Message from Dean Howard
Summer Happenings
The end of the summer break for my column is one of the harbingers that the Fall semester will soon be upon us. However, I will not use this column to look ahead. Much has happened in the past six weeks that is worthy of comment and few of us want to be reminded that the summer is slipping away.
Consolidation
Undoubtedly, the most important recent event was the decision of the Board of Regents to end the study of consolidation and reaffirm that the University of Colorado Denver is a single university comprised of the colleges and schools at the Downtown Campus and the health sciences schools at the Anschutz Medical Campus. This was a welcome decision for many long-time faculty and staff members who had worked to make consolidation a reality, as well as for more recent arrivals who were attracted to UC Denver because of the opportunity it offered to be part of building a great comprehensive urban university. The decision to end the study came about after careful consideration of the educational offerings and administrative efficiencies of a consolidated university. We can be grateful to President Benson and Chancellor Wilson for working closely together in helping to achieve a resolution, and Vice Chancellors Jhanji and Berryman and Provost Nairn for generating a great deal of the data on which the final decision was based.
Summer Enrollment Numbers
The increases in enrollment in CLAS, which have been so evident during the economic downturn, have been on display again during the Summer semester. Including Maymester, student credit hours were up 12.7% compared to the Summer of 2008. Maymester, by the way, proved to be popular with both students and faculty and will continue next year.
Tenure and Promotion
Final tenure and promotion decisions were made by the Regents at their June 22 meeting. Dr. Michelle Comstock (English), Dr. David Hildebrand (Philosophy), Dr. Devin Jenkins (Modern Languages), and Dr. Christoph Stefes (Political Science) were awarded tenure and promoted to Associate Professor, while Dr. Andrew Knyazev (Mathematical and Statistical Sciences) and Dr. Tammy Stone (Anthropology) were promoted to Professor. Congratulations to all of you for achieving these milestones in your academic lives. Your colleagues in CLAS are very proud of you.
Accolades
We are also proud of Dr. Thomas Andrews and Dr. Jake Adam York, who both won Colorado Book Awards. Dr. Andrews won the History Award for: Killing for Coal: America’s Deadliest Labor War. Dr. York won the Poetry Award for: A Murmuration of Starlings.
Tenure Track Mentorship Program
Finally, if you have a few minutes visit the University of Colorado Denver Network home page and read the write-up (and watch the video) about the Center for Faculty Development’s Tenure Track Mentorship Program. The co-directors of the program, Associate Professor Ellen Stevens and CLAS Associate Dean Brenda J. Allen, clearly enjoy working together and the program has proven to be a hit with junior faculty members.
Enjoy the summer rains,
Dan
cudenver.edu and ucshc.edu Domains to Retire on July 13
The transition from cudenver.edu and uchsc.edu domain names will take place on July 13. At that point in time, both domains will redirect visitors to the UCdenver.edu home page. (More information)
Policies and Deadlines for Fall 2009 Syllabi
The policies and deadlines for Fall 2009 syllabi are now available here. Please contact Tammy Stone if you have any questions.
CLAS in the Spotlight
Associate Dean Brenda J. Allen presented two workshops at the Higher Education Resource Services (HERS) Summer Institute at Bryn Mawr College on June 25 and 26. HERS is an educational non-profit organization that has provided leadership and management development for women in higher education administration since 1972.
Communication Lecturer Brett Anderson has completed the first round of a job training program for at-risk youth in Denver. The Professional Development Certificate (PDC) is a collaborative project among the Office of Economic Development (OED), the University of Colorado Denver, h2 Communication, LLC and several employers including Palo Alto, Inc., National Jewish Hospital, and the Community College of Denver. The project worked with employers to assess their skill training needs for prospective employees and corroborated this information with the OED Skills Gap Analysis. Using the Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration’s (DOLETA) Competency Models as a framework, 60 hours of curriculum were developed in “Foundational Competencies” that provide training to help youth get, keep, and advance in employment. To date, 27 low income youth, aged 15 – 24, have received D2 credits through the PDC. These youth are currently participating in Work Experience through OED and will be assessed for skill gains at the conclusion of their programs.
What Do Most Popular Vehicles Say About Your Zip Code?
KMGH-TV CH 7 (ABC), 6/30 (Online)
Sociology Chair Sharon Araji interviewed via phone with KMGH CH 7 (ABC) for a web story on how all registered vehicles in the state are broken down by ZIP code. The story ran on June 30.
Alan Vajda, Assistant Professor of Integrative Biology, and co-principal investigators from the Boulder campus and US Geological Survey were recently awarded $350k by the National Science Foundation for their project "Endocrine-disrupting compounds in Boulder Creek: Effect of a major wastewater treatment plant upgrade."
Study shows migraines affect school performance
KUSA-TV, 7/2
Associate Professor of Economics Daniel Rees interviewed with KUSA CH 9 (NBC) for a story on his recent study linking migraine headaches to reduced academic performance.
Study Links Migraine Headaches to Reduced Academic Performance
Associated Press (AP), 7/2
Multiple media outlets ran this story
Diana Tomback, Professor of Integrative Biology, was an invited speaker in a symposium entitled "Climate change and whitebark pine" at the Seventh North American Forest Ecology Workshop 2009 at Utah State University, June 22-26. The title of her talk was "Whitebark pine as a foundation and keystone species: functional roles and community interactions." The symposium addressed the challenges to survival faced by whitebark pine, an important functional component of subalpine and treeline forests throughout the western United States and Canada. These challenges include the invasive disease, fire suppression, mountain pine beetle outbreaks, and climate change.
Also, Professor Diana Tomback is a co-P.I. on a newly funded four year NSF grant, from the Geography and Regional Science Program, "Implications of an invasive forest pathogen for alpine treeline dynamics." The lead P.I. is Lynn Resler, Virginia Polytech, and co-P.I. George Malanson, University of Iowa. UCD's share of the $439,000 award is $222,000. Most of the fieldwork for this research will take place on the Beartooth Plateau, north of Yellowstone National Park, and on the Rocky Mountain Front in northwestern Montana on the Blackfeet Reservation. Resler and Tomback will offer an RA position to a university student from the Blackfeet tribe.
The Irish take over park
Highlands Ranch Herald, 07/05/2009
History Instructor James Walsh is mentioned regarding the Irish Festival in Highlands Ranch the weekend of July 10-12 where he will talk about the Leadville Irish silver miners.
EVENTS
Super Science Sunday at the Children's Museum
Sponsored by the Colorado Business Committee for the Arts
Sunday, July 19
3:00 pm
2121 Children's Museum Dr
Denver, CO 80211
Ticket pick up 1:00 - 3:00 pm
Kids will learn about the buoyancy and propulsion by making their own bottle boat fueled by baking soda and vinegar, join in a boat race and conduct a scientific experiment to see how fast their boats can go!@ Enjoy the rest of the Children's Museum before or after Super Science Sunday.
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RSVP by July 15 to main@cbca.org. Indicate that you are from CLAS at UC Denver, 1-4 tickets and the ages of the children attending. CBCA will confirm by July 16.
IN THIS ISSUE:
Message from Dean Howard
Domains to Retire
Fall Policies and Deadlines
CLAS in the Spotlight
Events
ARCHIVES:
Past issues since Jan 21, 2007.
USEFUL LINKS:
CLAS Event Calendar
CLAS News
Faculty Resources
Staff Resources
Campus News
The CLAS Deans' Notes is a bi-weekly newsletter
for college faculty and staff.
EDITOR:
Katy Brown
303.556.6663
Katy.Brown @ucdenver.edu