Featured Articles

Fundraising campaign final total nears $54 million

ACLU director to speak on campus Feb. 7

Wisconsin Trails fetes UW-Eau Claire faculty, staff

Draft strategic plan preview breakfast is tomorrow

Employees support what they value most during campus campaign

Black History Month activities begin this week

Spring break Civil Rights Pilgrimage planned

Students to vote online to accept/reject amendment

Expanded Internship Mania set for Feb. 6

Artists Series to present Janice Garrett & Dancers

First Freshman Provocation aims to inspire

Fundraising campaign final total nears $54 million
The UW-Eau Claire Foundation's seven-year Fulfilling the Promise of Excellence campaign ended Dec. 31, 2007, after raising nearly $54 million. The campaign — the university's first comprehensive fund-raising effort — exceeded its goal of $50 million.
"The level of generosity demonstrated throughout the campaign exceeded our wildest expectations," said Kimera Way, Foundation executive director. "Through their generosity, our donors have touched the lives of scores of people and virtually every program at UW-Eau Claire."

The Foundation kicked off its campaign in July 2000, with a goal to raise $35 million by June 30, 2005. After exceeding the $35 million goal by October 2004, the Foundation extended the Fulfilling the Promise of Excellence campaign's closing date to Dec. 31, 2007, and increased its goal to $50 million. Full story.

ACLU director to speak on campus Feb. 7

Anthony Romero

Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, will speak at UW-Eau Claire Thursday, Feb. 7. His Forum series lecture, "Leadership: Stand Up for What You Believe in No Matter What the Difficulty," will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Council Fire Room of Davies Center.

A pre-Forum hors d'oeuvres reception with Romero, hosted by Eau Claire residents Mildred and Brian Larson, will take place in The Dulany of Davies Center from 6-7 p.m. Tickets for the reception are $5 in advance or at the door. Full story.

Wisconsin Trails fetes UW-Eau Claire faculty, staff

Among faculty and staff members who established the Clean Commute Initiative at UW-Eau Claire are (from left) Paul Kaldjian, geography and anthropology; Jeff De Grave, geography and anthropology; Doug Faulkner, geography and anthropology; John Stupak, physics and astronomy; Bob Eierman, chemistry; and Analisa De Grave, foreign languages. (Eau Claire Leader-Telegram photo by Dan Reiland)

The January/
February issue of Wisconsin Trails magazine salutes UW-Eau Claire faculty and staff as being among the publication's 2008 "People Who Make a Difference." The magazine features faculty and staff members who helped establish the Clean Commute Initiative, a campuswide effort promoting greener ways to commute. Through the initiative, more than 200 faculty and staff members have signed a pledge promising to bike, walk, carpool or use public transportation as much as possible. Faculty and staff also have proposed several ways the university could encourage green commuters, such as providing more bike racks. View the Wisconsin Trails article. Also read a previous University Bulletin article on the Clean Commute Initiative.

Draft strategic plan preview breakfast is tomorrow
All faculty, staff and students are invited to join Chancellor Brian Levin-Stankevich for coffee, sweets and a first look at the draft strategic plan tomorrow, Feb. 5, from 7:30-9 a.m. in the Council Fire Room of Davies Center.

The event is hosted by the University Planning Committee. The committee will share copies of the draft strategic plan, outline the key ideas and invite questions and comments. A continental breakfast will be served. All are welcome to come when they can and stay as long as they like. Additional information and discussion sessions with the committee will be scheduled later this month. Those planning to attend the breakfast should RSVP to Jan Sloan, sloanj@uwec.edu.

Employees support what they value most during campus campaign
The UW-Eau Claire Foundation's 2008 "Leap at the Chance" campus campaign, being celebrated this month, provides several opportunities for faculty, staff and emeriti faculty to make gifts to the UW-Eau Claire Foundation in support of specific programs they most value. Examples of past campus campaign gifts and their impact include the following:

• Contributions to department advancement funds: In the chemistry department, campus campaign gifts made possible the revitalization of a 35-year-old spectrophotometer that would have cost at least $100,000 to replace.
• Gifts  to recognize the contributions of a faculty member: A scholarship established to honor Eberth Alarcón, an associate professor of mathematics who died of acute leukemia in September 2006, will be awarded for the first time in the 2008-09 academic year.
• Gifts to support to support specific student needs: The Bridge to Success scholarship supports international students who must take English-as-a-second-language classes.

Full story.

Black History Month activities begin this week

UW-Eau Claire's Office of Multicultural Affairs will kick off a celebration of Black History Month with a reception from noon to 3 p.m. today in the Tamarack Room, Davies Center.

Dr. Tess Onwueme

Chancellor Brian Levin-Stankevich will open the reception with a welcome at 12:15 p.m. The event will feature the works of Dr. Tess Onwueme, the Nigerian-born playwright, novelist, scholar and poet who is Distinguished Professor of Cultural Diversity and professor of English at UW-Eau Claire. She will read from some of her works and present video excerpts, play bills and stories from her many plays.

Other Black History Month events this week include:

• a free performance by Jabali Afrika at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 6, in Schofield Auditorium; and

• Jesse Dixon Jr.

  the first of three sessions of a Black History Month Dialogue on Diversity led by Jesse Dixon Jr., director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs, from 2:30-4:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 7, in  the Presidents Room, Davies Center. The sessions will focus on the California Newsreels film series "Race — The Power of an Illusion," and Thursday's session will examine the series' first episode, "The Difference Between Us."

Full story.

Spring break Civil Rights Pilgrimage planned
A group of UW-Eau Claire students will spend their 2008 spring break on a Civil Rights Pilgrimage to the South, visiting sites of historic importance to the U.S. civil rights movement. Students on the trip also will have the opportunity to participate in volunteer work to aid victims of Hurricane Katrina.

The March 14-23 Civil Rights Pilgrimage was planned by students Chris Neilson, Katie Lashua, Sarah Gonzalez and Tim Kenney, with the assistance of staff advisers Jodi Thesing-Ritter and January Boten. Informational meetings will begin at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 6, and noon Monday, Feb. 11, in the Arrowhead Room of Davies Center. Full story.

Students to vote online to accept/reject amendment
For the first time at UW-Eau Claire, students will be able to vote online to accept or reject a newly proposed amendment to the Student Body Constitution. Online voting will take place from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 5.

The Student Senate authorized the new electronic voting process for this specific election. An e-mail message will be sent to all students notifying them of the election and providing a link to the Web page where they can cast their votes. If the new process is successful, it may be used to replace physical polling places in the future. Full story.

Expanded Internship Mania set for Feb. 6
UW-Eau Claire students will explore internship opportunities and gather employment tips during Internship Mania 2008. The free event will run from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Feb. 6 in Davies Center. About 100 organizations, businesses and agencies and 2,000 candidates are expected to attend. To accommodate its increasing size, the event has expanded to use the Spruce-Tamarack and Council Fire rooms this year. Full story.

The San Francisco Chronicle wrote that Janice Garrett & Dancers has "been one of San Francisco's finest companies from its first performances."

Artists Series to present
Janice Garrett & Dancers

UW-Eau Claire's Artists Series will present Janice Garrett & Dancers, a modern dance troupe from San Francisco, at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 11, in Zorn Arena.

Honored in 2004 as one of Dance Magazine's top "25 to Watch" and nominated for five Isadora Duncan Dance Awards, Janice Garrett & Dancers has performed throughout California as well as having completed four tours to the Midwest.

A pre-event dessert discussion hosted by UW-Eau Claire dance instructor Toni Poll-Sorensen will be held in The Dulany of Davies Center from 6 to 7 p.m. Tickets for the discussion are $5 in advance or at the door. Full story.

First Freshman Provocation aims to inspire

Photos by Rick Mickelson, LTS

More than 300 students attended UW-Eau Claire's first Freshman Provocation Jan. 28 in Schofield Auditorium. The event was sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences to inspire and educate students about the power of a liberal education in the 21st century information age. Top right, Evan Weiher, professor of biology, was one of four faculty speakers who shared how their own liberal educations have impacted their personal and professional lives. Bottom right, a student concentrated as he took notes during the event.

"We have received positive feedback from students, who communicated that the speakers influenced the way they think about their education," said Donald Christian, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, following the event. "It seemed that different students responded to different speakers, suggesting that the variety of approaches and messages was useful."

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. Wednesday to ensure 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.