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1. Your Chance to Help Michigan Tech Chart its Future Course |
Each year until 2017, Michigan Tech will choose an interdisciplinary research theme and conduct a Strategic Faculty Hiring Initiative (SFHI) focusing on that topic.
The first SFHI centered on sustainability research. Three endowed chairs and several new faculty in sustainability will be announced shortly.
Now it’s time to identify future SFHI themes and create a running list of prioritized hiring initiatives so the Advancement Office of Michigan Tech can help find the necessary foundation and endowment support for endowed chairs and new faculty hires.
In a series of Tech Talks over the past academic year, researchers from across the University met to discuss their research interests and expertise. One goal was to bring people together who might write joint research proposals for external funding, but also to identify interdisciplinary areas in which future strategic hires might be made.
So far, six brief pre-proposals have been submitted, and more are being developed. The deadline for proposals is open, so additional proposals are welcome.
The Provost’s Office is asking Michigan Tech faculty, staff and graduate students to provide feedback on the pre-proposals. They can be found at www.admin.mtu.edu/admin/prov/mtu_only/SFHI.html . There is a link after each proposal to a survey where you can post your comments. |
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2. Isle Royale National Park Wolf-Moose Research Celebration |
by Jennifer Donovan, public relations director
This weekend (July 25–27), Isle Royale National Park will host a gala celebration of 50 years of continuous wolf-moose research. The research, headed by wildlife ecologists from Michigan Tech, is the longest running predator-prey study in the world.
During the weekend celebration, some of the scientists who have led the study—Rolf Peterson, John Vucetich, L. David Mech and Doug Smith—will talk about their research and answer questions.
Peterson and Vucetich, wildlife ecologists at Michigan Tech, now head the research. Mech, a senior scientist with the Biological Resources Division of the US Geological Survey, worked on the project with Purdue University wildlife ecologist Durward Allen at its inception in 1958. Smith, who recently headed the re-introduction of gray wolves into Yellowstone National Park, participated in the Isle Royale research from 1979 to 1992.
A film four years in the making, "Fortunate Wilderness", will have its world premier at the Rock Harbor Auditorium on Isle Royale on July 25. George Desort, an independent filmmaker from the Upper Peninsula, produced the documentary, which is slated for showings in Houghton and Duluth, Minn., during coming months. For a preview of the film, see www.isinglasspictures.com/ .
A capacity crowd of close to 300 people is expected to participate in the weekend celebration at the isolated island National Park in northwestern Lake Superior, but anniversary outreach efforts are reaching thousands more.
Peterson and Vucetich have presented numerous public programs, including one in Washington, DC, and one in New York, and more are scheduled for the fall. A celebration of the wolf-moose study anniversary is scheduled for Nov. 3–7 in Duluth featuring public talks and school programs by researchers and National Park staff.
The Carnegie Museum in Houghton is featuring an exhibit about Isle Royale through September 2008, and the Isle Royale Natural History Association sells wolf-moose books, posters, pins, T-shirts and sweatshirts.
Nearly 100 teachers from Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota and New York have participated in summer workshops on Isle Royale, sponsored by the Isle Royale Institute at Michigan Tech. The institute's staff also presented at two teachers' conferences and updates teaching resources regularly to a mailing list comprising all science and math teachers in Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. Lesson plans developed by the teachers are available at http://iri.mtu.edu/education/lesson%20plans.html .
News media including Scientific American, the Washington Post, the Detroit Free Press, the Duluth News-Tribune, Audubon magazine and the Associated Press (AP) wire service have reported on the Isle Royale wolf-moose research. AP stories are published in newspapers around the world. Websites with more information about the wolf-moose study include www.wolfmoose.mtu.edu and www.isleroyalewolf.org/wolfhome/home.html .
A consortium of educational, governmental and natural resources organizations has led the year-long effort to celebrate and publicize the wolf-moose study. They include
* National Park Service/Isle Royale National Park
* Michigan Technological University
* Isle Royale Institute
* Isle Royale Natural History Association
* International Wolf Center
* Timber Wolf Alliance
* University of Minnesota–Duluth
* Great Lakes Research and Education Center
* Michigan Department of Natural Resources
* Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
* Northland College
* Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
* US Department of Agriculture Forest Service
* Discovery World, Milwaukee
For the full press release on the Isle Royale wolf-moose study visit www.admin.mtu.edu/urel/news/meda_relations/699/ . |
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3. LTAP Offering Business Intelligence Training Seminar |
Getting people to tell you what you need to know can be tough, and knowing if you can believe what they tell you can be even tougher.
Michigan's Local Transportation Assistance Program (LTAP), based at Michigan Tech, is sponsoring a three-day Business Intelligence Seminar in Houghton Aug. 26–27 and Sept. 9.
The seminar, previously taught only as part of US military intelligence officer training, is for academic researchers, business managers, entrepreneurs, law enforcement personnel and anyone else who needs to gather accurate information. Participants will learn how to elicit information without asking questions and how to identify and confront deception and denial.
The seminar registration costs of $450 includes all training materials, lunch and break refreshments. Representatives of public or governmental agencies and members of the Keweenaw Economic Development Alliance will receive a $100 discount.
Class size is limited. To register, call the Michigan LTAP office, 906-487-2102. |
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4. New Staff |
Alexander Hughes has joined University Marketing and Communications as a web programmer. Before coming to Michigan Tech, Hughes was a web developer for the University of Denver. He has a BS in Business Administration with a concentration in Management Information Systems from Michigan Tach. Hughes lives in Hancock and enjoys golfing, hockey and snowboarding.
Richelle Schwaller has joined Research Accounting as an assistant research accountant. Before coming to Michigan Tech, Schwaller was a financial analyst for BayCare Health Systems in Greenbay, Wis. She has two degrees, a BS in Accounting from Northern Michigan University and an MBA from the University of North Alabama. She is married to Tony and lives in Houghton. |
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5. Job Postings |
Staff job descriptions are available in the Human Resources Office or at http://www.admin.mtu.edu/hro/postings . For more information regarding staff positions, call 487-2280 or email jobs@mtu.edu .
Faculty job descriptions can be found at www.admin.mtu.edu/hro/facpers/facvac.htm . For more information regarding faculty positions, contact the academic department in which the position is posted.
Staff Job Postings
7/24/08-7/30/08
Custodian
Facilities Operations
AFSCME internal posting only
Regular, nine-month, full-time position; 40 hr/wk, third shift
Food Service Helper (Two vacancies)
Dining Services
AFSCME internal posting only
Regular, 12-month, part-time position; variable hours
Michigan Technological University is an equal opportunity educational institution/equal opportunity employer. |
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6. Furniture from School of Business and Economics |
The School of Business and Economics has the following furniture to giveaway.
one wood shelving unit on wheels with four wood shelves, measuring 62 inches long by 64 1/4 inches high by 12 inches deep
one wood shelving unit with four wood shelves, measuring 8 feet 9 inches long by 58 feet high by 13 inches deep
one woodgrain laminate top table with two "T" legs, measuring 48 inches by 30 inches by 27 inches high
Contact Diane Benda at dmbenda@mtu.edu or 467-2668 if you are interested in any of these items.
University property may only be transferred between departments. It may not be given or sold to individuals. |
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