PUI Conference Scheduled at UNK
March 6, 2009
 Research at Primarily Undergraduate Institutions is a conference on the values, opportunities, and challenges of conducting research and scholarly activity at non-research extensive colleges and universities. The participants will share ideas and experiences from both the faculty and administrative perspectives, and presentations will be applicable to all disciplines.
Publications such as Shaping the Future (NSF, 1996) and The Boyer Commission Report (Carnegie Foundation, 1998) underscored the importance of an active scholarly environment at institutions of higher education. Research and creative activity is essential to the professional development of faculty, and it provides a powerful impact on the educational experiences of undergraduates. The Council on Undergraduate Research is a particularly valuable resource for faculty and institutions interested in the topic. (http://www.unk.edu/acad/sponsoredprograms/index.php?id=2717)
The morning keynote address will feature Dr. Tim Crowley, Interim Dean of the Graduate School/Assistant Provost for Internationalization for Fort Hays State University, speaking about the Teacher-Scholar Model. Timothy Robert Crowley earned degrees from Bradley University and the University of North Texas. Dr. Crowley served as Visiting Assistant Professor of Music Technology at Texas A & M University in College Station, TX from 1995-1996, Assistant Professor of Music Theory/Composition at Cameron University in Lawton, OK from 1996-2000, and Fort Hays State University in Hays, KS from 2000-present where he is currently a Professor of Music Theory and Composition. From 1998-2005, he served as a music department chair at Cameron University and Fort Hays State University, respectively. He serves as a visiting evaluator for the National Association of Schools of Music. Dr. Crowley received a mini-Fellowship from the Kansas Arts Commission in music composition in 2002 and has received a standard award from the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers annually since 1995.
The luncheon keynote presentation will be co-sponsored by the Center for Teaching Excellence and Sponsored Programs featuring Felice Nudelman from The New York Times. To register for this conference, please follow this link: http://www.unk.edu/acad/sponsoredprograms/index.php?id=2717
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Felice Nudelman Speaks at PUI Conference
 Felice Nudelman, New York Times Educational Director, will be the featured speaker at the PUI luncheon co-sponsored by the Center for Teaching Excellence and Sponsored Programs. The keynote will address: "Increasing Student Engagement Using Epsilen." Epsilen is a comprehensive centrally hosted eLearning environment offering a wide range of course delivery, assessment and collaboration products and services.
Ms. Nudelman's experience includes joining The New York Times as the college marketing manager in 2000. She oversees college relations and marketing and is responsible for developing national strategies, university partnerships and new business opportunities. In 2002, she received The Times "GrandSlam Award" for her work.
Before joining The Times, Ms. Nudelman served as executive director for Pace University's School of Education. She served on Pace University's committee for continuing, corporate and distance education and on the Associate and Assistant Dean's committee engaged in the formation of policy and procedures and strategic planning for administrative functions.
In addition to Ms. Nudelman's experience in higher education, she is an accomplished photographer, and has been featured in "Allegories," a one-woman show at the Jersey City Museum and numerous other group shows. She serves on the Pace University Center for Urban Education Advisory Board, is Vice-Chair of the Board of Governors for The National Teachers Hall of Fame and is on the Board of Trustees for the International Partnership for Service-Learning.
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Luncheon with Dr. Finnie Murray
The Center for Teaching Excellence sponsored its 5th annual luncheon with Dr. Finnie  Murray, Senior Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs and Student Life on October 1st, 2008. Dr. Murray highlighted the “State of the Academy and Report on the NCA Focused Visit.”
Dr. Murray began his presentation with sixteen points of pride within the University of Nebraska-Kearney system. These sixteen points of pride include:
- In the UNK system we have seen a shift in appreciation of the importance of assessment of student learning.
- UNK has received blanket approval by the NCA to offer any academic program completely online.
- UNK has made great strides in providing support for faculty and student scholarship.
- We have increased the level of student engagement through hundreds of projects involving service learning, experiential learning, student research, learning communities, and the American Democracy Project, which was started here at UNK just last year.
- We have markedly increased the availability of information technology for academic and student use.
- We have completed an academic affairs strategic plan.
- The College of Business and Technology was accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB).
- Last winter, the UNK music program became the first and only member in Nebraska, or surrounding states, of the National Strings Program.
- We have developed a center for regional economic development.
- A substantially disproportionate number of Nebraska teachers, school administrators, and other educators have been educated at UNK.
- Our directors of undergraduate admissions and student financial aid initiated a program we call “Kearney Bound!”
- This year, our first-time, full-time, freshman enrollment is up by 9.4%.
- Our international enrollment has grown from 6.0% of the student body in 2004 to 9.2% in 2008.
- We had a 36% increase in minority students over the past four years.
- There have been modest gains in diversity of the faculty at UNK to 10.1% in 2007.
- The US News and World Report ranking of colleges and universities is seen by parents and prospective students as having valuable information. UNK has risen in the rankings again in 2008. UNK is ranked number 15 among public institutions in the Midwest!
Dr. Murray stated that UNK has much to be proud of within our institution.
As Dr. Murray moved into his speech about the results of the NCA focused visit in April of 2008, he stated that the purpose of the visit was to review the progress of UNK in assessment planning and procedures that were outlined in the feedback report from the 2004 NCA visit.
Several areas were found to demonstrate acceptable progress in assessment. The areas included:
- Infrastructure
- Sustainability
- Faculty commitment
- Recognition of exemplary assessment
- Distance program assessment
- Graduate program assessment
- Writing intensive assessment
There were some areas that required continued attention, but overall UNK has made huge advances since 2004 in student learning outcomes assessment. NCA will require a report on the progress of UNK’s general studies program in April of 2011.
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Copyright Laws for Technology Use
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D r. Ronald Wirtz, head of user services and Steven McGahan, instructional designer for eCampus spoke about copyright laws within the University setting.
Dr. Wirtz presented on using copyrighted materials in the educational setting. He spoke about copyright compliance and the fair use principle. The fair use test has several criteria including: brevity, cumulative effect, spontaneity, and some prohibitions. He further spoke about how the library, and user services, can help professors prepare for their course content. Electronic reserves can be used through the library and links to these reserves can save printing copyrighted material. Full text articles can be linked for students within these E-Reserves. Blackboard can also be used to simplify course content. Linking from Blackboard to full-text articles or digital books in the library databases has several advantages for instructors.
Steven McGahan presented information on use of online content within the educational setting. He spoke about the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) of 1998 and its implications for online usage. He further stated that educational practices do not get a free pass in regards to copyright law and digital materials are actually more restricted than non-digital materials. The Fair Use Act does not apply to many uses of materials in education. Steven McGahan further stated that on-campus courses follow traditional copyright laws, but online courses are allowed to follow the TEACH (Technology, Education, and Copyright Harmonization) Act. This allows online educators to use some copyrighted materials without the express consent of the copyright holder. The TEACH Act opens up many materials for use by distance education faculty. This Act also allows multimedia functionality in online courses. If an instructor is using copyrighted material, McGahan recommends to cite the work, use links when available, and if in doubt, seek permission and keep records of your correspondence.
To conclude his presentation, Mr. McGahan stated that copyright is not black and white. It can be interpreted in many ways. It is best to be sure to cover yourself the best you can when dealing with copyrighted materials.
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Center for Teaching Excellence Stipends
Fall 2008
College of Business and Technology $250
College of Fine Arts and Humanities $1721.05
College of Natural and Social Sciences $1000
For information and applications regarding professional development or research funding , please follow this link: http://www.unk.edu/acad/cte/index.php?id=36070
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Schedule of Events Spring 2009
February
February 17th – Developing Students’ Global Perspective through International Experiences
3:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Room 310 – Nebraskan Student Union
March
March 6th - 4th Annual Conference on Research at PUIs
Morning Keynote Speaker - Teacher-Scholar Model
Dr. Tim Crowley, Interim Dean of the Graduate School/Assistant Provost for Internationalization for Fort Hays State University
9:30 - 10:00 a.m.
Room 238 A & B
Luncheon Keynote Speaker—Increasing Student Engagement Using Epsilen
Felice Nudelman—NY Times Educational Director
12:00-1:00
Ponderosa Room – Nebraskan Student Union
Co-Sponsored with Sponsored Programs
March 6th – Using the NY Times Talks as part of the Curriculum
Felice Nudelman—NY Times Educational Director
3:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Room 310 – Nebraskan Student Union
April
April 8th – Take Home Teaching Tips from Award Winning Faculty
Panel Presentation
3:00 – 4:30 p.m.
Cedar Room – Nebraskan Student Union
April 14th – Center for Teaching Excellence Awards Luncheon
12:00 – 1:30 p.m.
Cedar Room – Nebraskan Student Union
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Teaching Resources
 The following resources are available on the Center for Teaching Excellence Website:
Online Training sessions are available at:
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Your comments and contributions are welcome!
Please send any comments or suggestions for the newsletter to teachingcenter@unk.edu. If you have information that you would like presented in the newsletter or would like to write something for one of the editions, please contact Jeanne Butler at 865-8495 or by email at the Center.
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