Vol. 31, No. 42 / July 27, 2000

Luchetta, Matter, O'Grady, Clampitt, Thron get sabbaticals

Five University of Wisconsin-Green Bay professors have been granted sabbatical leaves during the 2000-2001 academic year. Tracy Luchetta, Human Development, and Chuck Matter, Information Science, each were awarded full academic-year sabbaticals. Terence O'Grady, Communication and the Arts, is on sabbatical for the fall semester. During spring semester, Phil Clampitt, Communication Processes and Information Sciences, and Joan Thron, Education, will be on leave. Sabbatical leaves are granted by the UW Board of Regents and provide for reassignment from classroom duties to allow for research and other activities that enable faculty members to improve their teaching and scholarly work.

Trade journal spotlights Lacenski, Phoenix Bookstore reading campaign

A UW-Green Bay Phoenix Bookstore effort to promote textbook reading among students is described in a lengthy article in the summer issue of The College Store, the trade publication of the National Association of College Stores. The first-person piece by Sherry Lacenski, the bookstore's assistant director and textbook manager, is headlined "Promoting Textbook Reading: How one college store was inspired to teach students the value of learning from their books." Lacenski says she acted after repeatedly hearing students complain (or boast) at buyback time of having read little if any of their assigned texts. She brainstormed the issue with faculty members and others. Staff t-shirts and signs promoted the "Maximize your learning: read the textbook" theme, and in-store displays promoted works by faculty authors and authors they considered influential in their lives. Promotional t-shirts were distributed to nearly 100 UW-Green Bay faculty members who helped spread the word.

New building? Onward and upward

As a public service to our off-campus readers, and to our on-campus readers who don't typically have access to the rooftop of the Cofrin Library, the LOG Online continues its watch-it-grow photo series documenting progress on the new academic building. Check the latest at http://www.uwgb.edu/univcomm/news/page/photo.htm

Children will perform 'Save the Earth' on Saturday at St. James Park

Children from two different programs will come together to sing, dance, act, and use props they made in art classes in Save the Earth, a play scheduled during the Rainbow Children's Arts Festival from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, July 29 in St. James Park. The rain site is Howe Elementary School. Cast members include children who are completing seven weeks of summer classes in art, theater, music and dance at neighborhood resource centers through a program coordinated by UW-Green Bay Prof. Sandy Stokes, Education and Women's Studies. Stokes wrote the proposal that won a $50,000 grant for the program. For more, click on http://www.uwgb.edu/univcomm/news/archive/2000july.htm#earth

Outreach hosts anti-bigotry education institute

The Office of Outreach is asking faculty and staff members to help promote a special learning opportunity for educators that will begin next week in Green Bay. Registrations remain open for the program, an institute presented by the Anti-Defamation League. Called "A World of Difference," it takes place on Thursday, Aug. 3, and Monday through Friday, Aug. 7 to 11. The program recognizes the critical role that educators play in teaching students how to counter the escalation of bigotry and violence in the world. More information is online at www.uwgb.edu/outreach

UW System reaches for MERLOT

The MERLOT project, a new nonprofit organization that runs a website to help professors find and use high-quality online learning materials, has announced alliances with a number of educational organizations including the UW System. Initiated in the California State University system, MERLOT lists more than 3,000 learning materials from a variety of disciplines. Materials typically include components of a course, such as a laboratory simulation, rather than a complete web-based course. For a taste, visit http://taste.merlot.org

It's something called 'Plugfest,' and it's Aug. 2, 3

The learning environment of the future will be modeled during a "Plugfest" to be held at the UW Extension's Pyle Center in Madison on Wednesday and Thursday, Aug. 2 and 3. The event is tied to the 16th annual Conference on Distance Teaching and Learning, and the Pyle Center's Academic Advanced Distributed Learning Co-Laboratory. For more info, contact Judy Brown, director of the Co-Lab and the System's emerging technology analyst, at 608-263-9270 or jbrown@uwsa.edu.

Student Information System Project Update

Ravi Madhok, a PeopleSoft consultant specializing in HTML Access, was scheduled to be on campus July 25 to assist with troubleshooting the HTML Access portion of the Student Administration product. The visit was part of the MILER effort. Recent team-led meetings have been focusing on Campus Community issues. Progress is slow but steady. Click http://www.uwgb.edu/sis/Log_Update14.htm for more project news.

Oshkosh taps Wells

The UW System announced Friday that Richard H. Wells, provost and vice president for academic affairs at Indiana State University, has been named chancellor of UW-Oshkosh. He will start Oct. 1 and succeed John Kerrigan, who is stepping down after 10 years. A native of Connecticut who grew up in Plattsburgh, N.Y., Wells holds a B.A. from William Penn College (Iowa), an M.A. from Arkansas, and a Ph.D. from Texas A&M. He taught or held administrative positions at Coker College (South Carolina), North Carolina-Wilmington, South Alabama and West Chester University (Pennsylvania) before moving to Indiana State as an administrator and professor of sociology in 1993.

Briefs

Prof. Brian Merkel, Human Biology, has been appointed to the National Environmental Justice Advisory Counsel Air and Water Subcommittee, Fish Consumption Workgroup. His efforts regarding the interests of the socioeconomically disadvantaged and the medically underserved populations of Northeastern Wisconsin have been ongoing through research, education and local community involvement.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has granted Profs. David Dolan and Andrew Fiala the requested funding for their project titled "Critical Thinking, Science and the Environment: The Restoration of the Fox River/Green Bay Ecosystem." U.S. EPA Office of Public Affairs Director Elissa Speizman stated, "Midwest environmental education experts, who served as evaluators for this year's program, gave the Dolan/Fiala project very high ratings." Dolan is an assistant professor of mathematics and Natural and Applied Sciences, and Fiala is an assistant professor of Humanistic Studies.

Prof. John Katers, Natural and Applied Sciences, received funding from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources for his project titled "Solar Research Project." Sarah Hach and Darcy Robison, graduate students in Environmental Science and Policy, will conduct the research under the direction of Katers. The Wisconsin Public Service Corporation will collaborate with Katers in jointly supervising the project, and Profs. John Stoll and David Dolan will also participate.

Prof. Patricia Ragan-Anderson, Education, has been awarded funding for her proposal entitled, 'Technology in Early Childhood,' as part of the UW System grant program, PK-16 Initiative: Professional Development in Instructional Technologies for Teachers. This award arrives on the heels of several other funded projects focused on collaborative teacher quality enhancement and curriculum development that Ragan-Anderson has received in the recent past.

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