Sigma Bulletin, December 4-10, 2006

A. DEAN'S UPDATES
B. CALENDAR
C. LOOKING AHEAD

A. DEAN'S UPDATES
1. The “full court press” recruitment initiative is continuing at an energetic pace. Our slogan is “Uncommon Education: Become the Michigan Difference,” which is an adaptation of President Angell's famous quote about the public mission of the University of Michigan: “An uncommon education for the common man.” We have flyers and are developing other materials and a new web page for recruitment efforts. Thanks to Laura Roop, Chris Myers, and Yvonne Pappas for their work on these attractive new materials.

The undergraduate student team formed on November 19 met again last night. Eric Nelson ( enel@umich.edu) and Anna Islam ( annai at umich.edu), both students in our secondary teacher education program, are the team leaders for the initiative and will coordinate the more than 20 students working on distributing materials, speaking in LSA classes and to student organizations, and working on community college outreach efforts. In addition, I am pleased to announce the appointment of India McHale ( indiamch@umich.edu), graduate student in the Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education, as the campaign manager for the overall recruitment effort. India brings experience in admissions from her work at the University of North Carolina prior to coming here to be a graduate student. I am delighted both by the progress of our “full court press” effort to increase applications and enrollments, and at the wonderful leadership and teamwork that we have been fortunate to recruit for this important effort.

2. The search for a new Director of Development is in its final stages, with a small set of excellent final candidates coming to campus for interviews at the School of Education and with the Office for University Development. Senior staff and program leaders are helping to interview finalists. I am hoping to make an appointment for this important position by the beginning of the new year.

3. This afternoon will be the third in the special series of lectures on higher education held in honor of our celebration of our 50th anniversary of the Center for he Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education. Today Professor Patti Gumport, of Stanford University, will speak on “Organizational Studies in Higher Education: Insights for a Changing Enterprise,” at 4:00 p.m. in Schorling Auditorium. This series offers a terrific opportunity to learn more about key issues in postsecondary education and Professor Gumport is a dynamic and leading scholar in the field. I hope to see you there!

B. THIS WEEK'S CALENDAR

- December 4: Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education (CSHPE) Distinguished Lecture: Patricia Gumport, “Organizational Studies in Higher Education: Insights for a Changing Enterprise,” 4:00 PM in Schorling Auditorium. Information: http://www.soe.umich.edu/cshpe/50th/index.html.

- December 4: Deadline to submit a complete application to Educational Studies (Room 1225) for the Barbour Scholarship for 2007. Information: Pat Natalie, pnatalie@umich.edu.
- December 4: MLK day volunteer meeting for teacher leaders only! 7:00-8:00 p.m., Room 1322 (Tribute). Contact: Jennifer Reyna, jreyna at umich.edu

- December 5: QRM faculty candidate Brian McCall talk, "The Impact of the Gates Millennium Scholars Program on Selected Outcomes of Low-Income Minority Students: A Regression Discontinuity Analysis," 12:00-1:00, Room 2327 (Brownlee).

- December 6: CPEP Colloquium: Nick Ellis, "Language use, language change, language acquisition and language instruction: The dynamics of SLA," 12:10 p.m.-1:00 p.m., Room 1322 (Tribute). Information: frodrig@umich.edu or 647-0626.

- December 6: Brian McCall pedagogical talk, "Teaching Quantitative Methods to Students with Diverse Backgrounds." 3:00-4:00 p.m., Room 2327 (Brownlee).

- December 7: Anarcha Project (Black culture and disability culture activists) Anita Gonzalez, Carrie Sandahl, Tiye Giraud, and Petra Kuppers: The Anarcha Project. A Collaborative Lecture, 7:00-9:00 p.m., Michigan League: Henderson Room. Information: Petra Kuppers, petra@umich.edu.

- December 8: Educational Studies Colloquium: Geoff Williams, "Semiotic tools for exploring texts with young children," 12:00-1:00 p.m., Room 1322 (Tribute). Information: mjschlep@umich.edu or 647-2449.

- December 8-9: Michigan Interscholastic Forensic Association (MIFA) is running its annual Novice State Debate Tournament at Michigan State University on Friday, December 8 and Saturday, December 9, 2006. For more information, go to: http://www.themife.org/html/novice_state_tournament.html

- December 9 and 10: The Anarcha Project. Open Workshops and Performance Sharing
open workshops for students, community members and anybody interested. Free, and no acting/writing/dancing experience required. Bring comfy clothes, pen and paper. The workshops are fully accessible. Saturday, 9th: B222, Theatre Department, North Campus, 1:00-5:00 p.m.; Sunday, 10th: Studio Two (Room 1435), Theatre Department, North Campus, 1:00-4:00 p.m.; Sunday 10th of December, Studio Two, 2006, 3:00 p.m.: public sharing of workshop results and audience discussion. Please register for these workshops at petra@umich.edu.

C. LOOKING AHEAD

- December 11: Derek Vaughan dissertation defense, "Planning for Information Technology: A Comparative Case Study of the Factors Affecting the Alignment of Institutional Strategic Plans and Information Technology Plans," 9:00 a.m., Room 2327 (Brownlee).

- December 14: Educational Studies Colloquium: Jeffrey Stanzler, “Serious play: Using simulation to create compelling contexts for thinking,” noon-1:00 p.m., Room 2327 (Brownlee).

- January 8, 2007: Meeting for MLK day volunteers, both teacher leaders and general volunteers, 7:00-8:00 p.m. (for both), Room 2327 (Brownlee) in the School of Education.

- January 12, 2007: CSHPE 50th anniversary Inaugural event, “The Emerging Challenges to Higher Education,” hosted by President Mary Sue Coleman and featuring distinguished panel of current and former university presidents. Information and registration: http://soe.umich.edu/cshpe/50th/inauguralevent

- January 12-14, 2007: 4th International Conference on Teacher Education and Social Justice, University of Illinois-Chicago, U.S.A. Information: http://antioppressiveeducation.org/2007conference.html

- January 14, 2007: Winter Reception to be held at Cobblestone Farm, 3:00-6:00 p.m. Details forthcoming.

- January 15, 2007: Martin Luther King Day. The theme is 'Building the Beloved Community!'

- March 16-17, 2007: Educational Studies Campus Visitation Days for newly admitted PhD students.

- March 22-25, 2007: CSHPE 50th anniversary conference, “Understanding and Strengthening Higher Education's Contributions to a Changing Society.” Information: http://soe.umich.edu/cshpe/50th/conference

- April 28, 2007: Commencement, 4-5:30 p.m., Hill Auditorium.

- May 31-June 2, 2007: CSHPE 50th anniversary Alumni Celebration
“The Contributions of the First Half-century and our Commitments to the Second Half.” Information: http://soe.umich.edu/cshpe/50th/celebration

- August 30, 2007: Fall Re/Connection

- October 20, 2007: Graduate Information Day.

Hello all you KDP Members and Interested KDPers!

**UofM and KDP ARE KNOWN FOR THIS EVENT!! Be apart of the spotlight:D**
and lunch is included.

MLK Day is just around the corner!! Monday, January 15, 2007 at 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. in the School of Education. The theme is "Building the Beloved Community!" All classes are cancelled, so therefore, you can come help out, right? Remember: this is such a great experience especially for Practicum 1 students. This is a wonderful opportunity to get some practice on your teaching and leadership skills. You will be following a lesson plan that is already set for you. Please Please come to the meeting to learn more about this (information provided below.)

There are two ways in which you could get involved on this day: First off, we need at least 30 teacher leaders for the entire day (8:00 a.m.-at least 3:30 p.m.)! Secondly, we could use a lot of general volunteers to help clean up and help take care of the kids. Please contact me if you would like to help out.

*****Two meetings will be held, one of which you MUST attend to participate in the program as a teacher leader and general volunteer. The first meeting will be held on December 4 at 7:00-8:00 p.m. in Room 1322 (Tribute) (this is for teacher leaders only!) The second meeting will be held on Monday, January 8, 2007 at 7:00-8:00 p.m .(for both teacher leaders and general volunteers) in Room 2327 (Brownlee) in the School of Education. Please just show up and sign in even if this is the first time you are hearing about this event!*****