FEBRUARY 8, 2010

IN THIS ISSUE

1. Little Rock Nine award conferral to be Webcast

The conferral of the Père Marquette Discovery Award, the university’s highest honor, on the Little Rock Nine will be Webcast, tomorrow, Feb. 9, at 4 p.m. from the Varsity Theatre. Following presentation of the Discovery Award Medal, Mike Gousha, distinguished fellow in law and public policy, will interview the Little Rock Nine. Marquette community members can submit questions that may be used at the question and answer portion of the awards conferral.   

Tickets for a simulcast in the Weasler Auditorium are still available in the AMU Brooks Lounge until 11:30 p.m. today and beginning at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow while supplies last. Those joining the simulcast are also invited to attend the general reception immediately following the Père Marquette Discovery Award Ceremony in the AMU Monaghan Ballroom. Members of the Little Rock Nine will attend.

Raynor Memorial Libraries have a Little Rock Nine and the Père Marquette Award exhibit on display in the AMU second floor lobby until Feb. 12. The exhibit addresses the legacy and personal courage of the teenagers who changed America, offering a historical overview of the civil rights years, 1954 to 1965, concentrating on school desegregation following Brown v. Board of Education. The exhibit will move to the Raynor Lobby from Feb. 13 to March 2.

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2. Free H1N1 vaccines available this week

Student Health Service will hold H1N1 vaccination clinics in the AMU first floor lobby Wednesday and Thursday, Feb. 10 and 11, from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. The H1N1 vaccine is available at no cost to anyone with an MUID.

The H1N1 vaccine is also available by appointment in SHS. Marquette community members should call Student Health Service at 8-7184 for more information.

Seasonal flu vaccine is also available, at a cost of $25, by calling SHS for an appointment.

Anyone with flu-like symptoms should stay home from class, work or campus activities until he/she is fever-free for 24 hours.

For more information visit the SHS Web site.

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3. Modest salary increases projected for next year

Salary merit increases will be very modest for fiscal year 2011, according to Provost John Pauly and Senior Vice President Greg Kliebhan. They said the salary pool for merit-based increases will be 1 percent for faculty and administrators and 2 percent for non-exempt employees, a total of approximately $1.5 million.

“While we were able to exceed the national average for salary percentage increases for FY2010, significantly increased allotments for student financial aid, increased benefit costs and lower revenues for interest make it impossible to do so in FY2011,” Kliebhan said. Pauly noted that Marquette has not had to impose job freezes or furloughs, lay off staff or reduce retirement and insurance premium contributions, as other institutions have. “Nevertheless, we continue to operate on a tight budget, and we will be asking all units to carefully monitor their discretionary budgets for the remainder of this year and in FY2011,” he said.

The allocation of funding for salaries does not mean employees will automatically receive raises; in fact, merit-based salary increases vary by individual and position, according to Kliebhan and Pauly. They said deans and vice presidents have discretion in allocating their respective salary pools by unit, based on annual performance reviews and market and equity adjustments.

The salary pool increase does not reflect additional university contributions for fringe benefits, including health, dental and vision insurance and retirement contributions. Chuck Lamb, vice president for finance, noted that the university pays 80 percent of health insurance premiums and contributes 8 percent of salary to a TIAA-CREF 403(b) retirement account for qualified employees who voluntarily contribute 5 percent of their gross salary to the account.  

Lamb said salaries and fringe benefits account for nearly two-thirds of the university’s expenditure budget.

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4. New testament lecture, comedy hosted by Honors Program

Dr. Julian Hills, associate professor of theology, will speak in the 2009-10 Honors Program Lecture Series on Thursday, Feb. 11, at 5 p.m. in AMU 157. Hills will present “Hidden Texts at the Open Frontier: How the Apocryphal New Testament Came to America.” The Honors Student Advisory Council hosts the lecture series by inviting faculty to address a topic from the viewpoint of “If this were the last lecture of your career, what would you say?”

The lecture also kicks off the fifth annual Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities Honors Program Conference, hosted by Marquette Feb. 12-13. More than 50 honors students and faculty from Regis, Creighton, Rockhurst, Loyola Marymount, Loyola Baltimore, Canisius, Loyola New Orleans, Xavier and Fordham are expected to attend.

Also open to the Marquette community as part of the AJCU conference will be two local comedians performing a free, interactive and improvisational show at the Annex on Saturday, Feb. 13, at 8:30 p.m. Honors Program senior Hilary Braseth and her a cappella group Gold ‘n Blueswill open for the comedians at 8 p.m.

Additional speakers for the Honors Program Lecture Series this year will be Dr. Susan Mountin, director of the Manresa Project (March 11), and Dr. Ronald Zupko, professor emeritus of history (April 15).

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5. Panel discussion to address Milwaukee’s underserved

Women from the College of Professional Studies serving Milwaukee's underserved — including the elderly, mentally ill and urban poor — will share their experiences and explore how they chose community service careers Monday, Feb. 22, in AMU Ballroom E. The program, "Women Leaders Touching the Lives of Milwaukee's Underserved," will begin with networking and refreshments from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., followed by the panel discussion from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Panelists are:

• Katie Cox, Grad '04, urban literacy special projects coordinator, Cardinal Stritch University
• Paulina de Haan, CPS graduate student and community coordinator, Safe Streets Initiative, Law School
• Terry Gardner Smith, Grad '08, senior human resources manager, Harley-Davidson Motor Company
• Tracy Johnson, Comm '99, executive director, TEMPO Milwaukee
• Stephanie Stein, Grad '02, director, Milwaukee County Department on Aging

Eva Soeka, director of dispute resolution, will moderate.

Register by Monday, Feb. 15.

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6. Faculty to discuss balance between academic and personal lives

An interactive discussion for faculty on the challenge of achieving balance in academic and personal life will be held Thursday, Feb. 18, from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. in AMU 227. Panelists include:

• Dr. Joe Daniels, professor of economics
• Dr. Kristin Haglund, associate professor of nursing
• Dr. Michael Politano, associate professor of physics
• Dr. Kati Tusinski Berg, assistant professor of advertising and public relations

The event, co-sponsored by the Faculty Mentoring Program and Manresa for Faculty in the Center for Teaching and Learning, will be facilitated by Dr. Ed de St. Aubin, associate professor of psychology.

A wine and cheese reception will follow. RSVP to Teresa Kaczmarek, office assistant, at 8-0263 by Monday, Feb. 15.

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7. Wade Public Lecture rescheduled

The Wade Public Lecture, originally scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 25, has been rescheduled for Wednesday, March 10, at 4 p.m. in the Raynor Library Beaumier Suites.

Rev. Dean Brackley, S.J., the Rev. Francis C. Wade Chair for spring semester, will present “The Migrants: Illegals or God’s Ambassadors?” He has served as a professor of theology at the Universidad Centroamericana in El Salvador since 1990.

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8. Flashlights being collected for Haiti

Dr. Sameena Mulla, assistant professor of social and cultural sciences and a native of Haiti, was in a suburb of Port-au-Prince visiting family when the earthquake hit. As a result of her extraordinary connections to relief work occurring within the country and her ability to ensure that supplies are transported to Haiti immediately, she is requesting donations of flashlights (solar-powered and wind-up varieties are preferred) and batteries, to be used for relief efforts in Haiti. Donated items can be dropped off in the Department of Social and Cultural Sciences in Lalumiere Hall 340.
 
Items collected before Feb. 12 will be provided to Youthaiti, a Milwaukee non-profit organization formed in 2008 to support sanitation projects in Haiti. Those collected after Feb. 12 will be delivered to Hope for Haiti in Washington, D.C., which regularly flies supplies to Haiti. 

Contact Mulla for more information at 8-3441.  
 
Other Marquette organizations are supporting fundraising efforts to support the people of Haiti. All money raised will go directly to Catholic Relief Services and the Jesuit Refugee Service for relief in Haiti.

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9. Faber Center offering Lenten Scripture sharing and rosary

Mike Hogan, director of the Faber Center for Ignatian Spirituality, will facilitate a weekly Lenten Scripture and faith-sharing group on Wednesdays during Lent, beginning Feb. 17, from 7:45 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. in Schroeder Complex 111.

Praying of the rosary will also be offered Thursday, Feb. 11, from noon to 12:30 p.m. at the Faber Center. Future dates are Feb. 23; March 3 and 26; April 7 and 27; and May 13 and 25.

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10. Weight Watchers at Work enrollment meeting is this week

The Employee Wellness Program is offering a 17-week Weight Watchers at Work Meeting Series beginning with an open house/enrollment meeting Thursday, Feb. 11, from 12:30 p.m. to 1 p.m. in Raynor Library Beaumier Suite A. Cost is $186 and includes 19 weeks of Weight Watchers e-tools. Cash, checks (with a three-payment option) and major credit cards are accepted.

Since Weight Watchers at Work meetings began at Marquette six months ago, six participants have lost 10 percent of their body weight and 10 have lost 5 percent.
 
Meetings are Thursdays from noon to 1 p.m. beginning Feb. 18. Locations will vary in the AMU and Raynor Library. A minimum of 20 employees is required.

Contact Mandi Weis, employee wellness coordinator, at 8-4581 for more information.

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11. Soup with Substance features Afghani ER doctor

An Afghani ER doctor (who is not being named online to help protect his safety), will share his experiences as an on-call emergency room surgeon at noon Friday, Feb. 12, in AMU 227 for Soup with Substance.

Soup with Substance is a free presentation on an issue related to peacemaking and social justice over a simple meal of soup and bread. For more information, contact Patrick Kennelly, associate director of the Center for Peacemaking, at 8-8446.

Register online.

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12. D2L introductory training sessions scheduled

Desire2Learn Introductory Instructor Training will be held in Raynor 320H through the Center for Teaching and Learning on Friday, Feb. 12, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. and Wednesday, March 17, from 9 a.m. to noon.

The training is for faculty who wish to incorporate D2L into their teaching. It provides an overview of the D2L tool set and is especially helpful for new and adjunct faculty or for faculty who wish to use more technology in their instruction.

Register online.

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13. Chemistry department holding colloquium

The Department of Chemistry will hold a colloquium Friday, Feb. 12, at 4:15 p.m. in Todd Wehr Chemistry 121. Dr. Alexander Tarnovsky, professor of chemistry at Bowling Green State University, will present “Photoinduced rearrangement and energy flow in small polyatomic molecules in solution.”

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14. Law School to hold information session

The Law School will host an information session for prospective students Friday, Feb. 12, at 11:45 a.m. in Sensenbrenner 239. The session will provide information about admissions, financial aid, curriculum and intellectual and student life. A brief tour of the Law School will be led by a current law student. No registration is necessary.

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15. Handmade valentines for sale

The Eta Sigma Phi Classical Honors Society is selling handmade valentines Tuesday to Friday, Feb. 9-12, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Lalumiere Hall. Each valentine features a Latin or Greek romantic phrase and translation.

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16. Chicken Oscar and chocolate-covered strawberries at Lunda Room

The AMU Lunda Room is offering Valentine’s Day specials of chicken Oscar (chicken breast topped with sautéed shrimp, asparagus spears and hollandaise sauce) and chocolate-covered strawberries Thursday, and Friday, Feb. 11 and 12, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. For reservations call 8-3073. Walk-ins are also welcome.

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17. Monitor university communications for weather closings

In the event of a weather-related closing, students, faculty and staff will be notified by e-mail and, for those registered, by text messaging and Twitter. Local media will be notified of any closing, and Marquette.edu would also post information.

All faculty and staff with university-owned cell phones have been automatically enrolled for text messages. Faculty and staff may also register their personal cell phone numbers in the “Personal Information” section of MyJob.

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18. Celebrating women at Marquette — glass ceilings

In the ‘70s, women at Marquette were ready to break through glass ceilings and change the female roles in society forever. Want to know more? Go to the Centennial Celebration of Women Web site. A new note will be featured each week.

In 1909, Marquette became the first Catholic university in the world to offer coeducation as part of its regular undergraduate program. To help honor the centennial, a year-long series of historical notes highlighting turning-point moments and figures in Marquette’s collaborative past is running in News Briefs.

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