Daily Brief

As most of you are aware, Barbara Taliaferro, Associate Vice President, Diversity and Inclusion, is retiring at the end of the month. As a result, the reporting structure for our Human Diversity offices will be realigned. Effective January 2, 2009, Multicultural Services, the Women’s Center and the GLBTQ Center will report to the Division of Student Services and Campus Life. Vice President Chick Woodard will establish a transition team to develop and recommend a “best fit” for these units within the division. On an interim basis, these units will report to Dr. Andrea Kirshman, Assistant Vice President for New Student Programs and Services. Our ADA office will report to the Office of Social Equity under the guidance of Jesus Peña, Associate Vice President for Equity and Compliance. We believe this overall realignment will best serve our students, faculty and staff as we move forward, while allowing us to maintain the quality established by Human Diversity in the past.

The campus fire alarm network will be off-line beginning on Monday morning, Dec. 21 at approximately 8:30 a.m. until approximately 5 p.m. The fire alarm system in each building will continue to provide protection, it will not be capable of reporting an alarm condition to Public Safety.

Important: If the fire alarm should activate in any campus building, a call must be placed to Public Safety immediately. Call Public Safety at ext. 3-4001 to report any fire alarm activation in campus buildings on Monday, Dec. 21 between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. For more information and questions, please contact the Office of Environmental, Health and Safety by phone ext. 3-4050, e-mail firesafety@kutztown.edu or visit our Web site.

Upgrades to campus fire alarm systems will occur throughout the semester break period (Dec. 21, through Jan. 15). These upgrades will include replacement of the PC-based graphical command center at Public Safety and programming of voice-communication fire alarm systems to support the university’s new Mass Notification capabilities. SimplexGrinnell fire alarm technicians will also conduct testing of the voice communication/mass notification network, which will include sounding the new emergency notification tone and selected messages. A pre-announcement, alerting you to the impending test, will be provided before the test is conducted. Additional information on the Mass Notification system will be provided in January 2010.

Steam service to University Place and Bonner will be interrupted for an emergency repair of the steam and condensate pipes, on Monday, Dec. 21 starting at 9 a.m. and lasting for 4 - 8 hours. The result will be a loss of hot water and room temperatures may decrease until steam is restored.

Please be advised that parking behind Old Main will be limited on Monday, Dec. 21, in order to repair the damaged macadam resulting from Wednesday’s water main break.

The Financial Aid Services staff extends thanks to all who attended and were a part of the 2009 Non-Instructional Staff Holiday Luncheon. A special thank you to our campus colleagues for their generous donations for the One by One Cat Rescue Shelter and the Almost Home Animal Sanctuary. We gratefully acknowledge the support of all those who contributed to this annual KU tradition.

On behalf of the Community Outreach Center and Friends Inc., thank you to all individuals, offices, departments, and organizations that contributed to the Holiday Food Box drive for Friends Inc. We met our goal of 75 boxes! In addition we were able to give about $300 in gift certificates that will go to purchase turkeys. These boxes combined with other boxes from local high schools, junior high schools, and elementary schools will provide about 200 families a holiday with a little extra cheer thanks to your generosity and holiday spirit. Students from the Community Outreach Center and staff from the Student Services and Campus Life division volunteered to distribute these boxes at the Food Pantry on Thursday. We are grateful for their help as this is the busiest month of the year for the Friends Inc Food pantry.

The Kutztown University Academic Achievement Awards are presented to a select group of senior students who have achieved exceptional individual achievements in specified areas. The awards were established through a generous gift provided by Dr. Carlson R. Chambliss, who served as a member of the KU faculty from 1970 until 2003.

Faculty and staff at KU are strongly encouraged to nominate students worthy of consideration for this prestigious award. The areas of individual achievement are:

Completed nomination forms must be submitted to the Office of the Associate Vice President for Student Services and Campus Life, 262 McFarland Student Union Building by Feb. 12. Any questions about the process may be directed to nolan@kutztown.edu or watrous@kutztown.edu.

Vincent Banis, custodian in Deatrick Hall, has recently undergone surgery and is recuperating at home. Cards and messages for a speedy recovery may be mailed to his home at 70 Gould Lane, Fleetwood, Pa. 19522-9325.

Glenn Ruhe, Custodial Services, HARS

The Cub Cafe will be closing at 2 p.m. today and then will re-open on Jan. 4. We will be open in the McFarland Student Union Taylor & Byrnes on Monday, Dec. 21, Tuesday, Dec. 22 and Wednesday, Dec. 23 from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and then on Christmas Eve, Thursday, Dec. 24 from 8 a.m. to noon. We will be serving the Taylor & Byrnes baked goods for breakfast and then feature grilled or cold sandwiches on flatbread or sourdough, salads, and soup.

The Soup Menu will be: Monday- Corn Chowder, Tuesday - Chicken Veggie, Wednesday - Beef Vegetable.
Holiday Special - Get cup of soup and 1/2 sandwich for only $4.

To submit items for the Daily Brief, please e-mail dbrief@kutztown.edu (no attachments) to the University Relations Office by 2 p.m. on the day prior to publication.

Persons with a disability and who require accommodation should notify the KU Disability Services Office two weeks prior to the event at 610-683-4108 (TDD: 610-683-4499) or e-mail accommodation@kutztown.edu in order to discuss accommodations. Every effort will be made to provide reasonable accommodations.