Vol. XXXVII No. 13; April 11, 2007
Editor: Gayla Marty, brief@umn.edu

Read Brief on the Web at http://www.umn.edu/umnnews/Publications/Brief/Brief_4112007.html .

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

TRANSFORMING THE U: STATE OF THE U ADDRESS, presented by President Bruininks April 5, recognized the hard work, perseverance, and ingenuity of staff and faculty members over the first two years of the strategic positioning effort. The president called for persistence in the face of current challenges, including rising standards and expectations. "We aspire not to ranking but to stature," he said, which "requires a deep and abiding cultural commitment to excellence in everything we do." Read more at http://www.umn.edu/umnnews/Feature_Stories/Bruininks_delivers_State_of_the_U_for_2007.html .

SEEKING AN EDGE IN THE BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES: Only the promise of adequate lab space was enough to lure world-renowned biomedical researcher Gunda Georg to Minnesota. That's why the U is asking the state legislature to fund the Biomedical Sciences Research Facilities Authority, which would authorize the issuance of bonds to enable the U to construct four new research buildings over the next eight years. Read more about Georg and the bonding authority proposal at the legislature at http://www.umn.edu/umnnews/Feature_Stories/Seeking_an_edge_in_the_biomedical_sciences.html .

UMD CELEBRATES ITS FIRST CLASS OF TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP PROGRAM (TLP) GRADUATES: A snowstorm did not prevent the Duluth campus from honoring 19 staff members at TLP graduation April 3. Their projects--many tied to UMD's strategic approach for improving retention and graduation rates--are building skills and transforming processes across the campus. Read more at http://www.umn.edu/umnnews/Faculty_Staff_Comm/Office_of_Service_and_Continuous_Improvement/ UMD_graduates_first_TLP_class.html .

PEOPLE: Four UMTC faculty members have received 2007 Guggenheim Fellowships: Daphne Berdahl, anthropology; Hisham Bizri, cultural studies and comparative literature; David Treuer, English; and Peter McMurry, mechanical engineering. Read about these and more U awards and appointments at http://www.umn.edu/umnnews/Faculty_Staff_Comm/people.html .

CAMPUS ANNOUNCEMENTS AND EVENTS

University-wide:

DEADLINE TO REGISTER IS TODAY FOR "KEEPING OUR FACULTIES IV: Recruiting, Retaining, and Advancing Faculty of Color." April 12-14, UMTC. One-day registration is also available. See http://www.cce.umn.edu/conferences/kof .

THERE'S STILL TIME TO REGISTER FOR THE U-WIDE CONFERENCE ON TEACHING AND LEARNING and the Distinguished Teaching Award Ceremony, April 23, McNamara Alumni Center, UMTC. Both events are free. The conference, "Enhancing Student Learning: Conversations About Research and Practice," 7:30 a.m.-3 p.m., is sponsored by the Academy of Distinguished Teachers and UMTC Center for Teaching and Learning and Digital Media Center; contact 612-624-5082 or kbacig@umn.edu (online registration closed April 9). The awards ceremony, 3:30-6 p.m., is sponsored by the U of M Alumni Association; register by April 13. See http://www.adt.umn.edu/conference07 (conference agenda) and http://www.alumni.umn.edu/distinguishedteaching.html (awards ceremony registration).

BEAUTIFUL U DAY IS APRIL 19. Activities are planned on all the U campuses. Volunteers are needed at UMTC for a litter pickup (St. Paul and Minneapolis), planting trees on East River Road, and planting flowers on Northrop plaza. See http://www.buday.umn.edu .

U READS 2007 LIST of 10 books recommended by U faculty, staff, and students is now posted at http://www.cce.umn.edu/ureads/list.html .

ITASCA FIELD BIOLOGY PROGRAM offers summer session courses at the U station in Itasca State Park, May 24-June 26. Faculty and staff are encouraged to direct students from all disciplines at any accredited college or university to enroll. Earn up to eight credits in immersion courses in ecology, mammology, ornithology, animal behavior, and more. See http://www.cbs.umn.edu/itasca .

Crookston:

THREE NEW COACHES have been hired in the Golden Eagle football program, which is part of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC): David Hennings and Justin Schreiber, full-time, and UMC Athletic Hall of Fame member Jim LeClair, part-time. Hennings has served as assistant coach part-time for seven seasons. Schreiber was a quarterback at UMC 1999-2002 and has coached Division II college and high school football. LeClair played at UMC in 1968-69 and later played 12 seasons for the Cincinnati Bengals. See http://www.umcrookston.edu/people/athletics/news .

A DAYLONG CAMPUS BEAUTIFICATION PROJECT April 13 will put community volunteers to work alongside UMC students, faculty, and staff in honor of Beautiful U Day. Volunteers should check in at the Eagle's Nest on the west side of the Student Center. See http://www.umcrookston.edu/umcnews/stories/story501.html .

Duluth:

THE NEW VICE CHANCELLOR FOR ACADEMIC SUPPORT AND STUDENT LIFE is Randy Hyman. He comes from Ball State U, Indiana, where he served as associate dean for student affairs and director of the graduate program for student affairs administration in higher education. He succeeds Bruce Gildseth, who is retiring after 30 years as vice chancellor but will continue leading the UMD Campus Retention Initiative in the chancellor's office through 2007-08. See http://www.d.umn.edu/news/2007/April/04.html .

"AN INTRODUCTION TO BUCHENWALD" will be presented by Leonore Baeumler and Karl Bahm as part of UMD's annual Baeumler-Kaplan Holocaust Commemoration. Today, 4 p.m., Rafters; free and open to the public. Commemoration events will continue through April, focusing this year on Buchenwald concentration camp. The keynote address, "The Birds Keep Silent in the Forest," will be given by Buchenwald survivor and St. Olaf College professor Reidar Dittman, April 19, 4 p.m., Kirby Student Center ballroom. An exhibition on the camp will be displayed through April 30, UMD Library. See http://www.d.umn.edu/news/2007/April/06.html .

"MUSLIMS AND THE WEST IN THE AGE OF GLOBALIZATION" will be presented by Ahmed Samatar, dean, Institute for Global Citizenship, Macalester College, as the Alworth Institute for International Studies Annual Memorial Lecture. Today, 7:30 p.m., Kirby Student Center ballroom. Free and open to the public.

UMD SCIENTIFIC VENDOR SHOW will feature more than 20 scientific supply vendors displaying equipment and answering questions. Friday, April 13, 11 a.m.-2 p.m., atrium, Swenson Science Building. For more information, contact Randy Hedin, rhedin2@d.umn.edu .

Morris:

UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM, to be held in conjunction with the inauguration of Chancellor Johnson next week, will showcase the research of more than 100 students in every discipline. April 20, 3-5 p.m., Science Building atrium and Imholte Hall classrooms. Alumna and visiting professor of political science Angela Bos, a participant in UMM's first undergraduate research symposium, will give the symposium keynote address. See http://www.morris.umn.edu/ummnews/View.php?itemID=2838 .

Rochester:

UMR CHANCELLOR SEARCH COMMITTEE: Applications and nominations will be reviewed beginning April 13 and accepted until the position is filled. See http://www.r.umn.edu and the external search firm Web site, http://www.academic-search.com .

Twin Cities:

PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT DAY IS TODAY. Faculty, staff, students, and community members are invited. Free registration to attend addresses, lunch, and workshops, 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m., Coffman Union, UMTC; no registration required for the open house celebration, 4-6 p.m., Great Hall. See http://www.engagement.umn.edu/public_engagement_day/index2.html .

SOFTBALL: ENJOY GOPHER SPORTS AND HELP BUILD CAMPUS COMMUNITY with reduced-price tickets for faculty and staff. Cheer on coaches Lisa Bernstein and Julie Standering and the softball team when they play Purdue U at Jane Sage Cowles Stadium, Apr. 14, noon. Tickets are free for those with a U Card and $3 for family and friends; get them at the U Bookstore in Coffman in advance or at the stadium on game day. A one-hour clinic for kids 12 and under will follow; register at diamo010@umn.edu . See http://www.gophersports.com for game delays or cancellations due to weather. Sponsored by a joint initiative of U governance and athletics.

"THE DREAM ACT: IN-STATE TUITION FOR ALL?" will feature speakers Mercy Das-Šulc, Citizens League Immigration and Higher Education Study Committee, and Sara Rosales, ISAIAH Civil Rights for Immigrants Campaign, in the Spring 2007 Hope Forum, presented by the Lutheran Student Movement and University Lutheran Church of Hope. April 17, 6-7:30 p.m., President's Room, Coffman Union. See "Hope Forum" on the left sidebar at http://www.ulch.org or call 612-331-5988.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND WORK will be the topic of a short-course designed to help supervisors define domestic abuse, recognize behaviors associated with it, and understand how it affects the U workplace environment. Participants will be equipped with effective strategies and skills to respond when working with a colleague or employee who may be experiencing domestic violence. Resources in your organization and community that can be used to intervene, support, and protect those involved will be identified. Facilitator: Jamie Tiedemann, director, Aurora Center for Advocacy and Education. April 25, 9-11 a.m., 210 Donhowe Building. Register at http://www.umn.edu/ohr/supervisors/workshops .

U REUSE WAREHOUSE SEALED-BID AUCTION will be April 19, 20, and 23, 883 29th Ave. S.E., Minneapolis. Meat slicer, antique bench, wooden file cabinet, executive desk, industrial tools, and much more are up for bid. Highest sealed bid during the three viewing days will claim the merchandise. The ReUse Warehouse is a depot for used U property. See a complete list of auction items at http://www.reuse.umn.edu .

RECENT UMTC FEATURES ON THE U HOME PAGE:
--THE NEW UNIVERSITY HONORS PROGRAM and its director, physics professor Serge Rudaz, http://www.umn.edu/umnnews/Feature_Stories/He_takes_the_honors.html
--"WISH YOU WERE HERE," the new online faculty recruitment brochure, http://www.umn.edu/umnnews/Feature_Stories/Wishing_they_were_here.html

THE MASTER OF FINE ARTS IN CREATIVE WRITING 10TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION will feature several panels, April 12-13, and conclude with festivities and a reading to announce the Michael Dennis Browne Fellowship, April 13, 7 p.m., West Wing, Campus Club, Coffman Union. See http://creativewriting.umn.edu .

MORE EVENTS include a campus reception for Wolf Prize winner and Regents Professor Ronald Phillips (today); E. L. Doctorow reading for the Esther Freier endowed lecture (today); McKnight Summer Fellows on projects related to the Caribbean (today); annual David Noble Lecture, "The Jim Crow Cigarette: Tracing Cultures of Transnational Capitalism Before World War II," with Nan Enstad, U of Wisconsin-Madison (April 12); united local university men's choruses performing Randall Thompson's "The Testament of Freedom" (April 13 and 15); topics on the Korean War (beginning April 12-14) and a traveling art and multi-media exhibit, "Still Present Pasts" (April 14-June 2); conference to honor German studies professor Gerhard Weiss (April 14); 5K Race for Justice fun run and walk (April 15); Gov. Tim Pawlenty addressing the Law School community, sponsored by the U chapter of the Federalist Society (April 16); annual Freeman Lecture, "Food vs. Fuel: The Unintended Consequences of the American Race for Energy," (April 17); Tucker Center lecture, "Sex vs. Athletic Competence: Exploring Competing Narratives in Marketing and Promoting Women's Sports" (April 17); and IMA public lecture, "Epidemics in Technological and Social Networks: The Down Side of Six Degrees of Separation," with Jennifer Tour Chayes (April 18). 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 .

Published by University Relations at the University of Minnesota. 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 .

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