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ForUM
Oct. 25, 2010 | Vol. 39, No. 10 
 
In this issue:
Campus Links
Recent UM Publications

 

Welcome to ForUM, the e-newsletter for University of Montana staff, faculty and administrators. ForUM is published weekly during the academic year except during scheduled academic breaks.



 UM President Starts Weekly Video Updates
 

Royce Engstrom, who became UM's 17th president Oct. 15, has started a new weekly video series. "The President's Update" offers another tool for the president to communicate with the Missoula campus, as well as the affiliated campuses in Butte, Dillon and Helena.

The first video is online at the President's Office website. Future videos will be available there and on the official UM YouTube channel.

Links for each new video will be e-mailed to all employees and students when the videos become available. UM e-publications also will offer access to the videos. Engstrom hopes the videos will be shared widely, especially among students.

"I hope this becomes an effective way to communicate our priorities and other important University information widely across our affiliated campuses," Engstrom said. "This is a new process for me and our staff, and we will continue to refine and improve the series as we move forward. We want to keep these videos simple, conversational and, above all, useful."

Engstrom said many videos will be filmed in his office, but he expects some will be shot on location at the affiliated campuses. He also said the videos will occasionally feature other speakers.

 

 UM Educator Named Mentor of the Year
 

Sandy Ross, associate dean of UM's Graduate School, has been selected as the Sloan Mentor of the Year by the Compact for Faculty Diversity Institute on Teaching and Mentoring. The compact is a partnership of regional, federal and foundation programs that focus on minority graduate education and faculty diversity.

Each year the Southern Regional Education Board, one of the compact's primary sponsors, receives nominations from students across the nation for Sloan Mentor of the Year. Recipients are chosen for demonstrated excellence in mentoring, contributions to increasing diversity in academia and meeting other goals of the compact's mission.

Ross serves as principal investigator of the Sloan Indigenous Graduate Partnership grant, which supports the Sloan American Indian Graduation Program for science graduate students at UM.

A professor of physical biochemistry in UM's Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, he specializes in time-resolved, excited-state and single-molecule spectroscopy and microscopy. He is an investigator in UM's Center for Biomolecular Structure and Dynamics and the University's Center for Structural and Functional Neuroscience, as well as director of the BioSpectroscopy Core Laboratory that serves the centers and other scientists at the University.

Ross will be honored as the Sloan Mentor of the Year at the 17th Annual Institute on Teaching and Mentoring Oct. 28-31 in Tampa, Fla.

 

 Conference Tackles Environmental Challenges
 

The Pacific Northwest International Section of the Air & Waste Management Association will hold its 50th annual conference Wednesday through Friday, Nov. 3-5, at UM.

The 2010 conference, "Training our Future Environmental Professionals," will be hosted by the Montana Chapter of PNWIS. This year will be the first time the conference has taken place on a university campus.

The conference features presentations on regional and local environmental issues, including the Libby asbestos contamination, the Milltown Dam removal, wood-smoke air pollution in western Montana, the pros and cons of biomass boilers, and more. It is the premier networking event in the Northwest for students and young professionals in the environmental field. More than 200 environmental professionals and students from Alaska, British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana are expected to attend.

Full conference registration costs are $395 for AWMA members and $445 for nonmembers. Students can attend the full conference for $75 if they are AWMA members and $125 if not. Single day rates also are available.

A complete schedule of events and registration is available on the PNWIS website. Registration also will be available from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 3, in the third-floor foyer of UM's University Center, where most conference events will take place.

For more information, call UM Assistant Professor Tony Ward, conference chair, at 243-4092 or e-mail tony.ward@umontana.edu.

Read the Full News Release 

 Bike Check-out Program Updates Models
 

UM students, faculty and staff can check out yellow cruiser bikes for up to two days at no charge through the Associated Students of UM Cruiser Co-op program.

The program, which began in 2000 with 50 bikes, is administered through the ASUM Office of Transportation. Some of the bikes have been replaced over the years, and the transportation office board recently decided to replace the program's 10-year-old bikes with a new style. The bikes will still be yellow, heavy duty single-speeds with coaster brakes, but they will be a brand purchased from a Northwest distributor, so parts and replacement bikes will be more readily available.

ASUM's successful Cruiser Co-op program is financed through transportation fees. One of the first student-run bike check-out programs in the country, it has been a model for other campuses nationwide.

Those who wish to check out bikes should bring their valid Griz Card to The Source in the University Center. More information about the Cruiser Co-op program is on the ASUM Office of Transportation website.

ASUM Office of Transportation 

 'Montana Journal' Holds Premiere Event
 

"Montana Journal: Patrolling the Big Sky," a television magazine produced by UM radio-television students, will premiere at 7 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 7, in the University Center Theater. The event is free and open to the public.

The program, which will air at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 11, on MontanaPBS, takes viewers along for rides with the men and women of the Montana Highway Patrol. "Patrolling the Big Sky" travels to Wolf Point, the Bitterroot Valley and Kalispell.

"Montana Journal" is produced by senior-level students in the UM journalism school's Department of Radio-Television. Kagan Yochim, radio-television adjunct instructor and MontanaPBS producer, teaches the class and oversees the student production.

MontanaPBS 

 'Can the Cats' Food Drive Kicks Off Nov. 6
 

UM's "Can the Cats" food drive competition against Montana State University-Bozeman begins Saturday, Nov. 6. The University's annual competition to collect more canned food than MSU benefits the Missoula Food Bank.

The competition will run through Saturday, Nov. 20, when the winner will be announced at the Griz-Cat Brawl of the Wild football game in Missoula. Food collected before Nov. 6 will not be counted for the competition.

This year's competition has two new sponsors, Karl Tyler Chevrolet and the Montana Governor's Office of Community Service. Karl Tyler Chevrolet trucks and UM volunteers will collect canned food at the gates of Washington-Grizzly Stadium during the home games Nov. 13 and Nov. 20.

Designated canned food boxes for "Can the Cats" will be located on campus in UM residence halls, at The Source in the University Center and at the Office for Civic Engagement, located in Davidson Honors College Room 015. Collection boxes also will be available at the Good Food Store, Karl Tyler Chevrolet, Orange Street Food Farm, the YMCA, Worden's Market and the Swift Building in Missoula.

Competition canned food contributions can be made directly to the Food Bank during the collection period, but donors must specify that their donations are for "Can the Cats."

The annual "Can the Cats" event is coordinated by UM's Office for Civic Engagement. For more information or to volunteer, call Katie Koga at 243-5531 or e-mail katie.koga@mso.umt.edu.

 

 UC Gallery Issues Art Call
 

The University Center Gallery at UM has issued its annual call for art for the gallery's 2011 exhibition calendar. The gallery exhibits visual arts from local, regional and national artists and also functions as a space for UM students to exhibit and learn.

Between eight and nine artists will be selected to have their work exhibited in the gallery from January through December 2011. Applications are available on the University Center website or in the gallery. The deadline to apply is Monday, Nov. 29.

For more information, call Josh Peters-McBride, UC Student Involvement program adviser, at 243-5776 or e-mail josh.peters-mcbride@mso.umt.edu.

University Center Gallery 

 Charitable Giving Supports Local Agencies
 

UM's 2010-11 Charitable Giving Campaign begins today and runs through Friday, Nov. 19. The campaign is a campus initiative to encourage and provide an easy way for UM employees to donate to charities that serve the local community.

In the next few weeks, fellow staff and faculty members will contact UM employees with information about the campaign. Employees may contribute through a payroll deduction each pay period or give a one-time donation. Any amount is appreciated.

Difficult economic times can be even more difficult for charities and individuals in need. The agencies that are part of the Charitable Giving Campaign are closely scrutinized to ensure that all Charitable Giving donations go directly to local services and not administrative costs.

Last year UM employees generously donated more than $127,000. The campaign goal this year is $130,000. Each donation has a significant impact on improving our community, from protecting open space and river corridors to providing meals for the less fortunate.

For more information or if you do not receive a Charitable Giving Campaign packet, call Juana Alcala at 243-2049 or e-mail juana.alcala@mso.umt.edu.

 

 Faculty Invited to Explore Service Learning
 

The UM Office for Civic Engagement will host a Service Learning Brown Bag on Tuesday, Oct. 26, for all educators interested in learning more about ways to incorporate community service into the classroom.

The event will begin at 12:45 p.m. in the Alumni Board Room on the third floor of the University Center.

Faculty members who currently teach a service learning course or those who are considering a course are encouraged to attend. Light refreshments will be available, but those who attend the discussion should also bring their lunch.

For more information, call OCE Director Andrea Vernon at 243-5159 or e-mail andrea.vernon@mso.umt.edu.

 

 President Engstrom's Office Hours
 

Each semester, President Engstrom welcomes members of the campus community to meet with him to discuss issues and topics of their choice. Please call 243-2311 or e-mail prestalk@umontana.edu to make an appointment to meet with President Engstrom during these times.

President Engstrom's office hours for autumn semester are:
  • Thursday, Nov. 4: 1-2 p.m.
  • Wednesday, Nov. 10: noon-2 p.m.
  • Tuesday, Nov. 23: 10 a.m.-noon
  • Wednesday, Dec. 1: 3-5 p.m.
  • Tuesday, Dec. 14: 3-5 p.m.


 

 Faculty/Staff Socials
 

Socials will be held from 4:30 to 6 p.m. most Fridays during autumn semester in the Davidson Honors College Lounge. Autumn semester dates and event sponsors are:
  • Oct. 29: College of Health Professions and Biomedical Sciences
  • Nov. 5: President Engstrom
  • Nov. 12: College of Forestry and Conservation and College of Visual and Performing Arts
  • Nov. 19: College of Arts and Sciences
  • Dec. 3: Mansfield Library
  • Dec. 10: Faculty Senate and Academic Affairs


 

 News About U
 

News About U Communication studies Professor Sara Hayden received a 2010 Faculty Prize for Outstanding Research or Creative Activities in the Study of Women and Gender. The award was presented by the UM Women's and Gender Studies Program for Hayden's 2009 essay "Revitalizing the Debate between Life and Choice: The 2004 March for Women's Lives," which appeared in Volume 6 of the journal Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies.

Continuing Education, in partnership with the School of Law, won an outstanding program award from the University Professional and Continuing Education Association and an exemplary program award from the Western Association of Summer Semester Administrators for UM's American Indian Law Summer Program. Extended Learning Services Associate Director Peggy Nesbitt accepted the UPCEA award at the association's regional meeting Oct. 13-15 in Seattle. UM Summer Programs also won a Best Marketing Idea award from WASSA for their marketing campaign "What will YOU do this Summer?"

History and women's and gender studies Professor Anya Jabour received a 2010 Faculty Prize for Outstanding Research or Creative Activities in the Study of Women or Gender. The award was presented by the UM Women's and Gender Studies Program for Jabour's essay "Female Families: Same-Sex Love in the Victorian South" in the book "Family Values in the Old South." The book was edited by Jabour and Craig Thompson Friend and published by the University of Florida Press.

Mathematics Professor Bharath Sriraman was a faculty research fellow Oct. 8-13 at the Neils Abel Department of Mathematics at the University of Agder, Norway. He also was an invited speaker in a doctoral seminar on Gifted and Talented Students in Mathematics, which focused on high school, Oct. 14-15 at the University of Oslo.

 

 Publications
 

Books and Publications Loisel, Clary. 2010. "Entrevista a Antonio García del Toro, dramaturgo puertorriqueño." Alba de América: Revista Literaria, 29(55, 56):631-635.

McGovern, Dean (co-author). 2010. "Campus Compact: Engaged Scholarship for the Public Good." In Handbook of Engaged Scholarship: Contemporary Landscapes, Future Directions. (Eds.) H. Fitzgerald, C. Burack, and S. Seifer. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University Press.

Ngai, Phyllis and Peter Koehn. 2010. "Implementing Montana's Indian-Education-for-All Initiative in a K-5 Public School: Implications for Classroom Teaching, Education Policy, and Native Communities." Journal of American Indian Education, 49(1,2):50-68.

Shearer, Tobin Miller. 2010. Daily Demonstrators: The Civil Rights Movement in Mennonite Homes and Sanctuaries. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press.

 

Submissions must reach University Relations, 317 Brantly Hall, by noon Tuesday for inclusion in the following week's newsletter. Be sure to note that the submissions are for ForUM. E-mail submissions may be sent to campnews@mso.umt.edu. Items will be included as space permits. For more information, e-mail Brenda Day, ForUM editor.
phone: 406-243-2522
fax: 406-243-4520