Decisions made on biomass, golf course

President Royce Engstrom announced two important decisions about the future of UM during a campus news conference Dec. 2.

First, he said UM's effort to build a biomass heating system is suspended indefinitely. In addition, he said the proposed College of Technology building will still be built on the UM Golf Course once funding is secured from the Legislature.

Engstrom said several considerations led him to suspend the biomass effort. He noted that natural gas prices have dropped considerably in the past year and that a reliable source of affordable biomass fuel had not been identified.

Read more

Charitable Giving deadline extended

The 2011-12 UM Charitable Giving Campaign deadline has been extended to Friday, Dec. 9. UM employees can make contributions to the Charitable Giving Campaign through a secure website. Hard copy donation forms can be picked up and dropped off at University Relations, 317 Brantly Hall.

Last year, the UM community gave more than $131,000 to help charitable organizations in the Missoula area. This year, UM hopes to raise $135,000 for the first time in the campaign's history. In addition, the campaign hopes to inspire 1,000 donors -- approximately half of UM's employees -- to give.

The organizations participating in this year's campaign serve a broad range of interests and needs within our community. The money raised goes directly to community agencies that serve those in need.

Professor presents talk at TEDx event in San Diego

Jakki Mohr rehearsed her TEDx talk so many times, she was saying it in her sleep.

"There were a couple of nights where I was ostensibly sleeping, but I was actually giving my TED talk in my sleep," said Mohr, a Regents Professor of Marketing at UM. "This was still a month out, and I thought, 'this is way too soon for this to be happening!'"

The dozens of hours spent fine-tuning paid off when Mohr delivered her talk at the TEDxSanDiego event Dec. 3. "Unleashing the Promise of Biomimicry for Sustainable Innovation" promoted recent developments in biomimicry, which uses the designs and processes of nature to inspire solutions for human problems.

Read more

UM producer wins national award for documentary

Gus Chambers, a television producer at UM's Broadcast Media Center and MontanaPBS, received a Programming Excellence Award from American Public Television for his documentary "Glacier Park's Night of the Grizzlies."

The film, co-produced with writer Paul Zalis, chronicles the harrowing night in 1967 when two young Glacier Park employees were killed in grizzly bear attacks while hiking with friends in the park. The film juxtaposes the stories of the two women with the status of the grizzly as an iconic representation of untamed wilderness.

The program was the highest-rated local program in the history of MontanaPBS when it premiered in May 2010.

Read more

Journalists to discuss legacy of U.S. bombs in Laos

Almost every day, an old American bomb kills or maims a Laotian villager.

The Maureen and Mike Mansfield Center at UM will host a lecture and photographic essay about this tragedy titled "Eternal Harvest: The Legacy of American Bombs in Laos" at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 6, in Todd Building Room 204.

The conversation will feature Karen Coates, T. Anthony Pollner Distinguished Professor at UM, and photojournalist Jerry Redfern. The event is free and open to the public.

Read more

Biology professor to speak at UM lecture series

Ray Callaway, an ecologist and biology professor at UM, is the next faculty member to speak in the Provost's Distinguished Faculty Lecture Series.

Callaway will present "Darwin versus Kropotkin: Just How 'Red in Tooth and Claw' is Nature?" at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 7, in the University Center Theater. The lecture is free and open to the public. An informal reception will follow.

Callaway will look at theories by famous English scientist Charles Darwin, who described nature as "red in tooth and claw," versus the theories of Russian nobleman Peter Kropotkin, who wrote the book "Mutual Aid." The lecture will discuss mutualism and competition within nature through the works of these two figures. The professor will link Darwin's and Kropotkin's theories to modern nature.

University Center to host Tech Lounge grand opening

In response to students' interest in more dynamic learning spaces, UM has created a new Tech Lounge located in University Center Room 220.

A grand opening will be held at 4 p.m., Monday, Dec. 5. The event will include an introduction to the lounge technology and an ice cream social.

The Tech Lounge is open to UM students, faculty and staff, and users can access the technology by logging in with their NetIDs. It offers a comfortable, tech-friendly, collaborative learning and lounging environment.

The lounge is open during regular UC hours: 6 a.m. to midnight Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to midnight Saturday and 9 a.m. to midnight Sunday.

Read more

Bitterroot College Program celebrates recent expansion

The Bitterroot College Program of UM will host a gala event from 4 to 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 9, to celebrate its recent expansion.

The open house is free and open to the public. It will take place at 274 Old Corvallis Road in Hamilton. From 4 to 5 p.m. guests will have the opportunity to visit with UM Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Perry Brown and John Cech, Montana deputy commissioner for two-year and community college education.

Attendees also can meet with BCP faculty, staff and students, tour the facility and enjoy holiday food and drink. The event also will feature a tree of wishes where supporters can help fund future growth of the program.

The Bitterroot College Program provides responsive and sustainable adult and higher education opportunities to Ravalli County residents. BCP currently offers more than 30 UM courses in the Hamilton area.

Hundreds of COT courses now available online

Through a recently formed partnership, anyone with an Internet connection can now access hundreds of courses offered by UM's College of Technology.

The COT has partnered with ed2go, which offers online courses through a network of more than 1,800 colleges and universities, to provide hundreds of high-quality, noncredit courses on subjects ranging from Microsoft basics and webpage creation to the fundamentals of accounting and grant writing.

New sessions of each six-week course start monthly, with two lessons released each week. Dedicated instructors teach every course to pace learners, answer questions, give feedback and facilitate discussions. Complete course information is available online.

Student group plans art show, sale

Art lovers can view student work and purchase holiday gifts at the 26th Annual Holiday Juried Show and Sale Dec. 8-10 at UM.

Filled with works by UM School of Art students and faculty, events will be held in the Art Annex adjacent to the Grizzly Pool and the Adams Center. An opening celebration with live music will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 8, with an awards ceremony at 5 p.m. The sale will continue from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 9, and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 10.

The two-part event is sponsored by UM Emerging Ceramic Artists, a student group formerly known as Starving Sculpture and Ceramic Students.

Read more

Preschoolers to celebrate season with UC sing-along

The ASUM Child Care Centers will celebrate the season with a "Winter Sing-Along" at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 8, in the University Center Atrium.

The children will arrive in the UC at 10:15 a.m. to participate in winter craft activities, and then gather outside the UC Market for a sing-along and story time. Santa will join the children, and cookies and chocolate milk will be served.

The activity is an annual event for the ASUM Child Care Centers, and the public is invited to stop by and hear the children sing.

Funds available for spring diversity workshop

As a continuation of UM's annual Day of Dialogue, a $500 scholarship is being offered to support a student/faculty/staff partnership and is an opportunity to showcase research, explore professional interests or share experiences related to issues of diversity.

Requirements for the award include that the program, presentation, workshop or performance be:

• Held on campus in the spring of 2012 and is free and open to the UM community;
• Focused on issues of diversity;
• A collaboration of faculty/students, faculty/staff or students/staff;
• In line with the mission of the Day of Dialogue and specifically demonstrates or models diversity through civil discourse.

Proposals are due Jan. 6, 2012. For more information call Julie Biando Edwards at 243-4505, email julie.edwards@umontana.edu, call Jinann Bitar at 243-5622 or email dayofdialogue@mso.umt.edu. 

Volunteer to read scholarship information

The Financial Aid Office General Scholarship Program needs readers for the 2012-13 General Scholarship Competition and invites faculty and staff to volunteer.

The reading period will take place from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, Feb. 15-16, in the Brantly Hall Presidents Room. Volunteers will read and rate a scholarship packet of 10 applications, which should take about an hour. Readers will receive guidelines by which to judge applications.

To RSVP or for more information, call Kathy Gaskill at 243-5379 or email kgaskill@mso.umt.edu. Those who volunteer will be sent a reminder in early February.

Consultant available for retirement planning

Representatives with TIAA-CREF will be on campus Tuesday through Thursday, Dec. 20-22, for individual counseling sessions to assist faculty and staff in retirement planning.

Appointments are required for sessions, which will be held in University Center Room 215. To make an appointment, call 866-843-5640 from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. MST Monday through Friday.