NEWS IN BRIEF
Associate VP candidates to interview this month
Three candidates will visit campus this month to interview for the position of Associate Vice Provost for International Programs. An open forum will be held with each candidate. Faculty and staff are encouraged to attend the sessions and e-mail their assessments to Emily Eichler, in the office of the provost, at emilyjoy@ku.edu.The first forum will be from 3 - 4 p.m. Feb. 4 in the Alderson Auditorium in the Kansas Union. The second is set for 3 - 4 p.m. Feb. 7 in the Parlor Rooms in the Kansas Union. The final session will be from 2 to 3 p.m. in the Alderson Auditorium in the Kansas Union. Candidates' names and curriculum vitaes will be posted on the Provost's Web site, www.provost.ku.edu, a few days before each interview.
Student Financial Aid seeks faculty, staff help
The Office of Student Financial Aid is requesting faculty and staff help in determining students' attendance in class. Federal Title IV law does not require faculty to take class attendance, but does require schools to determine which students attend classes and which do not.Employees who have a student or students who have never attended class, or who appears to have stopped attending class without officially withdrawing, should complete a "last date of attendance" form and forward it to Jamie Harwood, assistant director of the Office of Student Financial Aid, via campus mail or fax it to 4-5469. For more information or to receive the form, contact Harwood at jharwood@ku.edu.
Information Management Web site launched
A new Information Management Web site has been activated from the provost's home page www.provost.ku.edu/. The site, which aims to help keep sensitive information KU handles secure, includes information on record management, roles and responsibilities, information management policies, security and privacy, university information and records, resources and tools and a glossary.
Financial planning seminars offered
The Department of Human Resources and Equal Opportunity is sponsoring a series of pre-retirement and financial planning awareness seminars for KU faculty, staff and their families.9 - 11:30 a.m. Feb. 19, Big 12 Room, Social Security Benefits in Retirement; 1 - 4 p.m., Feb. 19, Big 12 Room, Health Insurance after Retirement; 9 a.m. - noon, Feb. 20, Alderson Auditorium, Wills, Trusts and Estate Planning; 1:30 - 4:30 p.m. Feb. 20, Alderson Auditorium, Long Term Care; 9 - 11:30 a.m., Feb. 21, Kansas Room, Concepts in Investment Planning; 1 -3 p.m., Feb. 21, Kansas Room, KPERS Benefits in Retirement.
All sessions will be held in the Kansas Union. No registration is required and all sessions are free. For more information, please call Staff Benefits at 864-4946 or e-mail benefits@ku.edu.
Middaugh to give 50th anniversary lecture
C. Russell Middaugh, Takeru and Aya Higuchi Distinguished Professor of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, will give the Department of Special Education 50th Anniversary Lecture at 7 p.m. Feb. 11 in Alderson Auditorium, Kansas Union.The lecture, "Pharmaceutical Biotechnology: Drugs, Genese and Vaccines," will discuss vaccines, and their social and ethical considerations.
Unclassified Senate nominations due Feb. 15
The Unclassified Senate is seeking nominations for people to represent the interests of unclassified staff.Elections will be in March, and nominations are due Feb. 15. There are 10 senator positions available, the majority of which have three-year terms. Nominations are also being sought for president-elect, secretary and treasurer. Anyone interested in serving or nominating someone should send an e-mail to unclassifiedsenate @ku.edu. Those nominating themselves should also include a statement about why he or she would like to serve.
The senate president meets regularly with the provost, and three representatives are members of the university senate, while another is a voting member of SenEx.
Full unclassified senate meetings are held every other month. Officers are elected at the first meeting of the year, and they meet on alternating months when the full senate does not. The base requirement is to attend six meetings per year.
Group to discuss `Responsible Scholarship' at KU
This spring, the Office of Research and Graduate Studies will convene a small group of faculty — and possibly advanced graduate students or post-docs - to meet and discuss the topic, "Responsible Scholarship at the University of Kansas." The group will meet once or twice. Each participant will then prepare a short essay that either describes a significant ethical challenge they have confronted in their work or addresses the question of what responsible scholarship means. The essays - up to 2,500 words in length — will be collected in a print and on-line resource: Conducting Responsible Scholarship at the University of Kansas. Authors will also participate in a panel discussion forum during the fall 2008 semester, at which they will present highlights of their essays.Faculty from any area, school or department are encouraged to apply. Each participant will receive a $750 honorarium. Feb. 15 is the application deadline. For more information, to apply, or to nominate a graduate student or post-doc participant, contact: Joshua Rosenbloom, Associate Vice Provost, Office of Research and Graduate Studies, jrosenbloom@ku.edu.
Unclassified staff sought for legislative visit
Unclassified Staff volunteers are being sought for a legislative visit Feb. 12. Members of KU's unclassified professional staff annually visit Kansas legislators to talk about their role at the university and to encourage support of higher education. There will be a briefing session for anyone interested in learning more about the event on from 12 to 1 p.m. Feb. 8 in Alcove C of the Kansas Union.Volunteers must use vacation or discretionary day leave for their time on the day of the visit. For more information, visit www.unclassifiedsenate.ku.edu or contact Phil Wilke at pwilke@ku.edu.
KU to host Relay For Life, volunteers sought
KU will host its annual Relay For Life event benefiting the American Cancer Society on May 2. Last year, KU raised more than $40,000 for the fight against cancer. Jeremy Early, assistant director of the Office of Student Financial Aid, and faculty/staff recruitment chair, said participants are being sought in both the employee and student communities.Faculty and staff can either register a team online and make donations at http://events.cancer.org/rflkuks or work with a student team as an honorary member. Anyone who would like to be a faculty/staff representative should contact Early at jsearly@ku.edu.
Hersh to be honored at William Allen White Day Feb. 8
Distinguished journalist Seymour Hersh will be honored at a public ceremony at 1:30 p.m. Feb. 8 in Woodruff Auditorium in the Kansas Union as part of William Allen White Day. He won the 1970 Pulitzer Prize for exposing the My Lai massacre and cover up during the Vietnam War, numerous awards in 2005 for his magazine series in The New Yorker exposing the Abu Ghraib prison scandal in 2004, and a record five George Polk Awards for investigative reporting. He worked for The New York Times for more than seven years, and has been a regular contributor to The New Yorker since 1993.
Dole gives $500,000 gift to institute at KU
Former Sen. Bob Dole, R-Kan., has given a $500,000 gift to the Dole Institute of Politics.The senator's gift brings the institute's endowment to $8.5 million. Its goal is $20 million. Interest earned on the endowment supports programs such as the annual Dole Lecture, the Dole Leadership Prize and the Presidential Lecture Series. The Dole Institute was established at KU in 1997 to foster new thinking on major policy issues and encourage student participation and citizen involvement in public service.
Since retiring from elective posts, Dole has remained active in discussions of public policy and supports numerous charitable causes. He is special counsel to the Washington, D.C., law firm Alston and Bird and a member of the firm's Legislative and Public Policy Group. He was the national chairman of the fundraising campaign for the WWII Memorial in Washington, D.C. In 2007, President George W. Bush appointed Dole to serve as co-chair of the President's Commission on Care for America's Returning Wounded Warriors to support and simplify the care of injured service members.
Email Page
Print Page