New Web site design to go live next week

Click on the image above to view a larger version of the updated UW-Eau Claire home page design to be implemented the week of July 28.

An updated design for UW-Eau Claire's home page (shown at right) and other top-level Web pages will be implemented the week of July 28. The pages will be the first on the university's Web site to be created and maintained within a Web content management system (WCMS).

The updated design, created by a work group including representatives from across campus, is being called a "mini-redesign" by group members because it leaves the site's basic navigational structure intact, so people accustomed to the site will find most links in the same locations as before, said Lillian Hillis, Web content management system project leader.

Users will notice a few navigational changes, however. After studies of which home page links are used most frequently, several links have been moved from the left navigation column to the upper right corner of the home page top banner, while less frequently used links previously in the upper right corner will move to the left column, Hillis said.

Other changes have been made to give the Web site a fresh, new look. "We're excited about the update," Hillis said. "With the fun new look and minimal changes to navigation, we feel we've made a great Web site even more user friendly and attractive. The implementation of the content management system also is a huge step toward making Web development tasks easier for faculty, staff and students."

Read a Q&A discussing the details of the WCMS implementation, including the benefits of a WCMS, the reasons for the updated Web site design and what changes it will include and which university Web sites will be affected. Also see the WCMS Web site for more background information on the project.

Save the date: Academic year kickoff is Aug. 19 UW-Eau Claire employees are invited to attend the All-Employee Breakfast and Opening Meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 19, in Zorn Arena. Breakfast will be served starting at 7:30 a.m., and the opening meeting will begin at 8:15 a.m. The meeting will include Chancellor Brian Levin-Stankevich's state-of-the-university address, as well as the presentation of the annual faculty and staff excellence awards. Employees are welcome to come and go to and from the meeting as their schedules require.

Grant to fund research with fuel-cleanup application

Dr. Alan Gengenbach

The American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund has awarded just over $60,000 in grant funding to UW-Eau Claire and Dr. Alan Gengenbach, associate professor of chemistry, for a research project focused on reducing the sulfur in crude-oil-based fuels.

The grant, which will run from September 2008 through August 2011, will allow Gengenbach to hire at least two student assistants for the next three years, including summer research periods, to work with him on his project titled "Fundamental Studies of Metalloporphyrin Catalyzed Oxidation of Dibenzothiopenes."

Gengenbach said one of the principal aims of the grant proposal was to engage undergraduates in meaningful, ongoing research that contributes to the discipline and can be sustained through extramural as well as institutional support. UW-Eau Claire's office of Research and Sponsored Programs will contribute $7,500 to help pay the students and purchase supplies. Full story.

Blugold Booster Golf Outing set for Aug.4
The entry deadline is July 25 for the 32nd annual Blugold Booster Golf Outing, to be held Aug. 4 at Hillcrest Golf and Country Club, Altoona. The entry fee of $150 includes free driving range balls, 18 holes of golf with a cart (two carts per fivesome), lunch, dinner, a gift and a chance to win prizes on every hole. The practice range will be available at 10 a.m., registration /check-in is at 11 a.m., and the shotgun start will be at12:15 p.m. More information/entry form.

Alumni Association launches new Web site

The UW-Eau Claire Alumni Association Web site has a new look. The new site is created in a format consistent with the other university Web pages and includes a more news-oriented home page. Explore the new alumni Web site.

Summer Events Series continues with music
of Matt Wahl, international short film sampling

Matt Wahl

The original songs of Matt Wahl will begin the penultimate week of the University Centers Summer Events series at UW-Eau Claire, when the Eau Claire native performs a free concert at 7 p.m. tonight on the Central Campus Mall (rain site is Schofield Auditorium).

The Summer Events series also will present the next screening of the Summer Shorts film series from Tuesday-Thursday, July 22-24. "The World According to Shorts," a sampling culled from the best short films to screen internationally in recent years, will screen Tuesday and Wednesday, July 22-23, in UW-Eau Claire's Davies Theatre and Thursday, July 24, at the Eau Claire Regional Arts Center Gallery in downtown Eau Claire. Films will be presented at 11:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. each day. Admission is free and open to all. Full story.

Summer Sounds to feature vocal music faculty

(Rick Stockwell photo)	(Tom Stio photo)
Clockwise from top left: Dr. Mitra Sadeghpour, Dr. Jessica Riley, Dr. Robert Knight, Dr. Nicholas Phillips, Dr. Mark Mowry
	(Ed Moss photo)

UW-Eau Claire vocal faculty members Dr. Mitra Sadeghpour, Dr. Jessica Riley, Dr. Robert Knight and Dr. Mark Mowry, accompanied by UW-Eau Claire piano faculty member Dr. Nicholas Phillips and 2008 UW-Eau Claire graduate Matthew Lichtenwald, will present the fifth Summer Sounds series concert at 2 p.m. July 27 in Phillips Recital Hall in the university's Haas Fine Arts Center.

The all-English-language program will include settings of Shakespeare texts by British composer Gerald Finzi ("Let Us Garlands Bring") and German composer Erich Korngold. Also to be performed are several collections of songs, including Roberto Sierra's "Beyond the Silence of Sorrow" (to poetry by Native American N. Scott Momaday), John Musto's "Shadow of the Blues" (poetry by Langston Hughes), Minneapolis-based composer Libby Larsen's "Margaret Songs" (texts by Willa Cather), and selections from Benjamin Britten's "The Holy Sonnets of John Donne." Songs by Frank Bridge and folk song settings by Britten round out the planned repertoire. Full story.

Summer Bulletin
Published weekly during the summer session by the UW-Eau Claire News Bureau. News items and notices should be sent to the News Bureau, Schofield 201, by 10 a.m. Thursday 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.