News in Brief
COMMUNITY
 New university calendar captures memorable campus images This photo of cheerleaders at a UW–Madison basketball game is among14 full-color images of some of the most noteworthy moments on campus included in a new calendar produced in a unique partnership between the university and The University Book Store. More than $10 of the $12.95 retail price goes to the Chancellor’s Undergraduate Scholarship Fund. The 14-by-20-inch wall calendars for the year 2000 are now available at all University Book Store locations. Each month’s double-page spread in the “Memories for a Lifetime 2000 Calendar” captures beautiful scenes and memorable moments in photos from the UW–Madison Office of News and Public Affairs. “Thanks to the generous support of The University Book Store, the Undergraduate Scholarship Fund is growing,” says Peyton Smith, university sesquicentennial coordinator. For more information or to order by phone, call (800) 957-7052. |
SECC campaign wrapping up
There’s still time to contribute to this year’s State, UW and University of Wisconsin Hospital & Clinics Combined Campaign of Dane County (SECC) if you haven’t already done so.
Several thousand university and state employees already have pledged their support to more than 300 nonprofit organizations and eight umbrella groups participating in this year’s “Partners in Giving” campaign, which began Oct. 11.
By Nov. 8, actual contributions from university employees had risen 21 percent from 1998: $308,600 versus $254,896. Overall, contributions totaled $820,682, an increase of 19.8 percent over a year ago – but still only 37.3 percent of this year’s goal of $2.2 million.
Although the SECC campaign officially ends Tuesday, Nov. 30, contributions after that date are welcome. Iinformation: Contact your SECC coordinator, see the SECC brochure or visit: http://www.wisc.edu/secc.
Fulbright scholars form chapter
A new association for Fulbright scholars formed recently at the university plans to promote international education and strengthen the network of Fulbright scholars, students and teachers on campus.
The Wisconsin Chapter of the Fulbright Association held its inaugural reception Oct. 29 at the Pyle Center. More than 60 Fulbrighters and their guests – representing countries such as Kazakhstan, China, Poland, British Columbia, Turkey, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Germany, Indonesia, Nigeria, Ghana, Hungary, Japan, Jordan and the Czech Republic – attended the event, says Mary McEniry, president of the group.
The Wisconsin chapter is part of the national Fulbright Association, headquartered in Washington, D.C. The chapter has received a small grant from the United States Information Agency to develop enrichment activities for incoming Fulbright scholars, students and teachers.
The chapter plans activities that bring the Fulbright community together, promote advocacy of the Fulbright program, and advance the ideals and importance of international education, says Robert Skloot, secretary/treasurer of the group and an associate vice chancellor for academic affairs at UW–Madison.
Information: McEniry, 266-2769, mceniry@stat.wisc.edu; or Skloot, 262-5246, skloot@macc.wisc.edu.
Faculty go on the road
A university initiative in Green Bay on Nov. 16-19 will spotlight classroom innovation, from creative use of the Internet, to attention-grabbing chemistry, to overcoming “toxic” school cultures.
The occasion is “On The Road,” a statewide series of UW–Madison visits to Wisconsin communities. The goal is to continue the university’s long tradition of contributing to the lives of Wisconsin citizens. And because Nov. 15-19 is American Education Week, organizers planned many K-12 events in partnership with Green Bay educators.
Events and participants include “Shaping Successful School Cultures,” a lecture by education reform expert Kent Peterson of the Wisconsin Center for Education Research; “Man-Made Materials: Polymers and the Synthetic Century,” a no-materials-barred presentation for students by chemistry professor Hyuk Yu; and “Web Sites that Work in Classrooms,” a discussion by Betty Ferris, library system specialist and organizer of the “Wisconsin Electronic Reader.”
Regents approve faculty, discuss pay plan progress
The UW System Board of Regents on Nov. 5 approved the hiring of 32 new faculty as part of the Madison Initiative.
The new professors are expected to be hired in the following areas: African diaspora, cognitive science, communication and information policy, computational science, energy sources and policy, entrepreneurism, ethnic studies, global and international relations, land use, legal studies, political economy, science studies, and women’s health.
UW–Madison is planning to hire more than 100 new faculty members as part of the Madison Initiative, Chancellor David Ward’s four-year plan to maintain and strengthen the university’s position as one of the top public research institutions in the nation and world.
The regents also discussed the 1999-2001 pay plan. George Brooks, UW System associate vice president for human resources, told the Business and Finance Committee that the Department of Employment Relations may not recommend a pay plan until December or January.
The delay is due to the late passage of the state budget; pay raises will be retroactive to July 1. The regents have recommended 5.2 percent pay raises for faculty and academic staff in each of the next two years.
Lyall presents millennial plan
UW System President Katharine C. Lyall outlines what the UW System hopes to achieve in the new millennium in her annual report to the Board of Regents.
“Among the challenges facing the UW System in the upcoming year is strengthening our commitment to Wisconsin’s economic development strategy by helping focus job creation efforts on industries that lift incomes and retain UW System graduates in Wisconsin,” Lyall adds. “In a labor-shortage economy, our graduates are an increasingly valuable asset.”
Other challenges include:
- Recruiting and retaining the best possible faculty to replace the one-quarter of UW System faculty who will retire in the next several years, and competing with other states for this scarce talent.
- Establishing enrollment planning guidelines for the next decade that balance resources to serve all student populations.
- Further extending educational services to working adults.
- Focusing financial aid to better meet the changing needs of students.
- Keeping administrative costs low through coordinated purchasing, infrastructure planning and management flexibility.
For copies of the report call 263-3961; or e-mail: universityrelations@uwsa.edu.
NOTABLE
Grant boosts Plan 2008
Ameritech has awarded a $1.5 million grant in support of Plan 2008, the systemwide initiative to increase educational quality through greater diversity.
The grant will support expanded pre-college programs at UW–Madison and UW-Milwaukee. Each will receive $600,000 over the four-year life of the grant, which also will provide $300,000 for closely related initiatives of the Multicultural Information Center, housed at the University Center for Continuing Education in downtown Milwaukee.
Pre-college programs are the focus of the UW System’s Plan 2008, which the Board of Regents adopted in 1998. Campus-specific initiatives under Plan 2008 were announced in June, and all campuses are now implementing those plans. The system hopes to triple the number of students of color and those who are economically disadvantaged in pre-college programs during the coming decade.
LEARNING
Dairy specialty program debuts
The Department of Dairy Science in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences is expanding its curriculum options with the addition of a dairy enterprise management specialization program.
The new specialization, which is partly modeled after the UW–Madison certificate in business program for non-business majors, is incorporated into the business option in the dairy science major. The
dairy enterprise management program requires School of Business courses, including finance, accounting, marketing, personnel management and small business management.
Students completing the new program may also qualify for the Certificate in Business from the School of Business, says George Shook, chair of the Dairy Science Curriculum Committee.
MILESTONES
Med School names Temin professor
John A. T. Young of Harvard Medical School has been named the first Howard M. Temin Professor in Cancer Research.
“John Young is an outstanding selection for this position,” says Graduate School Dean Virginia Hinshaw. “He brings new strengths to an already outstanding community of virologists on this campus.”
The endowed professorship, located in the Department of Oncology, McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research, was established recently to recognize the profound contributions Howard Temin made to cancer research during his 35-year career at McArdle Laboratory. He revolutionized scientific thought with his studies of avian viruses. He first hypothesized and then demonstrated that the life cycle of these viruses differs from that of all other organisms, reversing the flow of genetic information and copying RNA into DNA instead of DNA into RNA.
The discovery, which earned him the 1975 Nobel Prize, led to the identification of human cancer genes, detection of HIV and new tools of biotechnology. Temin died in 1994.
“John Young follows closely in the tradition of Howard Temin,” says McArdle Director Norman Drinkwater. “He is a superb scientist with whom Howard would have loved to work.”
FEEDBACK
The Nov. 3 issue of Wisconsin Week brought the good news of the creation of a Humanities Center. This is a welcome development for all of us interested in encouraging a vigorous humanities presence on campus and in the community.
The article may have inadvertently left the impression that the activities of the existing Institute for Research in the Humanities (IRH), situated in Washburn Observatory since 1959, are limited to “provid[ing] support for individual research projects.” This the Institute certainly does, but it does much else as well. Each year, the IRH welcomes 25 to 30 fellows from the UW–Madison campus, the UW System, and colleges and universities around the world (through its Solmsen and nonstipendiary fellowship programs). These fellows not only pursue their individual research, but also participate in a regular round of seminars and brown-bag lunches where this research is discussed in a highly collaborative and interdisciplinary environment.
In addition, the IRH has long actively promoted the humanities on a campus-wide basis. Our biweekly seminars are open to all, and we make considerable effort to publicize them. The IRH sponsors two endowed lectures, the Coleman lectures in the history of science and the Brée lectures that focus mainly on French literature and culture. The IRH also sponsors one or two public conferences each year that bring to Madison distinguished humanities scholars who tend to draw large audiences.
In welcoming the Humanities Center, I also want to assure Wisconsin Week readers that the Institute for Research in the Humanities will continue to carry out its interdisciplinary and public activities, while also fulfilling its central and vital mission of enabling humanities scholars to pursue their individual research.
— Paul Boyer, IRH director
CORRECTION
A photo published Nov. 3 with an item on the Distinguished Lecture Series incorrectly identified soprano Dana Hanchard, who appeared with Musica Antiqua Koln at the Wisconsin Union Theater Nov. 11.