Welcome to the School of Education's newsletter, Sigma. You can access Sigma online at http://www.soe.umich.edu/sigma/index.html. If you have any comments or suggestions, please send them to . The next Sigma will be Friday, October 11, 2002.
Sigma Vol. XXXI, No. 30, October 4, 2002
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CALENDAR: OCTOBER 6 - OCTOBER 12
**OMSA Open House
Date: Monday, October 7
Time: 9:00 a.m. - Noon, & 4:00 - 6:00 p.m.
Location: OMSA Office, Room 1213
**Eisenhower Fellow Presentation
"Educational Reform in Thailand: Change from the Grassroots Level"
Date: Friday, October 11
Time: Noon - 1:00 p.m.
Location: Brownlee, 2327 SEB
**CIERA Talk and Tea
Date: Friday, October 11
Time: 3:00 p.m.
Location: Tribute Room, 1322 SEB
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Index
1. EPI REPORT RELEASED
2. NEW AAC&U REPORT RELEASED
3. NEW GRANTS/AWARDS
4. NEWS FROM OMSA
5. SECOND ANNUAL GRADSHARE
6. CIERA TALK AND TEA
7. PRESENTATION BY EISENHOWER FELLOW
8. SPECIAL PRESENTATION AT MSU
9. NEW RACKHAM TRAVEL GRANT/DISCRETIONARY FUNDS GUIDELINES
10. CAREER CENTER WEB SITE
11. NEWS FROM ITCS
12. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MINUTES
13. CAMPUS EVENTS OF INTEREST
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1. EPI REPORT RELEASED
The Economic Policy Institute released "Inequality at the Starting Gate," a study by SOE Valerie Lee and David Burkam. The SOE professors analyzed information from a nationwide US Department of Education survey of more than 16,000 children at the point where they enter kindergarten and found that children from the lowest socioeconomic group arrive at school with fewer cognitive skills than children from the higher groups. The report is available online at http://www.epinet.org. It was also the subject of an article in the October 10 issue of the "Detroit News" which is available online at http://www.detnews.com/2002/schools/0210/01/schools-601125.htm.
2. NEW AAC&U REPORT RELEASED
On September 30, the Association of American Colleges & Universities released a major report, entitled "Greater Expectations: A New Vision for Learning as a Nation Goes to College." Sylvia Hurtado, director of the Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education, was a member of the national panel that worked on the report for more than two years. The report is available on the AAC&U web site at http://www.greaterexpectations.org. The University of Michigan was also selected as a leadership institution in aspiring to promote some of the goals for undergraduate education articulated in the report. A forum on undergraduate education is being planned for next term, co-sponsored with AAC&U and the Provost's Office, to focus on some of these issues and generate interest among faculty across campus.
3. NEW GRANTS/AWARDS
==Ed Silver has been awarded $299,831 from Michigan State University for a project entitled, "Studying the Enactment of Teacher Professional Development for Experienced Users of Innovative Mathematics Curriculum Materials - The Case of the Beyond Implementation: Focusing on Challenge and Learning (BI:FOCAL) Project."
==Elfrieda Hiebert has received an award from Pacific Resources for Education and Learning (PREL) in the amount of $100,000 for a project entitled, "Leadership in the National Priority for Literacy/Language Mastery."
4. NEWS FROM OMSA
The SOE Office of Multicultural Student Affairs (OMSA) will hold its Open House Monday, October 7, 9:00 a.m. - Noon and 4:00 - 6:00 p.m., Room 1213. Come and meet the new staff of graduate students: Xavier Corona, Imani Masters Goffney and Tiffany Pryor. For more information, contact OMSA at OMSAstaff at umich.edu.
5. SECOND ANNUAL GRADSHARE
The School of Education Graduate Student Community Organization (GSCO) and the Graduate Organization of Students in Higher Education (GOSHE) are excited to co-sponsor the second annual GradShare, Monday, October 28, 4:30 - 6:30 p.m., in the Tribute and Whitney Rooms. Graduate students from across all units of SOE are invited to share their emerging research interests and experiences in an informal yet structured afternoon. Refreshments will be provided. All graduate students and faculty are invited to attend. Interested students should send the following information to GSCO.coordinators at umich.edu:
1) Name
2) Program
3) Topic of research interest (at any stage of development)
4) Whether you'd like to a) present a paper, b) present a poster, c) discuss emerging ideas in a roundtable format, or d) simply learn what others are doing within the School of Education.
This opportunity is one of many that the school-wide GSCO hopes to provide throughout the year to advance community and collaboration among the graduate students in the School of Education. The GSCO is composed of the following representatives for each program unit: Helen Burn & Alina Wong (CSHPE), Eric Fretz (CPEP), Janice Leach (E&E), Melis Michel (Teacher Education), Abigail Jewkes (LLL/Early Childhood), Andrew Hayes (FARP), and Tanya Cleveland (Learning Technologies). Co-coordinating GSCO events this year are Jane Coggshall and Eric Fretz. Questions? Contact GSCO.coordinators at umich.edu.
6. CIERA TALK AND TEA
Date: Friday, October 11
Time: 3:00 p.m.
Location: Tribute Room, 1322 SEB
Please join CIERA for a discussion led by Frederick J. Morrison, U-M Professor of Psychology, and Carol M. Connor, Ph.D., U-M Senior Research Associate, on "Beyond the Reading Wars: Exploring Child-Instruction Interactions in Early Reading Acquisition".
7. PRESENTATION BY EISENHOWER FELLOW
Date: Friday. October 11
Time: Noon - 1:00 p.m.
Location: Brownlee, 2327 SEB
Dr. Amornwich Nakornthap, the '02 Eisenhower Fellow from Thailand will present "Educational Reform in Thailand: Change from the Grassroots Level." Since the early '90s, Dr. Nakornthap has been a key figure in the education reform movement in Thailand. His research interests include reform in the higher education sector, legal aspects of reform, and roles and strategies for community colleges in strengthening communities. For more information, call 764-9472.
8. SPECIAL PRESENTATION AT MSU
"Teacher Education for the 21st Century: What's Research Got To Do With It?"
by Marilyn Cochran Smith, professor education and director of the Doctoral Program in Curriculum and Instruction, Boston College
Date: Wednesday October 16
Time: 4:00 - 6:00 p.m.
Location: Erickson Hall, Rm. 252
Prof. Cochran-Smith will identify five distinct meanings for research that underlie current discussions about the research base for teacher education, using metaphors as an organizational frame: research as weapon, research as report card, research as warranty, research as foundation, and research as stance. If you are interested in meeting with Dr. Cochran Smith during her visit, please contact Suzanne M. Wilson, swilson at msu.edu.
9. NEW RACKHAM TRAVEL GRANT/DISCRETIONARY FUNDS GUIDELINES
"Due to reduced budgets and an effort to maintain an even distribution of travel grant funds throughout the fiscal year new travel grant guidelines are being implemented by the Dean. All travel grant applications for travel between now and December 31, 2002 *must* be in the fellowships office by 5:00 p.m. October 15, 2002. Late applications will *not* be accepted. We will announce when applications for travel after December 31, 2002 will be accepted again in our office. There will be more comprehensive details to follow. Please look for an announcement in approximately 2-3 weeks. New guidelines will also be set for discretionary awards. Those too will be announced when the Dean has finalized them. Please look for an announcement in approximately 2-3 weeks."
10. CAREER CENTER WEB SITE
The web site "This Month at the Career Center for Graduate Students" (http://careercenter.umich.edu/students/gradservices/index.html) highlights a variety of ways to access career and job search information: via the web, through in-person networking, even on-line chats. Included this month:
==Graduate students can learn more about careers in education beyond the tenure track and careers in research and consulting in two upcoming panel sessions. Information on additional career fields is available on our web site.
==Academic job searchers are encouraged to participate in an electronic chat later in the month on the academic job search for teaching institutions.
11. NEWS FROM ITCS
Below are *summaries* of news articles currently posted on ITweb. See the articles on the web for more detail. http://www.itd.umich.edu/news
==Marketplace Aims to Reduce Spam
Do you have sports tickets you can't use, an apartment to sublet, or used textbooks to sell? If so, the IT User Advocate encourages you not to send spam e-mail, but to consider using Marketplace instead. Marketplace is an online exchange environment for U-M students, faculty, and staff. http://www.itd.umich.edu/news/#market-09-30
=="Can the Spam" and Avoid Clear-Text Passwords
Beginning this fall, ITCS will be using posters, ads in the "Michigan Daily" and the "University Record," and more to stress two important messages to the campus community: "Can the spam!" and "Avoid clear-text passwords." http://www.itd.umich.edu/news/#spampasswords
==New Fall Version of Blue Disc Released
==Sites Upgrades Windows 2000 Environment
12. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MINUTES
== September 10, 2002 Meeting
*Introductions/Meeting Schedules
Dean Wixson described the School's plans for commemorating September 11
Interim GSCO Student representatives were welcomed and will attend until bylaws are formalized and elections are held.
*Minutes Discussion and Approval
Format and distribution of minutes was discussed.
*SOE Organizational Changes
Dean Wixson referred to the updated organizational chart and described recent changes.
Asst. Dean Meares' will coordinate SOE diversity initiatives and recruitment strategies and will work to establish a "think tank" to launch collaborative multicultural activities both with SOE programs and other campus units.
Brian Jones will report to Assoc. Dean Mirel as Director of Office of Student Services.
Nominations were made for a new representative to the Institutional Review Board as Prof. Lee has a scheduling conflict.
*Budget Planning Update
Assoc. Dean Dey explained his expanded role in the budget process, his regular meetings with the Provost Office, need for tighter budgetary accountability and the hiring of a budget manager. He stated the need for input and guidance from the EC and suggested that a small research committee might be a method to collectively advise how SOE should "invest" its resources in the coming years.
The EC discussed several ideas for increasing the number of tuition-paying students, the need for establishing scholarship endowments within programs, and the need to bring in more master's students. It was also suggested that SOE offer more external education courses to improve connections with practice and increase income.
*Recruitment Issues/Activities
Dean Wixson spoke of how the organizational changes and budget issues relate to planning, which will be the topic at upcoming faculty meetings. She also noted the need for faculty participation in this process.
*Strategic Planning
Prof. Richardson discussed the Carnegie Initiative on the Doctorate and the discussions regarding participation that she and Prof. Bass are having with LSA and other campus units.
13. CAMPUS EVENTS OF INTEREST
The following events will be taking place around campus. You may get more information on each event via the listed web site, email or telephone (when available).
==Presidential Address to Senate Assembly
Mary Sue Coleman
Date: Monday, October 14
Time: 3:15 p.m.
Location: Business School's Hale Auditorium
==Senate Assembly's Regent Candidates' Forum
Date: Monday, October 14
Time: 4:30 p.m.
Location: Business School's Hale Auditorium
==The Tamara Williams Memorial Lecture
"Ending Dating & Domestic Violence on Campus: Prevention, Intervention & Social Support"
by Oliver J. Williams, Ph.D.
Date: Wednesday, October 16
Time: 7:00 - 8:30 p.m.
Location: East Hall Auditorium, Rm. 1324
To register for any of the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching (CRLT) events listed below, please email crltseminar at umich.eduor, call 764-0505, or register online, where you will find detailed seminar descriptions. Please visit http://www.crlt.umich.edu. (click on "For GSIs" and then "GSI Seminars") to find out more. All programs are free of charge.
==Best Practices and Innovations
** The Engaged Classroom: Fostering Productive Student Participation
Date: Tuesday, October 8
Time: 3:00-5:00 p.m.
==Preparing Future Faculty (PFF) Luncheons
** Engineering Food for Thought Luncheon
Date: Friday October 11
Time: Noon-1:30 p.m.
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Sigma is a weekly publication of the University of Michigan School of Education (bi-weekly during the summer). To subscribe to Sigma, please send an email to . SUBSCRIBE should be the subject. Deadline for submissions is noon on Wednesday. Please send items to . The next issue of Sigma will be Friday, October 11, 2002.