April 6, 2009

Inside this Issue

From the Chancellor
Featured Events & Activities
Around Campus
Accolades

From the Chancellor

The past weeks have been very busy as a budget for 2009-10 needed to be submitted to Central Administration.  To do so required making some difficult decisions that will impact the campus community.  Information was sent April 2 and is available at www.umcrookston.edu/chancellors-office/budgetfinance.htm.

Last week a group had the opportunity to tour the new residence hall.  The project is progressing very well and will be a tremendous asset to the campus.  There will be expanded space for a classroom, honors room, studio apartment for guests, and a large lounge area.

Preparations are moving along well for a number of campus visitors in the next few weeks including President Bruininks and Senior Vice President Jones on April 16 and Vice President O’Brien and Sustainability Coordinator Amy Short on April 24.

This Friday is a campus holiday and the last break before the end of the semester.  I hope everyone will have a safe and enjoyable Easter Holiday.

– Chuck

Charles H. Casey, Chancellor
University of Minnesota, Crookston

Featured Events & Activities

Grad Fest, Wednesday, April 8 – 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., International Lounge and Bookstore, Sargeant Student Center

Sixth Street Greenspace Planning and Design Charrette, Thursday, April 9 – 6 p.m., Dowell Hall 212

Floating Holiday, Friday, April 10 – no classes, campus offices closed

Speaker:  Reverend Samuel “Billy” Kyles, Monday, April 13 – 6 p.m. Reception, 7 p.m. presentation, Kiehle Auditorium, free admission

Diversity Summit Panel Discussion, Tuesday, April 14 – Noon, Kiehle Auditorium

Campus Visit by U of M President Robert Bruininks and VP Robert Jones, Thursday, April 16 (rescheduled from March 27)

Campus Assembly Meeting, Thursday, April 16 – 12:30 to 2 p.m., Bede Ballroom

ITV Meeting: Growing Markets for Organic, Locally Grown and Sustainable Agriculture, Friday, April 17 – 9:30 to 11:30 a.m., Bede Ballroom, Sargeant Student Center, sponsored by U.S. Congressman Collin Peterson

Celebration of Mexican Culture and Tradition, Friday, April 17 – 4:30 p.m. dinner, Brown Dining Room, Sahlstrom Conference Center; 7 p.m. free program, Kiehle Auditorium; 9:30 p.m., dance, Bede Ballroom, Sargeant Student Center

Admissions Preview Day, Saturday, April 18 – 9:45 a.m. to 2 p.m., check-in at Sargeant Student Center

Youth Horse Clinic, Saturday, April 18 – 9 a.m. to Noon – showmanship; 1 to 3 p.m. - games; for ages 7-18, cost is $15 per person, participants are encouraged to bring their own horses

Urban Forestry Workshop, Monday, April 20 – 7:45 a.m. to 3 p.m., Bede Ballroom, Sargeant Student Center, cost is $30 per person (Rescheduled from March 26)

Annual Athletics Awards Program, Monday, April 20 – 6 p.m., Kiehle Auditorium

Student Support Services Awards Banquet, Monday, April 20 – 6 p.m., Bede Ballroom, Sargeant Student Center, guests by invitation

Public Engagement Day, Tuesday, April 21 – 9 to 11 a.m., community dialogue, 116 Kiehle; Noon to 2 p.m., poster session, Sargeant Student Center; 12:30 p.m., panel discussion, Bede Ballroom

Annual Student Awards Program, Thursday, April 23 – 6 p.m., Kiehle Auditorium

Third Annual Golden Eagle Student Athlete Walk with Bill for Athletic Scholarships (walk-a-thon), Thursday, April 23 – 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Ed Widseth Field

Teambacker Fun Nite, Friday, April 24 – 6 p.m. social, 6:30 p.m. dinner, 7:30 p.m. games, Crookston Eagles Club, tickets are $50 per person

For details on these and other events or to discover what's happening this week, visit UMC Today at www.UMCrookston.edu/umcnews or review our news page at www.UMCrookston.edu/umcnews/stories .

Around Campus

Administrative Affairs –

University of Minnesota President Bruininks, Ph.D., and Robert Jones, Ph.D., senior vice president for system administration, will visit the Crookston campus Thursday, April 16.  The day’s itinerary includes meetings with campus students, faculty, staff, department heads, administrators, and regional media.  An open forum for faculty and staff is scheduled for 9 a.m. in Bede Ballroom, and a forum for students will follow at 10 a.m. in the Northern Lights Lounge, Sargeant Student Center.  President Bruininks will also address Campus Assembly at the 12:30 p.m. meeting in Bede Ballroom.

Student Affairs –

Reverend Samuel “Billy” Kyles, a witness to the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., will speak Monday, April 13, at 7 p.m. in Kiehle Auditorium.  Kyles will discuss his life and history with Martin Luther King, Jr.  Kyles’ Academy Award-nominated short documentary, “The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306,” will also be shown.  A reception for Kyles is scheduled prior to his presentation at 6 p.m. in Kiehle Rotunda. The event is free and open to the public.

A diversity summit panel discussion is scheduled for Tuesday, April 14, at noon in Kiehle Auditorium.  The panel will include students, staff, and community leaders engaging in a dialogue about diversity using a roundtable discussion format.  Panelists include Reverend Samuel “Billy” Kyles, U of M, Crookston First Lady Barbara Muesing, Crookston High School Superintendent Wayne Gillman, local attorney Anne Rasmusson, and Matsimela C. Diop, Ph.D., director, Multicultural Student Services at the University of North Dakota.  The event is free and open to the public.  Learn more.

Development & Alumni Relations –

Grad Fest will be held Wednesday, April 8, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Sargeant Student Center.  All prospective graduates will receive the Almost Alumni booklet.

The U of M, Crookston Alumni Association Board will meet Thursday, April 9, at 6:30 p.m. in Kiehle 116, and the Northwest School of Agriculture Alumni Board will meet Monday, April 20, at noon in Kiehle 116.

Teambacker Fun Nite is set for Friday, April 24, at the Crookston Eagles Club, downtown Crookston.  Tickets, $50 per person, are available at the Development & Alumni Relations Office in Kiehle Building.  Everyone is welcome to attend. All proceeds support scholarships.  Attendees do not need to be members of Teambackers.

Athletics –

The U of M, Crookston Western Equestrian Team finished the season in sixth place overall at the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) National Semifinal Competition, held March 21 and 22 at the University of Findlay in Findlay, Ohio. Six riders placed in the various classes.  Learn more.

Lindy Hausauer, a senior from Moorhead, Minn., placed fourth at the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) Hunt Seat Equestrian Zone Finals on March 29.  The event was hosted by Purdue University in West LaFayette, Ind.

Visit www.goldeneaglesports.com for schedules and cheer on the Golden Eagles.

Campus & Local Community –

A planning session to work on the design for the Sixth Street greenspace located west of the underpass in Crookston will be held Thursday, April 9, at 6 p.m. in Dowell Hall 212.  All interested parties are welcome.  The design and construction of the space are joint projects with the City of Crookston, and the U of M, Crookston.  Assistant Professor Eric Castle, M.L.A., assistant professor, horticulture, is coordinating campus efforts and student involvement through his landscape design and landscape installation and maintenance classes.

U.S. Congressman Collin Peterson, Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, will sponsor a multi-site meeting Friday, April 17, from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. to inform citizens about programs available in the 2008 Farm Bill that address opportunities in growing markets for organic, locally grown, and sustainable agriculture.  The U of M, Crookston’s Bede Ballroom will be one of four sites linked via interactive television for this meeting.  Representatives from USDA Rural Development and members of Peterson’s U.S. House Agriculture Committee staff will explain the various programs in detail.  All interested parties are invited to attend.  There is no charge to attend the meeting, but RSVPs are requested by calling 218-253-4356.

A celebration of Mexican culture and tradition in the spirit of Cinco de Mayo is scheduled for Friday, April 17.  A dinner featuring authentic Mexican cuisine will be served from 4:30 to 7 p.m. in Brown Dining Hall followed by a program in Kiehle Auditorium featuring Los Alegres Bailadores, a Mexican folk dance troupe from St, Paul, Minn., and Roots of Mexico, a Fargo-Moorhead area dance troupe.  A family dance featuring the band Esquina will round out the evening from 9:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. in Bede Ballroom, Sargeant Student Center.  All events are free and sponsored by VOICES, a group that provides community cultural awareness education, and the U of M, Crookston Office of Diversity and Multicultural Services and Student Support Services.  Learn more.

The U of M, Crookston Natural Resources Department and Center for Adult Learning will co-host the 25th Annual Northwest Urban Forestry Workshop Monday, April 20 (rescheduled from March 26), from 7:45 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Bede Ballroom, Sargeant Student Center.  The workshop includes informational sessions on new and under-used trees, new and emerging invasive forest pests, Minnesota certified tree inspector recertification, new tree inspector testing, and forest pest first detector training for Minnesota residents. Cost is $30 per person.  Learn more.

Accolades

Dan Svedarsky, Ph.D., professor and head of the U of M, Crookston Natural Resources Department, organized and co-chaired a special session, "The Coursework of Conservation - Are University Curricula on Target?” at the recent North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference, held March 16-21 in Arlington, Virginia. The focus of the session was an analysis of wildlife programs in North America based on data gathered from employers as well as college and university faculty.  Svedarsky co-chaired the session with Steve McMullin, associate department head of Virginia Tech’s Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences.

A group of horticulture students representing the U of M, Crookston took part in PLANET (Professional Landcare Network) Student Career Days March 26-29 at Cal Poly Pomona in Pomona, Cal.  Mike Field, a junior from Spicer, Minn., placed 5th in the Leadership Skills event.  Jada Ellenberg, a senior from Ely, Minn., and Mike Field placed 6th in the Landscape Maintenance Operation event.  Over 800 students enrolled in collegiate horticulture programs across the country participated in this annual competitive event.  Theo Lenneman, a freshman from St. Michael, Minn., and Mike Field placed individually in the overall top 100, and Jada Ellenberg placed in the top 50.  

An article entitled “Language and Reality” by Shou-ching Chao, Ph.D., coordinator of UMC’s Writing Center, will be published in the April 10, 2009, issue of the prestigious Chinese Journal of the PLA Art Academy.  The essay explores how writers in early 20th-century England interpret reality, and it asserts that writers in the first two decades of the 20th Century wrote for arts’ sake by experimenting with new techniques such as the stream of consciousness in the creation of characters in their writing; to those writers, reality lies within, rather than without human consciousness. The essay is based on his study of literary works by writers of the 1920s and 1930s.

Holly Sandberg, a senior water resource management student from Rochert, Minn., was presented with the 2009 Student Conservationist Award from the Minnesota Chapter of the Soil and Water Conservation Society at the professional organization’s annual meeting, held April 3 at Cabela’s in Rogers, Minn. The award consists of a plaque and a $500 cash award.  Sandberg’s award marks the sixth time in the last eight years that a U of M, Crookston student has received this prestigious honor.

Publication notes: The E-Update is published twice each month August thru April and once each month in the summer, May thru July. Issues are posted online.

If you have any questions regarding the information in this news update, please send them to urumc@umn.edu.