Talking Points

Campus and town officials, area landlords discuss spring weekend planning

Campus officials hosted a meeting of local landlords, town and campus representatives and public safety officials on April 4 to discuss strategies for handling busy spring weekend activities.
 
Ten local landlords were on hand to hear about plans for on-campus activities, new neighborhood initiatives aimed at limiting late-night disturbances in residential areas near the campus and general preparations to deal with off-campus parties in Amherst.

Student discipline report details extensive sanctions, including suspensions

Campus officials released an updated report April 2 on student discipline for off-campus incidents, noting that more than eight out of 10 students in cases reviewed this academic year have been found responsible and sanctioned for a violation of the Code of Student Conduct.
 
Dean of Students Enku Gelaye said, “We are sanctioning misbehaving students consistently, including suspensions, and moving students more quickly to deferred suspensions, which means they are on notice that one more violation results in immediate departure from the university.

'Green Monstah' gulps recyclable electronics

It’s far from Fenway Park, but the Du Bois Library has its own “Green Monstah,” an electronic waste recycling center that opened this week in the building’s vestibule.
 
A joint project between the Campus Sustainability Initiative  and the Libraries , the centralized center has been in the works for several.

Earth is ‘lazy’ when forming faults like those near San Andreas, says geoscientist

Geoscientist Michele Cooke and colleagues take an uncommon, “Earth is lazy” approach to modeling fault development in the crust that is providing new insights into how faults grow. In particular, they study irregularities along strike-slip faults, the active zones where plates slip past each other such as at the San Andreas Fault of southern California.
 
Until now there has been a great deal of uncertainty among geologists about the factors that govern how new faults grow in regions where one plate slides past or over another around a bend, says Cooke.

Phallacies wins video contest

Phallacies, the Center for Health Promotion’s men’s health theater and dialogue program, is a winner in this year’s White Ribbon Campaign video contest, sponsored by the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office.
 
High school and college students were invited to submit videos in support of the campaign to end violence against women and girls.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Hotel and Conference Center awarded One-Stop Shop certification

The UMass Hotel and Conference Center has achieved One-Stop Shop Certification through the Association of Collegiate Conference and Events Directors-International (ACCED-I).
 
One-Stop Shop Certification recognizes collegiate operations that deliver one contact, one contract and one bill to meeting planners. This streamlining of conferencing and events coordination is intended to more closely match the practices of convention facilities and finer hotels.
 
The Association of Collegiate Conference and Events Directors-International was founded in 1980 and currently has a membership of over

Campus sends messages to students emphasizing importance of responsible behavior this spring

As part of a campaign to improve public safety in the community this spring, the campus administration on March 28 sent messages to all undergraduates as well as their parents emphasizing the importance of responsible behavior and the consequences for violating the law or the Code of Student Conduct.
 
Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy said the messaging is part of a multi-faceted campaign that reflects his commitment to address unacceptable behavior by some students. “I and my leadership team will redouble our efforts to find solutions to this problem by working closely with leaders in Amherst.

Subbaswamy invites comments on strategic planning document

The campus community is being asked by Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy to review and comment on a planning document developed by the Joint Task Force on Strategic Oversight (JTFSO) that “sets an agenda for the campus, and will guide subsequent institutional-level and departmental implementation plans.”
 
In a March 27 broadcast e-mail Subbaswamy said the draft document, titled “Innovation and Impact: Renewing the Promise of the Public Research University,” is intended to promote discussion across campus with the objective of presenting a final version to the Faculty Senate and other groups by

Efforts accelerate to educate campus about tobacco-free policy

Just three months before the campus joins more than 750 other colleges and universities that have become tobacco-free, a public awareness campaign is being launched to inform students, employees and visitors about the new policy.
 
At the heart of the “Let’s Clear the Air” appeal is a new website, which is being augmented by banners, ads on buses and campus delivery trucks and other highly visible venues—all aimed at reminding readers about the impending July 1 implementation date.
 
Starting in February, members of the Tobacco-Free Policy Implementation Committee began a series of open

Facilities and Campus Services reorganized

Several organizational changes within Facilities and Campus Services were implemented March 24, according to associate vice chancellor Juanita Holler, who heads the unit. “These changes are the result of an organizational review that was conducted to identify efficiency and effectiveness improvements,” she said. 
 
Under the plan, Alterations moved from Facilities Planning to the Physical Plant, consolidating two skilled labor groups under one umbrella. The move will result in enhanced oversight and scheduling of all maintenance and small project operations, said Holler. 
 
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