Convocation Focuses on the Future

In his fall convocation address, Les Wong briefly recapped his “rookie year” as NMU president, but he spent most of the time focusing on four short-term activities the university will undertake now in order to shape its future.

These include developing an off-campus enrollment base; formulating a strategy to reduce semester credit-hour production per full-time teaching faculty; ramping up the areas of continuing education, online course development, grants and enhanced gifts; and implementing recommendations made by the Superior Edge and Internationalization task forces.

Wong said it is critical for Northern to find new and creative ways to reach audiences who can’t come to campus. Full Story

Privacy Act Impacts NMU

Northern stopped using social security numbers last year and implemented a system of identification numbers to protect students' personal information. But a federal act requires that more measures be taken to ensure privacy.

For example, Dave Maki (AdIT) said academic departments and campus offices should not store personal information on current or former students on departmental servers, personal computers, or even in hard-copy form unless they are in compliance with all policies and safeguarded to protect the data. Full Story

Domestic Diversity Institute at NMU

A three-day Domestic Diversity Institute – the first of its kind at NMU – will be held Sept. 14-16 in the Great Lakes Rooms of the University Center. It will feature keynote presentations by nationally recognized diversity consultants (pictured), breakout discussions, presentations by NMU faculty and staff, and a luncheon/strategy development session for the campus community. The latter is scheduled from noon-4 p.m. Friday, Sept. 16. The institute, titled “Diversity Stimulation: Transforming Attitudes, Community and Curriculum,” is sponsored by the university’s Ethnic and Cultural Diversity Committee (ECDC) and the King-Chavez-Parks Initiative.

“The president has given a charge to the ECDC to ascertain the level of attention given to diversity issues and to make some recommendations,” said Mary Etchison (Counseling and Consultation Services). “The institute is an attempt to educate the campus and greater community, as well as K-12, on the issues of domestic diversity. The last day is dedicated to the campus-wide forum so that the university community can have input on recommendations that will be developed that will ultimately affect the future of domestic diversity initiatives at NMU.” Full Story

Seaborg Center Receives Grant

The Glenn T. Seaborg Center for Teaching and Learning Science and Mathematics at NMU is one of five Upper Peninsula centers that will share in a two-year, $1 million Math-Science Partnership grant from the state.

The purpose of the program is to create a professional development model that will lead to improved student achievement in mathematics. The model will address the critical need for teachers to have time to work in collaboration, to focus on data-identified content needs in mathematics, and to examine instructional practices. Full Story

NMU, MGH Receive

$2 Million Grant

The NMU School of Nursing and Marquette General Hospital have been awarded nearly $2 million in state grant money to accelerate the education and graduation of registered and practical nurses.

Kerri Schuiling (School of Nursing) wrote the grant request. Northern will partner with MGH to educate an additional 20 LPNs and 20 RNs over the two-year fiscal period. Full Story

Lopez Researches Porcine Virus

Osvaldo Lopez (Biology, pictured with two students in his lab) has been put in charge of a research project to control and eliminate porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) in the United States.

Pregnant sows that are infected with PRRSV either give birth to a stillborn litter or, if the litter survives, it suffers from delayed growth and cannot be used for agricultural purposes. He said the virus is a worldwide problem, costing the pig industry roughly $25 per sow. Full Story

Welcome Weekend Starts Thursday

Northern faculty and staff are invited to participate in Welcome Weekend activities. The four-day event ushers in the fall semester and gives students an opportunity to get settled, take care of necessary business and – most importantly – have fun and meet people before classes begin.

It culminates with a “Be a Part from the Start” rally at the Berry Events Center on Sunday evening. For a full schedule, visit Welcome Weekend.

New Site for Fall Fest

The annual Fall Fest, which coincides with the first day of classes and showcases area businesses, will be held in the academic mall instead of its usual location by the University Center . Organizers wanted a high-traffic area with more space to accommodate an expanded event. For the first time, Fall Fest is being combined with the Involvement Expo, a one-stop opportunity for student and volunteer organizations to recruit participants. The event is scheduled from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday, Aug. 29, with a rain date of Aug. 30.

Fall Fest will feature more than 80 student organizations, 50 businesses and 20 volunteer agencies; several food booths; free ice cream; Roving Entertainment; music by Jim and Ray; a chance to win a Corvette; and information on fall-semester events.

DSO Offers Online Carpooling

Parking spaces will become a precious commodity next week, particularly around central campus, as students vie for available spots near their classrooms. But the Dean of Students office provides a share-a-ride service that could help relieve some of the traffic congestion. Carpooling lists are posted on the DSO Web site at (dso.nmu.edu). Full Story