Bear Briefs

Dennison in D.C.—UM President George Dennison attended the U.S. University Presidents Summit on International Education Jan. 5-6 in Washington, D.C. Speakers included President George Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, First Lady Laura Bush and Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings. The event focused on international education and its importance to the national interest. The summit also discussed how to attract foreign students and scholars to study in the United States, as well as how to encourage more American students to receive part of their education abroad. Dennison especially was interested in discussions of how to bolster critical language programs such as Arabic, Mandarin and languages of the Caspian Basin. UM’s president gave a report about the summit to the state Board of Regents Jan. 12 in Helena.

New Student Regent—One of UM’s own has landed the coveted student position on the state Board of Regents. Heather O’Loughlin, a second-year law student from Great Falls, started her 18-month appointment this month. She was appointed to the board by Gov. Brian Schweitzer to replace outgoing student regent Kala French. O’Loughlin is a former vice president of the Associated Students of UM student government, and she also teaches legal research to first-year law students. She hopes to help keep college tuition costs from rising too rapidly and to promote the benefits of higher education to the Montana Legislature.

Brains AND Brawn—UM’s Athletic Department recently announced that its 295 student-athletes had a cumulative grade-point average of 3.00. Nine of UM’s 12 teams had a fall semester GPA greater than 3.00, to help raise the department’s cumulative grade point average to the 3.00 level. The women’s golf team had the highest fall GPA with a 3.46. Nineteen student-athletes had a 4.0 GPA for the fall semester. Six of those came from the women’s track and field program, while football had four and women’s golf had three. Eight of Montana’s programs now have cumulative GPAs over 3.00.

Bighearted Employees—UM’s Charitable Giving Campaign, which raises money from University employees, achieved its most successful year yet in 2005 with donations of more than $100,000. The campaign was launched Oct. 18, and when the event ended a month later, nearly 1,000 UM staff, faculty members and students had given $103,000. The fund-raising effort helps area agencies such as United Way, the Missoula County Humane Society and the Poverello Center. The campaign raised $25,000 when it first started in 1986-87.

Serious Science—Six of the state’s top scientists will speak during the UM Alumni Association’s upcoming 2006 Community Lecture Series. This year’s series is titled “Sun to Seeds ­— Our World Around Us.” Lectures will be held at 7 p.m. each Tuesday evening from Feb. 14 through March 21 in the University Center Theater. Tickets for the entire series cost $15 for UM Alumni Association members, $20 for nonmembers and $10 for students. Those prices include a wine reception following the March 21 presentation. Speakers will be Garon Smith, Steve Running, Dan Reisenfeld, Ron Wakimoto, Bill Woessner and Neva Hassanein. For more information, call the Alumni Association at (406) 243-6439.

Millions to Montana—Preliminary results from recent research conducted by UM’s Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research show that the number of nonresidents who come to the state each year reached a milestone this year. The state had 10 million nonresident visitors during 2005. That does not mean that 10 million cars drove into Montana this year — the average group size was a little more than two people per travel party — but it does indicate a strong year for travel in the state by car and by air. In fact, nonresident visitation in Montana increased 4 percent over 2004 numbers, the same increase expected in the United States in 2005 by the Travel Industry Association. And these nonresidents were spending money in Montana at a rate of more than $1.9 billion per year and contributed more than 29,000 jobs, as well as $531 million in generated income. The full report is available at http://www.itrr.umt.edu/.

An Artistic Life—“Frances Senska: A Life in Art” will be displayed at the Meloy and Paxson galleries of the Montana Museum of Art and Culture through Saturday, Feb. 25. The museum’s galleries are located in the University’s Performing Arts and Radio/Television Center. This retrospective exhibition provides an important glimpse into one of the most influential Montana artists — someone who helped shape the nature of contemporary ceramics. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 4 to 8:30 p.m. Admission is free. For more information, call the Montana Museum of Art and Culture at (406) 243-2019 or go online to http://www.umt.edu/partv/famus.

The Survey Says—More than 200 UM faculty members took part in the national 2004-05 Higher Education Research Institute Survey, and the results are in. They show that teaching is a primary value and focus at UM. Ninety percent of UM faculty members reported that teaching is their principal activity, compared to 75.4 percent at other public universities. UM faculty members emphasize the same primary goals for undergraduates as those at other public universities: to develop abilities to think critically, to promote writing skills and to prepare students for employment.

Making the Grade—UM has been named one of the best 361 colleges for undergraduate education by the 2006 edition of the Princeton Review. Rankings result from the review’s survey of 110,000 students attending colleges in the book. More information is online at http://www.princetonreview.com.