July 2002

UW-Green Bay Small Business Development Center names new director

GREEN BAY - Douglas M. Gjerde has been appointed director of the Small Business Development Center at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.

Gjerde has been with the SBDC since 1996 when he joined the center as business outreach program coordinator. He has counseled small business owners through the SBDC and has facilitated workshops and seminars through the Business Assistance Center in Green Bay.

He succeeds Jan Thornton, who has directed the SBDC on an interim basis. Thornton is director of the Office of Outreach and Extension at UW-Green Bay.

Gjerde is a certified program planner. He has a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Northern Illinois University and a master's of business administration degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Before joining the SBDC, Gjerde was vice president of marketing for a high-growth software company. He also spent several years as a U.S. Air Force aviator.

The SBDC at UW-Green Bay provides services and programming in an 11-county service area in Northeastern Wisconsin. The Center assists small businesses through management education and counseling. It links resources and expertise of the UW System with federal, state and local governments and the private sector.

To strengthen connections with its partners and the community, the SBDC in 2001 moved its four-person staff to the Business Assistance Center at 835 Potts Ave. SBDC's partners in the Business Assistance Center are the Green Bay Area Chamber of Commerce's Advance Business Development Center, Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) and the Great Lakes Asset Corp.

The Business Assistance Center is a one-stop shop for entrepreneurs, business start-ups, and emerging/existing businesses seeking help with business planning, counseling, mentoring, financing and education.

(02-146 / 26 July 2002 / SH)

UW-Green Bay plans two sets of community forums for 9/11 anniversary

GREEN BAY -- The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay is announcing two separate series of public events to coincide with the anniversary of the attacks of September 11, 2001, on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.

Andrew Fiala, assistant professor of Humanistic Studies, and Jan Thornton, director of Outreach and Extension, planners of the events, say they are focusing on the anniversary because the events and their repercussions-even a year later-are still foremost in people's minds.

"Our whole year has been focused on commentary and reflection on what happened," says Fiala. "It hasn't gone away."

Fiala is organizing "Ethics and the War on Terrorism," a series of three public discussions that will bring the perspectives of philosophers and religious and community leaders to bear on the aftermath of 9/11. It begins Wednesday, Sept. 4 and continues on Sept. 18 and Oct. 2. Sessions are from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.

Thornton is organizing "After the Attack: Our Democracy a Year Later," a forum series that will examine democracy and citizenship in the U.S. after September 11. It begins Tuesday, Oct. 1 and continues on Oct. 8, 15, 22, and 29. Forums are from 7 - 9 p.m.

Both series will be at the Brown County Public Library, 212 Pine St., Green Bay. Admission to both is free.

Though experts with various views will begin each session, Fiala and Thornton say both programs emphasize active audience participation.

"All of us are profoundly affected by September11 and continue to be affected," says Thornton. "This is an opportunity for people to share their thoughts a year later."

Fiala is organizing "Ethics and the War on Terrorism" with the aid of a grant from the Wisconsin Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities. The number for information is (920) 465-2348.

Co-sponsors for "After the Attack: Our Democracy a Year Later," are the Office of Outreach and Extension, the Institute for Learning in Retirement, and the Humanistic Studies and Social Change and Development academic programs at UW-Green Bay; St. Norbert College; and the Brown County Library. Information is available through the World Wide Web at www.uwgb.edu/outreach/.

An overflow crowd, including many from the community, attended a teach-in and discussion at UW-Green Bay in the days immediately following last year's tragedy. The UW-Green Bay Office of Outreach organized a series of three well-attended community discussions, "After the Attack," in October 2001, at Green Bay West High School.

(02-145 / 23 July 2002 / VCD)

Contractors named for UW-Green Bay Lab Sciences renovation

GREEN BAY -- Miron Construction Co. Inc., Neenah, is the general contractor for renovations to the Laboratory Sciences Building at the University of Wisconsin- Green Bay. The firm has received the official notice to proceed from the Division of Facilities Development (DFD), the state office charged with directing all building programs for Wisconsin agencies.

John Engberg, Miron project manager, said he expects work to begin the week of July 29.

According to Dean Rodeheaver, UW-Green Bay assistant chancellor for planning and budget, work can begin as soon as all parties, including representatives of the University, the DFD, Plunkett Raysich Architects of Milwaukee, and contractors hold a pre-construction meeting.

Contractors announced today include:

• Miron Construction Co., Inc., Neenah, general contractor;
• Van Den Heuvel Electric, Inc., De Pere, electrical;
• Hooper Corp., Madison, fire protection;
• North American Mechanical, Inc., De Forest, heating, ventilating, air conditioning;
• August Winters, Appleton, plumbing.

The $17.9 million project will transform the more than 30-year-old Laboratory Sciences Building into a contemporary science teaching facility. The building was one of the first to open when UW-Green Bay began offering classes on the new campus in 1969. It has remained essentially unchanged.

The project will remodel 80,000 square feet — the entire existing building, except for a greenhouse — and construct a 24,000 square-foot addition. "The only thing that won't change is the building's envelope: the outside walls and roof," says Rodeheaver.

Engberg said remodeling of the existing building will take place in phases, so that two floors of the building will be available for classes during the project. Work on the addition and remodeling of the first two floors will begin immediately. Remodeling of the third and fourth floors is scheduled for next year.

Miron was the general contractor for the addition to the Weidner Center for the Performing Arts at UW-Green Bay, and received the 2000 State of Wisconsin Excellence in Construction Award for the project.

The Laboratory Sciences project is expected to be complete for the start of classes in fall 2004.

(02-144 / 15 July 2002 / VCD)

Ease of use is key for new UW-Green Bay home page

GREEN BAY -- Visitors to www.uwgb.edu are seeing a dramatically different design.

The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay is retooling its Web site beginning with the institutional home page unveiled Monday, July 15. The new front page features images, news, and navigation tools designed to get users to most UW-Green Bay Web pages in as few as two clicks.

The new design takes the place of a circular, photo-in-the-middle layout that, while eyecatching — it once showed up in a survey of college students asked to rate the most attractive institutional designs — fell short in terms of ease of use and navigability.

With the new design, the left column offers two approaches for entering the site: by constituency group (prospective students, current students and so on) or by a menu of frequently visited sites (including Admissions, Library, Athletics, Weidner Center and others).

The links for constituency groups send users to pages of particular interest to that group, allowing them to get to their information destination faster. For example, the Faculty & Staff page provides instant access to such commonly used resources as Web Outlook e-mail accounts, the Student Information System, and administrative forms. Along with the list of frequently visited sites, the home page also includes an "A-Z Index" and a new campus search engine powered by Google to provide quick navigation to anything on the UW-Green Bay site.

The new front page also includes a prominent "Welcome to Campus" image and message, and a summary of current news related to UW-Green Bay.

The front page and the next tier of pages are the first and most noticeable of a series of changes expected to be phased in before the opening of fall semester classes in September. Questions about navigation features, organizational structure, or new services should be directed to webmaster Paula Ganyard at ganyardp@uwgb.edu.

(02-143 / 12 July 2002 / CS)

Ground is broken for "groundbreaking" Laboratory Sciences Building

GREEN BAY - At a ceremony emphasizing the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay's past and future, ground was broken Tuesday (July 9) for a $17.9 million makeover of the UW-Green Bay Laboratory Sciences Building.

About 170 people — current and retired faculty and staff, current and future students, community members and state and local elected officials — attended the groundbreaking at the northwest entrance to the Laboratory Sciences Building.

"We're breaking ground for a groundbreaking building," UW-Green Bay Chancellor Bruce Shepard said.

Remodeling of 80,000 square feet and a 24,000-square-foot addition will essentially make Laboratory Sciences into a new building. The building will consolidate science laboratories now housed in three buildings and accommodate future methods of teaching in the sciences.

Shepard said the building's cutting-edge laboratories will serve as a magnet for top students and faculty.

Brown County Executive Nancy Nusbaum said the renovated Laboratory Sciences Building will benefit the region's business and industry, especially in high-tech areas.

"This building epitomizes the partnership between this community and this University," she said.

Nusbaum said 6,342 UW-Green Bay graduates live and work in Brown County. The renovated Laboratory Sciences Building will enhance the goal of increasing that number, she said.

Shovelers participating in the groundbreaking included founding and long-time UW-Green Bay faculty members and leaders, including founding Chancellor Edward Weidner. The first group of shovelers consisted of students from the Regional Center for Math and Science, a pre-college program for students from throughout the Midwest.

Construction on the Laboratory Sciences renovation will begin this summer and be completed in summer 2004. The building will house teaching laboratories for biology, chemistry, earth science, ecology, food science, general science, physics, and soils and water science. It also will include laboratories for faculty and undergraduate and graduate student research.

The groundbreaking event was a reunion for many UW-Green Bay "pioneers" who developed the innovative science programs that contribute to the University's national reputation.

The Laboratory Sciences Building renovation is the second step in solving major space needs at UW-Green Bay. The environmentally friendly Mary Ann Cofrin Hall, which opened in fall 2001, added 20 general classrooms and other special-use classrooms.

(02-142 / 9 July 2002 / SH)

Groundbreaking is Tuesday for project that will make UW-Green Bay Lab Sciences into a 'new' building

GREEN BAY -- Ground will be broken on Tuesday (July 9) for a $17.9 million renovation project that will transform the more than 30-year-old University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Laboratory Sciences Building into a facility for the 21st century.

A reception and reunion is set for 9:15 a.m. in the plaza (second floor) level lobby of the Environmental Sciences Building on the UW-Green Bay campus, 2420 Nicolet Dr., with formal groundbreaking at 10 a.m. at the northwest entrance of the Laboratory Sciences Building.

UW-Green Bay Chancellor Bruce Shepard will be joined by past and present UW-Green Bay faculty and staff members, alumni, and local officials for an event emphasizing the University's history and its future teaching and research. Attendees will include founding and long-time faculty members who developed the innovative science programs that contribute to the University's national reputation.

Construction on the Laboratory Sciences renovation will begin this summer. The project, which will be completed in summer 2004, will create facilities to prepare students for the scientific challenges of the 21st century.

The Laboratory Sciences Building was among the first three buildings on the new University of Wisconsin-Green Bay campus. Construction began in 1967 and the building opened for classes in fall 1969. Except for a 1983 greenhouse addition, the building's core has remained unchanged.

Remodeling of 80,000 square feet-everything except the greenhouse-and a 24,000 square-foot addition will essentially make Laboratory Sciences into a "new" building, according to Dean Rodeheaver, assistant chancellor for planning and budget. "The only thing that won't change is the building's envelope: the outside walls and roof," says Rodeheaver.

The building's "make-over" will consolidate science laboratories now housed in three different buildings into one building, accommodate present and future methods of teaching in the sciences, and enhance safety, say Professors Donna Ritch, chairperson of Human Biology and John Lyon, chairperson of Chemistry. The two have been faculty representatives in the three-year planning process.

The new labs will be bigger-they're designed for 24 students, though 24 have long been crowding into the old labs designed for 16-and will accommodate technology that designers of the original building couldn't have planned for. "Scientific instrumentation today is linked to computers," says Ritch. The building will enable computer applications in the laboratories and provide a dedicated computer classroom.

The renovated building will house teaching laboratories for biology, chemistry, earth science, ecology, food science, general science, physics, and soils and water science, and includes laboratories for faculty and undergraduate and graduate student research. Faculty offices will be in the building. "We've included lounge areas in an attempt to create a community where faculty and students can interact," adds Lyon.

The University's 1968 master plan designated the Laboratory Sciences Building for courses in the natural and applied sciences, and called for separate buildings on the completed campus for classes in human biology. Human biology laboratories were "temporarily" located in other buildings, awaiting construction of additional facilities, but these were never built.

As early as 1985, faculty members began to note that the University's 1969 science facilities were outdated and too small. The present renovation solves those problems and consolidates all laboratories into one building.

The Laboratory Sciences Building project is the second step in solving major space needs at UW-Green Bay. The new Mary Ann Cofrin Hall, which opened in fall 2001, added 20 general classrooms and other special-use classrooms to the campus. It was the first new academic facility built on campus since 1974 when campus enrollment was 3,900. Enrollment today is 5,500.

(02-141 / 5 July 2002 / VCD)

Lenfestey Family Courtyard is dedicated at UW-Green Bay

GREEN BAY -- The courtyard in the new Mary Ann Cofrin Hall at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay was officially named the Lenfestey Family Courtyard in ceremonies Tuesday evening (July 2) in the courtyard.

The design of the courtyard was made possible by a gift from the Lenfestey Family Foundation. Mrs. Josephine B. Lenfestey and her late husband, Frederick J. (Ted) Lenfestey, both supported UW-Green Bay from its earliest days.

Mrs. Lenfestey, son James Lenfestey, Minneapolis, and daughters Jodey Lenfestey, San Francisco, and Carolyn Lenfestey-Fey, Park City, Utah, and other family members and friends were present for the unveiling of the plaque that will be mounted in the courtyard. Mrs. Lenfestey turned the switch that started a cascade of water from a stone cistern into the pool.

The courtyard carries out two themes set by Mary Ann Cofrin Hall: energy conservation and environmentally responsible design.

UW-Green Bay Chancellor Bruce Shepard called the courtyard "a living laboratory." Seven demonstration plots showcase native plants of the Great Lakes region. Rainwater captured from the roof fills the cistern and circulates to the pond. A trellis is made of discarded utility poles. Native limestone edges the planting beds. And the ground cover between the beds is permeable to allow rain to recharge the groundwater.

The courtyard has received a Merit Award for Design from Prairie Gateway Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects.

"This courtyard ties directly into our larger educational mission," said Shepard. "It is appropriate because it echoes this University's early fame as a school with a strong environmental emphasis."

A gateway from the courtyard opens to a path to the Cofrin Arboretum that encircles the campus.

Prof. Robert W. Howe, director of the Cofrin Center for Biodiversity, which administers the Arboretum and other University natural areas, said the courtyard will be a source of inspiration.

Howe said universities are about ideas conveyed through lectures, books, discussion and debate, but they also are places where ideas are conceived. "Places can be important elements of inspiration, and we hope this courtyard will be such a place," he said.

Mrs. Lenfestey and her husband were among the first members of the University's Founders Association. Two UW-Green Bay residence halls bear their names, and dressing rooms in the Weidner Center for the Performing Arts are named in Mrs. Lenfestey's honor.

(02-140 / 2 July 2002 / VCD)