Return to: U of M Home
Vol. XXXVIII No. 36; November 12, 2008
Editor: Adam Overland, brief@umn.edu
Inside This Issue
--Consortium on Fostering Interdisciplinary Initiatives will meet
in Minneapolis.
--The U has been planning for potential changes in overall revenue
sources.
--Next Generation Energy Grants awarded by Gov. Pawlenty.
--People: Richard Johnson has been appointed director of the U's
Biomedical Research Facilities Program; and more.
Campus Announcements and Events
University-wide | Crookston |
Duluth | Morris | Rochester | Twin Cities
CONSORTIUM ON FOSTERING INTERDISCIPLINARY INITIATIVES, a 10-member group of major public and private research universities, will meet for the first time in Minneapolis, Nov. 14-16. About 45 representatives will discuss findings from a self-study on barriers and best practices in eight key areas: administration and governance, collaborative technologies, development and fund-raising, education and training, equity and diversity, finance and budget, research, and space and capital planning. Minnesota is the lead institution, with vice provost and Graduate School dean Gail Dubrow as chair; other members are UC-Berkeley, Illinois-Urbana Champaign, Michigan, UNC-Chapel Hill, Washington, Wisconsin, Brown, Duke, and Pennsylvania. For more information, see the news release and the story in Inside Higher Ed .
THE UNIVERSITY HAS BEEN PLANNING FOR POTENTIAL CHANGES IN OVERALL REVENUE SOURCES for the past several months in light of global, national, and state economic conditions. The U is facing these challenges by taking a deliberate and responsible approach to control costs and maximize existing resources to keep the University strong and not lose the gains made in recent years. Consistent with this, a systemwide hiring pause has been put into effect by President Bruininks requiring that, before being filled, all open positions be reviewed and deemed essential. For more information, see the letter from President Bruininks.
NEXT GENERATION ENERGY GRANTS: On Nov. 6, Gov. Pawlenty announced $2.7 million in Next Generation Energy Grants aimed at accelerating the commercialization of a number of bioenergy initiatives. The Forestry Department of the U's College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences received $100,000 to study the sustainability of the state's forests as a source of woody biomass for energy. The Morris campus was awarded $50,000 to support its biomass facility. For more information, see the news release.
PEOPLE: Richard Johnson has been appointed director of the University's Biomedical Research Facilities Program; Carol Klee has been named assistant vice president for international scholarship; Eleanor Hannah, Carol Leitschuh, Jodi Malmgren, and Samuel Myers, Jr. have been awarded Fulbright Scholar grants; Michael Osterholm has been appointed to the Pandemics Global Agenda Council; the Public Health Accreditation Board has named associate dean William Riley interim executive director; Susan Weller has been named director of the Bell Museum; The University's 2008 Award for Global Engagement recipients are Phillip Peterson, Paul Quie, John Vreyens, and Mahmood Zaidi; Diana Murphy will be presented with a Regents Award on Nov. 12; William Pedersen will receive the U's highest alumni honor--the Outstanding Achievement Award. Read about these awards and appointments in People.
CAMPUS ANNOUNCEMENTS AND EVENTS
INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION WEEK is Nov. 17-21. Planned activities will highlight the U's support of international education. Events include panel discussions, lectures, receptions, and a photo contest. For more information, see the calendar of events. The Office of International Programs is a division of System Academic Administration.
CALL FOR PROPOSALS: PRESIDENT'S INTERDISCIPLINARY CONFERENCE SERIES FUNDS support activities to seed emerging fields of interdisciplinary inquiry. New funding priorities are (1) supporting interdisciplinary collaborations between U of M faculty and faculty at other research universities and (2) supporting graduate student-initiated interdisciplinary conferences and related activities that provide national and international venues for presenting student scholarship and creative work. Tenured and tenure-track faculty and Graduate School students are eligible to apply. Proposals will be considered throughout the year. For more information, see guidelines.
A NEW UMORE PARK ADVISORY BOARD IS BEING LAUNCHED to engage U faculty, students, and staff members in the long-term planning and development of the 5,000-acre property in Dakota County. The objective is to identify and support mechanisms that integrate U research, education, and public engagement into the planning and development of UMore Park. For more information, see UMore Park.
THE CHANGING FACE OF MINNESOTA COMMUNITIES NOW THROUGH 2050: HOW WILL PUBLIC HEALTH RESPOND? Minnesota state demographer and keynote speaker Tom Gillaspy will describe projections for changing demographics in Minnesota through 2050, with focus on racial and ethnic diversity; how changing demographics will affect health, education, and economics; and how statewide initiatives/agencies, community organizations, and other entities are responding. Dec. 4, 8:30 a.m.-noon, Coffman Union. Free, but registration is requested. For more information and to register, see Minnesota demographics.
FAMILY HOLIDAY BUDGETS CAN EASILY GET OUT OF CONTROL, but research shows that what children really want for the holidays is a relaxed and loving time with family, an evenly paced holiday season, reliable traditions, and of course, a few gifts. In the column Connect @ Home, family resource management Extension educator Shirley Anderson-Porisch writes that parents should talk with children about holiday budgets. For more information, see Connect @ Home.
FIVE HORTICULTURE STUDENTS AT UMC TOOK FIRST PLACE at the annual Mid-America Collegiate Horticulture Society Competition. Hosted by the Northwest Missouri State University at Maryville, the competition consisted of a written horticulture knowledge exam, judging of all types of horticulture crops, and identification of both herbaceous and woody plants. For more information, see the news release.
UMC'S GLBTA PROGRAM IS HOSTING Genderama on Thursdays during the month of November. Upcoming topics include GenderBENDER (Nov. 13), GenderTALK (Nov. 20), and Trandsgender Day of Remembrance (Nov. 20). All events take place in 15 Hill Hall, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. For more information, contact Kim Jorgensen.
DURING INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION WEEK, Nov. 17-21, UMC has planned events for the campus and community to help recognize the value of global learning. For more information, see international education.
"IRAN: POLITICAL AND CULTURAL CONTEXTS" will be presented by Rosemary Stanfield-Johnson, UMD associate professor of history, and Khalil (Haji) Dokhanchi, UWS professor of political science. Stanfield-Johnson will discuss the cultural and religious contexts of Iranian society and its orientation to the rest of the world. Dokhanchi, a native of Iran, will examine the internal political structures and processes of Iran and its orientation to the Middle East. The lecture is part of the Royal D. Alworth International Lecture Series. Nov. 12, 7 p.m., Library Fourth Floor Rotunda. For more information, see Iran lecture.
THE UMD AMERICAN INDIAN LEARNING RESOURCE CENTER will celebrate its 25th anniversary with a dinner and auction fund-raiser event, Nov. 14, 6-10 p.m., Kirby Student Center Ballroom. Funds from live and silent auctions will benefit the UMD American Indian/Alaskan Native Community Volunteer Scholarship Fund. Featured guest artist will be Jeff Savage. Tickets are $30 for adults and $25 for students. For more information, see American Indian Learning Resource Center.
INTERNATIONAL TASTE OF UMD, featuring cuisines from international students' home countries, will be held Nov. 15, 2-4 p.m., Hope United Methodist Church, 301 West St. Marie Street.
THE UMD NIGHTWALK FOR CAMPUS SAFETY will take place Nov. 17, 6-7:30 p.m., starting from the Kirby Plaza bus hub. The purpose is to inspect the campus for possible safety issues and to gather suggestions for future improvements. Neighbors and community members are welcome. Those attending are encouraged to bring a flashlight and wear appropriate clothing for walking outside. John King, interim vice chancellor for finance and operations, and Jason Wittrock, president of the student association, will lead the walk.
THE UMM JAZZ BAND will provide music for dancing during the Presidents Club Holiday Party. Dec. 4, McNamara Alumni Center. For more information, see UMM Jazz.
HIGHLY ACCLAIMED CHINESE PIANIST Chu-Fang Huang will perform as part of this year's Performing Arts Series. Nov. 22, 7:30 p.m., Edson Auditorium. For more information, see Performing Arts Series.
THE U AND MAYO CLINIC SIGNED a Memorandum of Understanding for Education at UMR on Nov. 4. More than 75 guests were in attendance. The memorandum aligns support to nurture and sustain collaborative initiatives on education. It recognizes the relationship between the U and Mayo Clinic and demonstrates the continued commitment of each organization to high educational standards. The document is the first of its kind between the two institutions.
DUCK TALES: DON LUCE, CURATOR OF EXHIBITS AT THE BELL MUSEUM, PUT TOGETHER THE BELL'S Art of the Wild show and judged the highly competitive annual Federal Duck Stamp Contest. The winner can earn hundreds of thousands of dollars from stamp and print sales, and the contest has generated funds to protect millions of acres of waterfowl habitat in the U.S. For more information, read Duck tales.
MISSED CONTRIBUTING TO THE U'S GUINNESS RECORD? DON'T BE SICK ABOUT IT. You can still get a flu shot for free through the UPlan Wellness Program and Boynton Health Service. Preventive Health Screenings will be held Nov. 12 and Dec. 10. Walk in to Boynton's Roen Room and walk away with key indicators about the status of your health. For more information, see health screenings.
THE EXTENSION CENTER FOR YOUTH DEVELOPMENT invites U faculty and staff to attend the symposium: Youth Engagement, Social Trust, and the Future of Democracy. The presentation will focus on the role of youth engagement in nurturing social trust in younger generations and in fostering democracy. Nov. 18, 8:30 a.m.-noon, McNamara Alumni Center, Memorial Hall. The program will also be available through UMConnect. For more information, see youth development.
THE CURRENT FINANCIAL CRISIS impacts not only Wall Street and the United States but also the global economy and people in other parts of the world. A panel of scholars will offer insights on the crisis in the Global South and on U.S. communities of color and immigrant communities. The event will be moderated by Regents Professor Eric Sheppard. Nov. 18, 6-8 p.m., 3M Auditorium, Carlson School of Management. For more information, see the Interdisciplinary Center for the Study of Global Change.
INVESTING IN INFRASTRUCTURE: The effect of the nation's infrastructure on quality of life and national security is the focus of the next Institute of Technology public lecture, presented by civil engineering professor Roberto Ballarini. Free and open to the public, but registration is recommended. Nov. 19, 7 p.m., Mayo Memorial Auditorium. For more information and to register, see IT public lecture.
BOYNTON HEALTH SERVICE EYE CLINIC TURKEY DAY FRAME SHOWCASE: Try on a pair of frames for a chance to win an iPod touch or Minnesota Wild tickets. Nov. 19, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. For more information, see frame showcase.
OPERATIONS RESEARCH IN HEALTH CARE: OPPORTUNITIES, PERSPECTIVES, AND PROGRESS. In recent years, the electronic availability of data involving millions of people and the development of new data mining algorithms presents an opportunity for operations research to have an impact in health care. Dimitris Bertsimas, Boeing professor of operations research and codirector of the Operations Research Center at MIT, will present. Open to the public. Nov. 20, 4:30 p.m. reception with seminar to follow, 402 Walter Library. For more information, see operations research.
WRITING RESEARCH COLLOQUIUM: INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES OF WRITING GRANTS. The colloquium features the original writing research of U faculty, based on projects funded by the Center for Writing's Interdisciplinary Studies of Writing Grants. Nov. 21, noon-1:30 p.m., 135 Nicholson. For more information and to register, see writing or call 612-626-7579.
MORE EVENTS include Brown bag discussion on technology based economic development (Nov. 12); World Usability Day 2008 (Nov. 13); "Delicious Movement": A workshop with Eiko Otake (Nov. 14); Marching into the Future (Nov. 15); eNow! presents: Jan Hein Hoogstad, Nora Paul, and Adam Schrag (Nov. 17); "The Presidential Glass Ceiling Is Broken: The Path From Victoria to Hillary" (Nov. 18). SEE THESE AND MORE TWIN CITIES CAMPUS EVENTS.
Published by Internal Communications in the Office of University Relations at the University of Minnesota. Please send comments, questions, or submissions to the editor at brief@umn.edu. The deadline for submissions is noon on the Friday before publication. 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 http://www.umn.edu/umnnews/Publications/Brief.html.
Notice: Brief is the official University of Minnesota staff and faculty weekly news digest, featuring human resource, employee benefit, administrative, legislative, budgetary, event, and other pertinent information. You may choose to unsubscribe from Brief, but please be aware that if you do, you will not receive this up-to-date information, compiled and delivered directly to you, in any other University communications. To unsubscribe, visit http://www.umn.edu/umnnews/Publications/Brief/Subscribe.html.