Calendar

April 20
·  Early Childhood Carnival
April 21
·  Breakfast with the Chancellor
·  Wellness Walk Kick-off
·  Campus Clean-up
·  W.O.W. Event:  Jim Rothenberger
April 22
·  Earth Day Poster Contest
·  Employee Benefits Counselor at UMC Campus
·  Satellite Downlink:  "Untangling the Web: Making
   On-line Learning Accessible"
April 23
·  New Student Academic Advisement and Registration
·  Women's Teas and Susan Hagstrum Visit
April 24
·  National Youth Service Day
·  CHS Prom Blast to Brown
April 26
·  New Student Academic Advisement and Registration
·  Hawaiian Shirt Day
·  Athletic Awards Social
April 28
·  Tie-Dye T-shirts
·  UMC Spring Bedding Plant Sale, UMC community
   only
April 29
·  UMC Spring Bedding Plant Sale, open to the public
·  Crookston Artist Series "Red Hot & Blue"
April 30
·  Reception for Graduating International Studdents
·  Teambacker Fun Night
May 2
·  UMC Chamber Choir Concert
May 4-7
·  Final Exams
May 7
·  Faculty Assembly
·  Grad Dance
May 8
·  Commencement
May 10
·  Faculty/Staff Recognition Event

News Items

First Lady Susan Hagstrum Visit April 23
Just a reminder to all that this Friday, April 23, it is our pleasure to host University of Minnesota First Lady Susan Hagstrum on the UMC campus.  This is a great opportunity for us to really shine and make a great impression.  Since these opportunities don’t come around all that often, I am asking everyone involved to go above and beyond our usual outstanding levels of service and really look for ways that we can help make this visit by the First Lady special.   

The teas that Susan will be speaking at are aimed at a group of ladies in our area community that are great supporters of UMC.  This is our way of connecting or reconnecting with these ladies and keeping them aware of what is happening on campus.  This outreach will bring nearly 90 folks to campus to hear what it is like to be the First Lady of the University and to hear about the value of giving to the university and the need for scholarships. 

Liz Tollefson is our point person for Susan’s visit.  I know this is a busy time for everyone, but please assist Liz in whatever way possible to make Susan’s visit as seamless as possible.

The tentative schedule is as follows:
10:00 a.m. – Greet and speak to incoming students
10:30 a.m. – Morning Tea in the Heritage Room
12:00 noon – Lunch with Chancellor Burton and vice chancellors
  2:00 p.m. – Afternoon Tea in the Heritage Room
  4:00 p.m. – UMC Insight interview

Thanks for all of your help, and please let me know if you have any questions.
--Mike Meyer, Director of Development & Alumni Relations

Athletic Awards Social April 26
UMC’s Athletics Department will host an awards social to honor its outstanding student athletes on Monday, April 26, at 6 p.m. in Kiehle Auditorium.  All faculty and staff are welcome and encouraged to attend.

Spring Bedding Plant Sale April 28 and 29
The UMC Spring Bedding Plant Sale will be held Wednesday, April 28 and Thursday, April 29 at the UMC Horticulture Production Greenhouses on the northeast corner of the campus across from parking lot A.  The April 28 4:30 to 6 p.m. slot will be only for the UMC campus community—students, faculty, and staff.  The sale will be open to the public on April 29 from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.  The inventory consists of the usual variety of bedding plants, flowers and vegetables, some perennials and this year a few more new things like an ornamental pepper called Chilly Chili and some heritage tomatoes.  The hanging baskets are gorgeous and the people are friendly, so come and shop ‘til your heart’s content.

April 30 Reception for Graduating International Students
A reception for graduating international student is scheduled for Friday, April 30, at 5:30 p.m. in Brown Dining Room A and B of Sahlstrom Conference Center.   The Office of International and Multicultural Programs wants to recognize those students who will be graduating.  They include:  Leo Kenny, Petter Lovaas, Calvin Otundo, Daniel Schramm, and Alvin Sirju.  Students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to attend and congratulate our international grads.

In Celebration of Scholarship, Service, and Teaching
Greetings, all.  We are doing lots of good things on the greater Crookston campus!

Doug Knowlton started a bit of a tradition last year by soliciting copies of articles, book chapters, and books which UMC faculty and Northwest Research and Outreach Center scientists have authored in the last year.  I would add to that, any bulletins that Extension folks have published as well. These will be displayed in the UMC Library display case along the hall passageway. Could you also send a listing of any grants received in the last year.

This does a couple of things. It recognizes the professional contributions of local University faculty and staff. It also communicates to the public and to students, what "their" University is doing and how diverse the operations of the University are. 

Thanks.  Please forward to Owen Williams a copy of any contributions of this sort which you have been involved in (or perhaps one of your colleagues has and they need a little encouragement to send something along).
--Dan Svedarsky, interim vice chancellor, Academic Affairs

Placement Follow Up Studies
The Placement Follow-up Studies for 2001-2002 were placed in faculty and staff mailboxes the week of April 12-16.  We are presently completing the 2002-2003 Placement follow-up Study, which should be printed by the end of May.  You can also access this information on our webpage at <www.umcrookston.edu/people/services/CAREET/gnrl_research.htm>.  Graduation statistics since 1992 are available on this web site.  If you have any questions for need more information, feel free to contact me.  Thanks.
--Don Cavalier, director, Counseling and Career Center

Natural Resources Students Complete Wildfire Training and Refresher

For the past six years, students in the Natural Resources Program at UMC have received extra training that qualifies them to work with natural resource agencies around the country.  Fires, both prescribed and wild, are key components of resource management.  Before individuals can work on any fire operations they must complete basic level courses in fire weather and behavior, wildland firefighting, and firefighter safety designed by the National Wildfire Coordinating Board.  This qualifies them to help agencies with prescribed burns and to fight wildfires in Minnesota and across the country. 

Each year current UMC students and graduates have had the opportunity to “go out west” on twenty-person hand crews, engine crews, and initial attack modules.  Students from UMC have worked on fires in Washington, Oregon, California, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Montana, Colorado, South Dakota, North Dakota, and some students were also in Texas when fire crews assisted with recovery of debris from the space shuttle disaster.

Each spring students in UMC’s forestry class attend 32 extra hours of training in the evenings to qualify.  Fifty students, including two from NDSU and one from Crookston High School, completed their training April 16 with a field session on equipment and an a live burn.  With the completion of the 2004 training sessions, UMC has now trained more than 225 students at the basic firefighter level.  Each year those students who have previously received the basic training are required to take a safety refresher course held in conjunction with the new trainees.  On Monday, April 12, more than 50 students and graduates joined the trainees in class.  Firefighter safety, causes of injury and fatality, new procedures, and updates are covered as well as learning how to deploy a fire shelter for self-protection.

The training is coordinated by UMC’s Phil Baird, Nico Bennett, and Tom Feiro.  The instruction is provided by agencies who hire these newly trained individuals.  Personnel from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Forest Service, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, and the Nature Conservancy volunteer their time to train students and bring real life experiences to the classroom and field.  The UMC Natural Resources Program thanks these agencies for all that they have given.  This opportunity provides the agencies with trained applicants, an advantage in the job market.

Over the next few weeks those who wish to take the physical agility test requirement will be out on the track.  Wildland firefighters must take a “pack test” each year to test their physical stamina.  The pack test requires a person to carry a 45-pound pack for three miles within 45 minutes.
--Submitted by the UMC Natural Resources Program

Seeking Nominations for Distinguished Staff Awards

Distinguished Civil Service/Bargaining Unit Award
Purpose:
To promote and recognize excellence in job performance among civil service/bargaining unit employees

Eligibility:

• All University of Minnesota, Crookston campus civil service/bargaining unit employees

• A minimum of two full years of full-time (75% or above) employment at the University of Minnesota, Crookston

• No individual may receive the award more than one time during his or her employment.  Length of service shall not be a major criterion for selection

Process:
Nomination should include award application and three letters of recommendation.  The deadline for submitting the nominations is April 30, 2004.  (A PDF version of the nomination form is electronically linked for your convenience.)

Presentation:
Recognition of the recipient will be at the Spring UMC Recognition Celebration with presentation of a plaque and cash award.

UMC Staff Eligible for Civil Service/Bargaining Unit Award

Distinguished P & A Award
Applications for the Distinguished Service Award for Academic Professional and Administrative (P & A) staff are now being accepted.  Criteria:  75% to 100% full-time for at least two years.  (A PDF version of the nomination form is electronically linked for your convenience.)  

UMC Staff and Faculty Eligible for P & A Award

The names of prior winners of each of these awards are posted online at <www.umcrookston.edu/newsevents/awards> and are also listed on permanent plaques displayed in the hallway between Dowell Hall and Sahlstrom Conference Center.

Recognition for Years of Service
Congratulations to UMC and NWROC (denoted by *) employees who will be honored at the Faculty/Staff Recognition Celebration on Monday, May 10 (Mark your calendars!).  Those being honored are listed below.  If anyone has been inadvertently omitted, please contact Carrie Tollefson or Karen Murphy.

35 years
Arlene Tahran
Charles Habstritt
Jerome Knutson
Bernard Selzler
Dan Svedarsky
Barb Cournia

30 years
John Rodseth
David Szczech*

25 years
Kenneth Myers
Phillip Baird

20 Years
Soo-Yin Lim-Thompson
Bobby Holder
Rob Heggie*

15 Years
Lyle Westrom
Lloyd Brokaw
Carol Larson

10 Years
Fred Eldridge
William Tyrrell
Debra Kopecky
Stacey Grunewald
Scott Toso
Michael Hanson

Accolades
       
A number of UMC faculty and staff presented or were members of panels for “Internationalizing the Curriculum,” an international conference on study abroad curriculum integration held April 15-17 on the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities campus.  Presenters and panelists included Steve Shirley, assistant professor of marketing and coordinator for UMC’s Study Abroad Office; Rae French, coordinator of UMC’s First Year Experience Program and assistant in the Study Abroad Office; Soo-Yin Lim-Thompson, assistant professor, early childhood education; Aziz Rahman, assistant professor, soil and water resources; and Andrew Svec, director of communications.  These faculty and staff members shared their expertise and perspectives on the various study abroad initiatives taking place on the UMC campus with nearly 400 other faculty, administrators, and staff from across the U.S. and from Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Mexico, and the United Kingdom.

VolunTEAM Update

A new venture, Cathedral Gallery Store, located on the top floor of the Humane Society, will be opening soon for the purpose of raising funds for the preservation of historical buildings in Crookston.  Several volunteer opportunities are available.  Please call Kay Hegge, Prairie Skyline Foundation, Inc., at 218-289-1246 or 1-800-646-2240 or email at <khegge@rrv.net> for more information.

1. Carpenter(s) needed to install a door and doorknobs and trim out two windows

2. Plumber needed to fix a toilet

3. Painter(s) needed to paint interior walls

The Development Office will be hosting a morning and an afternoon tea, Friday, April 23.  They are looking for one club to provide 6-8 volunteers from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. to clear tables, wash dishes, and prepare the tables for the afternoon tea.  Volunteers from a second club are needed to clear tables and wash dishes following the afternoon tea from 3 to 5 p.m.  Please e-mail Lisa Loegering <loege005@umn.edu> if you are interested in helping.

National Youth Services Day will be observed Saturday, April 24.  Clubs or individuals, please meet in the foyer of Crookston High School at 10:00 a.m.  We will be working with high school students and several youth organizations to clean up the city and complete a few service projects such as fixing a fence downtown, painting, and landscaping.  Service may also include assisting Alzheimer’s patient’s family clear out house.  This activity counts as a community service activity for your club!  Please email Lisa Loegering <loege005@umn.edu> to provide an estimate of the number of volunteers you can provide if your club is participating.

If you’re interested in learning more about the Crookston VolunTEAM, please contact Lisa Loegering in the VolunTEAM office (Dowell 112) at 281-8526 or <loege005@umn.edu>.  Or, simply visit <www.volunteam.org>.

Special Dates
Birthdays
April 22 – James Thomasson
April 26 – Gary Willhite

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@umn.edu and/or Sue Dwyer at sdwyer@umn.edu.  Thanks.

UMC Insight
UMC Insight, the weekly radio show about UMC, airs on KROX Radio 1260 AM Saturdays at 8:45 a.m.  Tune in Saturday, April 24, to hear an interview with U of M First Lady Susan Hagstrum.  This edition of UMC Insight will be guest hosted by Liz Tollefson, assistant director of development.

UMC Insight files are also available via the Web at:  <www.UMCrookston.edu/newsevents/insight/03-04/index.htm>

UMC Bulletin
The UMC Weekly Bulletin is posted at:
<www.UMCrookston.edu/campusinfo/wkbulletin/bulletin.htm>

Publication Information:
The UMC Weekly Bulletin is published by University Relations weekly September through May.  Copy deadline is noon on Tuesday of each week.  The Weekly Bulletin is edited by Andrew Svec, director of communications, with production assistance by Sue Dwyer, word processing specialist.  Please send items for the bulletin electronically to Andrew Svec at asvec@umn.edu with a copy to Sue Dwyer at sdwyer@umn.edu.

Disability accommodations will be provided upon request for all events.  The University of Minnesota is an equal opportunity educator and employer.

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