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UW-Eau Claire students gain improved access to valuable research tool

UW-Eau Claire to participate in
faculty survey

Z Magazine
co-founder Michael Albert to speak at The Forum

Faculty/staff asked to promote student participation in
essay contest

Spring issue of Wisconsin Ideas focuses on
budget impacts

UW-Eau Claire to educate students about risks associated with spring break

UW-Eau Claire students gain improved access to valuable research tool

Geoff Peterson, political science, worked with TLTDC to improve student accessibility to about 175 datasets like the "American National Election Study."

UW-Eau Claire students studying almost anything related to the social sciences, but particularly those in political science, will soon have another research tool available to them — one they should find they can easily use thanks to the work of Geoff Peterson, political science, and staff of the Teaching and Learning Technology Development Center and Computing and Network Services.

At 2 p.m. Tuesday, March 16, in the Alumni Room of Davies Center, faculty and students are invited to the “unveiling” of a new database that has been customized to allow for easy access to datasets available through the university’s membership in the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research.

James Oberly, history, began the work of teaching other faculty members how to use the many electronic datasets available through the ICPSR. He received a Technology Innovation for Education fellowship in 2003 and began working with TLTDC to design and conduct a series of workshops with faculty from the departments of mathematics, sociology, communication and journalism, history, political science and economics. Peterson was one of those faculty members, and he has taken this effort one step further. Full story.

(NOTE: The ICPSR license restricts use of the datasets to current faculty, staff and students, so they are password protected through BLUGOLD Insider.)

UW-Eau Claire to participate in faculty survey

2003 Student Research Day.

Nearly 250 faculty at UW-Eau Claire will be asked this month to participate in the first national Faculty Survey of Student Engagement.

“The survey is designed to measure faculty expectations for student engagement in educational practices that we know are linked with high levels of learning and development,” said Provost Ron Satz.

The faculty survey, which will be sent to randomly selected faculty at the end of March, will focus on things such as their perceptions of how often students engage in various activities; the importance they place on different areas of learning and development; the nature and frequency of their interactions with students; and how faculty organize class time. Full story.

Z Magazine co-founder Michael Albert to speak at Monday Forum
Michael Albert, co-founder of Z Magazine — an independent monthly of critical thinking on political, cultural, social, and economic life in the United States — will speak Monday, March 15, at UW-Eau Claire.

The Forum will present his presentation, titled “Radical Visions for Radical Change,” at 7:30 p.m. in Zorn Arena.

Michael Albert co-founded Z Magazine and ZNet, its online incarnation, where he writes about economics and economic vision, foreign affairs, media and political strategy. A veteran student and community activist, Albert speaks on current events and the dimensions of class, race, gender and power in contemporary life.

Albert has written a dozen books including “Stop the Killing Train” and “Looking Forward: Participatory Economics for the Twenty-First Century.” Full story and ticket information.

Faculty/staff asked to promote student participation in essay contest
In conjunction with the American Democracy Project, a new "Student Perspectives" essay contest is under way. The New York Times Knowledge Network and NYTimes.com encourage all undergraduate and graduate students to share their views, in essay form, on the topic of "Civic Engagement" in their community.

To be eligible, students must write a 750-1000 word essay and submit it by April 16. Writers of five essays will be chosen to receive a $200 gift certificate to Barnes & Noble. The essays also will be published in the "Student Perspectives" section of The Knowledge Network.

More information about civic engagement and the essay contest is available online.

Spring issue of Wisconsin Ideas focuses on budget impacts
The spring 2004 issue of Wisconsin Ideas, available online, includes a snapshot look at how budget cuts are affecting students, faculty, staff and Wisconsin citizens.

Chancellor Donald Mash is quoted in an ON CAMPUS article titled "Shrinking UW capacity threatens Wisconsin's future."

UW-Eau Claire to educate students about risks associated with spring break
Spring break may mean a week of fun for most students, but UW-Eau Claire wants to make sure students are aware of the risks associated with spring break.

UW-Eau Claire will be holding “Blugolds Gone Wild” from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. March 17, on the Campus Mall. The event will help educate students about risks they might face over spring break and how they can help reduce those risks. Music, games and mocktails will help create a spring break atmosphere. 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 Liz Wolf Green at greenew@uwec.edu are encouraged. Faculty/staff news items are published on a space-available basis.