UM will host a deans' panel from 4 to 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 14, in the University Center Theater as part of Family Weekend 2011, which takes place Friday and Saturday, Oct. 14-15.  

This first-ever Family Weekend deans' panel will feature representatives from the colleges of Forestry and Conservation, Health Professions and Biological Sciences, Arts and Sciences, and Visual and Performing Arts, as well as the School of Journalism and the Davidson Honors College.

Panelists will provide an insider's view into what is new and innovative in academic life at the University. Participants will gain insights during a facilitated question-and-answer session.

Following the panel, the deans will invite Family Weekend participants back to their respective buildings for various "college session" experiences. From producing a television news segment to interacting with a computerized human model that can exhibit disease symptoms and responses to particular drug therapies, these "college sessions" will provide Family Weekend participants with an authentic student experience inside UM classrooms.

A complete schedule of the weekend's events is available on the Family Weekend website.

Total headcount enrollment at UM has set another all-time record.

According to the UM Registrar's Office, autumn semester enrollment stands at 15,669, which is 27 more than the previous record set a year ago.

Most of the increase was at UM's College of Technology in Missoula and the Bitterroot College Program in Hamilton. Those two entities together saw a headcount enrollment surge of 359.

UM saw a drop in full-time equivalent resident students attending UM, but the number of nonresident student FTEs jumped 70.48, and distance-learning FTEs increased 8.05 above autumn semester 2010. 

UM's sixth annual Day of Dialogue is slated for Thursday, Oct. 27, at the University Center. The free daylong symposium brings campus and community members together for presentations, performances, workshops and exhibits that encourage dialogue about diversity.

Participants can explore topics such as race, gender, ethnicity, ability/disability, religion, sexual orientation, class, social hierarchy and privilege. Day of Dialogue events are created by UM students, faculty and staff and community members.

Day of Dialogue events will kick off with the Post-Racial Comedy Tour at 7 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 26, in the University Center Ballroom. The Post-Racial Comedy Tour features comedians Christian Lander, the creator of the pop culture phenomenon "Stuff White People Like," and Elon James White, the award-wining creator of "This Week in Blackness."

A complete schedule is on the Day of Dialogue website.

UM has launched a new master's and doctoral degree program in systems ecology. The state Board of Regents unanimously approved the new degree offerings during its September meeting.

Systems ecology studies ecological science on large-landscape and regional scales. The discipline also looks at human-mediated landscape transformations, as well as environmental and cultural systems.

Professor Ric Hauer with UM's Flathead Lake Biological Station played a lead role in creating the new Systems Ecology Graduate Program, which will be offered by both the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Forestry and Conservation. It will be administered by the Division of Biological Sciences.

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Gov. Brian Schweitzer announced recently that the Montana University System has received a $20 million, five-year grant from the National Science Foundation to strengthen the state's science and engineering work force with a program that will reach into campuses and communities across the state.

The grant will allow the hiring of at least 12 new science and engineering faculty members across the state. The grant will support undergraduate and graduate student research. It will set up a math mentoring system where Native American students in tribal colleges will help students in tribal high schools make the transition to higher education.

It will involve interactions with Montana businesses, especially resource-based companies that may have special needs or interests. It will involve social scientists who will examine issues, especially as they relate to science and engineering. Education and outreach will be an important component of the grant.

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G.I. Jobs, a magazine for military personnel transitioning into civilian life, has designated UM as a "Military Friendly School."

The 2012 Military Friendly Schools list honors the top 20 percent of colleges, universities and trade schools that are doing the most to embrace America's military service members and veterans as students.

The survey ranks schools with a plus or minus on several factors, ranging from scholarship offers to opportunities to socialize.

UM scored well on most criteria, including offers of scholarships to military students and veterans, tuition discounts, providing in-state tuition without residency requirements, no penalties for military students called to active duty and availability of evening and weekend classes. UM also earned a plus for its veteran-specific website.

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The UM chapter of the Alpha Phi sorority will host its annual Red Dress Gala and Casino Night at 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 15, at the Montana Harley Davidson Mezzanine, located at 5106 E. Harrier Blvd. in Missoula.

The event will feature casino games and prizes, a silent auction, drinks and appetizers and is a fundraiser for the Alpha Phi Foundation, which supports women's cardiac care research. 

Tickets purchased in advance cost $45 each, $70 per couple and $25 for UM students. They're available by calling Lauren Woody, Alpha Phi's vice president of marketing, at 503-956-1628, or by emailing chi.vpmarketing.alphaphi@gmail.com.

Attendees are asked to wear formal red attire or red accents to raise awareness of heart disease, the No. 1 killer of women in the United States.

• Friday-Saturday, Oct. 14-15: Family Weekend
• Friday, Nov. 11: Veterans Day holiday
• Wednesday-Friday, Nov. 23-25: Thanksgiving holiday
• Friday, Dec. 9: Last day of classes
• Monday-Friday, Dec. 12-16: Finals week
• Friday, Dec. 16: Residence halls close at 5 p.m.
• Saturday, Jan. 21: Residence halls open for spring semester
• Monday, Jan. 23: Spring semester begins