For the Record: Feb. 25–March 11, 2009

Academic Staff Leadership Institute

The annual Academic Staff Leadership Institute will be held from 7:45 a.m.–1 p.m. on Monday, March 23, at the Pyle Center.

Sessions will focus on various aspects of leadership and how they play out in an academic setting. There will be sessions on new leadership styles presented by the Office of Human Resource Development; leadership qualities that transcend workplace characteristics by police chief Sue Riseling; a panel discussing the benefits of mentoring, both formal and informal; a panel on creating career paths where none exist; and news from organizations that provide leadership opportunities, including the Academic Staff Executive Committee, the Academic Staff Professional Representation Organization and the Madison Academic Staff Association (MASA). Participants can attend two sessions of their choice.

Vice chancellor Darrell Bazzell wil give the luncheon keynote address on “Valuing Academic Staff in Difficult Economic Times.”

The cost to attend is $25 and includes both a breakfast buffet and luncheon (vegetarian entrees will be available). If you are not a member of MASA and have never attended the conference before, MASA will pay your registration fee if you join at the same time as you register. This is one way that MASA is acting on the keynote topic.

To register, visit http://www.ohrd.wisc.edu and click on “catalog.” Scroll down to “conferences” and the Academic Staff Leadership Institute will appear.

The institute is sponsored by the provost’s office, the Academic Staff Executive Committee and MASA.

Call for proposals: 2009 WAGE Individual Faculty Research Awards

The Center for World Affairs and the Global Economy (WAGE) has announced an individual grant competition to support research projects on globalization and the international economy. WAGE anticipates awarding one to three grants of up to $10,000, which will be available for use from June 1, 2009–June 30, 2010. WAGE hopes to offer this competition annually through June 2011.

All faculty are encouraged to apply for an award of up to $10,000 to cover any legitimate direct research expenses, such as graduate assistants, overseas travel, databases, books and materials, or workshop or conference expenses. All out-of-state travel expenses are subject to approval by the relevant supervising units. These grants may be allocated to cover faculty salaries, but some preference may be given to direct support of research expenses. Proposals that apply these funds toward PA or RAships should budget for salary and tuition and demonstrate access to the necessary matching funds from another source, such as the faculty’s department. Alternatively, student assistants may be paid on an hourly basis. Awardees do not need to include additional money for fringes for salary paid for from this grant.

Note that the principal investigators of the 2008–2011 WAGE collaboratives are not eligible for this grant competition. However, faculty who signed on to collaborative proposals as affiliates but not as PIs are encouraged to apply for the individual awards. Projects that complement the chosen collaboratives will have the advantage of supporting WAGE’s key themes for the next three years. Information on current WAGE collaboratives is available on the WAGE Web site. PIs of 2005–2008 WAGE collaboratives are eligible for these individual awards.

Studies that have direct relevance to the Wisconsin economy are especially welcome, as are requests for supplementary support for major projects that already have other funding sources.

Applications should be submitted no later than noon on Tuesday, March 24. To apply, please submit a short project description (no longer than 1.500 words, double spaced) that details the research question(s) and methods of inquiry, along with a CV and a budget. To facilitate timely review, all proposals should be submitted electronically to wage@intl-institute.wisc.edu. Attachments should be in MS Office or PDF format and, to the extent possible, combined into a single document.

WAGE also requests four paper copies of the entire application be sent to: Individual Research Award, Center for World Affairs and the Global Economy, (WAGE), UW–Madison, 321 Ingraham Hall, 1155 Observatory Drive, Madison, WI 53706.

Send questions or concerns to Alison Alter at abalter@wisc.edu. WAGE anticipates reaching a decision by Wednesday, April 15. visit WAGE for more information.

Wisconsin Idea Seminar nominations due

Faculty and staff interested in learning about the state of Wisconsin and the university’s relationship to the state should apply for the Wisconsin Idea Seminar, a five-day tour of the state from May 18–22. The tour introduces faculty and staff to the Wisconsin Idea, the commitment to use university expertise and resources to address the problems of the state. Nominations are due to deans’ offices by March 1. The program is for new faculty, recently tenured faculty, new associate deans, new department chairs and lead academic staff with statewide responsibilities.

The seminar will include visits to the Aldo Leopold Shack, Baraboo; UW-La Crosse; the Ho-Chunk Nation, Black River Falls; Marshfield Clinic; Van der Geest Dairy, Merrill; Greenheck Fan Corporation, Schofield; Green Bay Correctional Institution; FPL Energy Point Beach Nuclear Power Plant, Two Rivers; and the Milwaukee Public Schools.

Each sponsoring school or college provides $550 per participant to cover room and board. All other costs are covered by a grant from the Evjue Foundation. For more information and for nomination forms, visit Wisconsin Idea Seminar, or contact Miriam Simmons at 262-9970.

UW–Madison Academic Staff Professional Development Grants

Funds are available to support professional development activities for eligible UW–Madison academic staff.

To be eligible, an academic staff member must have at least a 50 percent appointment and be applying for a professional development activity that occurs between July 1 and Dec. 31, 2009. In addition, half of the funding for the individual professional development activity must come from the staff member’s department, and staff must not have been awarded funding in the previous two rounds of competition (fall 2008 or spring 2008, for activities that occurred between June 30, 2008, and June 30, 2009).

Proposals should focus on training or retraining to improve the academic staff member’s effectiveness in their current role. Funds can be used to send an individual to training or to bring a trainer to campus for work with a group of academic staff. Applications must be submitted to department chairs or directors by March 6. Applications that have been approved by department chairs or directors will be forwarded to the dean’s or director’s office, then to the Secretary of the Academic Staff by Friday, March 27.

Complete application instructions can be found online. Contact Colleen McCabe at 263-2985 with questions.