Featured Articles

Regents approve UW-Eau Claire chancellor search, Larson interim appoinment

Board also authorizes Extension/Colleges consolidation, examines budget details

Campus Campaign: Faculty/staff support for WAES scholarships

Facullty/staff appreciation lunch set for Feb. 18

Artists Series presents Buckwheat Zydeco

Campus to particpate in survey on student alchohol and drug use

Students gain interview experience with new Career Services program

Discussion focuses on "Learner-Centered Teaching"

UW System regents approve UW-Eau Claire chancellor search, Larson interim appointment

Mash	Larson

The UW System Board of Regents approved Feb. 11 the appointment of Vicki Lord Larson as UW-Eau Claire's interim chancellor. Larson will begin serving as interim chancellor in early March (full story), after current Chancellor Donald Mash assumes his new duties March 1 as UW System executive senior vice president (full story). The regents also authorized a search for a permanent UW-Eau Claire chancellor. Read the summary of the regents' Feb. 11 proceedings during their two-day February meeting.

Board also authorizes UW-Extension/Colleges consolidation, examines budget details
The Board of Regents on Feb. 10 unanimously approved a plan to consolidate the Madison-based administrative offices of two UW System institutions under the leadership of a single chancellor. The board authorized the proposal, initiated by UW System President Kevin P. Reilly, to search for a single chancellor for the 13 freshman-sophomore UW Colleges campuses and the statewide UW-Extension. “We are in a time of change, and we are asking Colleges and Extension to go first,” Reilly said.

Also on Feb. 10, the regents examined details of Gov. Jim Doyle's recent 2005-07 budget proposal relative to the UW System's earlier budget request. Read the summary of the regents' Feb. 10 proceedings. Also see these related links:

• Text of Gov. Jim Doyle's budget speech
• Gov. Jim Doyle's budget in brief
• President Reilly's statement on governor's budget proposal
• UW System analysis of governor's budget
• Capital Times article about Doyle budget's impact on UW System
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article about regents' Feb. 10 budget discussion
• Eau Claire Leader-Telegram article about student reactions to Doyle's budget proposal

Campus Campaign: Faculty/staff support for WAES scholarships shows commitment to excellence

Faculty and staff appreciation luncheon set for Feb. 18 The UW-Eau Claire Foundation invites faculty and staff to the fourth annual Faculty and Staff Appreciation Luncheon on Friday, Feb. 18, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Skylight Lounge-Tamarack Room, Davies Center. The free luncheon buffet is held in gratitude for faculty and staff' service to the students of UW-Eau Claire and commitment to the university's mission of excellence. Faculty and staff are invited to come as their schedules permit during the 1½-hour event.

With so many meaningful options, choosing where to designate Campus Campaign gifts is a challenge for UW-Eau Claire faculty and staff, said Bill and Jeannie Harms, 2004-05 Campus Campaign co-chairs. The Harmses choose to make their annual contribution in support of a Wisconsin Academic Excellence Scholarship. “The WAES program is one way to encourage our best young scholars to stay in Wisconsin and contribute to its future," said Heidi Fisher, director of annual giving and major gifts officer. Full story.

Artists Series presents Buckwheat Zydeco
UW-Eau Claire's Artists Series will present Buckwheat Zydeco at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 16, in Zorn Arena. The show is cosponsored by the University Activities Commission of the UW-Eau Claire Student Senate as part of the university's Black History Month celebration. Four-time Grammy Award nominee Buckwheat Zydeco has been lauded coast to coast as "one of the best party bands in America" (The New York Times) for its "otherworldly power to set the feet a-stomping" (Vancouver Sun). Buckwheat has played major festivals in America and around the world and has made many appearances on David Letterman, the Today Show, CBS Morning News, NBC Nightly News, MTV, BBC and National Public Radio. Full story.

Campus to participate in survey on student alcohol and drug use

Kennedy

UW-Eau Claire and the other UW System campuses will participate this month in a systemwide survey to gather information on the impacts of alcohol and other drug use by UW students. The UW System Alcohol and Other Drug Use Survey will be administered annually to provide data on trends in student substance use and misuse, personal and secondary consequences of such use, and student perceptions regarding the magnitude of other students' alcohol and drug consumption, and also to identify groups of students who are at greatest risk of engaging in substance misuse, said Dr. P.J. Kennedy, director of Counseling Services, who is coordinating UW-Eau Claire's administration of the survey. Approximately 1,455 UWEC students will be randomly selected to participate in the survey, which will be administered in an online format. The survey is voluntary and is designed to be anonymous. "It is vital that those randomly chosen complete the survey, since we need a solid response rate in order to have accurate results," Kennedy said. Immediate feedback about the effects of personal alcohol consumption will be available to those completing the survey. Those with questions about the survey should contact Kennedy at pkennedy@uwec.edu or (715) 836-5521.

Students gain interview experience with new
Career Services program

Freshman Cayla Fleck uses Patty Practice in Career Services. (Spectator photo by Aimee Fornes)

A computer program available through UW-Eau Claire's Career Services offers students a way to improve their interviewing skills. With the program, nicknamed "Patty Practice," students conduct a mock interview at a computer kiosk. The interview is recorded and then uploaded for review and playback over the Internet. Students can then share their interviews with family, friends and advisers and receive feedback and advice about improving their skills. "Students are encouraged to meet with a counselor in Career Services after they have used Patty Practice in order for us to review with them their responses," said Robin Johengen, career and employment coordinator in Career Services. "This debriefing is extremely important, as often students think they are answering questions appropriately when in reality they are not." Faculty and staff are encouraged to let students know about this service. More information is available on the Career Services Web site, and the service was featured in a recent Spectator article.

Discussion focuses on 'Learner-Centered Teaching'

From left, Rick St. Germaine, professor, history; Carol Koroghlanian, assistant professor, foundations of education; Harry Jol, associate professor, geography and anthropology; and Deborah Patee, assistant professor, curriculum and instruction were among a group of UW-Eau Claire faculty, staff and graduate students who met Feb. 10 to discuss Maryellen Weimer's book, "Learner-Centered Teaching: Five Key Changes to Practice." The three-session book talk is being facilitated by Pattee and sponsored by the Teaching & Learning Technology Development Center and Network for Excellence in Teaching. (Photo by Rick Mickelson, TLTDC)

University Bulletin
Published weekly during the fall and spring semesters by the UW-Eau Claire News Bureau. News items and notices should be sent to the News Bureau, Schofield 201, by 10 a.m. Monday for publication in the following week’s issue. E-mail submissions to Julie Poquette at poquetjm@uwec.edu are encouraged. Faculty/staff news items are published on a space-available basis.