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Past Issues
Upcoming legislative session will be "the most challenging" in the past 10 or 15 years because of the state budget deficit and current economy, said Interim President Bruininks in Oct. 3 State of the U address. "This year, more than ever, we will have to make the case for the University and for higher education; it is unacceptable that only 3% of Minnesotans say higher education is a priority," he said, referring to a July Pioneer Press public opinion poll.
Recognizing this challenge, Bruininks described the U's new approach in developing its biennial request. Rather than asking the state to fund all of its needs, the U will propose a "reasoned, 50-50 partnership with the state," in which the U will fund half of its needs through reallocations and tuition increases while seeking "reasonable" new state resources.
Bruininks announced the launch of an enhanced service and productivity initiative to achieve $5 million in savings through cost reductions and revenue enhancements. He called on faculty and staff to "think creatively" about enhancing productivity and reducing costs. For full State of the U address, see www.umn.edu/urelate/newsservice/newsreleases/stateofuaddress.html.
Board of Regents will meet Oct. 10–11, McNamara Alumni Center. Agenda topics include U's biennial budget request, 6-year capital plan, Large Binocular Telescope contract, and Commission on U of M Excellence report. For full agenda, see www.umn.edu/regents.
Regent O'Keefe has resigned from the Board of Regents to avoid potential conflict of interest following his appointment as president of Minneapolis College of Art and Design. O'Keefe, former commissioner of Minnesota's Department of Human Services, has served as a regent for 6 years and was chair of the Finance and Operations Committee. Gov. Ventura may appoint the successor if he so chooses.
Academic Health Center was awarded a $1.1 million federal grant to develop an Area Health Education Center (AHEC) in Minnesota. Center will support existing rural health programs—community-campus partnerships that provide educational opportunities for health-professions students—and address health workforce issues in rural areas. Activities will initially focus in northeastern and southern Minnesota.
U's Minnesota Cystic Fibrosis Center has received Therapeutics Development Network (TDN) membership. TDN centers conduct clinical research on cystic fibrosis using a multidisciplinary approach. U center is one of 14 in the nation and the only one in the region admitted to TDN.
U-wide Policy Library contains a new procedure on implementing the grievance process, a new policy on reconciling and verifying general ledger accounts and other financial information, and updates to publishing information on the Web. See www.fpd.finop.umn.edu. To receive e-mail notification of changes, call 612-624-1611 or e-mail process@umn.edu.
Office of the Executive VP and Provost is seeking applications for assistant vice provost (33% time) to assume responsibility for faculty development and academic administrative matters on behalf of VP and executive vice provost for faculty and academic programs. Qualifications include 3 or more years as department chair, assistant or associate dean, or other senior academic administrator. For full position description, see www.umn.edu/ohr/employ.html. Applications will be reviewed beginning Oct. 15 and accepted until position is filled. For more information, e-mail cranx001@umn.edu.
CROOKSTON—Fall convocation will be Oct. 16, 10 a.m., in the newly renovated Kiehle Auditorium. Guest speaker will be David Badman, owner of Badman Design, Grand Forks, ND, who will speak about small business ownership. He will also present the new UMC academic torch, which he created.
Natural resources professor Dan Svedarsky was named executive committee chair of the U-wide Academy of Distinguished Teachers. Academy was established to ensure continuation of world-class instruction, honor exceptional teachers, and publicly recognize the importance of teaching.
DULUTH—William Wade has been named vice chancellor for university relations. New position includes responsibility for UMD Department of Intercollegiate Athletics, as well as development, public relations, publications, alumni, photography, and KUMD radio units. Wade has been university relations and development director since 1997.
UMD women's hockey coach Shannon Miller will be honored by Calgary Flames NHL team Oct. 15 for "significant contributions to hockey." Miller was coach of Team Canada for 7 years and the first female to coach a women's Olympic hockey team anywhere in the world.
UMD women's hockey team ranks number one in the U.S. College Hockey Online Division I preseason poll. The 2-time NCAA defending champions were ranked 2nd in the final regular season poll last year; this season UMD received 13 first-place votes.
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MORRIS—UMM has been accepted for membership in the Upper Midwest Athletics Conference beginning 2003–04. "The process of transition from NCAA Division II to III will take a bit longer," said Chancellor Schuman.
Johns Hopkins University Press will publish Old Main, Schuman's book on American small colleges in the 21st century. Schuman suggests that small campuses need to reassert their central role in higher education, noting that only 4% of American college students are enrolled at small schools today compared to almost 100% a century ago.
Division of Science and Mathematics, Center for Small Towns, and several off-campus agencies sponsored Super Science Saturday Oct. 5 for 6th–8th graders.
ROCHESTER—On Oct. 3, UMR featured an ITV telecast of "Preparing for Bioterrorism" by U Center for Infectious Disease director Michael Osterholm.
TWIN CITIES—Carlson School ranks 14th for best undergraduate business studies program in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report 2003 rankings. Program ranks 9th among business schools at public universities. School also received rankings for several undergraduate specialties: management information systems (5), quantitative analysis/methods (10), marketing (12), management (12), accounting (17), production/operations management (17), supply chain management/logistics (17), and finance (20).
2002 Community Fund Drive, "Minnesota Counts on U," will continue through October. If you did not receive an enrollment brochure in campus mail, contact your unit fund-drive volunteer. Each person who submits a pledge form is eligible for weekly and grand prize drawings. See www.umn.edu/cfd.
New 12-foot-wide Washington Ave. pedestrian bridges connecting Coffman Memorial Union to Northrop Mall are open. Ribbon-cutting ceremony was Oct. 2. Marcus Mattison, who helped build the original bridges in 1940, was among those to first walk across the new bridges.
Four new 54-seat Campus Connector buses replaced 6 39-seat buses Oct. 2. New buses, which serve the limited-stop routes weekdays from 7:30 a.m., will reduce overcrowding and lower campus congestion and pollution, said Bob Baker, parking and transportation director. About 22,500 people use the system daily. For more information, call 612-626-7275.
U Legislative Network is seeking volunteers to hand out "I'm voting for the U" buttons and pocket cards at homecoming parade and pancake breakfast Oct. 12. Volunteers receive a free T-shirt; call Nicole Bennett at 612-626-0913.
CS/BU employees who did not receive Staff Day cooler on June 6 can request one by sending name and campus address to wendy@umn.edu.
Events: Satellite telecast of Minnesota Cultural Diversity Conference, will be Oct. 10, 8:30–11:15 a.m., 2-101 Basic Sciences Building. Event will explore the impact of current world events on individuals, organizations, and the community. Summary and discussion will follow. No registration required. For more information, call 612-625-6411.
o "BiblioFemina: Publishers and Librarians Discuss How Good Books Get on the Shelves," will be Oct. 15, 10–11:30 a.m., 120 Andersen Library. See www.lib.umn.edu/women/invite.html.
o "Wild Chimpanzees," IMAX film about Jane Goodall, will open Oct. 17 at Minnesota Science Museum. Anne Pusey, director of U's Jane Goodall Institute Center for Primate Studies in CBS was scientific adviser for the film. Center is cataloging Goodall's field notes and photographs from 38 years of research.
Lectures: "Venture Capitalism and the Nanotube" will be Oct. 10, 6–7:30 p.m., 402 Walter Library. Speakers include Nobel laureate Richard Smalley, Rice U. Call 612-626-1802.
o "Global Climate Change: Uncertainties, Risks, and Values in Determining Public Policy," will be Oct. 11, 12:30–4:40 p.m., McNamara Alumni Center. Call 625-4724.
o "Reconcilable Differences: Setting the Agenda in the Social Sciences," will be Oct. 15, 1–3 p.m., Humphrey Center, and "Balancing the Life Science Missions of a Land-Grant University, Post 9/11," will be Oct. 16, 10 a.m.–1 p.m., 135 Earle Brown Center. See www.research.umn.edu/forum.
o "Five Life Lessons from the Playing Fields: How Sports Are Transforming Women, Girls, and Society by author Mariah Burton Nelson will be Oct. 16, Cowles Auditorium, Humphrey Center. Call the Tucker Center at 625-7327.
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