Harnessing the talents of its faculty, staff and students, UM has created a new online tutorial to educate students about sexual violence issues.

The training is titled Personal Empowerment Through Self-Awareness. PETSA consists of short, informative videos and a quiz and takes about 20 to 30 minutes to complete. All UM students are required to complete the training starting this fall, and they must complete it before registering for spring semester classes. 

The videos can be seen at http://www.umt.edu/petsa. Read more

UM's 2012-13 President's Lecture Series will begin Wednesday, Sept. 5, with a lecture from acclaimed investigative journalist Andrew Nikiforuk titled "The Energy of Slaves: Oil and the New Servitude."

The lecture will begin at 8 p.m. in the University Center Ballroom. Nikiforuk also will present a seminar titled "Empire of the Beetle: How Human Folly and a Tiny Bug are Killing North America's Great Forests" earlier the same day from 3:10 to 4:30 p.m. in Gallagher Business Building Room 123. Both the lecture and seminar are free and open to the public. Read more

Image courtesy of PlaneWave Instrument

UM is working with the astronomy departments of Caltech and Penn State to build a new array of telescopes called MINERVA, which all three universities will use to search for planets orbiting nearby stars. The ultimate goal, according to UM Assistant Professor of Astrophysics Nate McCrady, is to locate earthlike, rocky planets capable of supporting liquid water, the most basic building block of life as we know it. 

"The next generation of telescopes can look at planets located around nearby stars," McCrady said. "We need to tell them where they should be looking." Read more

Four outstanding UM graduates will receive 2012 Distinguished Alumni Awards during Homecoming weekend festivities Sept. 21-22. The awards are the highest honor presented by the UM Alumni Association. This year's distinguished alumni are Doug Chadwick of Whitefish, Don Molloy of Missoula, Thomas Riggert of Brisbane, Australia, and Joseph Valacich of Tucson, Ariz. Read more

UM President Royce Engstrom delivered his annual State of the University address Aug. 24. He outlined achievements of the past year, challenges faced by the University and community, and some exciting new developments coming in the 2012-13 academic year.

The president affirmed that improving campus safety through education is a major priority this year. Part of this focus will include the new mandatory Personal Empowerment Through Self Awareness training for all students, soon to be followed by a version for faculty and staff.

Other developments to watch for this year include a new effort to attain funding for a new Missoula College (formerly the COT) facility on the South Campus, recommendations regarding brand strategy from Mind Over Media, the appointment of several cabinet positions in the administration and the Global Leadership Initiative.