Updates in Academic Affairs: September 29, 2014

Potential revisions to WMU general education the focus of lunch series

The Faculty Senate Ad Hoc Committee on General Education invites the University community to take part in brown bag lunch sessions throughout the academic year to discuss WMU’s general education program and potential revisions to it.

A three-year action plan to review and develop recommendations for reforming the University’s general education program grew out of the ad hoc committee’s work with the campus community and with the Association of American Colleges & Universities Institute on General Education and Assessment.

The first year of the plan calls for campus wide conversations about general education. To that end, brown bag lunch sessions, sponsored by the Center for Humanities, are scheduled from noon to 1 p.m. in 2500 Knauss Hall on the following dates of the fall semester:

• Tuesday, Oct. 7
• Wednesday, Oct. 29
• Tuesday, Nov. 18
• Wednesday, Dec. 3

In the second year of the action plan, proposed revisions will be refined and recommendations developed for approval through the established Faculty Senate process. The final year of the action plan will be devoted to the implementation of the approved revisions.

Campus conversations began over the summer months with two open forums on July 14 and Aug. 12 to solicit feedback on general education reform. Members of the ad hoc committee also met with the president’s Senior Leadership Team and the Provost’s Council to discuss this important initiative and provide an overview of the three-year action plan timeline.

Please encourage your colleagues to participate in these important discussions throughout the year. A quality general education experience can be the key to student success, and our collective investment in this process is crucial as we move forward.

Academic Convocation and State of the University address set for Oct. 10

Please join the campus community at 2 p.m. Friday, Oct. 10, in the Dalton Center Recital Hall for the 2014 Academic Convocation and State of the University address by President John M. Dunn.

The following WMU faculty and staff members will be recognized for demonstrated excellence in their work:

2014 Annual Make a Difference Award

• Mary Lou Brooks, Department of Geography
• Elena Gaudio, Office of the President
• Nancy Landsberger, Department of Civil and Construction Engineering
• James Oswalt, Facilities Management-Maintenance Services

2014 Distinguished Teaching Award

• Sue Ellen Christian, School of Communication
• Autumn Edwards, School of Communication

2014 Emerging Scholar Award

• Fritz Alhoff, Department of Philosophy

2014 Distinguished Service Award

• Harold Glasser, Environmental Studies Program and Office for Sustainability
• Tracey L. Quada, Office for Military and Veteran Affairs, Center for Academic Success Programs

2014 Distinguished Faculty Scholar Award

• E. Rozanne Elder, Department of History, Center for Cistercian and Monastic Studies
• John Allen Jellies, Department of Biological Sciences

A Fridays with Friends mixer and reception will immediately follow the convocation in the lobby of the Richmond Center for the Visual Arts.

Money-management workshops offered to students throughout fall semester

Four “$tart $mart” salary negotiation training workshops for students are scheduled for the fall semester.

These three-hour workshops prepare students who are approaching the job market to do so with the confidence, knowledge and skills they need to negotiate salaries and benefits.

The workshops will cover:

• how the gender wage gap affects their lives
• how to develop a personal budget to determine salary needs
• how to benchmark salary and benefits
• how to negotiate for their first salary out of college

According to the American Association of University Women, women earn only 82 percent of what their male counterparts earn in the first year following college graduation, and this gap continues to widen over the 10 years that follow.

More than 225 campuses throughout the United States have offered the $tart $mart salary negotiation training. Prior to attending the workshop, only 25 percent of attendees said they were confident that they could negotiate a salary and benefits package. That figure skyrocketed to 91 percent upon completion of the workshop.

Two training sessions are scheduled for current WMU graduate students. The first session will be offered from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 14, in room 1010 at the College of Health and Human Services. Students may register through the Graduate College website here: wmich.edu/grad/events

The second training session for graduate students will take place from 4 to 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 3, at the Career Zone, 1354 Ellsworth Hall. Students interested in the Nov. 3 training session should register by emailing Beth van den Hombergh at @email.

Two more training dates and times are available for any current WMU student from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 18, and from 3 to 6 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 15. Both sessions will be offered at the Career Zone, 1354 Ellsworth Hall. Students interested in participating should register by emailing van den Hombergh at @email

Save the date—Research and Dessert is Oct. 31

The Bernhard Center will be the scene of the 2014 Research and Dessert event on Friday, Oct. 31.

This daylong event will feature morning workshops led by Jane C. Geever, founder of J.C. Geever, Inc. She will discuss preparing proposals for foundations and corporations.

Geever heads the first woman-led fundraising company admitted as a member of the American Association of Fund Raising Counsel. She also teaches in Columbia University’s master’s degree program in fundraising management.

During the afternoon of Research and Dessert, other workshops as well as speed networking will be offered. The Office of the Vice President for Research will sponsor prize drawings for an Apple iPad and two trips worth $750 toward funding agency visits. Following the workshops, the Office of Academic Affairs will sponsor a reception.

For more information about Research and Dessert, contact Kelli Bond at (269) 387-8216 or @email. Updates will also be posted at wmich.edu/research.