Volume 20, Number 19, January 10, 2001
Calendar
News Items
UMC
Receives Ubiquitous Computing Pioneer Award
UMC
was recognized with the Pioneer Award at the Fourth Annual Conference
on Ubiquitous Computing, held January 4-6, 2001, at Seton Hall
University in South Orange, New Jersey.
The Pioneer Award acknowledges groundbreaking efforts of
colleges and universities that have made commitments toward offering
students ubiquitous—or “anytime, anywhere”—access to computer technology.
It also distinguishes those same institutions because they have
consistently participated in the Ubiquitous Computing Conference and
have openly shared their pioneering experiences with others.
According to the awards program, “As a result of risks, sacrifices, and commitments made by these schools, the promise of technology for the enhancement of higher education has become a reality for those institutions that have followed. These institutions not only made investments at their own campuses, but offered counsel and discussion in the spirit of academic sharing to other campuses. Without these pioneers, higher education would not be where it is today.”
UMC
was one of eleven colleges to receive the Pioneer Award.
Other colleges and universities recognized with the award
included Acadia University, Clayton State College and University,
Drexel University, Drew University, Houghton College, SUNY College at
Morrisville, United States Air Force Academy, University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill, West Virginia Wesleyan University, and Wake
Forest University.
Diane
Moen, Chief Information Officer at UMC, and David DeMuth, Assistant
Professor of Physics and Math, represented the campus at the
conference. DeMuth accepted the award on behalf of UMC and served on a
panel with other faculty from Pioneer Award winning schools. Members
of the panel shared their perspectives on implementing a ubiquitous
computing environment.
High
Profile Visitors on Campus
UMC
will host two high profile visitors this week.
Evan Ramstad, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, will
visit and tour UMC January 10-12.
He is planning to write a feature on UMC’s technology
initiatives and the day-to-day experience of UMC students.
Bob Reha of Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) will visit and tour
UMC on Friday, January 12. MPR
is working on a series of programs about the entire U of M system and
wants to focus on each of its coordinate campuses.
Mr. Reha will be interviewing students and others throughout
the day Friday. I have
organized a tentative schedule for both guests. If any faculty or staff members are interested in providing
either visitor with some info on how they incorporate technology into
their classes, please contact me immediately.
--Andrew
Svec, Director of Communications
University
Relations Open House January 19
UMC University Relations
and Media Services invite the campus community to an open house on
Friday, January 19, from 2 to 4 p.m. in our new offices in Robertson
Hall (first floor). Faculty and staff are invited to share refreshments, to visit
with staff, and to tour the newly remodeled facilities.
Refreshments will be available in the new Alumni Heritage Room
(Robertson 107). A floor
plan is available at http://www.umcrookston.edu/campusinfo/tour/RobertsonHall/robertsonfloorplan.htm.
Faculty and staff are reminded that the entrance to first floor
offices is on the south side of the building.
The east entrance leads to residence hall rooms on the second
and third floors.
Flu
Shot Clinic
Yes,
Flu shots are finally here and available for the general public!
It is not too late to get one.
Polk County Public Health will be on campus Tuesday, January 16th,
from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Bede Ballroom.
Students can get a Flu shot FREE, all others will be charged
$8.00. If you have any
questions contact the CDC at 1-800-232-2522, or Polk County Public
Health at 281-3385, or check out the following web site from the CDC http://www.cdc.gov/nip/publications/VIS/vis-flu.pdf
--Stacey Grunewald,
Student Health
Alumni
Records
The UMC Alumni Office is
continuously trying to keep up with the status of our alumni and that
includes addresses. We would urge any faculty or staff member that has contact
with alumni to please send us information about what they are doing
and their address so that we can update their records.
Please e-mail any information you may have to Rose Ulseth at rulseth@mail.crk.umn.edu.
Also, we would like to keep them informed of the happenings at
UMC through The Torch. Thank you for your help.
--Curt Almlie, Director of
University Relations
Precision
Agriculture Workshop Rescheduled for January 17
A
group of twenty precision agriculture practitioners from the region
will attend the first meeting of the Precision Ag Learning Group at
UMC on Wednesday, January 17, rescheduled from its original December
20 date. The meeting will run from 8 a.m. to noon in Hill 4. Professor
Pierre
Robert, Director of the Precision Agriculture Center at the U of
M, Twin Cities will address the following topics:
- Organizational
structure and goals of the consortium for site specific management
- What
growers will gain by working with the learning group and what our
expectations are of them
- Discussion
of local research needs
- Development
of a list of topics to cover in meetings and set up a meeting
schedule
- Learning
Group membership (producers, extension, agribusiness)
- On-farm
experiments (broad discussion of protocols)
- Initial
research goals: evaluation of multi-year yield maps and nitrogen
response studies
- Discussion
about this year's harvest
- Communication
plan for the learning group-a listserv?
For
more information contact Dr. Aziz Rahman, at UMC at 281-8103.
Ag-Arama
Set for January 17-19, 26-27
UMC
students and the Center for Agriculture and Natural Resources will
host the 26th Annual Ag-Arama January 26-27.
Mechanized agriculture contests will run January 17-19.
The majority of the events are scheduled for January 26-27 in
the UTOC Arena and other places. All faculty, staff, and students are encouraged to take part
in the various events. A
full schedule of events is available at http://webhome.crk.umn.edu/clubs/agarama/.
Digital
Camera Available
The UMC Library now has
a digital camera available for checkout to students.
To check the camera out, a student must have their U Card and
be currently enrolled in at least one class.
Please call 281-8399 if you have questions.
--Owen Williams, Senior Library
Specialist
John
Zak Employee of the Semester for Fall 2000
John
Zak has been named Employee of the Semester for Fall 2000 by the UMC
United Staff Association (USA). He
received the award during a special USA meeting on January 4.
Zak was singled out because of his exemplary work with campus
publications and photos and for his commitment to promoting the
campus. He was also cited
for his leadership, promotion, and work on the Harris A. Peterson
Gazebo project.
Room
Schedule and GPA Calculator Online
The UMC classroom
schedule for spring semester is available online from two locations:
--Andrew
Svec, Director of Communications
New
Faculty and Staff Networking Program
The Employee Career Enrichment Program is
creating a formal University-wide on-line staff and faculty networking
directory called the Inside Scoop. This directory will link
employees with other employees who are willing to talk about the work
they do. The Inside Scoop coordinators are now looking for
volunteers. Any UM
employees (ANY job title, with any number of years of experience at
the UM, on any on or off-campus location, anywhere in the state) are
eligible. They are looking for everyday employees representing a
wide range of job classifications (i.e., job titles), from a variety
of departments. You need not necessarily be an
"expert" or believe that you know everything about working
in your job. If you are willing to talk to others about your
insights and experiences, or about what you do and where you do it,
that's all that is required.
You can sign up to be a volunteer at any time
and remove yourself at any time. They predict you will only
get a few calls a year but you get to set the limits on how many
employees you can reasonably speak to. You can learn more about
what to expect and how to be an effective volunteer by visiting the
Employee Career Enrichment website (http://www.umn.edu/ohr/ecep)
or by contacting Barb Krantz Taylor (6-0561, bktaylor@umn.edu)
or Brian Catrine (5-6649; catri001@umn.edu).
--Debbie
Boyles, College of Human Ecology, University of Minnesota
Twenty-five
Applicants Selected to Interview for University of Minnesota Board of Regents
Twenty-five
candidates for the five vacancies on the University of Minnesota Board
of Regents have been selected to interview with the Regent Candidate
Advisory Council (RCAC). The
candidates were selected at the RCAC meeting on January 5, 2001. The
RCAC announced the vacancies in September 2000, and received a total
of 134 applications before the December 1 deadline.
One-third
of the Board of Regents is open for appointment every two years. Those
four six-year terms include: one student at-large position, two
at-large (non-student) positions, and one 5th congressional district
position. A fifth seat has been open since Regent William Peterson’s
death this fall. That seat is an at-large position and expires in
2005.
The
RCAC is a 24-member advisory council established by the legislature to
recruit, screen, and recommend
regent candidates to the legislature. Interviews will be held January
25, 26, 29, 30, and 31. The RCAC must submit to the legislature
between two and four individuals for each open position on the board.
Following
are the names of candidates to be interviewed by the RCAC for each
open regent seat:
Student At-Large: Kristen Berning, Angela Bos, Nicole Kubista,
Michael Miller, and LaKeesha Ransom
Fifth District: David Johnson, Cheryl Jorgensen, Franklin Pass,
Sharon Tolbert-Glover, and Michael O’Keefe
At-Large (non-student): Marjorie Anderson, Frank Berman, Jami Bestgen,
William Dolan, Jacqueline Fraedrich, William Kamp, (Peter) Jay
Kiedrowski, Dale LaFrenz, Warren Larson, John MacFarlane, Richard
McNamara, Mark Phillips, Michael Scandrett, Patricia Spence, and
Sharon Winslow
--Jennifer
Ridgeway, RCAC staff, Legislative
Coordinating Commission
UMC
Insight
UMC
Insight will be aired Saturday, January 13, at 8:45 a.m. on KROX (AM
1260). Tune in to
hear guest Sharon Stewart, Associate Professor of Dietetics, discuss
UMC’s Dietetics degree program.
UMC student Dana Prudhomme, who is working for UMC University
Relations, will serve as host.
UMC Insight files are
also available via the Web at http://www.umcrookston.edu/newsevents/insight/00-01/index.htm.
UMC Bulletin
The UMC Bulletin is posted at:
http://www.umcrookston.edu/campusinfo/wkbulletin/bulletin.htm