Weekly Bulletin

Nominations open for Outstanding Academic Advisor Awards

Each year, the University recognizes Outstanding Academic Advisors on campus. This year, two individuals will be honored with the prize. One of the two awards is reserved for a faculty advisor; the second may be given to a faculty member or a staff member.

The Nominating Committee for the 2002-2003 Outstanding Academic Advisor Award invites all students, faculty, staff and alumni to nominate academic advisors whose practices distinguish them from other advisors. The characteristics of an outstanding advisor include but are not limited to:

Building strong relationships with students; monitoring students' progress toward academic and career goals; making appropriate referrals; knowing and understanding institutional regulations, policies and procedures.

The winners of the Outstanding Academic Advisor Awards will receive $3,000. The winners will be announced and the awards presented in May.

Nominations of faculty and staff who advise undergraduate students should be submitted to Outstanding Academic Advisor Award Committee, Office of the Provost, 362 Whitmore Administration Building.

Nominations may be made in writing, by phone (5-2554), or by e-mail (gjones@ provost.umass.edu) by Friday, Nov. 15.

When a nomination is received, the nominee's department head will be notified. If the department head supports the nomination, a package of materials will be requested for submission to the committee. Supporting materials are due on or before Dec. 20.

Retirement reception for Kevin Aiken

A reception honoring Kevin Aiken, who retired in June as director of the Division of Continuing Education, will be held Thursday, Nov. 7, 4-6:30 p.m. in the lobby of the Alfond Management Center, Isenberg School.

All members of the University community are invited to attend the event and thank Aiken for his 22 years of campus service.

Sabbatical leave applications

Applications for sabbatical leaves for the 2003-04 academic year are due in department offices by Friday, Nov. 8.

Asian American Studies hosts film, information session

The Asian American Studies Event Series will screen the film "Yellow Apparel: When the Coolie Becomes Cool" on Monday, Nov. 4 at 6 p.m. in 601 Herter Hall. The film will be followed by discussion and a brief information session about the Asian and Asian American Studies Certificate Program.

Free pizza will be served.

Franklin County Publications Archives indexers lead workshop

Librarian Barbara Stewart and Web application developer Michael Muller will present a workshop entitled "Indexing the Franklin County Publications Archive Index: or How to Combine a Love of Old Newspapers, Local History, Full-Text Indexing and the World Wide Web" on Tuesday, Nov. 26 from 3-4:30 p.m. in the Calipari Room of the Du Bois Library.

A humorous look at the process of creating a full-text index of the Greenfield Gazette and Courier, starting in 1870, the workshop will include an actual indexing session led by Stewart, who will explain the selection of index terms, the use of a text editor and the submission of the selected terms to the archive.

Muller will then demonstrate the search capabilities of the database, as well as other features of the site, including the interactive possibilities between site visitors.

Historians and genealogists may be especially interested in this presentation.
RSVP to Barbara Stewart (stew@library.umass.edu) or 7-2634 by Nov. 15.

Pre-registration alert issued by Pre-Major Advising Services

All faculty and advisors are asked to remind undergraduates in their classes and departments that pre-registration for spring 2003 will take place between Nov. 14 and Dec. 3.

With the new SPIRE System, pre-registration for spring semester courses will be confirmed and online. If students have not received their logon information (username and password) in the mail by now, they should go in person with a photo ID to the OIT Help Desk in A107 Lederle.

Pre-Major Advising Services recommends that students make appointments to meet with their advisors early to discuss their spring schedules. Registering for courses at the beginning of their access period is advised to assure the best course selection.

Healthy women wanted for Nutrition study

The Nutrition Department is looking for healthy postmenopausal women to participate in a study on the effects of dietary flaxseed consumption on hormone levels in blood and urine.

To be eligible, participants must have undergone a natural menopause, and not have taken any hormones, including estrogen replacement therapy, for the past six months. Subjects also should be non-smokers with no prior medical history of cancer, diabetes or bowel disease.

Qualified individuals need to plan on participating in the study for four months. Financial compensation will be provided.

Those interested in being part of the study should contact Sara Sabelawski, R.D., project manager, at 7-4298 or by e-mail (sara@nutrition.umass.edu).

University Without Walls schedules information sessions

The University Without Walls program is hosting on-campus information sessions for prospective students through the end of December.

The sessions will be held Wednesday, Nov. 13 at 5 p.m.; Saturday, Nov. 23 at 10 a.m.; Wednesday, Dec. 4 at 5 p.m.; and Thursday, Dec. 19 at 5 p.m. The information sessions are free and open to the public and usually last for about one hour. Anyone interested in attending may reserve a seat by calling the UWW office at 5-1378.

UWW is a degree program designed to enable adult students to complete a bachelor's degree through a combination of traditional course work, independent study, and credit for prior learning. The program offers solid academic advising services to all students and provides three foundation courses for students to design individualized degree plans and earn college credit for life experience.

Courses required by the program are generally offered on weekday evenings, as well as during weekday hours, to accommodate working adults. There is also a weekends program offered each fall semester which enables new students to complete the first two required courses by attending classes one weekend a month, using the Internet to communicate and do research in between class meetings.

The next application deadline is April 15 for fall 2003 admission. Arrangements for an individual session may be made by calling the UWW office if the dates and times given here are inconvenient.

Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology seminar

Daniel J. Leahy, of Johns Hopkins University's department of biophysics and biophysical chemistry will present a Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology seminar on Wednesday, Nov. 6 at noon in the 8th floor seminar room of the Lazare Medical Research Building at the Worcester campus.

Leahy's talk is entitled "Crystal Structures of Epidermal Growth Factor Receptors Reveal New Twists in Signal Transduction."

Retirement reception for Norman Aitken

A retirement reception for Norman Aitken will be held Thursday, Nov. 7, 4-6 p.m. at the University Club.

Aitken joined the Economic Department faculty in 1964. He has served as chair of the Economics Department, deputy provost and most recently as vice provost for Instructional Technology. Among the programs developed under his leadership are the Lilly Teaching Fellows, Center For Teaching, Learning Support Services and Commonwealth College.

There will be a cash bar at the reception. Donations may be made payable to the Norman Aitken Gift Fund and forwarded to Kathy Godek, Provost's Office, 362 Whitmore, by Nov. 1.

Breast-feeding and bone density study

A research project is recruiting women for a study on breast-feeding and bone density. If you are breast-feeding or pregnant and planning to breast-feed, and want to know more about your bone density, contact Karen Pearce at 374-3091 (days), 367-9742 (evenings), or via e-mail (klp@anthro.umass.edu).

Eyeglasses found

A pair of wire-rimmed prescription eyeglasses was found Friday in Lot 32. If you believe they are yours, please contact Joan or Rita at 5-0123 to identify them.