Featured Articles

UW-Eau Claire celebrates commencement
Dec. 20

Five faculty members announce retirements

Four classified staff members retire

Five to receive Alumni Association awards

Task force to develop enrollment management plan

Cabaret XXXI to run Jan. 22-24 and 29-31

Winning thesis examines J.K. Rowling novels

Telefund on track to make goal for
2008-09

Sociology 101 students practice professional research skills

China 1+2+1 program partners visit campus

Happy Holidays!

UW-Eau Claire celebrates commencement Dec. 20

See "Celebrating UW-Eau Claire's Class of 2008" for more information about commencement and stories about several featured UW-Eau Claire December graduates.

Winter commencement exercises for 673 students at UW-Eau Claire will be Saturday, Dec. 20, in Zorn Arena. Candidates from the College of Business, College of Education and Human Sciences, and College of Nursing and Health Sciences will receive degrees during a 9 a.m. ceremony. Candidates from the College of Arts and Sciences and candidates for master's degrees will receive degrees during a 2 p.m. ceremony. Terence McMahon, principal/commercial real estate adviser for The Boerke Company Inc. and a 1979 UW-Eau Claire marketing graduate, will deliver the "Charge to the Class" during the morning and afternoon ceremonies.

A reception for graduates and guests will follow each ceremony in the Spruce-Tamarack Room of Davies Center. Tickets are required for admission to the morning and afternoon ceremonies. Full story.

Five faculty members announce retirements
Five UW-Eau Claire faculty and academic staff members recently retired or have announced they will retire soon:

• Michael Christopherson, professor emeritus, art & design
• Dr. J. Brady Foust, professor emeritus, geography
• Dr. William Frankenberger, professor emeritus, psychology, and director of the Human Development Center and school psychology program
• Gloria Hochstein, senior lecturer emerita, English
• Dale Gable, senior lecturer, foreign languages

Full story.

Four classified staff members retire
Four UW-Eau Claire classified staff members have recently retired or will retire soon:

• Paul Diedrich, management information manager, Learning and Technology Services
• Marjorie Frankenberger, program associate, Records and Registration
• Gary Grundman, senior power plant operator, Facilities Planning and Management
• Stephen Lawrence, custodian, University Recreation & Sports Facilities

Full story.

Five to receive Alumni Association awards

	Clockwise, from top left: Terence McMahon, Barbara Lee, Virgina Janssen, Aaron Doty, Barry Moullet.

The UW-Eau Claire Alumni Association will present awards to five graduates of the university Dec. 20 at a special luncheon and ceremony in conjunction with commencement. Read the recent news release for more details on the following recipients:

Terence C. McMahon will receive the Lifetime Excellence Award, presented to alumni who have demonstrated longtime and successful commitment to their careers and communities.

Barbara C. Lee and Barry Moullet will receive the President's Award, which recognizes outstanding professional and personal achievements and service to UW-Eau Claire.

Virginia Janssen 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.

Aaron Doty will receive the Outstanding Recent Alumnus Award, which acknowledges special achievements and great promise of alumni who are within 15 years of their graduation from UW-Eau Claire.

Task force to develop enrollment management plan
In support of UW-Eau Claire's Gold Arrow Priorities, which call for the creation and implementation of an enrollment management plan that will foster the promotion of connected learning, Marty Wood, interim provost and vice chancellor of academic affairs, has announced the establishment of an Enrollment Plan Task Force. 

The task force's official charge is to develop a plan that integrates UW-Eau Claire’s enrollment goals with its broader strategic planning initiatives. The group will work to have a final enrollment plan in place by summer 2009 so that its recommendations can mesh with the university ’s new budget and academic planning processes.

The Enrollment Plan Task Force members include:

• Gail Scukanec, College of Education and Human Sciences, chair
• Kris Anderson, Admissions, facilitator
• Matthew Evans, Physics and Astronomy
• Karl Markgraf, Center for International Education
• Kathleen Sahlhoff, Financial Aid
• Laurie St. Aubin-Whelihan, Continuing Education
• Jodi Thesing-Ritter, Dean of Students Office
• Charles Vue, Multicultural Affairs.  

The task force will host a "by invitation" workshop on Tuesday, Dec. 16, with consultant Jay Goff, dean of enrollment management at the Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla, Mo. Goff specializes in using quantitative techniques to focus institutional resources and achieve significant gains in retention, recruitment, quality student profile and net tuition revenue. For more information about the workshop, contact Scukanec at scukangp@uwec.edu or Anderson at anderskc@uwec.edu.

Cabaret XXXI to run Jan. 22-24 and 29-31
Tickets are now on sale for UW-Eau Claire's 2009 Cabaret XXXI show.

Performances for the popular Cabaret are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Jan. 22-24 and 29-31 in the Council Fire Room of Davies Center. Matinees are scheduled for 2 p.m. Jan. 24 and 31. Doors open one hour before each performance.

The theme for this year's production is "Colors," with each set named for a color represented by titles, composers or artists associated with that color. For example, the green set will include songs all performed by Al Green, the blue set will include songs that all have the word "blue" in the title, and the white set includes titles performed by singer Barry White. Full story.

Winning thesis examines J.K. Rowling novels

Hebl

Krista Hebel, Eau Claire, was awarded first place in UW-Eau Claire's Distinguished Master's Thesis Competition for her thesis titled "Wielding 'A Power the Dark Lord Knows Not': Harry Potter and the Heroics of Care."

Hebel received her master's degree in English in August 2008.

Each year, faculty members are invited to nominate exceptional quality theses, with judging provided by a Graduate Council faculty committee. Dr. Theresa Kemp, professor of English and Hebel's thesis adviser, submitted her paper to the competition, describing it as "extensively researched and a model of clarity." Kemp described the paper, which takes a feminist approach to the reading of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter novels, as "theoretically sophisticated and beautifully written," and "a unique contribution to the study of Rowling's novels." Full story.

Telefund on track to make goal for 2008-09

Chancellor Brian Levin-Stankevich enjoyed lunch with Telefund callers Nicole Huebner (in blue) and Heather Mueller Dec. 8 in The Dulany in Davies Center. Huebner and Mueller, along with fellow Telefund caller Andrea Roble, were selected in a drawing for the lunch with the chancellor. Callers were able to enter their name in the contest drawing each time they received a Telefund pledge from an alumnus or friend of the university over a specified two-week period. (Photo by Bill Hoepner, LTS)

The UW-Eau Claire Foundation's 2008-09 Telefund is on track to make its goal of $500,000 in contributions from alumni and friends of the university, said Nicole Poehling, the Foundation's associate director of annual giving. As of Dec. 10, donors had given or pledged nearly $241,000 to the Telefund effort, Poehling reported.

"With the struggling economy, our alumni continue to invest in the university," Poehling said. "We have also had a very successful parents campaign, which demonstrates how invested our parents are in their children and UW-Eau Claire."

Poehling said the Foundation's student callers are the reason for the Telefund's success.

"Most of our callers are new this semester, and they show enthusiasm for their job," she said. "They show up to work every day ready to work and excited about the work of the Foundation, and I am very proud of all they’ve accomplished.

Above, students Robert Ukrainec and Craig Ricker (far right) presented their research project, "Sociological Look at the Marine Corps," to members of their Sociology 101 class Dec. 8. Below, Elizabeth Amann closely reviewed her classmates' research posters. (Photos by Bill Hoepner, LTS)

Sociology 101 students practice professional research skills
Dr. Kathleen Nybroten's fall semester "Introduction to Sociology" students had the opportunity to learn firsthand what the work of professional sociologists is like. They worked in groups during the semester to learn about topics of interest to sociologists and then created professional-sized posters, funded through differential tuition, to display their information and sociological analysis. They then presented their posters as they would at a professional conference. "It is an innovative approach and a great experience in professionalization — especially at the 100 level," said Melissa Bonstead-Bruns, chair of the sociology department.

China 1+2+1 program partners visit campus

During an afternoon tea Dec. 8 in The Dulany in Davies Center, UW-Eau Claire Chancellor Brian Levin-Stankevich received a gift from Dr. Zu Lingsheng, vice president of Changshu Institute of Technology. Looking on were Shu-Chuan Cheng (center) and Karl Markgraf, both of UW-Eau Claire's Center for International Education. (Photo by Bill Hoepner, LTS)

A delegation from Changshu Institute of Technology in Changshu, China, visited UW-Eau Claire Dec. 7-9. Currently two CIT students, both computer science majors, attend UW-Eau Claire through the China 1+2+1 Partnership Program. While at UW-Eau Claire, the CIT delegates conducted course articulation, learned about their students’ life on campus and explored additional exchange possibilities with UW-Eau Claire.

Representatives from UW-Eau Claire and Changshu Institute of Technology visited during an afternoon tea Dec. 8. Above (from left), Dr. Qian Suping, CIT's director of teaching quality management, and Dr. Li Junfeng, CIT's director of student affairs, spoke with Dr. Simei Tong, UW-Eau Claire professor of mathematics, and Jodi Simek, international student adviser in UW-Eau Claire's Center for International Education. (Photo by Bill Hoepner, LTS)

Happy Holidays!
This is the last issue of the University Bulletin for fall semester. The first issue for the spring semester will be dated Jan. 26, 2009.

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.