Sigma Bulletin: October 2-7, 2006

A. Calendar B. Looking Ahead C. Dean's Updates D. Announcements

A. CALENDAR Check Calendar events via the website: http://www.soe.umich.edu/calendar

October 2: No events submitted.

October 3: (a) The Center for Proficiency in Teaching Mathematics lecture: “The Mathematical Knowledge of Middle School Teachers: Implications for the No Child Left Behind Policy Initiative,” 12:00-1:30 p.m. , Brownlee (2327). Information: http://cptm.us

(b) Bioethics Program and the Life Sciences & Society Program lecture: Carl E. Schneider, JD, “ Informed Consent has Failed. It Cannot Succeed. Now What?” 7th Floor Conference Room (7C09) in the 300 North Ingalls (Building located at the corner of N. Ingalls and Catherine), 4:00-5:30. Information: calendar at http://lss.sph.umich.edu/.

October 4: (a) Office of Multicultural Student Affairs (OMSA) Dialogue on Diversity: "Proposal 2 (MCRI) and Its Intended Impacts on Education," 12-1:30 p.m., Brownlee Room (2327 SEB).

(b)Tamara Williams Memorial Lecture: Leslie Starsoneck, "Children and Domestic Violence," 7:00 pm, East Hall Auditorium.

October 5: CSHPE Public Policy Lecture: "Moral Reasoning and Higher Education Policy" Dr. Michael McPherson, President, The Spencer Foundation Dr. Morton O. Schapiro, President, Williams College, Massachusetts 4:15 PM, Schorling Auditorium, reception to follow in the Tribute Room

Friday, October 6 (a)12:00 PM - Graduate Student Lunch with Drs. McPherson and Schapiro, Brownlee Room (2327). Contact Janel Sutkus, jsutkus@umich.edu for more information.

(b) Yehuda Ben-Hur, director of the Davidson Center of Science Education at the Weizmann Institute of Science will be presenting a seminar titled "Professional Development for Teachers: Ideas, Models and Implementation in Science Education in Israel," room 4020 at 2:00. Information: sstevens at umich.edu.

October 7: No events submitted.

B. LOOKING AHEAD - October 11: (a) Teacher Education Seminar Series, "Teacher Education: Considering the Past to Build the Future:” David Cohen and Gary Fenstermacher, "The History of Teacher Education Reform and Specific Change Attempts," 2:30 pm in the Tribute Room.

(b) "Faculty Women's Club (FWC) fall reception for all interested women members of the faculty, wives and female partners of faculty, Michigan League Ballroom, 1:00-3:00 pm. Information: www.umich.edu/~fwc

- October 12: a special discussion session in which participants will talk about the issues that Gary and David raise in their Teacher Education seminar, 10am-noon, Brownlee. Space in this session is limited to 25; anyone who wishes to sign up should send Francesca Forzani an email ( fforzani at umich.edu) as soon as possible and no later than next Tuesday, October 10.

- October 13: The 2006 Urban Symposium, 8:00am-3:45pm, Schorling Auditorium and Whitney Auditorium: http:// www.rossnetimpact.org

- October 13: Reception to welcome Dr. Philip Bowman, founding director of the National Center for Institutional Diversity, 4:00-5:30 p.m., Brownlee (2327). RSVP to Nancy Abinojar at santana at umich.edu no later than Friday, October 6.

- October 14: Graduate Information Day: program information, exhibits, lunch. Information: http://www.soe.umich.edu/gradinformationday.

- October 20: Deadline for the Rackham International Students Fellowship <http://www.rackham.umich.edu/2330>

- October 20: Deadline for the Lurcy Scholarship: <http://www.rackham.umich.edu/2330>

- October 24: Depression in the Workplace panel presentation, Rackham Amphitheater, 10-11:30.

- November 8-12 National Association for Multicultural Education conference in Phoenix, Arizona on the theme: Honoring Multicultural Communities, Stories and Struggles in a Contested Land. Information and online registration: http://www.nameorg.org

- November 11: Kappa Delta Pi Fall conference

- November 13: Ethics in Public Life Initiative: Dr. Muriel Bebeau, "Can Ethics Be Taught? A Research Talk" 3-5PM in the CRLT SSEminar Room, 1013 Palmer Commons. To register: visit www.crlt.umich.edu or call 764-0505.

C. DEAN'S UPDATES 1. The Michigan Civil Rights Initiative is a very significant ballot proposal that will be voted on by Michigan voters on November 7. Helpful information about the ballot proposal is available at http://www.cew.umich.edu/educatemcri/mcriquestions.htm. Please be well informed about this legislation, including its precise language and consequences. The University's policy about what we can do as University employees is posted at http://www.umich.edu/~govrel/guidelines.html. In addition, Julie Peterson in News and Information Services, has worked with the provost and president to develop a set of “talking points” that provide you with resources to speak as a member of the UM faculty about how this legislation would affect our campus and our mission. We will post these for your perusal. If any of you has other resources, please share them. This is an issue of utmost importance for our campus and our school.

2. Two seats on the University of Michigan Board of Regents are open at this election. These seats are currently held by Regents David Brandon and Kathy White. Both are running for re-election; seven additional candidates, including one from each major political party, and several others representing other parties will also be on the ballot for these two seats. The Regents are very important to our work as a University and as a School. Please seek information about the candidates, discuss them with one another, and vote deliberately for the Board of Regents. It matters.

3. I am pleased to announce the appointment of Magdalene Lampert and Jeffrey Mirel as our two newest collegiate professors. Magdalene has been appointed the George Herbert Mead Collegiate Professor and Jeff has been named the David L. Angus Collegiate Professor. Collegiate professorships are named for people who have at one time been on the University of Michigan faculty and contributed to its programs, research, and leadership. George Herbert Mead taught philosophy and psychology at the University of Michigan from the fall of 1891 to the spring of 1894, and worked with John Dewey, who was also a member of the UM faculty at the time, to develop the field of social psychology. David Angus, a distinguished historian of education also involved in comparative and international education, was a member of the School of Education faculty from 1966 until his death in 1999. Please join me in congratulating Magdalene and Jeff on this well deserved recognition of their work!

4. Reminder: A new seminar series on teacher education: In addition to the yearlong series on higher education in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education, announced on September 9, we will hold a special seminar series this year focused on teacher education. As we launch our own initiative to redesign teacher education at the University of Michigan, we have much to learn from earlier efforts to improve teacher education and solve its endemic problems. I want to thank Gary Fenstermacher for his leadership in organizing this series, and Francesca Forzani for her help with it.

"Teacher Education: Considering the Past to Build the Future.” The first symposium in the series will be held Wednesday, October 11, at 2:30 pm in the Tribute Room. David Cohen and Gary Fenstermacher will give a joint presentation titled "The History of Teacher Education Reform and Specific Change Attempts". All are welcome.

On the day after the symposium, Thursday, October 12, there will be a special discussion session in which participants will talk about the issues that Gary and David raise. Space in this session is limited to 25; anyone who wishes to sign up should send Francesca Forzani an email fforzani at umich.edu) as soon as possible and no later than next Tuesday, October 10. This will be first-come, first-served. The discussion session will be from 10am-noon in Brownlee (2327).

D. ANNOUNCEMENTS 1. Correct your biographical information on the School website: Go to your bio and scroll down to the bottom of the page. There is a button labeled "Update" on the lower right. Clicking that leads you to an authentication page, then to a form for updating in a variety of ways. Be sure to click on "Save" at the bottom of the page to save changes.

2. MBooks, the University of Michigan/Google collaborative project to place books online now has titles available through the Mirlyn search engine. These are primarily books that are in the Buhr storage facility.

3. Learn about the faculty newsmakers here at the School by visiting our "In the News" section on the Web site at http://www.soe.umich.edu/inthenews. There you can read what the newsmaker said and get the link to the original article. Don't see an article you were quoted in? Send us the link (myersca) and we will get it posted there.