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Center for Collaborative Leadership in Education to receive at least $150,000 from alumni estate

U.S. Rep. Ron Kind to visit
UW-Eau Claire

First Nations/New Nations Conference to be held March 11

Alexandre Dossin to perform solo ‘autobiographical concert’

UW-Eau Claire’s NYSP receives Meritorious Award

UW-Eau Claire students help fight hunger with annual ‘Empty Bowls’ benefit

Faculty, staff asked to encourage students to participate in NSSE project

Z Magazine co-founder Michael Albert to speak at UW-Eau Claire

Accounting: An out-of-the-classroom experience

Center for Collaborative Leadership in Education to receive at least $150,000 from alumni estate

Clifford and Mollie Rayment earned teaching certificates from UW-Eau Claire (then the Eau Claire State Teachers College) in the 1930s. Their teaching careers spanned five decades and included positions at several schools. Mollie died in 2001, and Clifford died in 2003.

The UW-Eau Claire Foundation will receive at least $150,000 from the estate of two UW-Eau Claire alumni, both longtime educators who wished to make a difference for current and future teachers.

The Foundation has received a gift of $84,000 from the estate of former Eau Claire residents Clifford and Mollie Rayment for the university’s recently created Center for Collaborative Leadership in Education. A second distribution also will go to the Foundation for the CCLE at the time the Rayments’ estate is fully settled, bringing the total gift to at least $150,000, said Carole Halberg, UW-Eau Claire Foundation president.

“This couple dedicated long careers to the education of rural Wisconsin youth, and we are honored that they chose UW-Eau Claire to carry on their legacy,” Halberg said. “Their gift will give life to the plans for our Center for Collaborative Leadership in Education, ensuring closer partnerships between our School of Education and area public schools — and ultimately continued quality education for the young people of our region.” Full story.

U.S. Rep. Ron Kind to visit UW-Eau Claire
U.S. Rep. Ron Kind will hold a town hall meeting at UW-Eau Claire on Friday, March 12, to talk about the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. The meeting will begin at 12:30 p.m. in Davies Theatre of Davies Center.

Congress first passed the Higher Education Act in 1965. The purpose of the Act has been to make the benefits of higher education available to all Americans by directing monies to students and to states and institution to fund specific programs. The Committee on Education and the Workforce, of which Rep. Kind is a member, is in the process of reauthorizing the Act.

More information about the Higher Education Act can be found on the following Web sites:
Committee on Education and the Workforce - Information Pertaining to Higher Education
The Higher Learning Commission - Politics & Government
American Council on Education - Higher Education & National Affairs

The March 12 meeting, sponsored by the UW-Eau Claire Student Senate, is one of a series of meetings Rep. Kind is planning throughout the spring to gather feedback from faculty and students at western Wisconsin's colleges and universities. The meeting is open to the public.

First Nations/New Nations Conference to be held at UW-Eau Claire March 11

Dr. Jane Hamilton-Merritt, Pulitzer Prize and Nobel Peace Prize nominee, will be the keynote speaker at the First Nations/New Nations Conference.

On Thursday, March 11, reporting about Hmong news will be the featured topic at the Third Annual First Nations/ New Nations Conference at UW-Eau Claire.

Pulitzer Prize and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Dr. Jane Hamilton-Merritt will present a lecture titled “Covering the Hmong Story: Honest Media Mistakes or What?” as part of the conference set to begin at 8:30 a.m. in the Tamarack Room of Davies Center.

Ethnic artwork will be displayed and a titled “Living Paj Ntaub” (The Living Story Cloth) will be presented during the conference.

A community-based panel discussion titled “Raising the Bar in Reporting Hmong News” will round out the day. Several key community leaders and journalists will speak on this topic as well as field questions from the audience.

The conference, which is set to conclude at 2 p.m., is free but reserved seats are required. For reservations or more information contact communication and journalism at 836-2528. If you are interested in having an interactive or view-only distance education site hook-up to the conference, contact Don Scleicher at 836-5088. Full story.

Alexandre Dossin to perform solo ‘autobiographical concert’ at UW-Eau Claire
Alexandre Dossin, assistant professor of music at UW-Eau Claire, will perform a solo concert at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 11, in Gantner Concert Hall of the Haas Fine Arts Center.

This will be Dossin’s first solo concert in Eau Claire since winning the first and special prizes at the prestigious second Martha Argerich International Piano Competition in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Dossin calls it an “autobiographical recital” that will take listeners on a tour of all the countries that have been important in his life.

The concert is free and the public is invited. Full story.

UW-Eau Claire’s NYSP receives Meritorious Award
The National Youth Sports Program at UW-Eau Claire recently was awarded a Meritorious Award, recognizing it as one of the top NYSP programs in the country.

UW-Eau Claire’s NYSP program has won the Meritorious Award every year since 1993. In 1991 and 1998, it earned the Silvio O. Conte Award of Excellence, given to the top program in the nation.

“We are grateful for receiving the award,” said Lisa McIntyre, activity director for NYSP. “We hope to serve as a model for other programs.” Full story.

UW-Eau Claire students help fight hunger with annual ‘Empty Bowls’ benefit
Ceramic students from the UW-Eau Claire art & design department are once again pitching in to help fight hunger in the Chippewa Valley. The students, under the direction of associate professor of art Mike Weber, are designing and making more than 400 ceramic bowls to donate to the Feed My People Food Bank for their upcoming “Empty Bowls” fund-raiser. Student coordinators of this year’s project are seniors Aimee Rusch, Wauwatosa, and Megan Shanley, Lindstrom, Minn.

“Empty Bowls,” a benefit supper of soup, specialty breads and desserts, will be held from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 11, at Trinity Lutheran Church, 1314 East Lexington, Eau Claire. Full story and ticket information.

Faculty, staff asked to encourage students to participate in NSSE project
Students at UW-Eau Claire who recently received the National Survey of Student Engagement are encouraged to complete the survey, said Provost Ron Satz.

“This short survey has the potential to make a difference in the quality of undergraduate education offered here and elsewhere because it asks the kinds of questions that matter to students and their learning,” Satz said, noting that students receiving the survey were selected at random.

Survey questions focus on the amount of reading and writing required, how often students interact with students from different backgrounds and cultures, the quality of academic advising, and how often students work with faculty on research projects. Full story.

Z Magazine co-founder Michael Albert to speak at UW-Eau Claire’s 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.

His presentation titled “Radical Visions for Radical Change” will begin 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. Understanding the role of reforms, Albert is also a forthright advocate of transforming basic institutions. He addresses not only problems but explores real solutions. Full story.

Accounting: An out-of-the-classroom experience

These UW-Eau Claire accounting students made the most of their snowday, when they reconvened class outside and built a snowprofessor resembling their very own Professor Roger Selin. (UW-Eau Claire photo by Bruce Dybvik.)

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.