News: A Newsletter from Academic and Student Affairs Preparing Students for Careers and Citizenship
Volume 6, Number 1	August 17, 2012
2012-2013 Academic Year Greetings from Division of Academic and Student Affairs Greetings from Academic and Student Affairs at the beginning of the Fall 2012 semester! We enter another academic year with a great sense of optimism following a year of significant work and accomplishment. At the beginning of the last academic year, the Board of Regents issued a mandate that all undergraduate degree programs must be 120 hours by Fall 2012. Faculty and staff, as well as academic committees worked tirelessly last year and through the summer to bring UNK to full compliance with this mandate. Also during 2011-2012, for the first time since 2003 when Political Science won the award, the Department of Marketing and Management Information Systems was awarded the University-Wide Departmental Teaching (UDTA) for 2012. UNK’s assessment practices in General Education were recognized by TaskStream as a model for General Assessment, and UNK’s college prep program (Kearney Bound) was recognized in the February 26, 2012, edition of the Chronicle of Higher Education. Information Technology services completed a successful email migration, and our PeopleSoft team continued work on the student information system to increase its effective functionality and usability. In addition to these outstanding moments of recognition, UNK continues to have excellent representation at NCUR (National Conference on Undergraduate Research). Departments are constantly hosting events for the community, and faculty continue to produce excellent scholarship, provide high-quality teaching, and perform outstanding service. The year in review is an excellent example of the teamwork necessary to make UNK a successful institution. As we look forward, we will have similar tasks to accomplish during this academic year, including preparations for our next comprehensive evaluation, which is scheduled for 2013-2014. Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs, Dr. Kenya Taylor will lead the preparation process. The mission of the division of Academic and Student Affairs is to “promote an educational experience that fully prepares UNK students for careers and citizenship, and we strongly support the faculty and staff who provide it,” and the purpose of this newsletter is to highlight the ways those things are happening across campus. We wish you all the best for the next academic year as you meet new challenges and tackle fresh projects, joining in the campus pursuit to equip students for life and work. - Charlie Bicak, Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs	In This Issue: Academic Year Greetings  2012 Awards  Blue and Gold Welcome  Accreditation Visit  General Studies Assessment   American Democracy Project  Library Updates  Undergraduate Research Journal  Fall Study Abroad  Recognition  2012-2013 Department Chairs  Faculty Items to Note  Changes to Course Descriptions  Note Added  Deadlines  2012-2013 Events  Calendar  Contact Information

2012 Pratt-Heins and SAFE Awards Presented at Fall Convocation

The 2012 Pratt-Heins and SAFE Awards were presented this morning at the Faculty/Staff Opening Convocation.

Recipients of the Pratt-Heins Awards are:

• David Hof, Ed.D., Department of Counseling and School Psychology - Teaching
• Darleen Mitchell, Ph.D., Department of Music and Performing Arts - Scholarship
• Kim Carlson, Ph.D., Department of Biology - Service

The Pratt-Heins Awards, sponsored by the Pratt-Heins Foundation, are presented annually to recognize UNK faculty who have demonstrated outstanding work in the areas of Teaching, Scholarship/Research, and Service. Students, alumni, faculty colleagues, department chairs/program directors, or college deans may nominate individuals for consideration.

Recipients of the SAFE Awards are:

• Cyndi Schroeder, Registrar’s Office
• Claris Lewis, Facilities
• Joan DeHaven, Accounts Payable

The SAFE (Staff Awards for Excellence) Awards are presented annually to honor UNK staff members for outstanding service to students, UNK, and education in general. Individuals are considered upon nomination and a maximum of three peer references.Two of the SAFE Awards are sponsored by Fidelity Investments; the third is sponsored by the Jim and Lynn Rundstrom Family Foundation Fund.

- written in collaboration with Bev Mathiesen, Office of the Chancellor, and
Tami Plugge, Office of the Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs

Blue and Gold Welcome Week 2012 Schedule

“There’s No Place Like Home” is the theme of the 2012 Blue & Gold Welcome Week. Staff in the Division of Student Affairs has designed the weekend to help students begin to feel at home as soon as possible by making services available and providing a variety of activities throughout the weekend.

Activities begin Friday, August 17, with student move-in and the traditional Blue & Gold Community Showcase from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. and annual Chancellor’s picnic from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Several offices will be open on Saturday and Sunday to address the needs of students as they begin to orient themselves to life on campus. Activities will continue throughout the weekend giving students many opportunities to connect with other new/current students through residence hall meetings, our new program Loper Impact on Friday evening, a pancake feed and academic success sessions on Saturday morning, Lopers Under the Lights on Saturday evening, and Party in the Park & BBQ and Comedian Jonathan Burns on Sunday evening.

This year's schedule of events is available online at http://www.unk.edu/Student_Affairs/events/blue_gold/Blue_and_Gold_Welcome_Week_Schedule/. 

We encourage Faculty and Staff to attend events and help to welcome students to their new home!  

- written in collaboration with Chandra Daffer, Assistant Director of First Year Program

Preparations for 2013-2014 NCA Accreditation Visit Beginning Now

During the 2013-2014 academic year, a team from the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) of the North Central Association (NCA) will visit UNK for a reaccreditation visit, which takes place every ten years. During the coming academic year, staff in the division of Academic and Student Affairs will be gathering information and preparing documents for the review team. Dr. Kenya Taylor, Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs, is in charge of preparations. The dates of the visit will be announced in September, and a website is in process. Watch for more information.

- written in collaboration with Kenya Taylor, Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs

Assessment Reminders for Faculty Teaching General Studies Courses

All faculty members teaching a General Studies courses that require assessment can go to www.TaskStream.com for GS course assessment requirements for the coming semester. If you do not currently have a TaskStream account, please email the General Studies office (sniderd@unk.edu) to request a user ID and password.

General Studies courses that require assessment are: the Foundational Core (Written Communication, Oral Communication, Democracy in Perspective); Portal courses; and Capstone courses. Any faculty member teaching one of these courses will be required to assess the course with the approved GS assessment instruments and rubrics. Your TaskStream account also includes the assessment instruments and rubrics for your course.

Finally, the syllabi of all General Studies courses that require assessment should include a statement indicating that each student will need to purchase a TaskStream account. A sample syllabus statement is on TaskStream once the faculty member logs in.

- Daren Snider, Director of General Studies

American Democracy Project 2012-2013 Activities and Initiatives

The purpose of the American Democracy Project (ADP) at UNK is to promote both civic and political engagement among students, faculty, and staff, providing opportunities across campus for individuals to be involved in the democratic community through volunteering, advocacy, voting, and service learning. For 2012-2013, key desired outcomes on our UNK campus include increasing the overall level of student involvement with ADP and exploring ways to more fully integrate ADP into the formal curriculum.

In this presidential election year, one key focal point will be to support election-related events. In addition, the American Democracy Project (ADP) is excited to announce several activities for the fall semester.

New York Times Newspaper
The partnership between UNK’s ADP and The New York Times will continue with newspapers available on campus. In addition, The Times is now offering a digital service. UNK’s Times representative, Paul Wilson, is tentatively scheduled to be on campus sometime in September to meet with student and faculty groups and conduct a workshop regarding the academic use of The Times and its related resources. The Times has implemented exciting strategies that make integrating the newspaper into the classroom more powerfully focused on critical thought and decision making.

Times Talk Conversations
For the past several years, the ADP has hosted Times Talk events throughout the academic year.  Times Talks happen over the lunch hour (12:15-1:15) and are facilitated by a faculty, staff, or student member of our campus community. Free pizza and drink are provided for all attendees.  The schedule of speakers and topics is already coming together, but there is still ample opportunity for additional faculty, staff, or students to volunteer to facilitate a session.  The Times Talk calendar already includes the following:

ADP and the General Studies program
At the national level, ADP continues to sponsor high quality engagement-related initiatives that are supported by an outstanding array of instructional and curricular resources. The format for these initiatives lends itself nicely to the portal and capstone course categories in UNK’s general studies program.  More than 100 second-year UNK students responded to a summer 2012 survey that allowed them to indicate their level of interest with regard to the following five initiatives; ADP is seeking out opportunities to work with any faculty member/department interested in developing an ADP-related portal or capstone course:

1. America’s Future: Protecting the Fiscal Health of Our Democracy   
2. Deliberative Polling 
3. eCitizenship  
4. Political Engagement Project (PEP):  The goals for the PEP Project are to develop a sense of political efficacy and duty on the part of students and teach a set of political skills that students will need as they engage with the political world.  
5. Global Engagement:  The Global Engagement Initiative educates and prepares students to make informed decisions about seven key world: (1) Population; (2) Resource management and climate change; (3) Technological innovation and diffusion; (4) The development and dissemination of information and knowledge; (5) Economics; (6) The nature and mode of conflict/security; and (7) The challenge of governance. 

Please contact Dennis Potthoff at potthoffd@unk.edu if you need information or have ideas to contribute to the work of the ADP on the UNK campus.  

- written in collaboration with Dennis Potthoff, Coordinator of the American Democracy Project at UNK

Library Updates

Library Hours Fall Semester 2012  

Welcome to the new school year! The library will be open during the following hours for the fall semester:

The library is closed most holidays and breaks.  Please check our schedule for specific dates. Our chat reference service and many digital resources, such as ebooks, subscription databases, and many government documents, are available 24/7 at http://library.unk.edu.

New Student Orientation   

The Calvin T. Ryan Library and Learning Commons will be having a ‘scavenger hunt’ for this fall’s New Student Orientation on Saturday, August 18^th.   As a result, the library will be open during the following times:

Saturday, August 18th           8:30 am – 5:00 pm

Sunday, August 19^th               12:00 pm – 4:00 pm

Students are welcome to use the computers and print their class schedules for the coming semester.  Regular fall hours for the library will resume on the first day of class, Monday, August 20^th.  

2012 Undergraduate Research Journal Recognizes Excellence in Student and Faculty/Mentor Work

The 2012 UNK Undergraduate Research Journal has been published, showcasing the work of nine students from across campus.

Congratulations to the following undergraduate researchers and their faculty mentors:

Copies have been 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  

Five Students Participating in Fall Study Abroad Program to China's Hebei Normal University

UNK’s partnership with Hebei Normal University continues this year as these five UNK students begin their semester in Shijiazhuang, China with Daniel Braaten, former adjunct professor in the UNK's Department of Political Science:

- written in collaboration with Ann Marie Park, Study Abroad Office  

Recognition

2012-2013 Department Chairs

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

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 web site for faculty members to use as they gather the information department chairs will need to submit requests.
  
  **NOTE REGARDING CHANGES TO COURSE DESCRIPTIONS**
  The form to alter a Catalog Course Description has been revised. Please note, in instances where a change in content is being requested through the CAP system, course description changes should be added to that request, and this form should not be completed.
  
  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 2012-2013 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 (2011-2013).
   
• Faculty Senate
  To keep faculty informed and in the spirit of shared governance, the Faculty Senate website contains links to the senate roster, 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. The site contains a list of the approved General Studies courses effective for the 2012-2013 academic year, a list of all of the approved Portal and Capstone topics, as well as lists of the Portals and Capstones offerings for the current semester.
   
• Graduate Council
  The Graduate Council webpage contains information regarding changes to graduate courses or programs, as well as a list of the 2012 Graduate Program Committees.
  
  **NOTE REGARDING CHANGES TO COURSE DESCRIPTIONS**
  The form to alter a Catalog Course Description has been revised. Please note, in instances where a change in content is being requested through the CAP system, course description changes should be added to that request, and this form should not be completed.
   
• 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 - 2012-2013 Academic Year Events

2012 James E. Smith Mid-West Conference on World Affairs - September 25-26, 2012 at UNK

"Immigration and the Globalization of Labor" with Keynote Address from Professor Marcelo Suarez-Orozco

National Mountain Plains Management Conference - October 10-13, 2012 at UNK 

"Follow the Trail...Learn from our Past to Build Our Global Future"

COE 2012 UNK/Region IV Student Leadership Conference - November 16, 2012 at UNK

Center for Great Plains Symposium - April 5-6, 2013 at UNK and the Younes Conference Center in Kearney

"School Consolidation in the Great Plains: Efficiencies, Change and Community Identity"

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.