Wednesday, April 5, 2006

Campus Space Issues Addressed

NMU administrators are looking beyond enrollment growth in their continuing effort to reduce per-student costs to a level comparable with peer institutions. At Monday’s forum, Mike Roy (Finance and Administration) said Northern’s annual plant operations budget is $3.1 million higher than the average of 10 state universities used for comparison purposes. By leveraging the asset of physical space, Roy said NMU could reduce facilities costs and divert those funds to other areas.

 

Three possibilities that have been explored include selling buildings to entities that share the university’s mission, demolishing buildings that are not being used, and leasing space to non-profit or for-profit businesses whose interests align with Northern’s. Full Story

EO Office Seeks Input

NMU employees are encouraged to complete a brief, electronic survey that will help assess their awareness of the Equal Opportunity office and the services it provides – including its role in the hiring process.

Cathy Dehlin (Equal Opportunity) said the survey is being conducted for the first time as part of the AQIP outcomes assessment plan. It will be available April 5-13 and has no connection to the recent Human Resources survey. Full Story

Faculty Grants Awarded

Fourteen NMU faculty members have been awarded grants of up to $7,000 for various research projects.

They will receive the funding through the Faculty Grants Program, which provides financial support for research, scholarly activities, papers for publication and creative works. Full Story

Dobson Sponsors Banquet

NMU’s annual leadership recognition banquet will be sponsored by Dobson Communications, which provides local wireless phone services under the Cellular One brand name.

Bill Bernard (Academic Affairs) is pictured at right accepting a ceremonial check from Ronald Hewson, retail sales manager at Cellular One in Marquette. Bernard said corporate sponsorship was needed because base-budget funding for the banquet was eliminated through campus cost-saving measures. Full Story

National Student Employment Week Scheduled April 9-15

In order to recognize the efforts of student employees in higher education, the National Student Employment Association annually designates the second full week of April as National Student Employment Week. It’s celebrated on campuses nationwide, and John Frick (JOBSearch Center) said that it’s important for NMU to participate as well.

 

“Student employees at NMU provide an important service to a wide variety of constituents," he said. "The work they do assists faculty, staff, other students, parents, alumni, administrators and others,” he said. “Their work touches almost every facet of campus life. We could not do what we do without the help of our student employees. I think it’s only fitting that we recognize them.” Full Story

Basal Honored

Julee Basal is NMU's Student Employee of the Year. While pursuing her master's degree in public administration, Basal serves as the media relations coordinator at the U.S. Olympic Education Center.

She was nominated by Jeff Kleinschmidt (USOEC). In his nomination letter, Kleinschmidt wrote, “Julee is responsible for all of the media and public relations aspects of the USOEC athletes and programs. She also played a major role in marketing, promoting, and organizing the 2006 U.S. Short Track Championships.” Full Story

Jazz Festival

Nearly 20 high school bands from Michigan and Wisconsin have signed up to participate in the 10th annual Northern Michigan University Jazz Festival. It will be held on Thursday and Friday, April 20 and 21, culminating in the Gala Jazz Festival Concert at 7:30 p.m. Friday in Kaufman Auditorium.

Bob Mintzer is the headlining artist at this year’s festival.  A world-renowned composer, arranger and educator, he specializes in the tenor and soprano saxophones and has been nominated for 13 Grammy awards for his solo and ensemble work. A variety of jazz workshops will be presented by various guest artists/clinicians, including Mintzer, Kelly Rossum, Dave Ziegner, and Kirsten Gustafson. Full Story

Student Research Celebrated

The 11th annual Celebration of Student Research and Creative Works is scheduled from 9 a.m to 4 p.m. Thursday, April 13, in the University Center. The event, sponsored by Academic Affairs and Graduate Studies, gives undergraduate and graduate students an opportunity to gain experience in presenting their own work. It also highlights the student/faculty mentoring that is prevalent at NMU.

A full schedule of poster and oral presentaitons will be available at Student Research.

Recipients of the 2006 TLC Student Awards will also be recognized at the event for their innovative uses for the laptop in the academic environment. They are: Shelby Mitchell (HPER), Traci Maki (HPER), Doug Tosa (Geography) and Alex Hansen (Art and Design).

   

A profile of an NMU employee

When it comes to sports, Sue Tollefson (USOEC) has several ties. She is the U.S. Olympic Education Center’s principal secretary, and has also served as a luge official, BMX track official and boxing judge.

“I’ve never been an actual athlete, but I’m a great spectator,” she said. Full Story

 

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Updated: April 5, 2006

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