New! CLAS Welcomes Heather Sours, Human Resources Coordinator

Heather Sours
HR Coordinator, CLAS Dean's Office
303-556-4798
heather.sours@cudenver.edu

Heather Sours is the newly hired HR Coordinator in the CLAS Dean’s Office.  With over nine years of experience in nonprofit administration, including several years at the Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes, she brings solid knowledge of policies and procedures as well as first-hand university experience to the position.  Her dedication to customer service serves as a foundation for her positive outlook and enthusiasm for helping others find solutions to complex problems. 

A senior at Metropolitan State College of Denver majoring in Behavioral Sciences, she is familiar with many of the unique problems, challenges and opportunities faced by students, staff and faculty at the Auraria campus, and she is eager and excited to begin working with faculty and staff within CLAS and the University of Colorado Denver.

New! Dean Candidate Finalists Named

Please plan to attend one of the open forums
All faculty, staff and students are invited and encouraged to attend.

Dr. Dan Howard                 
Location: XMBA auditorium, CU Building
Presentation: 02/13/08 - 2:00pm-3:30pm
Meet and Greet: 02/13/08 - 3:30pm-4:30pm

Dr. Sam Catanzaro
Location: LSC 2nd Floor Terrace Room
Presentation: 02/20/08 – 2:00pm-3:30pm
Meet and Greet: 02/20/08 – 3:30pm-4:30pm

Dr. Scott Wood
Location: XMBA auditorium, CU Building
Presentation: 02/25/08 – 2:00pm-3:30pm
Meet and Greet: 02/25/08 – 3:30pm-4:30pm

Dr. Yolanda Neimann
Location: XMBA auditorium, CU Building
Presentation: 02/27/08 – 2:00pm-3:30pm
Meet and Greet: 02/27/08 – 3:30pm-4:30pm

Visit the Provost's Web page to read about the candidates.

New! CU Women's 5th Annual Symposium: CU Women Succeeding

Friday, Feb. 29
All faculty, graduate students and staff are invited and encouraged to attend this year's CU Women's Symposium.

For more information, view the attached invitation or contact Dr. Angela Gover in the School of Public Affairs at 720-334-2928.

New! Health and Humanities Colloquia Hosts First Official Meeting

Wednesday, March 12
The Health and Humanities Colloquia of the Colorado Center for Public Humanities will host its inaugural meeting at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, Mar. 12 in Tivoli 640 on the UCD downtown campus. The title of the session is "Medical Narrative: Critical Perspectives on Storytelling," and the colloquia explores the shared intellectual terrain of those researching and teaching in the humanities and health sciences.

Readings focus on Dr. Rita Charon's work on "narrative medicine," as well as critiques of this approach.

Lunch is provided. To RSVP (for lunch) and receive relevant background readings, please contact Dr. Amy Vidali via email or at 303-556-4765. Visit the Colorado Center for Public Humanities Web site for more information.

New! UCD Writing Center: Writer's Workshop

A Productive Playgroup for Creative Writers
The WC Writer’s Workshop brings together people, ideas, and resources in order to facilitate conversations, expand thinking, and encourage the development of the University of Colorado Denver’s creative writing population, regardless of their specific area of study or employment. Workshops are scheduled for the first Tuesday and third Wednesday of each month at 6:00 p.m.

Want lots of feedback?  Require writing prompts to get you started?  Need specific questions answered?  Craving people to discuss the “big ideas” with?  Looking for a place to be productive without being reclusive?  Have a hankering for guest speakers?  Praying for someone to read the other parts in your screenplay?  Fancy an honest response?  All genres of creative writing will be received with a warm reception: novels-in-progress, short stories, flash fiction, poetry, essays, (screen)plays, creative nonfiction…

All UCD community members are welcome to attend. 

Informational Meetings:
6:00 pm
Tuesday, Feb. 19
Wednesday, Feb. 20
Writing Center (Central Classroom 206)

Can’t make the meetings but want to participate?  Call 303.556.4845 or stop by the Center and ask for Charray.

Call for Judges: Denver Metro Regional Science & Engineering Fair

Calling Faculty, Staff and Students
For a second year, CLAS is sponsoring awards for the winning projects of the Denver Metro Regional Science and Engineering Fair, but we'd also like to lend support by providing volunteer judges.

If you enjoy science, have a good knowledge base, and enjoy working with students to help them develop their interest and skill in science, please consider judging at the 2008 Fair.

Judging will be Wednesday, Feb. 27, 11:00 am - 6:00 pm at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.  Lunch will be provided. 

You may register online no later than Feb. 20, 2008. 

To maintain a fair judging environment and avoid any possible conflicts of interest, please note any connections to a particular school or student in the comment section of the Judges Registration Form.

Detailed information will be sent to you via email a few weeks prior to the fair. If you have not received your email information by Feb. 22, please contact Greg Kinney or Meredith Tennis. 

For more information on the fair, please contact Katy Brown.

2007-2008 CLAS Research Innovation Seed Program (CRISP)

Mar. 3 Deadline
CRISP grant proposals are invited from all tenured and tenure-track faculty to support research activities that will result in applications for external funding.  Details of the program, submission requirements, allowed expenses, and required activities are included in the attached document, and the deadline for submission is Mar. 3, 2008.  The college has committed $100,000 this year to support this program, which was developed by Dean Hageman, Associate Dean Brenda Allen, and Associate Dean Mary Coussons-Read. 

Drafts of the program announcement were reviewed and supported by the CLAS Leadership Team, the CLAS BPC, the CLAS Council and the CLAS Chairs.  The college anticipates making approximately 5 awards in each track of the program.  Note that an essential aspect of the CRISP application is developing and documenting a relationship with the Office of Sponsored Programs to identify potential funding sources, and Mary Coussons-Read is glad to facilitate this process. 

Please contact Mary Coussons-Read with any questions you might have regarding the announcement, the program or submission.

Be an Expert for Media Interviews

New Web Site to be Launched Soon!
The Media and PR office is about to launch a new exciting Web site complete with an experts list. We want to make sure you are included on that list if you have interest in helping with media interviews.

Some of you may have already heard from the PR and Media office as you are already on their experts list. But we want to make sure no one is overlooked.

If you want to be included on this list, please send an email to Jacque Montgomery with the following information:

1. Your name

2. Your area of emphasis (that is what you likely would want to be tapped to comment on)

3. Your preferred contact method and information. (Do you want reporters to work through the media relations team to connect with you, or can they call your office or cell phone directly? Jacque, the new director of media and PR, is happy to support whichever method you are most comfortable with.)

Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program

From Aristotle and Plato to Frank Lloyd Wright and Louis H. Sullivan, students and their mentors have been collaborating to produce works of scholarly merit. The Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program, established in 1994, enhances undergraduate education by funding students engaged in research, scholarly, creative and entrepreneurial activities in collaboration with faculty at the downtown campus. Projects are either designed around the activities of a faculty member or designed independently by a student or team of students and endorsed by a faculty sponsor.

APPLICATION DEADLINE: Mar. 14

Forms can now be found online!
Anticipated award announcement will be on Apr. 11 at our Research and Creative Activities Day.  Approximately 20-30 awards will be available through UROP for fiscal year 2008-09 (July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2009).

REMINDERS: Important Due Dates for Dean's Office Documents

The following items are due to Associate Dean Tammy Stone by the dates listed below. Please contact her if you have any questions.

Feb. 15: Nominations for faculty awards (research/creative activity, service, t/tt teaching and non-tt teaching)

Feb. 21: One-page nominating letter for Outstanding Faculty Achievement Award

Mar. 1: Sabbatical applications

Mar. 3: Nominating packets for Outstanding Graduate Students

Mar. 4: Complete dossiers for faculty awards (research/creative activity, service, t/tt teaching and non-tt teaching)   

Mar. 15: Complete dossier for Outstanding Faculty Achievement Award     

CLAS in the Spotlight

The Denver Post highlighted Professor Larry Anderson of the Chemistry Department who was just awarded a Fulbright Fellowship on Thursday, Feb. 7.

Associate Professor of Psychology Mary Coussons-Read who helped develop the partnership with Smart-Girl, an organization that provides prevention and enrichment programs for middle-school aged girls, was highlighted for her work with the program on Thursday, Feb. 7 in Yourhub.com.

Associate Professor of Economics Dan Rees, PhD and graduate student Kevin Schnepel were interviewed for KCFR's Colorado Matters on Thursday, Feb. 7 for their research on the association between violence and college football.

Events

Biology Spring Seminar Series
Paul Cryan, US Geological Survey
Friday, Feb. 1
Noon - 1:30 pm
NC 1539
Seminar Title: "Uncovering the hidden lives of hoary bats and their mysterious deaths at wind turbines"

Mathematical Sciences Department
Operations Research Seminar
Francis Newman and Masoud Asadi-Zeydabadi, UCHSC
Wednesday, Feb. 6
1:00 - 2:00 pm
CU 626
Seminar Title: "A linear programming model and solution for radiation shielding design"

Biology Spring Seminar Series
Paula Cushing, Denver Museum of Nature and Science
Friday, Feb. 8
Noon - 1:30 pm
NC 1539
Seminar Title: "Camel Spiders: the Weirdest Spiders Ever?"

Biology Spring Seminar Series
Deb Thomas, Dept. of Geography & Env. Sciences
Friday, Feb. 15
Noon - 1:30 pm
NC 1539
Seminar Title: "Information Systems Applications: Potential and Possibilities"

Biology Spring Seminar Series
Diana Tomback and Kathryn Chipman, Dept. of Biology
Friday, Feb. 22
Noon - 1:30 pm
NC 1539
Seminar Title: "Invasive forest pathogens, climate change and implications for treeline dynamics"

Biology Spring Seminar Series
Jennifer Ramp Neale, Denver Botanical Gardens
Friday, Feb. 29
Noon - 1:30 pm
NC 1539
Seminar Title: "Using genetic data in the conservation and restoration of native species: a case study from California's vernal pools "

Jake Adam York, Associate Professor of English
Reading and Reception for his book, A Murmuration of Starlings
Saturday, Mar. 1
4:00 pm
Cameron Church (1600 S. Pearl Street, Denver) followed by a reception at Book Buffs

Medical Narrative: Critical Perspectives on Storytelling
Health and Humanities Colloquia, sponsored by the Colorado Center for the Public Humanities
Wednesday, Mar. 12
2:30 - 4:00 pm
Tivoli 640, UCD Downtown Denver Campus
**lunch provided**
Contact Dr. Amy Vidali to RSVP, receive copies of the readings, and reserve your lunch! (303-556-4765)
See Colorado Center for Public Humanities Web site for more information.

IN THIS ISSUE:

New HR Coordinator

Dean Finalists Named

CU Women's Symposium

Health and Humanities Colloquia

Writer's Workshop

Call for Judges for Science Fair

CRISP Program

Media Experts

UROP Applications

Reminders

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 weekly newsletter
for college faculty and staff.

EDITOR:

Katy Brown
303.556.6663
Katy.Brown @cudenver.edu