The PACE Coalition met on Tuesday, February 17th. Several issues were discussed:
The Recovery Foundation, an organization that funds treatment for financially needy people suffering from alcohol and other drug addiction, is hosting Jam Fest next Friday, February 27th at 6pm at the Loft. This fundraiser will feature a raffle and performances by several bands. Tickets are $10 and there is a $5 student discount.
The Wisconsin Union Directorate funds a grant supporting late-night events on campus, with the goal of providing fun alternatives to drinking. However, a recent survey of funding recipients revealed that most of these events end before midnight. WUD members hope to determine why this pattern has arisen and what can be done to encourage alcohol-free events that run later into the night.
After hosting a successful campus symposium this past fall, the Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Taskforce is planning another symposium to be held at the Pyle Center in September. This event will be open to the public.
Revisions are being made to the annual College Health Behaviors survey, which addresses binge-drinking on campus. The survey will be pared down to encourage more participation and questions are being formulated to determine how much students spend on alcohol, as available data on this subject is extremely outdated.
University police have already begun a dialogue with students and Mifflin Street residents concerning the annual Mifflin Street block party. Issues discussed at the first meeting include whether to have a band, whether to pursue sponsorships, and what the police role should be.
Friday, February 20, 2009
University Honors Committee 2/19/09
The University Honors Committee met on Thursday, February 19th. Several issues were discussed:
Applications for the undergraduate research symposium are due TODAY. Participants will present their research at the Memorial Union on Thursday, April 16th. An additional poster session will be held at the Capitol on Wednesday, April 22nd, where several students will be selected to represent the University at a system-wide event.
The Churchill Scholarship funds one year of post-baccalaureate research in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics at the University of Cambridge. A UW-Madison student has not received the award since the 1980s, due in part to the fact that most eligible students already have plans to attend graduate school and regard a year-long research hiatus as a break they cannot afford to take. These recruitment problems have caused the Churchill Foundation to consider revoking UW-Madison's invitation to nominate students for the award. A representative from the foundation is visiting campus on Thursday, March 5th to gauge the situation and will hopefully jump-start some interest in the program. An information session will be held for students, and the foundation representative will visit various campus laboratories that host undergraduate researchers. The ultimate goal is to find new ways to enhance our recruitment efforts and ensure that this awesome opportunity is not lost to students.
About 500 students have responded to the first of three online surveys addressing the Honors experience at UW-Madison (about a 25% response rate, which is fairly high considering that no incentive was offered for completing the survey). This is part of an Honors Program assessment that seeks to determine how the Honors experience aligns with student expectations. Subsequent surveys will be targeted towards incoming students and alumni.
A proposal for a campus-wide Honors commencement reception was drafted. Such a reception would offer greater recognition for the achievements of Honors graduates and would provide an opportunity to create good will among a population of prospective donors to the University. The next steps will be to find funding sources and to coordinate a workable time for all of the programs involved. We hope to organize the first Honors reception for fall commencement in December.
The Pathways Scholars Program is an 8-week intensive summer research program for upper-level undergraduates. Applications are due by Friday, March 13th. For more information, contact Amy Sloane at alsloane@wisc.edu or visit the program website: http://www.lssaa.wisc.edu/psp/
Applications for the undergraduate research symposium are due TODAY. Participants will present their research at the Memorial Union on Thursday, April 16th. An additional poster session will be held at the Capitol on Wednesday, April 22nd, where several students will be selected to represent the University at a system-wide event.
The Churchill Scholarship funds one year of post-baccalaureate research in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics at the University of Cambridge. A UW-Madison student has not received the award since the 1980s, due in part to the fact that most eligible students already have plans to attend graduate school and regard a year-long research hiatus as a break they cannot afford to take. These recruitment problems have caused the Churchill Foundation to consider revoking UW-Madison's invitation to nominate students for the award. A representative from the foundation is visiting campus on Thursday, March 5th to gauge the situation and will hopefully jump-start some interest in the program. An information session will be held for students, and the foundation representative will visit various campus laboratories that host undergraduate researchers. The ultimate goal is to find new ways to enhance our recruitment efforts and ensure that this awesome opportunity is not lost to students.
About 500 students have responded to the first of three online surveys addressing the Honors experience at UW-Madison (about a 25% response rate, which is fairly high considering that no incentive was offered for completing the survey). This is part of an Honors Program assessment that seeks to determine how the Honors experience aligns with student expectations. Subsequent surveys will be targeted towards incoming students and alumni.
A proposal for a campus-wide Honors commencement reception was drafted. Such a reception would offer greater recognition for the achievements of Honors graduates and would provide an opportunity to create good will among a population of prospective donors to the University. The next steps will be to find funding sources and to coordinate a workable time for all of the programs involved. We hope to organize the first Honors reception for fall commencement in December.
The Pathways Scholars Program is an 8-week intensive summer research program for upper-level undergraduates. Applications are due by Friday, March 13th. For more information, contact Amy Sloane at alsloane@wisc.edu or visit the program website: http://www.lssaa.wisc.edu/psp/
Monday, February 16, 2009
Letters and Science Curriculum Committee
The L&S Curriculum Committee met last Monday to discuss new, deleted and modified courses in addition to a discussion about possibly limiting the number of majors a student can have.
Recently, due to tight budget constraints and mounting administrative work, Dean Sandefur and the rest of the college staff have begun discussing the options available to them to in terms of limiting majors. The number of double, triple and four majors has been increasing every year with Spanish being the most common double major. There are many different aspects to this conversation including the fact that recently students who have one major seem to think that two, three and four make them that much more marketable after college. As of our last meeting there were no decisions made, Dean Sandefur just wanted feedback so he work further on this problem.
It would be helpful, to get more student feedback so I can bring it back to the committee next Monday. If you want anymore information on the topic you can posts those requests here too and I'll check back soon. Thanks.
Recently, due to tight budget constraints and mounting administrative work, Dean Sandefur and the rest of the college staff have begun discussing the options available to them to in terms of limiting majors. The number of double, triple and four majors has been increasing every year with Spanish being the most common double major. There are many different aspects to this conversation including the fact that recently students who have one major seem to think that two, three and four make them that much more marketable after college. As of our last meeting there were no decisions made, Dean Sandefur just wanted feedback so he work further on this problem.
It would be helpful, to get more student feedback so I can bring it back to the committee next Monday. If you want anymore information on the topic you can posts those requests here too and I'll check back soon. Thanks.
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