due Feb. 28. The awards recognize outstanding faculty, staff, or U-affiliated community members who have devoted their time and talent to make substantial, enduring contributions to the public good and well-being of society. Those given to faculty and staff will carry a continuous salary award annually during their employment at the U. All U faculty and staff are eligible. For details and a list of previous award recipients, see http://www.engagement.umn.edu/awards .

Crookston:

UMC ATHLETES WILL CONTINUE TO COMPETE AT THE NCAA DIVISION II LEVEL as part of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, Chancellor Casey announced last week. He reaffirmed UMC's commitment to the conference, to investing in competitive success, and to finding a solution that will keep the intercollegiate Golden Eagle hockey program on campus. See http://www.umcrookston.edu/umcnews/stories/story428.html .

"SANCTUARIES AND ARTIFICIAL REEFS as Ecosystem Management Alternatives in the Great Lakes" will be presented by Stephen Bortone, Minnesota Sea Grant College director, UMD. Jan. 18, 3 p.m., Youngquist Auditorium. See http://www.umcrookston.edu/umcnews/stories/story430.html .

Duluth:

GEOLOGY OF PRECAMBRIAN ROCK is the focus of a new center for undergraduate and graduate students, formed by UMD's Natural Resources Research Institute and Department of Geological Sciences in partnership with the Minnesota Geological Survey. Bedrock formed during the Precambrian Era holds much of the world's deposits of iron ore, but students are often not trained to map it. This summer, the center will launch a six-week, six-credit field camp open to North American students, including a week of mapping and primitive camping in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. For more information, see http://www.d.umn.edu/unirel/homepage/07/precambrian.html or contact Jim Miller, mille066@umn.edu , or Dean Peterson, dpeters1@nrri.umn.edu .

INTERIM SENIOR ASSOCIATE DEAN OF THE U OF M MEDICAL SCHOOL DULUTH is Gary Davis, professor and head, Department of Behavioral Sciences. He will continue as department head and serve as associate director of the Center for Rural Mental Health Studies. Dean Richard Ziegler's term ended in 2006. A search for a permanent senior associate dean to lead medical school programs at UMD is underway. For more information, see http://www.med.umn.edu/duluth/NewsReleases/Davisinterimdean.html .

Morris:

SIX AREA LEGISLATORS and approximately 50 campus and community residents attended the district meeting the U held Jan. 12. A green-campus tour and the meeting were followed by a reception in honor of UMM and the City of Morris receiving the Carter Partnership Award for Campus-Community Collaboration last fall. For more information, see http://www.morris.umn.edu/greencampus (green campus) and http://www.morris.umn.edu/ummnews/View.php?itemID=1647 (award).

Twin Cities:

THE MINNESOTA STATE HIGHER EDUCATION COMMITTEE TOURED UMTC JAN. 11. Sites included the McGuire Translational Research Building, the Nanofabrication Center in the Electrical Engineering/Computer Science Building, and the media lab in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Legislators heard from VPs Jones and Mulcahy and Vice Provost Swan about strategic positioning and alignment with the biennial budget, the importance of research to the state, and benefits of a research university education to undergraduates. For more information, see http://www.umn.edu/urelate/govrel .

THE WOMEN'S FACULTY CABINET Web site is now live at http://www.umn.edu/home/wfc . The cabinet provides leadership to improve and enrich the academic and professional environments for women faculty at UMTC and is sponsored by the Office of the Senior VP for Academic Affairs and Provost. Cabinet members are Elizabeth Arendt, Heidi Barajas, Carol Chomsky, Rhonda Drayton, Tasoulla Hadjiyanni, and Peggy Nelson.

"MINNESOTA'S STATE IN PLUG-IN HYBRID VEHICLES" will address how Minnesota can lead and contribute to the developing field of hybrid vehicle technologies by bringing together potential stakeholders, exploring opportunities and obstacles for moving Minnesota initiatives forward, and building awareness of the plug-in hybrid technology and its potential. This roundtable discussion is sponsored by the Center for Transportation Studies, the Initiative for Renewable Energy and the Environment, and the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs State and Local Policy Program, and in cooperation with the Center for Diesel Research. Jan. 18, 8 a.m.-noon, Continuing Education and Conference Center, St. Paul. Free. For more information and registration, see http://www.cts.umn.edu/events or RSVP to cts@umn.edu .

SAVE THE DATE: UMAA 2007 VOLUNTEER LEADERSHIP SUMMIT. All UMAA national, society, and chapter volunteers are invited to participate in a forum to share ideas and celebrate support for the U. Presentations, interactive sessions, roundtable and panel discussions, networking, and a chance to see the Gopher women's hockey team take on Bemidji State U. Feb. 10, 9 a.m.-2:30 p.m., McNamara Alumni Center. See http://www.alumni.umn.edu/summit or call 612-626-0425.

ENCOURAGE STUDENTS TO ENTER A POSTER COMPETITION ON COMMUNICATING SCIENCE, sponsored by the U's chapter of Sigma Xi, the global honor society of science and engineering. Abstracts due Jan. 31; competition will be March 6, Great Hall, Coffman Union. Posters will be judged for excellence in communicating science to an educated, non-specialist audience. Graduate and undergraduates may enter by submitting title, authors, and short abstract (less than 200 words) to Michael Russelle at russelle@umn.edu .

LUNCH DISCUSSIONS ON ANY ASPECT OF TIME, speculative or concrete, are part of the University Symposium on Time, organized by the Institute for Advanced Study. Lunch is included for those who reserve a place, but all are welcome. Jan. 18, noon-1:30 p.m., Carlson Private Dining Services, ground floor, CSOM. For more information, see http://www.ias.umn.edu/symposium.php ; reservations: ias@umn.edu or 612-626-5054.

MORE EVENTS include "Who Needs Identity?" (Jan. 17); "Making Sense of a Complex World," a public lecture sponsored by the Institute for Mathematics and Its Applications (Jan. 18); "The Art of the Start: Guy Kawasaki" (Jan. 19); Music for Martin 26th annual free concert to honor the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., at the Ted Mann Concert Hall (Jan. 21); "Should the UN Be Abolished?" (Jan. 22). SEE THESE AND MORE TWIN CITIES CAMPUS EVENTS ONLINE at http://events.tc.umn.edu .

NEWS RELEASES are posted daily at http://www.umn.edu/urelate/newsservice/home.php

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Published by University Relations at the University of Minnesota. Gayla Marty, editor. Please send comments, questions, or submissions to the editor at brief@umn.edu . All Twin Cities event submissions are handled through the events calendar at http://events.tc.umn.edu .

Brief is published by e-mail and on the Web at www.umn.edu/umnnews/Publications/Brief.html. See also UMNnews, a U-wide Web publication, at www.umn.edu/umnnews .

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