Charter Day events will be held Thursday, Feb. 15, to commemorate the founding of the University in 1893.

Birthday cake will be served at noon in the University Center Atrium for students, staff and faculty.

A ceremony and reception to honor 2007 Charter Day Award recipients will begin at 5:30 p.m. in the University Center Ballroom. Entertainment will be provided by jazz combo Special Blend.

Charter Day events are free and open to the public.

Students can jump start their careers at the 18th Annual Big Sky Career Fair at UM Wednesday, Feb. 28.

The fair is free for UM students and alumni. It will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the University Center Ballroom.

Recruiters from local, regional and national employers will be present to seek candidates for professional positions, internships and summer jobs.

UM Career Services is offering students help preparing for the fair at free workshops to be held from 4 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 27, at the University Center.

Students also may want to consider attending the free workshop on employment interviews that Career Services is offering from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 20, in Lommasson Center Room 154.

UM students have the opportunity to learn and earn college credit this summer while traveling through Big Sky Country on bicycles.

Cycle Montana: Energy Alternatives for a New Century is a self-propelled adventure to explore the future of energy production and climate change in the Rocky Mountain West.

The course takes place from May 27 to June 18. UM students who complete the course will earn three 300-level credits in environmental studies.

To take the course, students will need a touring bike and $2,375 for tuition. The early application deadline is Tuesday, March 20. Students of all majors may apply.

For more information, call Nicky Phear of the UM Wilderness Institute at 406-243-6932 or visit the Web site.

Student Employment, a program of UM Career Services, helps students find jobs.

“This should be the students’ first stop in their employment search,” said Valerie Marsh, program coordinator.

Employers who post jobs on the program’s Web site specifically want to hire UM students.

Students may select jobs of interest and apply using the online application form. If resumes are required, help is available at Career Services, located in Lommasson Center Room 154.

More information about UM’s Student Employment program is online.

An honors scholarship for American Indian students who attend UM and are admitted to the Davidson Honors College has been established by a private donor.

The Native American Honors Scholarship of $1,500 per year will be awarded for the first time fall semester 2007.

Any student admitted to the Davidson Honors College who is an enrolled member of a Montana tribe or the descendant of an enrolled member is eligible to be considered for the scholarship. Preference will be given to Northern Cheyenne applicants under terms established by the donor.

To be considered for the scholarship, students must apply for admission to the Davidson Honors College. Every new freshman or transfer student admitted to the honors college who is eligible for the scholarship will be considered a candidate. There is no formal scholarship application process.

The ninth annual UM Student Leadership Conference – “Tailor Made Leadership” – will take place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, March 3, at the University Center.

The conference, sponsored by UM’s Center for Leadership Development, includes a series of panels and workshops that offer a variety of perspectives about student leadership and the importance of building future leaders.

Registration, which includes lunch, is $5 before Feb. 23, $10 after that date. Tickets are available at The Source, located in the University Center.

Complete conference information is online.

Don’t forget that the priority deadline for Free Applications for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is Thursday, Feb. 15.

Meeting the Feb. 15 deadline for early applications will ensure consideration for Pell Grants, State Grants and Work Study, as well as student and parent loans.

For more information, call the Financial Aid Office at 406-243-5373 or visit the Web site.

UM students are looking forward to a well-deserved Spring Break, which will be held March 26-30.

Residence halls will remain open during Spring Break at no extra charge. However, because most residents will be gone, the doors to the halls will be locked around the clock.

New figures show UM is No. 6 in the nation for producing Peace Corps volunteers.

The University jumped up three places on the 2007 list, which ranks medium-sized colleges and universities with enrollments between 5,001 and 15,000.

UM now has 42 alumni serving as Peace Corps volunteers. According to the Peace Corps press office, 692 UM alumni have joined the corps over the years, making Montana the No. 52 all-time producer of volunteers.

This year’s ranking placed UM ahead of Boston College, the University of Notre Dame, and Brown, Harvard, Northwestern and Yale universities.

UM’s Student Assault Resource Center and Curry Health Center have worked together to kick off a project aimed to educate the campus community about healthy relationships based on mutual respect and to address the roots of relationship and sexual violence.

The project includes training for volunteers who want to be more active in violence prevention efforts. Campus events will include posters, buttons, chalk campaigns and presentations throughout the academic year.

Campus Recreation offers a competitive sports program as well as a variety of special events for the athlete in everyone.

Students, faculty members, staff and alumni are eligible to participate in UM Intramural sports, which include basketball, softball, volleyball, racquetball, dodgeball, soccer and more.

The Campus Recreation Outdoor Program offers students classes, presentations, and snowboarding, skiing, biking and backpacking trips throughout the year.

Outdoor equipment rental also is offered through the program.

The annual Used Outdoor Gear Sale, a fundraiser for UM’s Outdoor Program, will be held from noon to 5 p.m. Wednesday, April 11. The sale offers a chance to sell or purchase outdoor gear.

Several University of Montana students have been rewarded for their standout performances in the national Hearst Journalism Awards program. Print journalism senior Zachary Franz won eighth place and a $500 scholarship in the in-depth reporting competition.

Franz’s story was written for the school’s Native News Honors Project about the struggle to get students to show up regularly for school on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation.

His story placed the UM journalism school in fourth place nationally among all accredited programs in the Hearst competition.

In earlier print competitions during the 2006-07 academic year, senior Amy May placed fifth, winning a $600 scholarship for her article in the school’s 10-year retrospective on the arrest of the Unabomber.

Alex Strickland, who graduated last spring, placed 16th in the editorial writing category.

In Hearst’s broadcast competition, for which winners were announced in December, senior Melanie Overcast’s first place and Amanda Harris’ 17th place in radio news put the UM radio-television department in fifth place overall among all schools. Overcast won a $2,000 scholarship.

The Hearst competitions continue through March, with national championships in May.