Alumni Plaza behind the Graduate Center building.

Tuesday, August 31, 2010 

 Announcements

Welcome to the new Daily Brief.  You will notice significant changes to our publication over the coming weeks.  Here are some of the first highlights:

If you would like Avalanche, the KU mascot, to appear at your next event, please contact avalanche@kutztown.edu with your event name, time, date and location and we will work together to try to coordinate your next event with an appearance of the local celebrity himself, and everyone's favorite golden bear, Avalanche. Thank you!

AFSCME Members,   Anyone interested in participating in this year’s Labor Day Parade with the Labor Council of Reading, please contact Annette Christman ext. 3-4353.  The Reading area will be holding a Labor Day Parade, Sept. 6 starting at 9:30 a.m.  Gathering will be at the Reading Municipal Stadium and transportation will be provided to take us into Center City.  We will then walk in the parade with other local AFSCME members of Berks County back to the stadium to enjoy entertainment and a picnic throughout the afternoon.   Hope you can join us.   Please contact by Sept. 3.

         Annette Christman

The President’s Office would like to extend a warm welcome to its newest members: Mr. Jose Molina, Director of Community Engagement and Governmental Affairs, and Ms. Kim Petrosky, Special Events Coordinator, both of whom will report to Mrs. Elsa G. Collins.  We wish them much success in their future ventures.

        Office of the President

The required semester fire drills in all academic buildings will begin on the first day of classes, and should be completed by Thursday, Sept 2.  Please support this important exercise by guiding your building occupants to the nearest available fire exit, and stand clear from the building to allow full evacuation of all occupants.  Thank you for your cooperation.
         Mark W. Hostetter, Fire Safety Technician

Faculty, staff and administrators who share the Christian faith meet monthly for fellowship and sharing items for prayer and praise. If you want to be included in e-mails announcing future get-togethers, please e-mail Christine Lottes at lottes@kutztown.edu.  All are welcome to attend!   
        Christine Lottes

Congratulations to VPA Professor Marilyn Stewart and graduate students Katherine Schneider, Amanda Deibert, Zoe DeHart, Cassie Langan, Ellen Pados, Amy Ahn and Jennifer Low for collaborating on the development of the monthly “Looking & Learning” section for the 2010-2011 year of School Arts journal, beginning with this month's nine-page spread's focus on compassion.  (Page 26)

http://www.schoolartsdigital.com/schoolarts-sample/20100809-sample#pg1

And congratulations to VPA’s Dr. Martin Rayala for his contribution, “Compassion Drives Good Design.” This is the first of what will be Dr. Rayala's monthly column on design thinking.  (Page 14)

Kudos also to KU Professor Emeritus Dr. Eldon Katter for his “Point of View” piece. (Page 12)

(The image of our grad students and Professor Stewart on page 26 was shot by KU’s Craig Williams.)

        University Relations

Please join the KU Foundation on Tuesday, August 31 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. in McFarland Student Union 223, to thank Ron Lewis for the many years of outstanding service to KUF and  Kutztown University and to wish him the best in retirement. 
        Kutztown University Foundation

Do you have a special event or speaker coming to campus this fall? Please take a moment to let University Relations know about it – even if you have some more details to work-out, just click here and let us know what you know. Thanks!  dallas@kutztown.edu

        Sean A. Dallas, University Relations

As another semester begins, please keep KUBoK in mind when offering extra credit options to students.  KUBoK’s graduate assistant will work with you to find extra credit options that fit KUBoK’s and your needs. An important thing to remember when allowing students to participate in KUBoK for extra credit is that they must participate in a training prior to their first walk with us. KUBoK is hosting their fall training on Wednesday, Sep. 15 at 7 p.m. in McFarland Student Union 250.

If you have any questions about KUBoK or are interested in offering KUBoK as an extra credit option for your students, please contact the graduate assistant, Amanda Keith at KUBoKWatch@gmail.com
        Faith M. Riedel, secretary, McFarland Student Union

KU's Off Campus Student Life and Student Union and Involvement Services will once again be organizing a “KU Community Blitz on Saturday, September 11, from 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. With the assistance of volunteers from the University as well as the town, our goal is to welcome back students living in the Kutztown community and wish them a great year.

The plan is to canvas Kutztown in teams of three to four and distribute welcome bags to identified student housing. We will form at the Trinity Church (357 W. Main Street) at 10:30 a.m. where assignments, instructions, maps and bags will be distributed. I am anticipating that with enough volunteers, we can canvas the Kutztown area in an hour or so. When you have completed your rounds, lunch will be provided at Trinity Church for all volunteers.

In order for this event to happen, we are in the need your help. If you are able to give a little bit of your time toward the success of this venture, please e-mail me at nolan@kutztown.edu. Friends and family are welcome to join us. Please feel free to share this request with other members of your staff and student organizations that you oversee.

 Thank you in advance for helping to make Kutztown Community Blitz another success!

         Julianne Nolan, Director, Community Relations and Development Services

Copy Center News: Beginning today the Copy Center will be open from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.  It  will be closed from 11 a.m. to noon for lunch.  If you have any questions, please contact Barb Miller at ext. 3-4116. 
         Barb Miller, Copy Center

Desire2Learn Faculty Update: Please remember that KU is no longer using Blackboard as its learning management system. Instead, we have fully transitioned to Desire2Learn (D2L).  As you work on updating and editing your courses, please feel free to contact Professor Will Jefferson in the Department of Learning Technologies for questions about D2L training.

Other helpful resources for D2L can be found by clicking on the following links and e-mail addresses:

For faculty: http://www.kutztown.edu/academics/lt/ltc/D2L.html

For your students: http://www.kutztown.edu/online/D2L_student/

For general questions or training on D2L: Professor Jefferson; wjeffers@kutztown.edu

For questions about putting courses online: zigner@kutztown.edu

For D2L difficulties or help: Brenneck@kutztown.edu  

Updates on workshop opportunities and new resources will be sent to you on a regular basis between now and the beginning of the Fall 2010 semester.

** Students were given access to courses on August 25 and 26.

          James Hubbard, Provost Office

Important Turnitin® Announcement/Outage: There will be a special maintenance window and outage for the Turnitin service on Saturday, September 4 from 1 - 9 p.m.  All Turnitin services may be unavailable for all users during these times. For assignments due during this window, we recommend that instructors change the due date and alert their students.

         James Hubbard, Assistant Provost

Administrative

I am pleased to announce that tenure has been granted to the following faculty members effective with the 2010 Fall Semester.

Martha Anderson – Athletics

Gregory Bamberger – Athletics

John Conahan – Social Work

Matthew Junker – Physical Sciences

Inmi Lee – Art Education & Crafts

Keith Logan – Criminal Justice

Mark Mahosky – Fine Arts

Padraig McLoughlin – Mathematics

Vicki Meloney – Communication Design

John Riley – Political Science

Cristen Rosch – Biology

Richard Salafia – Art Education & Crafts

John Stanley – History

Todd Underwood – Biology

Carol Watson – Elementary Education

The Provost’s Office is pleased to announce the following promotions effective Fall Semester, 2010

Instructor to Assistant Professor

Gail Craig

Jane Gober

Patrick Gorman

Jonathan Kremser

Michelle Sims

Assistant Professor to Associate Professor

Robert Flatley

Lisa Frye

Matthew Junker

Inmi Lee

Keith Logan

Padraig McLoughlin

Vicki Meloney

John Riley

Rick Salafia

John Stanley

Todd Underwood

Associate Professor to Professor

James Delle

Joseph Elias

Kurt Friehauf

Jeremy Justeson

Patricia Kelleher

Daniel Spiegel

David Webb

Sabbatical Leaves – 2011-12 Academic Year

2011 Fall Semester

Todd McFeely- Communication Design

Bruce Sharkin- Counseling PS

Marc Renzema- Criminal Justice

Judith Smith- Human Kinetics

Sabbatical Leaves – 2011-12 Academic Year

2012 Spring Semester

William Donner- Anthropology/Sociology

Kate Claire- Communication Design

Deborah Barlieb- Counseling HR

Pietro Toggia- Criminal Justice

Richard Crooker- Geography

Dina Hayduk- Human Kinetics

Jesus Rodriguez- Human Kinetics

Avidan Milevsky- Psychology

Sabbatical Leaves 2011-2012 Academic Year

Brenda Innocenti- Communication Design

Arifeen Daneshyar- Professional Studies

Dennis Williams- Music

Robert Ziegenfus- Geography

Edward Simpson- Physical Sciences

We want to take this opportunity, as we begin a new academic year, to remind all staff and faculty about certain travel reimbursement requirements. Please remember the following when submitting your travel expense form:

Before any travel occurs or money is spent, the traveler must complete a travel expense form and obtain authorization, in the form of a signature, from the following:

·         Traveler,

·         Supervisor or Chair,

·         Dean or Director/Manager (if greater than $500), and

·         Vice President (Provost) if greater than $2,500.

Additionally, all international travel must have approval from the Provost before any travel occurs.

Failure to provide advance authorization, as indicated above, may result in your request being denied and will definitely result in a delay in processing your travel expense reimbursement.

If you are attending a seminar or workshop, an agenda must be attached to your travel expense form.  You must reduce your allowable per diem for any meals that are offered by the seminar and workshop.

·         Reduce your daily per diem by 21% if breakfast is offered,

·         Reduce your daily per diem by 21% if lunch is offered,

·         Reduce your daily per diem by 58% if dinner is offered

We can only reimburse for the lower of shuttle, cab/car service, or car rental when traveling from the airport to your hotel destination.

Further information can be located on the back of the travel expense form, AP website http://www.kutztown.edu/admin/accounts/ , or by calling the AP office at ext. 3-4147.

        John Nadolski, Comptroller Office and Denise Schell Accounts Payable Office

The Daily Brief is published Monday through Friday except holidays by the Office of University Relations.

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

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 or e-mail accommodation@kutztown.edu in order to discuss accommodations. Every effort will be made to provide reasonable accommodations.