Featured Articles

Commencement exercises to be
Dec. 17

Faculty and staff members announce retirements

Larry Solberg named COEHS associate dean

Susan Harrison to be acting associate dean in Student Development and Diversity

Regents urged to make system salaries competitive in Midwest market

NET Faculty Winterim Institute offered Jan. 10-12

Five to receive Alumni Association Awards

UW-Eau Claire Jeonju National University for Education form partnership

What's new
on the Web

Campus to close Dec. 26, Jan. 2

Happy Holidays!

Commencement exercises to be Dec. 17

Photo by Rick Mickelson, LTS

Winter commencement exercises for 685 students at UW-Eau Claire will be held Saturday, Dec. 17, in Zorn Arena.

Candidates from the College of Arts and Sciences and candidates for master's degrees will receive degrees during a 9:30 a.m. ceremony. Candidates from the College of Business, College of Education and Human Sciences, and College of Nursing and Health Sciences will receive degrees during a 2 p.m. ceremony.

Dr. Patricia Quinn, director of the Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program and the special assistant for external funding for the associate vice chancellor of student development and diversity, will deliver the "Charge to the Class" during both the morning and afternoon ceremonies. Quinn will reflect on the 40-year anniversary of the Higher Education Act of 1965 and the fact that the commencement audience now includes members of two generations who have benefited from this act. Full story.

Faculty and staff members announce retirements
The following faculty or academic staff members recently retired or will retire this winter from UW-Eau Claire:

• Patricia Christopherson, associate dean emerita of the College of Education and Human Sciences and a professor of social work
• Dr. Leonard Gibbs, professor emeritus of social work
• Dr. Christopher Lind, assistant vice chancellor for Research and Sponsored Programs and director of the Center of Excellence for Faculty and Undergraduate Student Research Collaboration
• Kay Magadance, senior policy and planning analyst, Institutional Planning
• Diane Omtvedt, senior clinical nurse specialist, Student Health Service
• Dr. Daniel Perkins, professor of communication and journalism. Full story.

Four classified employees at UW-Eau Claire have recently retired or have announced their upcoming retirements:

• Cheryl Barrows, dean assistant, Graduate Studies
• Carolyn Chasteen, IS comprehensive services-senior, Facilities Planning and Management
• Catherine Jones, library services assistant advanced/lead, McIntyre Library
• Judy Kilde, medical assistant, Student Health Services. Full story.

Larry Solberg named COEHS associate dean

Larry Solberg

Dr. Larry Solberg, chair of UW-Eau Claire's department of communication sciences and disorders, was recently named associate dean in the College of Education and Human Sciences.

"Dr. Solberg’s outstanding leadership contributions to his department, college and university equip him well to address the multiple challenges and opportunities aligned with this position," said Dr. Katherine Rhoades, dean of the College of Education and Human Sciences. "His success as a teacher, scholar, department chair and engaged and highly contributive member of the university community make him an ideal choice for this important leadership role."

According to Rhoades, Solberg's responsibilities will span three broad areas — administrative, student and academic services — and involve a variety of duties requiring leadership in all three areas. The new associate dean also will facilitate collegewide projects and initiatives, including a new faculty induction program and a plan to recruit and retain faculty and students from underrepresented groups.

Solberg joined the UW-Eau Claire faculty in the fall of 1993 and teaches courses in voice and resonance disorders, acquired cognitive-communication disorders, dysphagia, pediatric organic disorders and rehabilitation methods. He also supervises the evaluation of clients with voice and resonance disorders. His current research is in the area of voice assessment.

Solberg completed his bachelor's and master's degrees in communication disorders at UW-Eau Claire. After working in a variety of health care settings in Wisconsin and North Carolina for six years, he attended Florida State University and received his doctorate in speech pathology in 1990. He taught for three years at Kansas State University before coming to UW-Eau Claire.

Susan Harrison to be acting associate dean
in Student Development and Diversity

Susan Harrison

Dr. Susan Harrison, associate professor of computer science and chair of the University Senate, will serve as acting associate dean of student development during the spring semester of 2006. She will temporarily replace Jodi Thesing-Ritter, who will be on leave during that time.

"Dr. Harrison brings a wealth of experience advising individual students and working with Student Senate," said Kimberly Barrett, associate vice chancellor for student development and diversity. "She also has a thorough knowledge of university policy and will bring her many years of experience related to collaborating with departments and offices across campus to her duties in this position. I invite all faculty and staff to join me in congratulating her on this new opportunity."

Regents urged to make system salaries competitive in Midwest market
A national expert encouraged the UW System Board of Regents Dec. 9 to consider a plan to bring academic salaries in the system to competitive levels in the Midwest market. Peter McGrath, president of the National Association of State Land Grant Universities and Colleges, advised the regents to use a business model to approach the university’s work for the state, including the levels of compensation it provides. (See related Badger Herald article.) Also at the regents' December meeting:

• David Wilson, vice president for university outreach and associate provost at Auburn University in Alabama, was appointed as the first chancellor of both the statewide University of Wisconsin-Extension and the UW Colleges.

• The board was presented background information on various tuition and financial aid policies as it began to consider restructuring the UW System's policies to make a UW education more accessible, especially for students from low-income families.

• The regents voted to ask campus chancellors for a recommendation about future employer-employee agreements in the UW System.

For full details, see the Day 1 and Day 2 news summaries from the Board of Regents' December meeting.

NET Faculty Winterim Institute offered Jan. 10-12
The 2006 Network for Excellence in Teaching Faculty Winterim Institute, titled "Engaging Learners in Large Classrooms — Building Community and Using Active Learning Strategies," will be held Jan. 10-12 in the NET Resource Lab in Schofield 30/44. Those interested in participating must submit a proposal by Dec. 14. Details about the institute, including the proposal form, can be found on the NET Web site. For more information, contact Catherine Artac at artacca@uwec.edu or 836-3323.

Five to receive Alumni Association awards

		Top, l-r: David Anderson, Alan Zimmerman, David Larson. Bottom, l-r: Patrick Rebman, Suzanne Slota.

The UW-Eau Claire Alumni Association will present awards to five alumni Dec. 17 at a special luncheon and ceremony in conjunction with commencement. Click on the recipients' names below for biographical information:

David Anderson '66 will receive the Alumni Distinguished Achievement Award, which recognizes distinguished service to the community, state or nation that brings credit upon the recipient and the university.

Alan Zimmerman '70 will receive the President's Award, which recognizes outstanding professional and personal achievements and service to UW-Eau Claire.

David Larson '90, Patrick Rebman '95 and Suzanne Slota '94 will receive the Outstanding Recent Alumnus Award, which acknowledges the special achievements and great promise of alumni who are within 15 years of their graduation from UW-Eau Claire.

What's new on the Web

Page invites visitors to "Experience all UW-Eau Claire has to offer": A new Web page providing a one-stop overview of events, activities and resources at UW-Eau Claire was launched recently. The page is updated regularly with a featured event. The ad above promoting the Web page is included in the Eau Claire Area Chamber of Commerce directory, and a similar ad is to be included in the Chippewa Falls Area Chamber of Commerce directory. In addition, an "Experience UW-Eau Claire" ad on the WQOW-TV Web site links to the the page, which encourages its audience to "Experience all UW-Eau Claire has to offer."

Campus to close Dec. 26, Jan. 2
Dec. 25 (Christmas Day) and Jan. 1 (New Year's Day) fall on Sundays this holiday season. The university is closed on the Monday following a Sunday holiday. Consequently, the university will be closed on Monday, Dec. 26, 2005, and Monday, Jan. 2, 2006.

Also, because Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve fall on Saturdays this season, floating legal holidays will be added to university employees' leave accounts. See the December issue of Human Resources News for more information.

Happy Holidays!
This is the last issue of the University Bulletin for fall semester. The first issue for the 2006 spring semester will be dated Jan. 23, 2006.

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.