 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
 |
 |
|
|||||||||||||||||
News in BriefNew database allows hiring departments to find furloughed employees to fill positions UI Human Resources is reaching out to assist professional and scientific (P&S) employees whose positions have been eliminated through no fault of their own to find new employment within the University. A new database created by HR Compensation and Classification allows P&S employees who have received a furlough notice to post their employment information for hiring departments to review. Using the database, departments can now review a summary of the furloughed employee’s education, experience, and skills as well as a complete résumé. The database can be used in conjunction with the Furlough Networking Program, which allows furloughed employees to be transferred directly into a vacant position before the position has been announced on Jobs@UIowa. If a college, division, department or laboratory does not have a vacant position but wishes to hire a furloughed employee, a new position may be created. For more information about the Furlough Networking Program, a PDF-format document is available at www.uiowa.edu/hr/classcomp/furlough/network_program.pdf. For specific questions about the new database or the Furlough Networking Program, contact Robert Millsap, senior assistant director of Human Resources, at robert-millsap@uiowa.edu.
University of Iowa leadership awards ARRA grants University of Iowa leaders have announced their plans for awarding $14 million in federal stimulus funds to support projects that will help create a stronger university. The University was appropriated $35.5 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding for use in fiscal year 2010. The University used $20 million of that amount to help its General Education Fund and other state-supported units transition to FY 2011 while minimizing disruptions for students and immediate layoffs. Most of the remaining ARRA funding will now be used to fund proposals that emerged from a competitive process as the best ideas to promote both the longer-term purposes of ARRA and the UI strategic plan. ARRA funds in the amount of $1.5 million have been set aside for allocation later this year. UI president Sally Mason and her leadership team approved 18 proposals. Four of these proposals with infrastructure components require additional approval by the Board of Regents, State of Iowa. Academic and administrative units submitted more than 200 proposals, totaling $100 million, competing for the $15.5 million in available ARRA funding. “The number and quality of the proposals make a powerful statement about the talent and creativity of the faculty and staff at this university. Regrettably, the meritorious proposals far exceeded the available ARRA funds, but we are excited that we will be able to fund these 18 remarkable projects,” Mason says. “We want to thank everyone who prepared and submitted ARRA proposals.” More information about the ARRA funds competitive process and the approved proposals are available at http://provost.uiowa.edu/work/strategic-initiatives/docs/ARRA-selected.pdf.
Giving for University in fiscal 2009 increases, passes $200 million for second time Despite the worst economic downturn in decades, contributors to the University of Iowa Foundation and the University made more than $203 million in gifts and gift commitments for the University during the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2009—an 8.2 percent increase in giving over the previous (2008) fiscal year. Fiscal year 2009 was only the second time that combined UI and UI Foundation gift productivity passed the $200 million mark. The foundation’s cumulative fund-raising productivity since its formation in 1956 also passed the $2 billion mark in fiscal 2009. The UI Foundation raised more than $173 million in outright and deferred gifts for areas throughout the University, an increase of 6.9 percent over the previous fiscal year. In fiscal year 2009, 63,752 donors made 102,569 gifts. Gifts made directly to the University of Iowa totaled more than $30.6 million. (The University of Iowa acknowledges the UI Foundation as the preferred channel for private contributions that benefit all areas of the University.) For more information about the UI Foundation, visit the web site at www.uifoundation.org.
University of Iowa ranked 29th best U.S. public national university The University of Iowa is the 29th best public national university in the country, according to the latest rankings published by the magazine U.S. News & World Report. The ranking places the University in a tie with Indiana University–Bloomington, Michigan State University, University of California–Santa Cruz, and Virginia Tech University. The University of Iowa’s placement in the 2010 edition of the magazine’s influential “Top 50 Public National Universities” compares to a ranking of 26th in the 2009 edition, 24th in 2008, and 25th in 2007. Iowa currently is ranked 71st in the “Best National Universities” category, which contains 262 U.S. universities (164 public and 98 private). In addition, the University once again is among 22 institutions—including Harvard and Yale universities—appearing in the 2010 U.S. News listing titled “Writing in the Disciplines,” which recognizes institutions that “typically make writing a priority at all levels of instruction and across the curriculum.” Colleges in the listing are unranked and appear in alphabetical order. Commenting on the rankings, UI president Sally Mason says, “The University of Iowa wears these rankings with pride. Even in the midst of significant economic challenges and the disruptions of last year’s flood, The University of Iowa remains one of the nation’s most highly ranked public universities. Students continue to enroll here in record numbers. “That happens only when our academic programs remain excellent and we continue to distinguish ourselves nationally and internationally in our missions of teaching and learning, research and creative endeavor, and service to society,” Mason adds. “The diversity of our strengths is notable. When we compete with the best in a broad spectrum of areas from engineering to business to writing, we know we are providing what Iowans expect of us. I thank the dedicated and talented faculty, staff, and students of our University community for once again making Iowa synonymous with national excellence.” Read the full University News Services release at http://news-releases.uiowa.edu/2009/august/082009usnews.html.
UI makes G.I. Job’s best Military Friendly Schools list The University of Iowa was one of an estimated 1,000 higher education institutions in the nation to make the G.I. Job’s 2010 list of Military Friendly Schools. The list honors the top 15 percent of colleges, universities, and trade schools that are doing the most to embrace America’s veterans as students. Schools on the list range from state universities and private colleges to community colleges and trade schools. The common bond is their shared priority of recruiting students with military experience. This is the first year the list has been compiled, and 19 other schools in Iowa made the list. UI officials expect the number of UI veterans to double over the next few years, due in part to the new post-9/11 GI Bill launched Aug. 1 and the excellent support services provided on the UI campus. Criteria for making the Military Friendly Schools list included efforts to recruit and retain military and veteran students, results in recruiting military and veteran students, and academic accreditations. The complete 2010 Military Friendly Schools list can be found at www.militaryfriendlyschools.com/mfspr.
Updated fact book profiles health of Iowans The University of Iowa College of Public Health, in partnership with the Iowa Department of Public Health, has released the 2009 Iowa Health Fact Book, a broad-ranging report covering the health and health-related behaviors of Iowans. The fact book, available in both print and electronic formats, assembles health data on areas such as prenatal and infant health, infectious diseases, cancer and other chronic diseases, injury, and childhood lead poisoning. Health and social behaviors and population totals and age distributions are also presented. Most of the data sets are presented by county. The book also provides a geographic distribution of health care providers and health care facilities throughout the state. Much of the data are tracked longitudinally so that readers can follow how Iowans’ health and behaviors have changed over time. New to the Iowa Health Fact Book this year is a section called “The Social Determinants of Health,” which focuses on behavioral conditions that affect health and coincide with the upcoming release of Healthy People 2020. Hard copies and CDs of the book are available free of charge while supplies last. Those who are interested should contact the Center for Public Health Statistics at cph-cphs@uiowa.edu or 319-335-7005.
IWP welcomes 2009 global literary community to the City of Literature Prominent writers from around the globe are once again converging on Iowa City, now a UNESCO City of Literature, for the 2009 residencies of the University of Iowa International Writing Program (IWP). The community of 35 writers from 28 countries includes a mix of fiction writers, poets, translators, essayist, filmmakers, playwrights, screenwriters, journalists, critics—and even a Welsh recording star. They will be accessible to the public throughout the three-month residency in a variety of free readings, discussions, film screenings, performances, and social events. Biographies of the 2009 IWP writers are accessible at http://iwp.uiowa.edu/writers/index.html. The program will also host a variety of special guests during the residency, including a group of Russian writers through the Open World program. The evolving calendar of events will be posted on the IWP site and on the UI Master Calendar (http://calendar.uiowa.edu). These calendars will be updated regularly as new events are added.
UI Museum of Art to open new on-campus location in Iowa Memorial Union More than 500 works of art from the University of Iowa Museum of Art (UIMA) collection will be available in a new on-campus art venue this fall. The “UIMA@IMU,” located in the former Richey Ballroom on the Iowa Memorial Union’s (IMU) third floor, is a visual classroom that will serve as a temporary location while the museum is displaced because of the June 2008 flood. The “UIMA@IMU” will be available for classroom use by appointment beginning Tuesday, Aug. 25, and the general public starting Tuesday, Sept. 8. Regular public hours for the “UIMA@IMU” will be 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday; 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., Thursday; and noon to 5 p.m., Saturday and Sunday. The space will be closed Mondays and on University holidays. The installation features more than 250 art objects from a wide range of locales and periods—Africa, China, Japan, Tibet, and the Ancient Americas among them—as well as 20th-century European and American ceramics, conceptual art, and a changing selection of figurative art. In addition, the more than 250 prints, drawings, and photographs that had been available since October in the University of Iowa Libraries’ Special Collections will move to the “UIMA@IMU.” For more museum information, visit www.uiowa.edu/uima or the UIMA blog “Art Matters” at http://uima.blogspot.com, or call 319-335-1725.
Rarely seen Museum of Natural History collection will be displayed in Old Capitol The University of Iowa Museum of Natural History will display nearly 100 objects from its rarely seen Philippine Collection—many for the first time since they came to the museum more than 100 years ago—in a special exhibition opening this month at Old Capitol Museum. The Museum Goes to the Fair: Rediscovering the Philippine Collection at the Museum of Natural History, organized by the UI Pentacrest Museums in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Museum of Natural History, will open with a free public reception from 5 to 7 p.m., Friday, Aug. 28, on the lower level of Old Capitol Museum. The exhibit will run through Feb. 21, 2010. The objects in the exhibition are drawn from an extensive collection of nearly 700 Philippine artifacts and include textiles, jewelry, musical instruments, household items, weapons, tools, and baskets. Former museum director Charles Nutting obtained the specimens from the Philippine Reservation at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition—known commonly as the St. Louis World’s Fair. For more information about “The Museum Goes to the Fair” and its associated programs, check the Museum of Natural History web site, www.uiowa.edu/~nathist, or call 319-335-0606.
Hubbard Group hosts leadership retreat for black men Sept. 12 The Hubbard Group will launch its 2009–10 programming with a free leadership retreat for black men from noon to 6:30 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 12, in suite S401 of the Pappajohn Business Building. The theme is “What’s Stopping Us Now?” The retreat is intended to equip undergraduate University of Iowa students with strategies for success and features panels on building community, expanding consciousness, and mentorship. Attendees will enjoy food and fellowship with their peers while forming connections with faculty and staff. Eddie Moore Jr., director of diversity at the Bush School in Seattle, will give the keynote address at 5:50 p.m. Moore earned a doctorate in educational policy and leadership studies at The University of Iowa. He is currently a PhD candidate in social foundations in education at Iowa. The Hubbard Group is named after Phillip Hubbard, the University’s first tenured African American faculty member. Comprised of UI faculty and staff, the task force focuses on the individual, institutional, and environmental concerns of African American male students. To register, visit www.uiowa.edu/~hubgrp or contact Hubbard Group member Malik Henfield at 319-335-5942 or malik-henfield@uiowa.edu.
PostSecret creator Frank Warren to speak Aug. 25 Frank Warren, founder of the PostSecret Project, will be the speaker for the second annual Cassandra S. Foens Welcome Week Lecture at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, Aug. 25, in the Main Lounge of the Iowa Memorial Union. This event is free and open to the public and is sponsored by the UI Lecture Committee as part of the University’s Welcome Week. The PostSecret Project is a collection of more than 200,000 highly personal and artfully decorated postcards mailed anonymously from around the world displaying the senders’ soulful secrets. Warren created the concept when he posted a web site on Blogspot in 2005, which quickly transformed into the phenomenon it is today at www.postsecretcommunity.com. Warren has released several books based on the project, including the New York Times best-seller, PostSecret: Extraordinary Confessions from Ordinary Lives. In October, he will release the fifth PostSecret book, PostSecret: Confessions on Life, Death, and God. Warren’s books will be available for sale at the event courtesy of the University Book Store, and a book signing will follow the lecture. For more information, see http://lectures.uiowa.edu or call 319-335-3255.
Implications of Iran’s internal conflict subject of Aug. 26 talk Michael Kraig, senior fellow at the Stanley Foundation in Muscatine, will present “Iran: Politics and Perspectives” at a noon luncheon of the Iowa City Foreign Relations Council (ICFRC) Wednesday, Aug. 26, at the Congregational Church, 30 North Clinton Street in Iowa City. Oasis Falafel is catering, and the cost is $8 for ICFRC members and $9 for nonmembers. Reservations are required in advance, and the deadline to register is Monday, Aug. 24. Kraig’s work includes research and outreach in the areas of G-8 expansion in an era of rising powers such as Brazil, Russia, India, China, and others. His work also includes human protection issues such as conflict prevention, mitigation, and management in cases of fragile states. For more information or to make a reservation, call 319-335-0351 or visit http://international.uiowa.edu/outreach/community/icfrc/default.asp.
New Writers’ Workshop student traces nerdiness in Sept. 2 reading Benjamin Nugent, an incoming student in the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop, will read from his book American Nerd: The Story of My People at 7 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 2, in Prairie Lights Books in downtown Iowa City. The free event will be streamed live and archived on the UI Writing University web site, http://writinguniversity.uiowa.edu. Nugent says he was a nerdy child and wondered why there wasn’t a history of the term “nerd,” which other kids hurled his way—along with objects. So he wrote the history himself, even tracking down nerdy friends from junior high to see how their lives turned out. The book has landed him on NPR’s On Point, the Today show and Last Call with Carson Daly. Nugent began his writing career as a reporter for Time and has also written for the New York Times Magazine, New York magazine, n+1, and other media. He is also the author of the biography Elliot Smith and the Big Nothing.
UI art library moved to Main Library; other Main Library transitions made The UI Art Library has moved into second floor west of the UI Main Library, allowing students and faculty direct access to the collection. Art library staff now have offices on the second floor adjacent to the collection. Materials were moved from Art Building West, which is still closed due to last summer’s flooding. Other transitions were made in an effort to maintain the high level of service and academic support that students and faculty need:
For information, visit the University Libraries’ web site at www.lib.uiowa.edu or visit the Iowa Digital Libraries web site at http://digital.lib.uiowa.edu or Iowa Research Online, http://ir.uiowa.edu.
UI to hold public forum on new mitigation plan Aug. 25 The UI Department of Risk Management will hold a public forum to review its new predisaster mitigation plan from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., Tuesday, Aug. 25, in the Indiana Room of the Iowa Memorial Union. After the June 2008 flood on campus, the University, as advised by Iowa Homeland Security, drafted a mitigation plan to be submitted to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. On approval, the University is eligible to apply for Hazard Mitigation Grant Program funds. The draft plan is available to view at www.uiowa.edu/riskmanage/mitigation.html.
Burlington Street pedestrian bridge to remain closed into September Reopening of the Burlington Street pedestrian bridge, currently being renovated by the Iowa City Public Works Department, will be delayed into September. The east-west leg of the bridge across Highway 6 is now scheduled to reopen Friday, Sept. 4. The north-south leg across Grand Avenue will remain closed until mid-September. Pedestrians are directed to an at-grade crossing on the north side of Burlington Street with pedestrian signals provided, but University officials strongly encourage the use of the Iowa Avenue pedestrian bridge as an alternate route whenever possible. The bridge was originally scheduled to reopen in mid-August. The project includes replacement of the concrete deck, repair of the handrails and other repairs.
See what Learning and Development courses are right for you UI Learning and Development, a unit of Organizational Effectiveness, provides professional development services to faculty and staff. There are many learning opportunities that will support your professional development and growth. Look for classroom instruction on leadership issues for managers, frontline supervisors, human resource professionals, and office professionals. Check out the following links:
|
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
|||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
|
|||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||
.jpg)
