Prehistoric Tour with Dr. Martin Lockley
September 22, RSVP by September 7
Join us for a walk through prehistoric history with acclaimed CLAS paleontologist and dinosaur tracker Dr. Martin Lockley. Either meet us at Dinosaur Ridge to participate in the free tour only or come early to campus for a tour of the UCDHSC Dinosaur Tracks Museum, a chartered bus to Dinosaur Ridge and a picnic lunch. The bus will return to campus following the tour. Parking passes for campus will be provided if you take the bus. For full appreciation of Dinosaur Ridge, we suggest walking about a ½ mile. The hike is not strenuous, but there are moderate short inclines to negotiate. Please wear hiking boots or comfortable walking shoes. The event is rain or shine. No refunds will be given. This event is sponsored by the Alumni Association and is open to all university faculty, staff, alumni and students.
Dinosaur Tracks museum tour (10:00 am): FREE
Bus Ride to Dinosaur Ridge (11:00 am) and Lunch (11:30-12:30): $10 for adults; $5 for children
Dinosaur Ridge Walking Tour (12:30-3:30pm): FREE
Please RSVP by September 7. Contact Katy Brown with questions about how to RSVP.
AHEC Emergency Response Guide
Please become familiar with the protocols outlined in the Emergency Response Guide developed by AHEC. More detailed plans for downtown employees at UCDHSC will be developed and communicated once the new emergency preparedness coordinator is hired.
Request for syllabi copies
Submit by Friday, Sept. 7
Due to students recreating and changing syllabi to support their requests for special consideration, it is necessary for the Dean’s Office to retain a copy of each syllabus for your classes. Chairs and faculty, please send a copy for each syllabus this semester to Associate Dean Charlie Ferguson by Friday, Sept. 7. He does not plan to review them for content; he plans to keep them filed to cross-check student claims.
Academic Early Alert System
Academic Early Alert is the university’s new way of identifying and contacting students in need of assistance early in the semester. It will replace the midterm grade reporting starting Fall 2007. We are all partners in the process, so your participation is crucial!
Faculty will be asked to log into the system starting the 4th week of the semester. Alerts will then be sent to academic advisors who will contact the students during the 6th week and make appropriate referrals. More specific information and instructions will follow by email on September 4. For more information, contact John Lanning.
3rd Annual First-Year Experience Symposium
Undergraduate research, internships and experiential learning
This year the symposium will be held on Friday, Oct. 5 in St. Cajetan's from 8:30am until 3:30pm. There will be three guest speakers this year, Eugene Alpert, Washington (DC) Center for Interns and Academic Services, Mary Crowe, Undergraduate Research at University of North Carolina - Greensboro, and Lynne Montrose, Experiential Education, Regis University. They will jointly be presenting strategies for implementing undergraduate research, internships, and experiential learning.
For more information, contact Liz Pruett.
CLAS committee openings
There are openings on several CLAS committees due to resignations, retirements and sabbatical leaves. Please send your name to Mary Coussons-Read if you are interested in serving on one the following committees:
Dean’s Advisory Committee (tenured social sciences opening)
Academic Ethics Committee (social sciences opening)
Scholarship Committee (integrated sciences opening)
Smart-Girl seeks interns
Exciting new mentorship program
This year we are starting a new partnership with Smart-Girl, Inc., a non-profit Colorado organization that provides peer-mentoring and leadership training for middle school girls in the public schools. We are seeking 15 students (female) to participate in the program this year, and plan on expanding the program to include all students (not just girls) in the future. Enrolled students will participate in a mandatory 2-credit hour training course (offered over a weekend) and will then work as part of a leadership team with girls at Kempner Middle School for approximately 3 hours per week through the remainder of the academic year, for which they will earn 3 hours of academic internship credit by the end of Spring 08. Please post the attached flyer in your department and/or announce the program in your classes if you are comfortable doing that, and pass the word on to students whom you think might be interested in this exciting program. The attached flier includes meeting times and registration information, and you can learn more about Smart-Girl at their website. Please contact Mary Coussons-Read if you have further questions.
University Scholarship Team Grants
Call for proposals due September 28
The Office of Research Services and the Center for Faculty Development at the Downtown Campus of the University of Colorado Denver announce a new grant program, The University Scholarship Team Grants, with total funding up to $18,000. The purpose of the UST Grant program is to provide resources for collaborative, scholarly and creative work. Funding will support teams composed of faculty and students who identify scholarly or creative problems of mutual interest and who jointly seek solutions to these problems in informal environments outside of the classroom. Teams may be disciplinary or interdisciplinary and are encouraged to involve members from both campuses.
Applications must be received by the Research Services Office, Lawrence Street Center 300 (Campus Box 120) by 5 pm, Friday, Sept. 28.
CLAS Council update
The CLAS Council is "the major deliberative and legislative body of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences." It held its first meeting of the academic year on August 23. Among the topics addressed were implementation of the College's Strategic Plan, Signature Areas, classroom and office space, and the operations of the Dean's Office. Acting Dean Tammy Stone and Associate Dean Brenda J. Allen provided information and counsel on these and other topics. For an overview of the Council's inaugural year, see its Annual Report. Minutes are also available on the CLAS website. Elected representatives from every department, as well as a representative from CLAS instructors and senior instructors, constitute the Council's voting membership. All departments should ensure they have a representative present at the meetings for these important discussions.
If you have questions or comments, please contact Pamela Laird.
Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP)
Please encourage your students to participate in the 2008-2009 student grants program. UROP enhances undergraduate education on the Downtown Denver Campus by providing funding for students engaged in research, creative, and entrepreneurial activities in collaboration with UCDHSC faculty members. Projects may be designed around the scholarly activities of a faculty member, or designed independently by a student and endorsed by a faculty sponsor. All undergraduate students enrolled in a degree program on the Downtown Denver Campus of UCDHSC and who are in good academic standing are eligible for participation in the program. Furthermore, any regular UCDHSC faculty member is eligible to sponsor one or more UROP students.
For more information (the application and other dates will be updated as we enter the fall semester), please visit the UROP website.
Philosophy Department essay contest
Students are eligible to win $50.00
Faculty and staff, please share with your students that the Philosophy Department is hosting an essay contest this semester. Open to all majors, students may submit his or her best essay of the semester by December 10, 2007 to be eligible for a $50.00 prize. Awards will be made in January 2008. See the flyer or contact David Hildebrand for more information.
Faculty on the Move
Assistant Professor David Hildebrand from the philosophy department will be presenting a paper on aesthetic criticism at the Mountain Plains 2007 Conference at the University of Denver, September 27-29. His paper is entitled "Why Entertainment Is Not Worthy of Aesthetic Criticism: Defending the Art/Entertainment Dualism."
Professor Diana Tomback from the biology department presented the keynote address at a workshop for whiteback pine in Whistler, British Columbia August 21-24. Attended by government and university constituents primarily from western Canada, it was sponsored by British Columbia Ministry of Forests and Range, Gene Conservation Technical Advisory Committee and the University of British Columbia.
Margaret L. Woodhull, assistant director of the masters of humanities and social sciences program, presented a paper entitled "Dynastic Designs: Women, Architecture and Patronage in Imperial Rome" at the International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences at the University of the Granada in Spain (July 10-13, 2007). Her paper was part of a panel entitled "Politics, Power and Architectural Production." This conference has an international advisory board with members from University of Granada, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Cambridge University, Syracuse University, University of the Aegean (Rhodes) RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia. The conference is supported by The Globalism Institute and RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia.
Reminders & Events
Mixed Taste: Tag Team Lectures on Unrelated Topics
August 30: Gillian Silverman of the English Department will speak on Marxism. She is paired with a lecture on “Kittens, Kittens, Kittens”.
6:00 pm, $10/$5 members
The Lab at Belmar
404 S. Upham St., Lakewood
Contact: Jake Adam York
Colorado Center for Public Humanities Lecture Series
Don't miss the inaugural lecture!
Thursday, Sept. 6
Michael Berube, Paterno Family Chair in Literature at Penn State University
“Intellectuals and Publics”
Tivoli Turnhalle
12:00 noon
“What Happened to Cultural Studies”
The Laboratory of Art & Ideas, Belmar
404 S. Upham Street, Lakewood
6:30 pm
Philosophy Department Lecture
Thursday, Sept. 20
Guest lecturer: Michael Zimmerman, Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Center for Humanities and the Arts University of Colorado at Boulder
"Will technological advances lead to a transhuman era?
Plaza Bldg. M108A, Haber Library
11:30 am – 1:00 pm
Ethnic Studies Open House
Monday, Oct. 1
12:00 – 1:30 pm
Lawrence Street Center Terrace (2nd Floor)
For more information, call 303.556.2700.
Colorado Center for Public Humanities Lecture Series
Thursday, Oct. 4
Stephen Prothero, the chair of the Department of Religion at Boston University
“Religious Literacy: What Americans Need to Know”
Tivoli Turnhalle
12:00 noon
The Laboratory of Art and Ideas, Belmar
404 S. Upham Street, Lakewood
6:30 pm
Poetry Festival, hosted by the Copper Nickel
Thursday, Oct. 18
King Center Recital Hall
5:00-9:00 pm
Friday, Oct. 19
King Center Concert Hall
12:00-5:00 pm
Final Exhibition
Friday, Oct. 19
The Lab at Belmar
4004 S. Upham Street, Lakewood
7:00-10:00 pm
More event details to come. Contact Jake Adam York with questions.
UCDHSC Fall Open House
Sunday, Oct. 28
11:30-2:30 pm
PE/Event Center
IN THIS ISSUE:
Prehistoric Tour
AHEC Emergency Response Guide
Request for syllabi
Academic Early Alert
3rd Annual First Year Experience Symposium
CLAS committees
Smart-Girl
University Scholarship Team Grants
CLAS Council
UROP
Essay contest
Faculty on the Move
Reminders & Events
ARCHIVES:
Past issues since Jan 21, 2007.
USEFUL LINKS:
Campus News (PostExpress archives)
The CLAS Deans' Notes is a weekly newsletter
for department chairs and staff.
EDITORS:
Rick Wilson
303.556.2557
Rick.Wilson @cudenver.edu
Katy Brown
303.556.6663
Katy.Brown @cudenver.edu