Volume 21, Number 27, March 6, 2002
Calendar
News Items
UMC Campus Signage
Update Project Moves Ahead
Over
the next several months, members of the campus community can expect to
see new campus informational and directional signs. The campus-wide
project will result in updated signs for all classrooms, faculty/staff
offices, and internal public areas. After the need for the project
was recognized several years ago, the campus requested and received
University of Minnesota ADA HEAPR funding to begin the project.
Listed below are some reasons that the project was undertaken:
-
Campus directional and room signs are inaccurate, outdated or missing entirely.
-
Many rooms in buildings have been subdivided or had offices added that were not in original building plans, and are not accurately identified in campus Fire, Life and Safety plans.
-
Room numbers in several buildings are not designated following an orderly sequence making it difficult for new users, users with disabilities, and the general public to locate rooms.
-
Classroom designations in most areas do not meet modern ADA and building code guidelines, and are too small, lack Braille, or are located above doors making it difficult or impossible for users with disabilities to independently find rooms.
Project Stages:
Because the project is extensive and it takes time for the signs to
be fabricated and placed, it will be completed in stages. The first
signs scheduled to be placed or replaced during Summer 2002, will be
those designating classrooms, faculty/staff offices, and areas
designated as faculty/staff office suites. Classroom changes will be
included in the Fall 2002 Class Schedule.
Stage one: Classrooms will be permanently designated by a room number mounted at the specified 60" wall height and has a Braille designator included on the sign. Below the room number is a space where an insert showing the room usage schedule can be placed. In addition to a number or letter designator, the faculty/staff office signs will have an insert for the individual's name and title as well as an insert where office hours and/or schedule can be displayed.
Stage two of the project will be to place new overhead directional signs at key internal locations around campus.
Stage three of this project includes the designation of an "Eagle Way" path marked by unique signs showing the most accessible route to frequently sought out areas of the campus. These areas include: the newly renovated and accessible Kiehle Auditorium, Brown Dining Room, Youngquist (ARC) Auditorium and the Academic Assistance Center. The TC campus has already initiated this concept with their "Gopher Way" signs and UMC will be the second campus to implement this way-finding feature if all goes as planned.
Campus Improvements
When completed, this project will meet the following standards or
resolve the identified concerns:
- Wherever possible, the University of Minnesota Signing and Graphic Standards and the ADA standards will be uniformly applied.
- Wherever possible, a logical numbering system will be applied in all buildings with odd room numbers on one side of the hall and even numbers on the other in mutually ascending or descending order. This will not be possible in the Sports Center due to the configuration of the building. Numbering systems will be more consistently applied from one floor to the next in multi-story buildings.
- Office suite areas will be identified alphanumerically by one external hall room number and internal offices will be designated by letters beginning A, B, C…thus allowing for greater ease of location and change with less disruption when required.
- Mechanical rooms, stairwells, exits, storage areas, accessible restrooms and presently undesignated areas will be properly identified for the campus community and on campus Fire, Life, and Safety plans.
- Where possible, key rooms and offices such as Sahlstrom Conference Center 131, Brown Dining Room, Lysaker Gymnasium and the One Stop Student Service Center retained their current designations.
- All members of the campus community and the general public should be better able to independently locate and utilize campus resources.
Unchanged Areas
- Bede Hall will not be re-signed due to the anticipated construction of a new facility.
- Robertson Hall will retain temporary signs due to its continued anticipated use as a flex building for offices and services displaced by construction projects.
Getting the project to this point has required a significant amount of time, coordination with the TC Sign Shop, investigation of existing options and plans and review by several individuals and committees.
Primary leadership for
this effort has been provided by John Zak, University Relations, Tom
Feiro, Environmental Health and Safety, and Laurie Wilson, Disability
Services. Individuals involved have made every effort to follow
University of Minnesota Signing and Graphics Standards to increase
clarity wherever possible. Interested persons may view plans and
examine sample room signs presently retained in John Zak's office, 109
Robertson Hall.
--Tom Feiro, Laurie Wilson, John Zak
Website
Traffic Report
Over the past five months,
traffic to UMC’s main website (www.umcrookston.edu
and related sub-pages) has, yet again, increased. The monthly totals of
web visitor sessions are as follows:
|
Month |
Total
Visitor Sessions |
Average Daily Number of Unique Users |
|
October 2001 |
137,347 (104,367) |
2,517 |
|
November 2001 |
143,733 (105,451) |
2,802 |
|
December 2001 |
123,758 (88,124) |
2,273 |
|
January 2002 |
136,381 (99,560) |
2,569 |
|
February 2002 |
139,336 (94,880) |
2,912 |
The average daily number of unique users is notable in that if we estimate that roughly 1200 daily users are UMC students, faculty and staff, we still have 1,200 to 1,500 “external” visitors per day. As further analysis of the web server logs is completed, I will share more information with you.
If you would like to
update or rework your department’s web pages, please contact me.
--Andrew Svec, Director of Communications
Career Day Set for March
12
Career Day 2002, sponsored by the
Crookston Chamber of Commerce and the Chamber Education Committee, will
again be held on the campus of the University of Minnesota, Crookston,
on Tuesday, March 12, starting at 9:30 a.m. Career Day has been held at
UMC for many years; however it has only been in recent years that it has
been held during the spring term. Previously it was held during the
fall term, but with the move to semesters it has fit nicely into the
spring break week.
This year over 350 high school juniors will be attending from high schools in Red Lake Falls, Crookston, Climax, Fertile, Plummer, Hallock, Waubun, Fisher, Stephen, and Warren. The students will arrive on campus at 9:30 a.m. and meet in Sahlstrom Conference Center, where they get oriented to the happenings of the morning and listen to an opening speaker. This years opening speaker will be Don Cavalier, Director of UMC’s Counseling and Career Center.
After the opening session the students will break out across the campus where over 40 occupational speakers from the community and area will present 15-20 minute sessions. In these sessions the speakers are asked to tell what they do at their jobs daily, weekly, yearly, and they answer questions in regards to how to get a job in their particular field. Thus, giving the students an idea of the types of education and experience they would need to enter that particular occupation or follow that particular career path. There will be sessions scheduled at 10:00, 10:30, and 11:00 a.m.
If you would have
interest in becoming an active member of the Crookston Chamber of
Commerce Education Committee please contact me at 281-8553.
--Jason Tanquist
Required
Safety Training March 15
University of Minnesota,
Crookston and Northwest Research and Outreach Center will hold annual
required safety training on Friday, March 15, at the Youngquist
Auditorium – ARC Building, from 8:30 to 11:45 a.m. for all employees.
ONLY ONE SESSION WILL BE HELD. Training sessions will be refresher
courses on Minnesota Employee Right to Know, Hazardous Waste and
Laboratory/Greenhouse Safety. Supervisors and administrators, please
make sure employees in your work area know about this. Also, if you
have students working in these areas that are here during spring break,
please have them attend also.
|
8:30 – 9:30 |
Minnesota Employee Right to Know |
|
9:30 – 9:45 |
Break |
|
9:45 – 10:45 |
Hazardous Waste |
|
10:45 – 11:45 |
Lab/Greenhouse Safety |
If you have questions
please call. Thank you and see you on March 15.
--Tom Feiro, Environmental Health & Safety Specialist, UMC
--Anne Burke, Compliance Officer, NWROC
Foreign
Students Taxes Meetings
There will be two one hour
seminar meetings regarding filing requirements of Federal and Minnesota
taxes for foreign students. The meetings will be facilitated by
Accounting Professor, David Crawford, CPA, and will meet on Tuesday,
March 19 and Thursday, March 21 from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in Dowell
114. The first meeting will be an overview of the filing requirements
and he appropriate forms needed. The second meeting will be hands-on
assistance with the tax forms. Anyone interested is invited and
encouraged to attend both meetings.
--David Crawford, Assistant Professor, Accounting
Building
UNITY Through CommUNITY! Orientation 2002
The dates and theme for
Orientation 2002 have been set for Friday, August 23 - Monday, August
26. The theme surrounds the topic of diversity and also promotes the
opportunity for our new students to build a connection with their new
community at UMC. Please mark your calendars.
--Kami Mattson, Director of First Year Experience
Campus Connection Now
Online
Approximately one year ago, Patti
Tiedemann came to me with an idea for trying to bridge the communication
gap between UMC and the community of Crookston. Thus, the Campus
Connection began. It is a bi-monthly newsletter and includes articles
on programs of study, profiles of faculty and staff, profiles of
students, and other general news about UMC. Starting out with 15
locations to access the newsletter in the city of Crookston, it now has
increased to 23 locations. From all reports, the newsletter is very
well received and at times we find that we are running short at certain
locations.
For your information
and convenience, the Campus Connection can now be found on line. Please
go to <www.umcrookston.edu/newsevents/campusconnection/>.
We hope you enjoy. If you have any questions or comments, please
contact Patti or me at University Relations.
--Curt Almlie, Director, University Relations
Roger
Wagner, Associate Professor of
Horticulture, has been named one of four University-wide winners of the
John Tate Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Advising for 2001-2002.
The award will be presented to Roger and the other three recipients at a
ceremony to be held at the McNamara Alumni Center on the Twin Cities
Campus on Friday, April 26. The recipients will also be recognized at
the May 10 meeting of the U of M Board of Regents.
The John Tate Awards recognize and reward excellence in academic advising. They call attention to the contribution that academic advising makes in helping students formulate and achieve intellectual, career, and personal goals. By highlighting examples of outstanding advising, the Tate Awards identify positive models and recognize the role that academic advising plays in the University of Minnesota’s educational mission. The award is named in honor of John Tate, Professor of Physics and first Dean of University College (1930-41).
Mike
Curfman, UMC Head Women’s Basketball Coach, was named NSIC Coach of
the Year. This year his team finished in the top half of the conference
with a 16-11 overall record and 11-7 conference record; the record only
two years ago was 1-26. The Golden Eagles Women’s Basketball Team lost
two games in a row only once during this year’s entire season and racked
up wins over Minnesota State Moorhead, Morningside College, Wayne State,
Minnesota State Mankato, University of Minnesota Duluth, Winona State,
and Northern State--all teams that the Golden Eagles had never defeated
in series history.
This Week’s Special Dates
Birthdays
March 6 - Wendell Johnson
March 7 - Bob Nelson
March 7 - Tom Mulvaney
March 12 - Dave Hoff
Reminder: Faculty and staff are encouraged to share well wishes for birthdays, anniversaries, births, etc. with the rest of the campus. Please send items for this week’s special dates via e-mail to Andrew Svec at asvec@mail.crk.umn.edu and/or Sue Dwyer at sdwyer@mail.crk.umn.edu. Thanks.
UMC Insight
UMC Insight, the weekly radio
show about UMC, will air on KROX Radio 1260 AM Saturday, March 9, in its
regular 8:45 a.m. time slot. Tune in to Curt Almlie talk about the new
Student Alumni Association. This
edition of Insight is hosted by Dana Prudhomme, a UMC scientific and
technical communication major working for University Relations.
UMC Insight files are
also available via the Web at:
<http://www.umcrookston.edu/newsevents/insight/01-02/index.htm>
UMC Bulletin
The UMC Bulletin is posted at:
<http://www.umcrookston.edu/campusinfo/wkbulletin/bulletin.htm>
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