Wong Outlines Two-Step Plan

Stating that “the change we’ve been discussing for two years is now here,” President Les Wong outlined a two-step plan at last week’s university forum that features budget-reduction and positioning strategies to be implemented between now and Jan. 1, 2011.

The plan calls for restructuring some units to increase efficiency or revenues and analyzing academic programs that might be enhanced, created or eliminated. Full Story

Stimulus Supports NMU Power Tech Program

Northern has received $673,000 in stimulus funding through the U.S. Department of Energy to enhance its electrical power technician workforce training program. Established in fall 2009, the associate degree program helps regional utilities address a shortage of electrical power technicians needed to fill critical positions in all areas of the electrical power generation, transmission and distribution system. NMU offers the degree in collaboration with the Midwest Skills Development Center and Upper Peninsula power companies. Full Story

Prusi to Speak at Commencement

Sen. Mike Prusi will speak at Northern's spring commencement and receive an honorary doctor of public service degree. He is the Senate Democratic Leader and serves as Democratic vice chair of two committees: Senate Government Operations and Reform; and Hunting, Fishing and Outdoor Recreation. Prusi also is a member of the Legislative Council and the Senate Fiscal Agency Governing Board. He previously served three terms in the Michigan House of Representatives.

Prior to his legislative career, Prusi worked for more than 20 years as an iron ore miner for the Cleveland Cliffs Iron Company at various Marquette County mining operations. He was elected to three terms as president of Local Union 4950 of the United Steelworkers of America and also served on the executive board of the Marquette County Labor Council.

Business Students Assist Children’s Museum

The NMU chapter of Students in Free Enterprise, an international organization that focuses on community service projects outside the classroom, is working with the U.P. Children’s Museum on its store renovation (pictured in progress). Students are helping to develop several elements crucial to any retail outlet: a marketing plan, product mix, price points, an inventory reorder numbering system and accounting procedures. All will be combined in one business plan delivered by the end of the semester and tweaked, if necessary, as the renovation progresses. Full Story

Subpoena Process Reminder

At a recent President's Council meeting, Cathy Dehlin (General Counsel) reinforced the protocol for handling subpoenas seeking university information. Employees who find themselves on the receiving end of such requests should immediately forward the material to Dehlin, who will ensure that the subpoena is valid and, if necessary, formulate an appropriate response.

“This will help us to avoid potentially sticky issues associated with the release of some information,” said Dehlin. “For example, if we are subpoenaed for a student’s records, the protocol usually is that we try to notify the student before we respond. Or if we are subpoenaed by a court from another state with no jurisdiction here, responding could actually be problematic. Subpoenas are not uncommon and they are usually handled lawyer to lawyer, so it would be helpful if all responses originate from my office. I appreciate everyone’s efforts to help us respond to valid subpoenas in a timely and appropriate way.”

Spanish Researcher Teams with Watts

Vanesa España-Romero, a visiting scholar from the University of Granada in Spain, is assisting Phil Watts (HPER) with rock climbing physiology research through June. Their main project measures the energy expended during ascents of a set climbing route on NMU’s indoor wall and monitors how that changes when subjects repeat the route once per week over eight to 10 weeks. Watts said this type of study has never been done before. Full Story

One Book Selection Announced

The Sparrow, Mary Doria Russell’s debut novel about first contact with an extraterrestrial civilization, is the 2010 selection for Marquette County’s One Book, One Community program. Russell puts her doctorate in biological anthropology to effective use creating worlds, species and societies that are believable and shocking. Considered “a classic of speculative fiction,” The Sparrow’s plot centers on a Jesuit mission to another planet.

In 2019, a listening post in Puerto Rico picks up exquisite singing from a planet that will come to be known as Rakhat. While United Nations diplomats debate a possible first contact mission, the Society of Jesus quietly organizes an eight-person scientific expedition of its own. What the Jesuits find is a world so beyond comprehension that it will lead them to question the meaning of being "human." Full Story