UNK Welcomes Two New Deans to Campus

Dr. John La Duke began as the Dean of Natural and Social Sciences on July 1, 2010. Dr. La Duke comes to UNK from the University of North Dakota where he was the Associate Dean of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Biology. He holds an undergraduate degree in zoology, a Master of Science degree in botany from Texas Tech University, and a Ph.D. in botany from Ohio State University.

Dr. Joseph Oravecz, pending approval by the University of Nebraska Board of Regents, will begin as the Dean of Student Affairs on August 1. Dr. Oravecz comes to UNK from Bowling Green (Ohio) State University (BGSU) where he was the Associate Vice President for Student Affairs. He holds a bachelor's degree in psychology from Gettysburg (Pennsylvania) College, a Master’s degree in higher education and student affairs from The Ohio State University (Columbus), and a Ph.D. in higher education administration from Florida State University (Tallahassee).

We warmly welcome both individuals and anticipate the contributions they will make from their knowledge and previous experience. 

- Office of the Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs

Student Registration at the End of SAE up from 2009 

Summer Advising and Enrollment (SAE) ended June 25, with 1,015 students participating (991 attending and 24 advised via phone because of distance). SAE participation increased this year, over the 897 participants in 2009.

The success of SAE is also indicative of a higher number of students entering UNK in the fall this year than last year. As of July 1, 1,009 new freshmen are enrolled for Fall 2010, compared to the 916 students that were enrolled as of July 2, 2009.

Director of Admissions, Dusty Newton, said “This is one of the most successful SAE summers we have had in a few years.”

During SAE, the Admissions staff, Academic Advising, and Student Affairs personnel, as well as faculty advisors and many other support staff throughout the campus put in hours of time and effort to provide new freshmen with a positive and engaging introduction to their college careers.

2010 SAE academic advisors included Mary Daake and her staff, Dave Moffett, Sandy Cook-Fong, Anne Foradori, Marta Moorman, Liz Stout, Stephanie Larson, and Rashawn Harvey and his staff.

Student leaders also contributed to the success of the summer sessions: Nate Summerfield, Andy Greer, Jordan Gonzales, Rowan Beck, Cam Deter, Allison Palmer, Cade Craig and Michelle Hermesch. 

- written in collaboration with Dusty Newton, Director of Admissions 

The Rural Corps of South Central Nebraska: An AmeriCorps Program
"Developing a Corps of engaged citizens in South Central Nebraska"

The Office for Service-Learning and its UNK AmeriCorps VISTA members, developed a Federal AmeriCorps Program in the Fall of 2008 to provide opportunities for campus and community members to serve in rural South Central Nebraska.The third year of funding has recently been awarded to this campus/community partnership, with the Kearney Area Community Foundation serving as fiscal agent and the UNK Office for Service-Learning serving to manage the program. Positions for 25 Members were requested in this third year of funding. Members will serve to meet various needs in the communities of Kearney and the surrounding area as well as on campus.  Twelve host sites serve as partners in this Rural Corps Project and will offer opportunities for Members to serve in numerous capacities.

Applications are currently being received for these positions though actual enrollment in the program will not take place until September 1, 2010. Individuals are provided excellent opportunities for building skills, relationships and knowledge about needs that exist in the following focus areas: environmental, community capacity building, technology, disaster preparedness, education, civic engagement and recruitment and mobilization of volunteers.

Funds are available to provide AmeriCorps (AC) Members with a small living stipend and an educational award at the end of the service term. A  few of these positions will provide services outside Kearney in  Buffalo, Kearney, Phelps, Dawson, Gosper, and Custer counties.   Area residents are encouraged to consider applying to serve in these areas.

This is a great opportunity to provide our students and community members real life experiences and additional aid in getting their education while they serve the community and their country.  Any United States Citizen or legal long-term resident (refugees excepted), whether student or community member, is eligible to apply.  Positions are not tied to financial need.  The educational award amounts are based on the number of hours AC Members are willing to serve.

Current Host Sites on campus and in the community include:

• American Red Cross - assistance with disaster preparedness, recruitment and management of UNK service-learning and volunteer students, as well as other local volunteers
• Arc of Buffalo County - assistance with recruitment and volunteer management, aiding in the preparation and implementation of programming for persons with disabilities
• Great Platte River Archway - assistance with recruitment and volunteer management, educational school/visitor programming
• Habitat for Humanity - assisting volunteers with the management and coordination of project information, as well as assistance on building sites
• Kearney Area Community Foundation - building community relationships, assistance with volunteer recruitment and management
• Kearney Community Learning Center - serving at each of the 5 after-school program sites to help children from disadvantaged circumstances, volunteer recruitment and management
• Kearney Public Schools - meeting needs within the system, including English Language Learners, children/youth with disabilities, behaviorally challenged children/youth, etc.
• Rowe Sanctuary - helping with environmental issues, assistance with volunteer management and educational and visitor programming
• UNK American Democracy Project - mobilizing and encouraging participants and volunteers
• UNK Frank House - assistance with volunteer management and educational school/visitor programming
• UNK Office for Service-Learning - building community relationships and assisting with training in a new database system for management of service projects in the community, tracking and recording of student and community service project and academically linked service hours
• United Way of the Kearney Area - assistance with community volunteer recruitment and management, maintaining volunteer management system

More information is available at ruralcorps.org.

 - Geraldine Stirtz, Director of the Office for Service-Learning 

New Learning Commons Opens in Library for Fall 2010

The UNK Learning Commons is currently under construction on the second floor of the Calvin T. Ryan Library! Opening in Fall 2010, this space will allow the Academic Success and Writing Center tutors to collaborate within the information resource context that libraries are transitioning to worldwide.  Acting as another resource within the library, tutors will continue their tradition of helping students succeed by growing as lifelong learners and writers. Additionally, the Commons will feature two computer bars for student use, a networked student printing station, upgraded lighting and flooring, and ample study space. The varied configuration of the Commons will allow students to work either independently or in small or large groups, and future plans may include private study rooms in which students can collaborate for homework, tests, and presentations. A Learning Commons Council is being formed to ensure that the voices of faculty, staff, and students are included in the Commons’ development. Certainly, ongoing partnership between Peer Tutoring, the Writing Center, and the Library will facilitate more efficient and effective services for the UNK community. Please join us for Game Night on Wednesday, August 23rd to get a peek at the progress, meet our tutors, and see what the UNK Learning Commons is all about!

 -  Keri Pearson, Tutoring and Assessment Coordinator for Academic Success Learning Commons 

News from Information Technology Services

• Student Email Address Changes
  On August 2, the official UNK email address for our students will be LoperMail, rather than Lotus Notes. LoperMail is a new service in the cloud provided by Google. You will see two major changes. The format of the email address will be student@lopers.unk.edu instead of student@unk.edu, and student email addresses (for LoperMail) do not appear in the University of Nebraska Address Book in Lotus Notes.
  
  LoperMail addresses reside in a LoperMail Address Book. You can view the LoperMail Address Book and select student email addresses by clicking on the "To:" at the top of your email message as you create a new message.
  
  Until the end of the Fall 2010 term, email sent to "student@unk.edu" will automatically be forwarded to "student@lopers.unk.edu". Beginning January 1, 2011, the "student@unk.edu" email address will no longer exist and mail directed to it will not be delivered.
  
  Authentication to LoperMail requires an EASI username and password. New freshmen and transfer students for Fall 2010 received their EASI username and password when they attended Summer Advising and Enrollment. The remainder of our students received an email message, and as long as WebEasi is available, they can find their EASI username and password in WebEasi. The EASI username and password will be used for LoperMail, Blackboard, UNK Wireless, and other services to be integrated later.
  
  Faculty and staff use their EASI username and password for Blackboard and UNK Wireless. Remember that faculty, staff, and students must use their NU ID and TrueYou password for the MyBlue portal.
  
  Faculty and staff will continue to use Lotus Notes email.
   
• Blackboard Changes
  Blackboard was upgraded to version 9.1 this summer. Faculty, student, and course data is being imported from PeopleSoft. The interface should be completed in approximately two weeks. At that time, fall data will be populated into Blackboard. Faculty needing assistance to set up a course prior to completion of the interface or needing assistance with access to Blackboard can contact the Helpdesk at 8363.
   
• ITS Personnel Changes
  Paul Swenson is a Web Development Specialist with ITS. His Reserve Unit has been mobilized, and he will leave UNK as of July 28 for eventual deployment to Afghanistan later in the year. We expect Paul to be gone for one year. Paul's wife, Bridgette, also works at UNK in Student Support Services.

 - Deb Schroeder, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Information Technolgoy Services  

Library - In Brief Online  

Bridging the Digital Divide 

Written by Jennifer Harvey, Curriculum Librarian
harveyjs@unk.edu 

Recent  survey information published by the U. S. Census Bureau suggests that approximately 75% of U. S. citizens have access to the Internet through their home (see Table 2 on the survey results page). Oddly, a smaller percentage (approximately 69%) report accessing the Internet from some location (“some location” is defined as “access that occurs either inside or outside the householder’s home”). With the increased use of smart phones and wi-fi technologies to access the Internet, presumably this number will increase. What happens to the citizens who don’t have access to digital resources? They clearly fall on the have-not side of the Digital Divide. 

The library works to bridge the Digital Divide. Calvin T. Ryan Library has nearly 100 computers available for patrons to use (including laptops available for check out from the Circulation Desk). Not only can the computers be used to connect with the Internet and the resources available freely there, but they are well used to access the scholarly resources the library collects to aid faculty and student research. Many of these resources are also available to University affiliated persons from anywhere in the world, any time of the day. A small (growing!) percentage of these services also facilitate mobile access. 

Is the Digital Divide just about hardware and technology? Certainly not! Information literacy (being able to identify and access appropriate information resources, evaluate the quality of the information and interpret the meaning of the information, then apply it well to the information need) is another component of the Divide. The library’s services include human resources to help in navigating the wide array of information resources available through our collections. These resources can be accessed through our reference service (drop in at the reference desk, use our 24/7 chat reference service, send an email to the subject specialist at the library, or make a reservation for research assistance with the specialist) or through class instruction sessions (contact the appropriate liaison librarian to schedule a class). 

Help your University library to bridge the Digital Divide by spreading the word about the services available in the library! 

Please note, census information is conveniently accessed through the library’s Government Documents pages (from the library home page, roll over Research Tools – Articles and Books and click on Government Documents in the drop down list; on the Government Documents home page, click on United States Government Documents, then on Just Released News). 

Information on water, water everywhere 

Written by Rochelle Krueger, Lecturer/User Services Librarian
kruegerr@unk.edu 

Heavy rains have swelled lakes, rivers and streams in many parts of Nebraska.  The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) studies the nation’s landscape, natural resources, and natural hazards, among other topics.  The USGS also provides current information regarding national and local streamflow conditions.  Some websites of interest include: 

• USGS Real-time Water Data for the Nation 

• USGS Real-time Data for Nebraska Streamflow 

Other items of interest from the library’s Government Documents website include: 

• Topographic maps of Nebraska lakes from the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission 

• Extensive links to information about the Platte River (including the ecosystem, endangered species, Sandhill Cranes, and watershed management) 

• Kearney-area parks information 

The library’s Catalog lists many more resources on these topics.   Please ask us if you need any assistance meeting your information needs. 

The library will be open reduced hours between July 31 and August 22, 2010, with regular fall hours beginning on August 23.  Please see the library’s website for hours during semester breaks and holidays.   

Summer Study Trips Take Students and Faculty Around the World

Several UNK students were able to travel the globe at the beginning of the summer. UNK faculty from four different departments led study trips, designed to expose students to another culture and to stretch them to consider issues connected with their disciplines in an international context.

Political Science led by Will Avilés -
May 23 through May 31 to Bogotá, Colombia 

Eleven students traveled to Colombia with Dr. Avilés to learn about Colombian politics and human rights through meetings with representatives of the Colombian government and the U.S. embassy, as well as activists and academics. The group also learned about some of Colombia’s history and natural environment through trips to Colombia's Gold Museum, churches (one important church was on Monserratte mountain which over-looks Bogotá), and a national park. The group spent most of its time going to one meeting after another, listening to presentations and engaging in conversations with the speakers. They also did a little hiking, some sight-seeing (such as the Plaza Bolivar, which is the country's central plaza where many of its governing bodies reside), and some shopping. Some also attended a presidential candidate's political rally on the day of the country's presidential elections (the first round was on May 30th). 

 - Will Avilés, Associate Professor of Political Science 

Family Studies and Interior Design led by Jennifer Crosswhite and Sylvia Asay -
May 24 through June 2 to Italy, France, and the U.K. 

Dr. Crosswhite and Dr. Asay led a group of 19, comprised of currently enrolled UNK students, faculty, graduates, and family members. The trip is one opportunity for students to have an international experience, which the department of Family Studies and Interior Design strongly encourages before graduation. The main objective of the trip was to increase cross-cultural awareness by broad observations of culture, as well as, analyzing cultural similarities and differences regarding families. The students seeking independent study credit had several assignments to complete throughout the trip. They were also encouraged to keep a journal to record not only their own experiences, but also their cross-cultural observations and comparisons, particularly regarding family patterns, parent-child interactions, and parenting styles. They also read "The Cultural Transformation Model," written by Sylvia Asay, Maha Younes, and Tami Moore, and had to identify their own stages of cultural transformation as they participated in the trip. The group enjoyed experiencing the culture and seeing the sites in some of Europe’s main cities – Rome (with a side trip to Pompeii) Florence, Paris, and London – including the ancient Roman Ruins (i.e., the Colosseum, the Forum) the Vatican, the Sistine Chapel, the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Notre Dame, Piccadilly Circus, Buckingham Palace, and Westminster Abby. 

 - Sylvia Asay, Chair and Professor of Family Studies and Interior Design and
Jennifer Crosswhite, Assistant Professor of Family Studies and Interior Design   

Social Work led by Maha Younes and Nadine Stuehm -
May 24 through June 6 to Israel 

A group of twenty-eight from UNK and the Kearney community traveled to Israel with Dr. Younes and Ms. Stuehm. Students on the trip earned three credit hours that fulfilled part of their CD (cultural diversity) requirement. The group studied three world religions - Christianity, Judaism, and Islam – with tours to holy sites for each. The trip involved attendance of seminars regarding Israel and the West Bank, the people, and the culture, as well as opportunities to learn about Israel’s model for healthcare and social services. Attendees were able to hear stories of the Israeli and Palestinian people, and learn of their struggles, including a visit to the Holocaust Museum and the Israeli Knesset (parliament). Recreation included enjoying the Mediterranean Sea, rafting in the Jordan River, sailing on the Sea of Galilee, and floating in the Dead Sea. For more information and photos of the trip, see Sara Giboney's blog in the Kearney Hub at http://khpsites.com/blogs/passport/.  

 - Maha Younes, Chair and Professor of Social Work 

Modern Languages led by Juan Guzman –
June 12 through July 17 to Guadalajara, Mexico 

In the summer of 2010, ten students spent five weeks studying Spanish, while living with a Mexican family and enjoying weekend excursions. They registered for classes at the university in order to obtain Study Abroad credits according to their individual language level. The summer experience provided students with the opportunity to accelerate their language study for their major or minor, while enhancing their communicative skills via a total immersion in the culture.  Under the direction of Juan Guzman, who, as a native of Guadalajara, was especially familiar with the area, students were in for a unique experience! 

- Sonja Kropp, Chair and Associate Professor of Modern Languages 

In addition, 11 students earned credit studying abroad this summer in a variety of programs: 

Seven students obtained internship credit abroad: 

- written in collaboration with Ann Marie Park, Will Avilés, Sylvia Asay, Jennifer Crosswhite,
Maha Younes, Suzanne Exstrom, Sonja Kropp, Cherie DeFreece 

Music and Performing Arts Hosts Summer Camps

This summer, the Department of Music and Performing Arts continued its efforts to bring high school students to campus for summer camps. The department hosted the following faculty-led events:

The department welcomes a new Director of Bands, Mr. Duane Bierman, as well as a new Assistant Band Director, Mr. Michael Beard. Bierman and Beard will greet band students as they return to UNK early with Pre Season Band Camp from August 15 to August 22. The Nebraskats will also arrive before the beginning of the semester for the Nebraskats Camp, led by Dr. Andrew White, from August 15 to August 22.

 - written in collaboration with Valerie Cisler, Chair of Music and Performing Arts and
Marcia Burman, Administrative Assistant in the Office of the Dean of the College of Fine Arts & Humanities 

2010 Undergraduate Research Journal Now Available

The 2010 UNK Undergraduate Research Journal has been published, showcasing the work of 17 students from across campus. 

Congratulations to the following undergraduate researchers and their faculty mentors:

Copies will be distributed to departments, mentors, and students, but additional copies are available upon request. 

- written in collaboration with John Falconer, Director of Sponsored Programs and
Susan Campbell, Office of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity 

Recognition

Items to Note for Faculty and Faculty Committees

• Academic Affairs Committee 
  The link to the CAP ("Course Approval Process") information is located on the Academic Affairs Committee page. CAP is the electronic approval system that allows department chairs to initiate course proposals (create, alter, inactivate, or discontinue). Worksheets for both the creation of new courses and the alteration of existing courses are available on the CAP website for faculty members to use these as they gather the information department chairs will need to submit requests. Department chairs initiate program proposals (create, alter, or discontinue) using a paper form, which is available on the Academic Affairs Committee page, along with instructions.
  
  The schedule of Academic Affairs deadlines for the 2010-2011 academic year is available on the Academic Affairs Committee page. The page also contains a committee roster and a link to the approved Academic Affairs minutes. Department or program chairs needing to make curricular changes should be aware of these deadlines and instructions.
  
   
• Faculty Handbook 
  The online Faculty Handbook contains the most current policy information. The purpose of the handbook is to gather the documents and policies that inform and guide critical decisions, including the Collective Bargaining Agreement (2009-2011) and the Guidelines for Evaluation, Promotion, and Tenure. 
    
   
• Faculty Senate
  To keep faculty informed and in the spirit of shared goverenance, the 2010-2011 Faculty Senate Roster is posted on the Faculty Senate home page. The page also contains links to meeting agendas and packets, meeting minutes of both the Faculty Senate and the Faculty Senate committees, and the Faculty Senate Constitution and Bylaws.
  
   
• General Studies 
  The General Studies website contains a description of the new General Studies Program effective for students entering UNK in the Fall of 2010, as well as a list of the courses approved during the 2009-2010 academic year. 
  
   
• Graduate Council 
  The Graduate Council webpage contains information regarding changes to graduate courses or programs, as well as a list of the 2010 Graduate Program Committees and a link to important Graduate Faculty announcements.  
  
   
• WI/CD Committee 
  The WI/CD Committee has posted a schedule of deadlines for the fall semester on the WI/CD Committee page. The page also contains instructions for applying for WI or CD designation, as well as a committee roster, agendas, and minutes. These resources are provided for those wishing to offer courses as WI or CD.

Deadlines Approach for Various Opportunities

 Calendar of Events within the Academic and Student Affairs Division

Edited by Kim Elliott, Coordinator of Academic Publications 

A Publication of the
Office of the Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs
University of Nebraska at Kearney
905 West 25th Street
Kearney, NE 68849
Phone: (308)865-8209 

For questions or submissions,
contact the Coordinator of Academic Publications at 8935 or academicpublications@unk.edu.