Winter Commencement Friday, December 17 at 10:00 a.m.

The Winter Commencement ceremonies will feature Mr. Terry Kroeger, Publisher and Chief Executive Officer of the Omaha World-Herald. Mr. Kroeger has been with the World-Herald Company since 1985 and has served as the company's President since 2005. Mr. Kroeger is a graduate of the University of Nebraska and is actively involved in higher education, as well as other organizations within the Omaha community, including Creighton University, the College of Saint Mary, Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce, Durham Western Heritage Museum, TeamMates Mentoring Program, Mutual Of Omaha Group, and others.

Laura Ceron Gomez (Bogota, Colombia) will speak Friday morning at the Honors Convocation and Breakfast; Gomez will graduate with a Spanish Translation and Interpretation minor. Daniel Martin (Kearney) will deliver the student address at the commencement ceremony; Martin will graduate with a Mathematics 7-12 endorsement.

Winter Commencement will begin at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, December 17, 2010, in the Health and Sports Center (HSC).

- written in collaboration with Bev Mathiesen, Office of the Chancellor 

AmeriCorps Program Continues to Grow in Connecting Campus with Community

The AmeriCorps Campus Community Partnership Program in South Central Nebraska is seeing increasing interest from students on the UNK campus and in our surrounding community. Students across many disciplines are committing to help meet numerous needs in the community. Students working in the program either have degrees or are seeking in the following disciplines: Business Administration, Communications, Counseling and School Psychology, Criminal Justice, Education (Elementary, Secondary & Special Ed), Geography, Global Education, Mathematics, Philosophy, Pre-Dental Hygiene, Psychology, Social Work, Sports Management, and Undeclared. This year's grant proposed enrolling 25 AmeriCorps Members to serve at 12 different Host Sites on campus and in the community. Currently, 18 of those positions are filled. The grant cycle started September 1, 2010 and runs until August 31, 2011. Recruitment is still in process for the unfilled positions. These include: United Way of the Kearney Area, the Great Platte River Archway, American Red Cross and the UNK American Democracy Project. Applicants must be 18 years or older and provide proof of U.S. citizenship.

Members enrolled are providing service focused in the following areas: Disaster Preparedness, Assistance to Disadvantaged Youth, Caring for the Environment, Engagement with Seniors, Strengthening Rural Communities. Host sites include campus efforts encouraging students to become civically engaged, as well as service in numerous agencies and programs to meet community identified needs. The AmeriCorps grant provides a small stipend and an educational award at the end of service for those willing to serve their community and our country. In these experiences, many students build relationships, skills and connections that provide for part-time positions with the agency or program they were serving during their AmeriCorps terms. (For an example of one student's experience, see the note below from Rachel Broadwell, a former UNK Social Work student who served as a member in the first year of the AmeriCorps program.)  More information is available at ruralcorps.org or americorps.gov.

Additional funds in the grant allowed UNK to secure a database system called Service Learning Pro(SLPro) to more effectively facilitate civic engagement between our campus and the community. SLPro allows community agencies and programs to list various projects and needs suitable for students or student organizations, or for faculty wishing to find a match for adding a service-learning component that correlates with their academic curriculum goals and objectives. It provides a connecting link between the campus and the community. Students, student organizations, and/or, faculty can search the system and make a connection directly to the community partner. Students or volunteers are able to record and document the hours served at various sites. The SLPro database will provide students with an easily accessible record of the hours they have served in the community while here at UNK, a useful tool when applying for future jobs. Interested individuals may find a link to register on the web site: unk.edu/service 

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

Residential and Greek Life Continues A Quiet Tradition

In the hustle and bustle of the holiday season filled with performances, parties, and attention to family traditions, Residential and Greek Life (R&GL) will continue its quiet tradition of reaching out to the Kearney community. For the past seven years, R&GL has adopted families for the holidays, five years through HHS and now through RAFT (Residential Assistance to Families in Transition).

RAFT offers temporary residence in its five-apartment facility to allow families the opportunity to get back on their feet. During their stay, families are required to develop an individualized service plan, which consists of goals and appropriate steps to attain self-sufficiency. The plan includes a requirement for all adults to work and/or attend training for a total of 40 hours per week.

Last year R&GL adopted four RAFT families, and this year they have adopted five. They will seek to supply each family member with new clothing, new shoes, and an item from their wish list, as well as assemble gift boxes for each family that include nonperishable food, cleaning supplies, holiday treats, and a Wal-Mart gift card or a gas card.

This year all offices from Student Affairs are participating, and Founder Hall Administrative offices, a staff member’s bridge club, morning and lunch Kiwanis clubs, the Thompson Scholar Learning Community, and the student organizations from the Multicultural office have volunteered to adopt families. Residential and Greek Life deliver the gifts for the families on December 15.

Residential and Greek Life is proud of this tradition of contributing to the local community, and they invite anyone interested to help. If you’d like to find out how, contact Anita Kucera at kuceraae@unk.edu.

- written in collaboration with Gail Zeller, Interim Director of Residential & Greek Life and Academic Success and
Anita Kucera, Associate Director of Residential & Greek Life 

Library - In Brief Online  

2,500 new e-books added to library catalog 

Written by Jon Ritterbush, Electronic Resources Librarian
ritterbushjr@unk.edu 

A new collection of 2,537 e-books is now available from the NetLibrary website and from the library catalog.  A list of these new e-books is available as an Excel spreadsheet at this URL: http://tinyurl.com/2evrhpd.

With this new collection, Calvin T. Ryan Library now offers access to 9,269 e-book titles.  To find e-books on your research topic, search the Enhanced Catalog by a keyword(s) (e.g. “history education”) and look for the Location limiters on the left side of the search results.  Click on “Electronic Books” to view only e-books matching that keyword search.

Many NetLibrary e-books may be downloaded for offline viewing on a computer or certain e-book readers.  Additional details on downloading NetLibrary e-books are posted here on the library’s website.

Interlibrary Loan: End of Fall semester deadlines 

Written by Sheryl Heidenreich, Interlibrary Loan & Document Delivery Librarian
heidenreichs@unk.edu 

Interlibrary Loan & Document Delivery (ILL/DD) obtains books and journal articles not available at the Calvin T. Ryan Library for UNK students, faculty, and staff. There is no charge for this service.  

Due to end of semester and holiday schedules at UNK and our lending library partners, the following deadlines have been established for placing ILL/DD requests for the Fall 2010 semester: 

Undergraduate and Graduate Students 

• Books – Last day to place requests – December 3, 2010 
• Journal Articles – Last day to place requests – December 17, 2010 

Faculty and Staff 

• Books – Last day to place requests – December 10, 2010 
• Journal Articles – Last day to place requests – December 17, 2010 

All requests submitted after the dates listed above will be processed when the ILL/DD office re-opens on January 3, 2011. 

ILL/DD may be accessed at https://unk.illiad.oclc.org/illiad/logon.html, or from the library home page (library.unk.edu) by moving the mouse pointer over Services, and clicking on Interlibrary Loan. 

Questions and comments about UNK’s ILL/DD service may be directed to 308-865-8721 or loperloan@unk.edu.   

Recognition   

2010-2011 Department Chairs

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

 Items to Note for Faculty and Faculty Committees

• **NOTE FOR SPRING 2011 ADVISING **
  Portal (188GS) and Capstone (388GS) course descriptions have been prepared for your use in advising students for Spring 2011 registration. The descriptions are posted on the General Studies web site at http://www.unk.edu/academicaffairs/generalstudies.aspx?id=53803. 
   
• 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 web site for faculty members to use 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. 
  
  ** NEW ** The constitutions from the College of Business and Technology and the Library have been updated. Both constitutions were recently revised and approved by the Board of Regents.
   
• Prospective Faculty Lecture
  A prospective Faculty Lecture Series will highlight current research and conference papers. Faculty members interested in an opportunity to inform or update the campus community of their scholarly work should contact the Office of the Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs.
   
• Faculty Senate
  To keep faculty informed and in the spirit of shared governance, 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 web site 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.  
   
• 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 

Looking Ahead - Spring Semester Events

ADP Reading Circle for Spring 2011 Semester
The ADP Reading Circle will discuss First Democracy: The Challenge of an Ancient Idea by Paul Woodruff in three meetings in the early part of the spring semester. See the reading circle description for more information.

NO LIMITS Student Research Conference (Women's and Gender Studies) - March 4-5, 2011
“NO LIMITS: Eco-Feminism & Artful Healing”

International Food Festival - March 6, 2011

 2011 James E. Smith Mid-West Conference on World Affairs - March 7-8, 2011
"Water and Survival:  from the Platte to the Nile"

Student Research Day - April 7, 2011
Information Session - February 17, 2011 at 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. in Founders Hall 2147
Deadline - March 4, 2011

 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.