|
|
May Spotlights were written
by
Melissa Fassel and Jeffrey Mitchell
Green Chemistry Laboratory Completed
The reconstruction of Professor John Warner's Green Chemistry Laboratory for Education and Research in Sustainability Innovation has been completed, and the lab is ready for fall 2000 classes. "Green chemistry" is a specialty that seeks to incorporate environmental and toxicological awareness at the design phase of a synthetic process. By synthesizing benign materials, scientists can avoid the environmental problems of cleanup, containment, and waste disposal, and prevent potential hazards. Prof. Warner, an internationally acclaimed expert in green chemistry, has been developing interdisciplinary approaches to the search for fundamental principles in natural systems that are both safe and efficient. He looks forward to using the new laboratory for general education courses and to joining his science faculty colleagues in an effort to bring the community and industry together with teachers and students under the umbrella of green chemistry.
Victor Lewis Discusses Diversity Leadership at UMass
Boston
Victor Lee Lewis, founder and director of the Center for Diversity Leadership in Berkley, CA, discussed "Diversity Leadership and the Dismantling of Racism" on April 11 in the Lipke Auditorium. Through the center, Lewis aims to provide organizations with effective ways of meeting challenge of diversity in their organizations by conducting seminars, workshops, and trainer programs throughout the United States and other countries. He is best known for his prophetic voice in The Color of Fear, a video about racism which received the 1995 Golden Apple Award for "Best Social Studies Documentary" from the National Educational Media Association. Lewis's talk was sponsored by the Affirmative Action Office, Empowering Multicultural Initiatives, the Office of Graduate Studies and Research, and the Graduate Student Assembly. In addition, the Graduate College of Education worked with these sponsors to give educators the opportunity to participate in workshops with Lewis.
College of Nursing Establishes Office of Urban Family
Health
College of Nursing Dean Brenda Cherry recently approved the establishment of the Office of Urban Family Health, which will coordinate the integration of College faculty and student research, other scholarly activities, teaching, practice, and community service. Students and faculty will focus on developing effective approaches to the implementation and evaluation of services designed to improve the health-related quality of life of urban families. In keeping with the mission of the College, emphasis will be placed on underserved populations, including current and emerging minorities and the elderly. The new office is located in the Faculty Research Office in the Science Center.
Undergraduates Participate in Research Conference
Eighteen UMass Boston students offered presentations at the Sixth Annual Conference on Undergraduate Research, Creative, and Public Service Activities, which took place on April 28 at the Federal Reserve Bank in Boston. The event was organized by the Commonwealth College of UMass Amherst, and featured undergraduate presenters from various departments in the Massachusetts public higher education system.
UMass Boston presentations addressed such diverse topics as "Personality Factors Amongst Heroin and Alcohol Abusers," and "Effects of Acceleration, Enrichment, and Standard Education on Long-Term Adult Success." The following UMass Boston students presented: Helga Arsenio, Catherine Cerasuolo, Tara M. Chambers, Joon-Sik Cho, Paul Cohen, Elias Collins, James P. Coughlin, Shana R. Dew, Sean Harding, Meredith Keane, Shu L. Liang, Elizabeth Marrin, Timothy McKenna, Minh Ngoc Nguyen, Robert Palange, Lionel Preval, Allison Williams, and Sarah Yazdi. Each student was sponsored by a faculty advisor, who provided insight and guidance.
UMass Boston Labor Extension Coordinator receives
Massachusetts AFL-CIO Merit Award
Tess Ewing of the CPCS Labor Extension Program will be receiving the Massachusetts AFL-CIO Merit Award for 2000. Along with three extension coordinators from other UMass campuses, she is being honored for her hard work and commitment to the Massachusetts labor movement. The award will be presented on May 25 at the Gompers-Murray-Meany Educational Institute banquet, attended by hundreds of Massachusetts labor leaders.
Theresa A. Mortimer Appointed Vice Provost for Academic
Affairs
Effective May 1, 2000, Theresa A. Mortimer, currently the dean of continuing education, will join the Provost's Office as vice provost for academic affairs. She will hold responsibilities in the areas of strategic planning, academic program development, faculty outreach, and international affairs. Additionally, she will represent the provost in various internal and external forums. Prof. Mortimer has led the Division of Continuing Education since 1986, first as associate provost, and since 1996 as dean. Under her leadership, the Division of Continuing Education has grown into a complex educational enterprise that offers credit, non-credit, and corporate and professional development programs throughout the year at several sites, as well as through distance education.
Back to Top
Student Employment and Housing Services Develops New
Guidelines
Over the past six months, the UMass Boston Student Employment Advisory Board has been assisting UMass Boston's Student Employment and Housing Services (SEHS) office in developing new guidelines for campus student employment. These new guidelines are scheduled to take effect on June 27 and include new wage and merit pay increase guidelines, standard policies on rest breaks, and progressive disciplinary procedures for student employees. Toward the end of the semester, the SEHS website will be enhanced to include all updated information in a new supervisor's manual, as well as on-line listings of FWS and Institutional (CC) student jobs and downloadable student employment forms. If you supervise students, be sure to talk to the student payroll coordinator for your area so that these new procedures don't take you by surprise when they begin in the new fiscal year. If you have any questions, call SEHS at 617.287.6320.
Massachusetts Field Center to Host a Variety of Summer
Institutes
The Massachusetts Field Center for Teaching and Learning will host three summer institutes this July. Featured presentations will include "Designing Curriculum to Enhance Student Learning," "Teaching Immigration in Grades 4-8," and "Mentoring Beginning Teachers." Presenters include: Grant Wiggins, president and director of programs for the Center on Learning, Assessment, and School Structure, a non-profit educational organization; Ron Adams, a 7th grade language arts teacher at the Broad Meadows Middle School in Quincy; and members of the Teacher Leadership Academy of Massachusetts. The Field Center, which serves as a resource on curriculum and instruction, is a statewide network of school and university teachers, administrators, and other educators located in the Graduate College of Education.
"Boundaries and Borderlands" Project to Involve Faculty
Team
UMass Boston has been chosen to participate in a two-year project, "Boundaries and Borderlands III: The Search for Recognition and Community in America," sponsored by the American Association of Colleges and Universities. The project aims to help institutions create curricula that develop new capacities among students for democratic citizenship and for negotiating multiple communities and commitments. At UMass Boston, a six-member team, including faculty from every college, plans to focus on curriculum- and community-building for the newly established Asian American Studies Program. Led by Professor Peter Kiang, the team includes Professors Madhulika Khandelwal, Raymond Liu, Rajini Srikanth, Zong Guo Xia, and Lin Zhan. UMass Boston is one of 40 institutions, and one of nine doctoral/research universities, involved in the project, which is supported by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.
Studies Address Advertising and Smoking Among Teens
Two articles in the March issue of the American Journal of Public Health, co-authored by Lois Biener of UMass Boston's Center for Survey Research and Michael Siegel of the Boston University School of Public Health, report on the first long-term studies of the effects on teenagers of pro- and anti-smoking advertising. One study finds that teenagers who are regularly exposed to anti-smoking messages on television are half as likely to start smoking as those not exposed. The other finds that teenagers who can readily name a cigarette brand and who own a tobacco-sponsored promotional item are more than twice as likely to become established smokers as those who do neither. "The more tobacco advertising and promotional activities young people are exposed to the more smoking we can expect, unless we have increased counter-advertising," says Biener. The studies were funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.