— October 19, 2006 —

Contents

  1. Tickets are still available to hear Liberian President speak
  2. Dean of Health Sciences to retire
  3. All Souls service planned
  4. Dennis Archer to speak at Burke Scholars Seminar
  5. Sports administrator to give Axthelm lecture
  6. New digital collection available on the history of women’s sports at MU
  7. Honors program will host wine and cheese reception
  8. October issue of AJCU “Connections” highlights political engagement
  9. Plan to attend Benefits and Wellness Day Oct. 30
  10. Monday sessions are your chance to learn about Careers@Marquette
  11. American Indian poetry reading scheduled  
  12. University Events

1. Tickets are still available to hear Liberian President speak

Tickets are still available to hear Her Excellency Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of the Republic of Liberia, speak following the conferral of an honorary degree from Marquette next Monday. The ceremony will begin at 10 a.m. on Oct. 23 in the ballroom of the Alumni Memorial Union. Tickets are available for the simulcast of the event in the Weasler auditorium.

Faculty, staff and students can pick up tickets for the event in the Alumni Memorial Union, Brooks Lounge.  The ticket office hours are Monday through Friday from noon to 11:30 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 2 to 11:30 p.m.

This is only the second time in Marquette history that a sitting head of government has made an official visit to the university. On June 16, 1956, President Edward O'Donnell, S.J., conferred an Honorary Doctor of Law degree on German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer. 

President Johnson Sirleaf, who took office in January 2006, is internationally recognized as a leading promoter of peace, justice and democratic rule.  Known as the “Iron Lady” for her strong will and determination as well as for her personal integrity, she is committed to ethical reform for the people of Liberia and the importance of education. During years of exile, the Harvard-educated President held senior leadership positions with the World Bank and the United Nations.

A mother of four sons and grandmother of nine, President Johnson Sirleaf is a strong supporter of community development and education, particularly for girls.

Along with First Lady Laura Bush, President Johnson Sirleaf recently received the 2006 International Republican Institute Freedom Award. “Through her service as a Liberian Cabinet minister in the 1970s, as a senior U.N. administrator in the 1990s, and now as her country's president, President Johnson-Sirleaf has always been deeply devoted to her country,” Laura Bush said at the IRI ceremony last month.  “Her dedication to Liberia has never diminished -- not even in the face of persecution." She called the Liberian president a "terrific example of the power of education, and of why it's important to educate women and girls, and to improve opportunities for women in Africa and around the world."

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2. Dean of Health Sciences to retire

Dr. Jack Brooks, dean of the College of Health Sciences, will retire at the end of the 2006-07 school year, Provost Madeline Wake announced last week.

Dr. Brooks came to Marquette in August 1974 as a faculty member in the School of Dentistry’s Department of Basic Sciences.  In 1996 he became the founding dean of the College of Health Sciences.  “We recognized immediately that programs in the new college had great potential as platforms for the development of new majors and the expansion of scientific research,” Brooks recalls.

The college developed a biomedical sciences major, which is now the largest major at Marquette with more than 470 students; a Physician Assistant Program that ranks in the top six nationally; a Doctor of Physical Therapy Program that ranks 16th nationally; new undergraduate clinical programs in Exercise Science and Athletic Training; and a new Ph.D. track in neuroscience, in collaboration with the Department of Biological Sciences.  Dr. Wake attributes the program expansion to Dr. Brooks’ advocacy and tenacity. “He brought his expertise as physiologist and imprinted the college with the soul of a scientist,” the provost says.

Dr. Brooks credits the rapid expansion of the college and its growing national reputation to “recruiting and hiring the very best faculty.” He also cites the fact that pass rates for Marquette graduates on national certification exams are significantly above national averages.

In the past decade, enrollment in the College of Health Sciences has more than doubled -- to more than 1000 students; student credit hours taught have doubled; and funded grant research support has increased tenfold to more than $2.6 million per year.  “Research in the college focuses on problems of great societal concern with studies ranging from the fundamental nature of diseases to their clinical treatment,” according to Dr. Brooks.

Dr. Brooks is proud of the collaboration among units within the College of Health Sciences. “All of our programs work together to educate our students, in research and in graduate education,” he says.  “I am particularly gratified with the expanded emphasis on research as a distinctive element of both undergraduate and graduate education in all of our programs.  I thank Marquette for the opportunity to be successful as a scientist and to have an opportunity as dean to lead an outstanding faculty and staff in developing a college that is integral to the future of the university.”

Dr. Wake has met with faculty and staff of the College of Health Sciences to plan a national search for Brooks’ successor. “Dr. Brooks brought the college to a high level of excellence and we expect the progress to continue,” she says.

3. All Souls service planned

All members of the Marquette community who have lost a family member in the past year are invited to attend a prayer service on Tuesday, Nov. 2, in the Chapel of the Holy Family on the second floor of the Alumni Memorial Union.

This ecumenical prayer service of remembrance will involve hymns, readings and an opportunity for quiet prayer and reflection. All faculty, staff, administrators and students who lost a loved one in the past year are welcome to attend, as well as their spouses, family members and friends.

If you have any questions, please contact Laura Krenz in the Office of Mission and Identity at 8-1794 or e-mail her.

4. Dennis Archer to speak at Burke Scholars Seminar

Dennis Archer, former mayor of Detroit, will visit the Burke Scholars Seminar at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 25, in the Raynor Conference Center located in lower level of Raynor Memorial Libraries.

Archer was the first black American to serve as president of the American Bar Association. He served as a Michigan Supreme Court Justice from 1985-1993 and was mayor of Detroit from 1994-2001. During his final years as mayor he was the president of the National League of Cities.
 
Those interested in attending the seminar should contact Dr. David Buckholdt by e-mail or by phone, 8-0268.

5. Sports administrator to give Axthelm lecture


Bill Hancock, former coordinator of the NCAA men's basketball tournament and author of Riding with the Blue Moth, will speak at Marquette on Monday, Nov. 6, at 7 p.m. in room 001 of Cudahy Hall, 1313 W. Wisconsin Ave. The event is free and open to the public.

Hancock will talk about his new book, his life and his work and answer audience questions. Hancock’s son, Will, died in the 2001 airplane crash that took the lives of nine additional members of the Oklahoma State basketball team and support staff.

Riding with the Blue Moth is the story of Bill Hancock’s 2,747-mile cross-country bicycle trip as he struggled with his grief and depression following the death of his son.

Hancock is now administrator for college football’s Bowl Championship Series.

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6. New digital collection available on the history of women’s sports at MU

The Raynor Library’s newest digital collection, “Women in Blue and Gold,” is now available on the Web.

The collection, sponsored by the M Club, will explore the rich history of women’s athletics at Marquette from 1975 to 2005. The initial installment features 400 images documenting all women's varsity sports during the mid-1980s seasons, as well as later seasons for a limited number of sports, including soccer and the co-ed rifle team.

The project's goal is to feature at least one image of each athlete who participated on a varsity team for each year that she played, thereby creating a visual record of the hundreds of women who composed Marquette's women's intercollegiate athletics in the 30 years since the passage of Title IX.  Additional images will be added each month with an anticipated 1,200 images in total.  The collection's Web site provides details on the project and its methodology, as well as a history of women’s athletics at Marquette, both written by Michelle Sweetser, archivist.

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7. Honors Program will host wine and cheese reception

Marquette faculty are invited to a Wine and Cheese Reception on Monday, Nov. 6, at 5 p.m. in the lower level of the Raynor Memorial Library (Beaumier Suite) to learn more about a grant awarded to the University Honors Program from the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS). Speaking at the event will be Tony Peressini, director of the University Honors Program, Heather Hathaway, associate dean in the Klingler College of Arts and Sciences, and Michael Vater, associate professor of philosophy.

The grant enables the Honors Program to increase the number of faculty designing and teaching courses offered in the contemplative practice track of the program’s second-year seminars. Through this initiative, the Honors Program will be able to expand the number of courses featuring contemplative pedagogies at Marquette.

The ACLS grant will initially support a faculty retreat in May 2007 focusing on the role and incorporation of contemplation in the traditional academic classroom. The conversation from that retreat will be continued through monthly meetings designed to share ideas, discuss challenges and revise courses. Finally, the grant will also enable the Honors Program to host a university-wide lecture series on topics relevant to contemplative pedagogies and including such speakers as Fr. Thomas Keating and Parker Palmer.

Faculty are invited to learn more about the grant on Nov. 6 and to hear about opportunities for faculty development and participation. Application information will also be distributed.

RSVPs are appreciated. Please call 8-7516 between the hours of 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. If you don't get the chance to respond, feel free to attend at the last minute.

8. October issue of AJCU “Connections” highlights political engagement

The October issue of Connections, published by the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities, is now available online free to all students, faculty and staff. The issue features stories about engaging students in the political process and includes an article on Marquette’s Les Aspin Center for Government.

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9. Plan to attend Benefits Information and Wellness Day Oct. 30

Employees and their spouses are invited to attend the Benefits Information and Wellness Day on Monday, Oct. 30 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Monaghan Ballroom of the Alumni Memorial Union. Representatives of all providers will be present to answer questions, and free health screenings will be offered for glucose, blood pressure and cholesterol, among others. Refreshments and door prizes will be offered.

Assistance in using MyJob will also be available that day. ALL faculty and staff will need to access MyJob, the online employee information resource, to verify personal, emergency contact and beneficiary information during the annual enrollment period, Oct. 30 – Nov. 17.  In addition, faculty and staff wishing to maintain or modify their medical or dental benefits and/or wanting to participate in the university-sponsored Flexible Spending Accounts for health care and/or dependent care MUST enroll online.

If you have any questions regarding access to MyJob, please contact the IT Services Help Desk at 8-7799; for questions on the content of MyJob, contact Human Resources at 8-7305.

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10. Monday sessions are your chance to learn about Careers@Marquette

Are you tired of sorting through a pile of resumes? Would you like to quickly process applications according to key criteria?

Learn more about Careers@Marquette, a flexible, online requisition and application tracking process for staff and faculty positions, at information sessions next Monday, Oct. 23. The one-hour sessions will be held at 11 a.m.and 1 p.m. in conference room A of the Raynor Library. For more information or to register, call 8-7305. Special training sessions are being held for business managers abd others responsible for coordinating recruiting and hiring in their departments.

The PeopleAdmin tracking module, which is used by a number of other Jesuit colleges and universities, includes an automated authorization to recruit form, web-based distribution of application materials to hiring managers, the ability to screen candidates according to specific criteria, a collection method for affirmative action data, and automatic notification to job candidates regarding the status of their job search.

Human Resources administrators expect the new system to save time and money while improving service to both applicants and hiring managers.

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11. American Indian poetry reading scheduled  

Enjoy an evening of coffee or tea while listening to the poetry of Cathy Caldwell and music of Clinton Miller on Tuesday, Oct. 24, at 7 p.m. at the AMU Brew Bayou. Everyone is welcome and there is no cost for admission.

Please contact Meredith Galloway, graduate assistant for Intercultural Programs, at
8-1548 or by e-mail her if you have any questions.

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12. University Events

Visit the all-university online Calendar of Events for a complete listing of all upcoming events in the next week.

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News Briefs is published Mondays and Thursdays, except in summer when only the Monday edition is published, and as news warrants by the Office of Marketing and Communication for Marquette faculty and staff. The deadline for the Monday edition is noon Friday. The deadline for the Thursday edition is noon Wednesday.

Comments? Questions? Is there news you would like to share? E-mail, call 8-7448, fax 8-7197 or send your note in campus mail to News Briefs, Office of Marketing and Communication.