Featured Articles

Karen Havholm is assistant vice chancellor for research

Carole Halberg to leave for new development post

Interviews set for director of libraries candidates

Softball team wins WIAC tournament

Faculty members to teach in China this summer

Devroy Forum, Fellowship celebrate 10 years

CIE seeks international student hosts for fall 2007

Springfest starts today on Central Campus Mall

Dr. Karen Havholm

Karen Havholm is assistant vice chancellor for research
Dr. Karen Havholm has been named assistant vice chancellor for research and director of the Center of Excellence for Faculty/Student Research Collaboration at UW-Eau Claire. Havholm, a professor of geology who joined UW-Eau Claire in 1993, has served as interim assistant vice chancellor since February 2006. Havholm's long-standing involvement with research at UW-Eau Claire will be an invaluable asset to students and faculty engaged in research, said Steve Tallant, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs. As assistant vice chancellor, Havholm will direct the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, which assists faculty, academic staff and administrators in obtaining internal and external funding. Full story.

Carole Halberg to leave for new development post

Carole Halberg

Carole Halberg, president of the UW-Eau Claire Foundation and special assistant to the chancellor, has accepted a position at a hospital in Madison. Halberg will begin her duties as executive director of the St. Mary's Foundation at St. Mary's Hospital later this summer.

As president of the UW-Eau Claire Foundation, Halberg initiated and led the university's "Fulfilling the Promise of Excellence" fundraising campaign. The campaign, which will end in December, exceeded its $50 million goal earlier this spring.

Halberg, who graduated from UW-Eau Claire in 1972, joined the university's staff in 1981 as the interim director of Alumni Relations. From 1981-2000, she served in numerous advancement positions at the university. In 2000, she was named president of the Foundation and special assistant to the chancellor. In those capacities, she has supervised alumni relations, development and university communications. Full story.

Interviews set for director of libraries candidates
On-campus interviews will begin this week with three candidates for UW-Eau Claire's director of libraries position. All members of the campus community are invited to attend the candidate presentations and general question-and-answer sessions, which will be at 9 a.m. on the day of each candidate's visit in McIntyre Library Room 2023. An informal coffee reception will follow each session at 10 a.m.

The candidates and their interview dates are:

• Christopher N. Cox: Wednesday, May 9
• John H. Pollitz: Monday, May 14
• Fred W. Jenkins: Monday, May 21.

The position description and candidates' vita can be found on the McIntyre Library Web site.

Softball team wins WIAC tournament
Victory earns team a spot in NCAA Divison III competition; Blugolds to host event May 10-14 at Carson Park

Casey Leisgang (in the air) celebrates the Blugolds softball team win over UW-Oshkosh with Mallory McKinney as teammate Michelle Butkus (number 14) looks on (UW-Eau Claire photo by Rick Mickelson, LTS). View a slide show of additional images shot by Mickelson during the WIAC tournament.

The UW-Eau Claire softball team's 3-2 victory over 11th-ranked UW-Oshkosh Saturday in the deciding game of 2007 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) softball tournament earned the Blugolds their second tournament title in as many years.

The win gives the Blugolds the automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament. UW-Eau Claire will host the event, which will run Thursday, May 10, through Monday, May 14, at Carson Park, said Tim Petermann, sports information director. Full story.

Faculty members to teach in China this summer

Dr. Lee-Ellen Kirkhorn	Beth Kozbial Ernst	Dr. Thomas Kemp

Three UW-Eau Claire faculty members will teach at Jinan University in Guangzhou, China, this summer as part of UW-Eau Claire's ongoing exchange programs with the Chinese university.

Teaching at Jinan for one month will be Dr. Lee-Ellen Kirkhorn, associate professor of nursing; Beth Kozbial Ernst, ESL coordinator; and Dr. Thomas Kemp, assistant professor of economics. Kirkhorn will teach gerontological nursing; Ernst will teach English as a foreign language and teaching English as a foreign language; Kemp will teach graduate-level macroeconomic theory.

UW-Eau Claire has had student and faculty exchange programs with Jinan for 17 years, said Karl Markgraf, director of the universitiy's Center for International Education. During that time, UW-Eau Claire has hosted 75 faculty and students from Jinan, and Jinan has hosted about 30 faculty and students from UW-Eau Claire, he said. Full story.

Devroy Forum, Fellowship celebrate 10 years Washington Post editors discuss secret government; journalism student Nick Halter named 2007 Devroy Fellow Ann Devroy UW-Eau Claire celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Ann Devroy Memorial Forum and Fellowship April 26 with a forum presentation by Washington Post editors Bob Kaiser and Bob Woodward and guests that included all but one of UW-Eau Claire's Devroy Fellowship recipients. (See Leader-Telegram and Spectator coverage of the forum presentation.) Senior journalism major Nicholas Halter was named the 2007 Devroy Fellow (full story). The forum and fellowship were established to recognize the outstanding journalistic work of Devroy, a 1970 graduate of UW-Eau Claire who died of cancer in 1997 at the age of 49. Devroy, a Green Bay native, was a White House correspondent for more than 15 years, covering the Carter, Reagan, Bush and Clinton administrations. See the Ann Devroy Memorial Forum and Fellowship 10th anniversary Web site for more information on Devroy and those awarded the Devroy Fellowship. See photos from this year's event below. Photos by Bill Hoepner, LTS
Nine of the 10 Devroy Fellowship recipients attended the 10th annual Devroy Forum. Pictured are (back row, left to right) Chris Carr, 1998 recipient; D.J. Slater, 2005; Nick Halter, 2007; Steve Hyden, 1999; Kelly McBride, 2003; and (front row, left to right) Tim Ruzek, 2002; Gina Duwe, 2004; Sara Boyd, 2006; and Leah Thorsen, 2001. Not present was Lori Kurtzman, the 2001 Devroy Fellow.
	At left, Gina Duwe, 2004 Devroy Fellow, greeted Mark Matthews, Ann Devroy's widower, during a dinner reception before the forum. Looking on were Chris Carr, 1998 Devroy Fellow, and Carol Guensburg, a 1979 UW-Eau Claire journalism alumna who hosts Devroy Fellows at her family's Arlington, Va., home during their Washington Post internships.
Jan Larson, interim chair of UW-Eau Claire's communication and journalism department, and her husband, Lauran Larson, talked with Washington Post Deputy Managing Editor Milton Coleman at the dinner reception.
Washington Post Associate Editor Robert Kaiser, at podium, and Assistant Managing Editor Bob Woodward, on screen via Webcast, presented the 10th anniversary Devroy Forum in Zorn Arena.

CIE seeks international student hosts for fall 2007

The family of Jodi Thesing-Ritter, UW-Eau Claire's associate dean of student development, received the Outstanding Host Award May 1 at a reception for UW-Eau Claire international students and their host families/friends. Pictured, left to right, are Scott, Mason, Miranda, Morgan and Jodi Thesing Ritter, along with international student Adriana Martinez. (Contributed photo)

The UW-Eau Claire Center for International Education presented its Outstanding Host Award for the spring 2007 semester to the family of Jodi Thesing-Ritter, UW-Eau Claire's associate dean of student development, who were nominated by international student Adriana Martinez from Bolivia. The award was presented during a May 1 reception for international students and their host families/friends in The Dulany, Davies Center.

"Adriana was our first host daughter and it was a marvelous experience," Thesing-Ritter said. "She has been here for two years, so we were able to develop a meaningful relationship with her. Our whole family learned so much from her and we can't wait to take a trip to Bolivia to visit her."

Host families/friends are needed for fall 2007. Host families/friends provide a three- to four-day home stay to new international students when they arrive in Eau Claire before classes begin. Hosts then stay in contact with their students during their time at UW-Eau Claire. For more information, contact Stephanie Pyykola in the Center for International Education at pyykolsk@uwec.edu or 715-836-4075.

Irie Sol

Chester Bay

Springfest starts today
on Central Campus Mall Springfest, UW-Eau Claire's annual celebration of music and spring, will be presented today through Friday. The free festival on the Central Campus Mall (rain site is The Cabin in Davies Center) will run from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. each day, and a variety of grilled lunch items will be sold. Springfest performers will include QuinnElizabeth (today), Irie Sol (Tuesday), Slay Zombie Newton (Wednesday), Chester Bay (Thursday) and Survive the Drive (Friday). Springfest is sponsored by the University Activities Commission of the Student Senate. Full story.

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.