Tuesday, Apr 19, 2011

Hear the results of UNI's NCAA Certification Self-Study and offer opinions on the draft recommendations for UNI Athletics at the final open meeting: from 4 to 5 p.m., Thursday, April 21, in the University Room, MAU.

The Undergraduate Academic Advising Council to the Provost has prepared a short survey (five minutes) to assess interest in adviser training, methods for delivering the training and training topics. If you have not yet taken the survey, visit www.surveymonkey.com/s/6XBHV9P. If you have any questions regarding this survey, contact Pierre-Damien Mvuyekure, chair of the Undergraduate Academic Advising Council to the Provost, at Pierre.Mvuyekure@uni.edu or 273-2518/3-3595.

The annual Graduate Faculty Meeting will be held at 3:30 p.m., Thursday, April 21, in 115 SRL. During the meeting, awards will be presented to graduate students and graduate faculty. Faculty will discuss the new strategic plan for graduate education. The strategic plan, which is the first step in the strategic process, can be found at http://www.grad.uni.edu/graduate-faculty. A reception will immediately follow the meeting.

Integration between the Campus Solutions Student Information System (SIS) and Blackboard Learning Management System (LMS) will permit automatic creation of fall 2011 courses. An eLearning site will be created for all courses entered into the SIS. In lieu of manually requesting courses, instructors who elect to use the LMS will only need to log in to the UNI eLearning system and make their course available. No action is required for instructors who choose not to use the LMS. Fall 2011 eLearning courses will be populated with students in August before classes begin. Questions about this process should be sent to elearning@uni.edu.

The Associate Provost for International Programs (APIP) search committee invites all members of the campus community to attend the an open forum at which the second APIP candidate will give a short presentation on "Challenges for internationalization for universities in the 21st century: Lessons for UNI" followed by a question/answer session. An electronic evaluation form has been set up for each candidate at https://access.uni.edu/cgi-bin/surveys/takeSurvey.cgi. The forum for the second cadidate is scheduled from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m., Tuesday, April 19, in 244/245 SEC.

Kappa Delta Pi is sponsoring a school supply drive for teachers and students at Orange Elementary and Hoover Middle schools in Waterloo. Examples of the kinds of supplies needed are displayed on a board located in the second-floor lobby, SEC. The last day to donate is Friday, April 22.

The Welcome Week Committee is planning events for the opening week of fall semester 2011, which will be posted on the Welcome Week website later this semester. Any UNI registered student organization, college or department hosting an opening-week event may have their events posted on the website. Email Jeremy Ward at jward@uni.edu with the following details: name of sponsoring organization or department, name of event, date, time, location and a short description. Events that conflict with Welcome Week "headline" events (scheduled for 7 to 8:30 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 18; 8 to 11 p.m., Friday, Aug. 19; and and 1 to 4 p.m. and 9 to 11 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 20) will not be publicized. For more information, email jward@uni.edu.

Do you see students struggling financially but don’t know how to assist? Managing money can be a very difficult task for students, one that can often impact their overall livelihood on a college campus. The “Live Like A Student” financial literacy program was established in 2010 to assist students with improving their understanding of how choices today can impact their financial future. The Office of Student Financial Aid will present “Expanding Your Financial Literacy Toolkit: Helping Students Help Themselves” at 11 a.m., Thursday, April 21, in the Oak Room, MAU. This hour-long presentation will allow faculty and staff to learn about the “Live Like A Student” program, as well as obtain resources to assist students in understanding their financial options. Click here to register.

UNI faculty planning to use the UNI eLearning system for fall 2011 courses who want to use an existing course as a template are strongly encouraged to participate in one of the new “Migrating to Bb Learn 9” workshops. During these workshops you will take one of your existing eLearning classes and migrate it to the new Bb Learn 9 system. Several workshops have been added to the schedule in May and June. For specific times and workshop details, visit https://access.uni.edu/cgi-bin/training/train_enroll.cgi?command=start&admin_group=ITSETF.

Under sponsorship of UNI's Sustainability Council, the 2011 Sustainability Forum will be held from 2 to 4 p.m., Thursday, April 21, in the Ballroom, MAU. All UNI community members are invited to learn about current campus sustainability initiatives and discuss how we as a campus can continue to leave a smaller footprint. Contact Eric O'Brien at 273-7207 or eric.obrien@uni.edu with questions.

The campus community is invited to an unveiling of artwork by Dale Chihuly, world-famous contemporary studio glass artist, Friday, April 22, 8:30 p.m., in the William and Charlotte Hinson Lobby, RSL. The contemporary studio glass is the most recent addition to the UNI Public Art Collection and was acquired with funding from the Art in State Buildings Program. The event is during the intermission of the Spotlight Series Jazz One concert and is hosted by the School of Music and the Art and Architecture Committee. For more information, email pat.beck@uni.edu or susanna.schuerman@uni.edu.

Joyce Benner will speak at 7 p.m., Tuesday, April 19, in the Ballroom, MAU. This event is sponsored by the Student Organization Speakers Fund and is hosted by the student organization UNI Right to Life.

Reinier H. Hesselink, professor of Japanese history, is very familiar with the area in Japan devastated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. Hesselink will give a slideshow-lecture presentation about three communities on the Iwate coast, Miyako, Yamada and Taro. Hesselink's presentation will include some history of Iwate prefecture and an analysis of a previous comparable disaster that occurred almost 1,200 years ago. The presentation will be held at 7 p.m., Wednesday, April 20, in 115 SRL. There will be an opportunity to donate funds to a UNI account established by the history department for the purpose of providing relief to these communities.

Priya Shahani from the Monarch Joint Venture Project at the University of Minnesota St. Paul will discuss the biology, conservation challenges and recent efforts by Monarch Joint Venture partners to better understand population trends at 4 p.m., Wednesday, April 20, at the Tallgrass Prairie Center. For more information, contact Ryan Welch at rwelch@uni.edu or 273-3828.

Ambassador Ronald K. McMullen will discuss "Foreign Service Careers, Experiences and Internships," from noon to 1:15 p.m., Wednesday, April 20, in the State College Room, MAU. Learn about the opportunities available from the Department of State. Open to everyone in the UNI community. For more information, email isabela.varela@uni.edu.

Lou Fenech, history, will present "The Shah-namah as Cultural Text: The Iranian National Epic, India, and Sikh Identity, 18th c.-Present" at 7 p.m., Wednesday, April 20, in 2 SAB. This event is sponsored by the global studies major and the Forum for National and Transnational Identities, which seeks to bring together faculty, staff and students with an interest in national identity, nationalism, transnationalism, race, ethnicity and immigration. To join the forum and its mailing list, email Konrad.Sadkowski@uni.edu.

The management workshop "Survival Skills for First-Time Managers" will be offered from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday, April 26, in 30 BCS. The registration deadline is Tuesday, April 19. This workshop is a boot camp for first-time managers. Workshop participants will be introduced to critical management skills and tools needed to set a new leader on the right path. Instructor Jim Hogan will help participants discover their natural leadership style and how to adapt their communication style to the working style of the person and business situation. The discounted price is $224 for UNI employees. For more information or to register, contact UNI's Executive Development Center at 273-5851 or execdev@uni.edu.

The Northern Iowa Symphony Orchestra will offer a spring concert at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, April 20, in the Great Hall, GBPAC. This event is free and open to the public.

Under the direction of UNI percussion professor Randy Hogancamp, the UNI Percussion and West African Drum ensembles will offer a spring concert, along with UNI’s Taiko drum ensemble, Kaji-Daiko, at 8 p.m., Monday, April 25, in Davis Hall, GBPAC. This event is free and open to the public.