Monday, March 28, 2016

The Institute for Urban Research is accepting proposals for research projects on urban topics through its Urban Research Scholar program. Funding up to $6,000 is available, and awarded funds must be spent by June 30, 2016.

The awardee will hold the title of Urban Research Scholar for one year (renewable if external funding is secured). Proposals are due Friday, April 15 and may be submitted via email to Dr. James Hanlon at jhanlon@siue.edu.

Please see the RFP at https://goo.gl/Kr9HbR for details. For more information about the IUR's Urban Research Scholar program visit http://www.siue.edu/graduate/iur/.

Questions may be directed to Hanlon or Hugh Pavitt, IUR senior research associate at hpavitt@siue.edu or 618-482-8320.

Please note the following 20th Annual Graduate School Spring Symposium featured events.

Dr. Hernando Ombao, professor and graduate program director of statistics at the University of California, Irvine, will deliver the keynote address, titled "The Contributions of Statistics to Brain Research." Ombao will demonstrate how statistical modeling was used to identify differences in brain activity between healthy subjects and stroke patients. There will also be a novel statistical model presented to demonstrate that brain signals evolve over the course of an associative learning experiment. He will highlight the contributions that statisticians have made to the field of statistical neuroimaging and discuss how statistical principles will generally apply to other disciplines that collect big data for the purpose of testing hypotheses in complex social and biological processes.

10:30-11:30 a.m.
Tuesday, March 29
Morris University Center, Redbud-Oak Room

Dr. Steven Pryor, director of digital initiatives and technologies with SIUE Library & Information Services, will host a workshop, titled "Open Access to Research: A Guide to Policies and Resources for SIUE Faculty." The workshop will explore SIUE SPARK, the University’s open access institutional repository. Discussion will include the significant advantages for authors who make open access versions of their work available, how SIUE faculty can easily comply with the SIUE Open Access policy and the benefits of open access to faculty in posting their work in SPARK.

11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Tuesday, March 29
Morris University Center, Hickory-Hackberry Room

Attendance is open to all. For details on Symposium events, go to http://www.siue.edu/graduate/springsymposium/index.shtml.

SIUE faculty, staff, students are invited to attend for free, the Lifelong Learning presentations scheduled for Wednesday, March 30. The cost is $5 for the general public to attend on campus presentations.

Korean Choices will be presented by Anne Werner, PE, PhD and assistant professor in the Department of Construction in SIUE's School of Engineering. Today, North and South Korea couldn’t be farther apart. The north is impoverished and ruled by a corrupt authoritarian government. The south is rapidly becoming one of the most developed countries in the world. With such a wide gap, is unification ever possible or even desirable anymore? This presentation is offered as part of the Great Decisions series of Foreign Policy Affairs topics.

10:30 – 11:45 a.m.
Wednesday, March 30
Morris University Center, Oak-Redbud Room

Come play with us: Using Games in the Classroom to Enhance Student Learning and Assessment with Dr. Miranda Wilhelm, PharmD, clinical associate professor in the SIUE School of Pharmacy, and Dayna Henry, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Applied Health. Explore how games in the classroom can be used to meet a variety of learning and assessment outcomes. Research on the effectiveness of games and specific examples and experiences using games will be discussed. Learn about this popular teaching and assessment strategy.

1:15 – 2:30 p.m.
Wednesday, March 30
Morris University Center, Oak-Redbud Room

For more details about the presentations visit Lifelong Learning Programs or contact Patty Bade in the SIUE Office of Educational Outreach at 618-650-3985 or pbade@siue.edu.

Summer is approaching, and SIUE’s Office of Human Resources wants to help you get ready! We will be hosting the Summer Camp Showcase:

11 a.m.-1 p.m.
Wednesday, March 30
Morris University Center Meridian Ballroom

At the Summer Camp Showcase, SIUE employees can meet and greet representatives with summer programs, including those being offered by SIUE, as well as by businesses from the surrounding area. We welcome you to use this time to talk with camp staff and explore the options available for your child this summer! With a wide variety of camps, your child will be able to find a program that he or she will love!

If you don’t already have plans for the children in your life, the Summer Camp Showcase is the perfect opportunity to begin!

If you have any questions, please contact the Office of Human Resources at 650-2190 or email Bonnie Brueggemann at bbruegg@siue.edu.

You're invited to attend the "Sharing Critical Thinking Assessment Data and Ideas for Improving Students’ Critical Thinking Skills" workshop.

9-10:30 a.m.
Friday, April 1
Morris University Center, Mississippi-Illinois Room

The General Education Assessment Committee was given the charge of assessing the goals of general education and our baccalaureate degree. Several of these goals (e.g. written communication, scientific literacy, analytic problem solving) are essential elements to critical thinking ability. Thus, we wish to share our critical thinking assessment data with interested parties, identify potentially key skills upon which we need to focus, share concrete ideas for increasing critical thinking in the classroom and have the attendees share their own ideas for improvement techniques. This will include a presentation of the committee’s history, goals and results, followed by a panel discussion of effective techniques to increase students’ willingness to engage in critical thinking in the classroom. Finally, there will be a chance for attendees to share their own experiences and ideas with one another.

Objectives:

• To share the goals we were charged to assess
• To share how we have and currently are assessing these goals
• To present data from our Critical Thinking Test (comparing freshmen and seniors)
• To focus on where students show the most improvement as well as areas we need to focus on further improvement
• To share concrete ideas about how to increase critical thinking in the classroom
• To have attendees share their own ideas about how to increase willingness to engage critical thinking among students in the classroom

Panelists: Richard Fry (Philosophy), Joel Hardman (English), Faith Liebl (Biological Sciences), and Thad Meeks (Psychology)

SIUE will host the St. Louis Jazz Club Essentially Ellington Regional Festival:

All day
7:30 p.m. - concluding concert
Friday, April 1
Dunham Hall

High school jazz ensembles from Illinois, Missouri and Michigan will swing their way onto campus to participate in a day of performances and workshops. Co-produced by New York’s Jazz at Lincoln Center, the regional festival is a non-competitive, education-focused festival designed to offer high school jazz bands of all levels the opportunity to perform the music of Duke Ellington and other seminal big band composers and arrangers.

The event is made possible through a grant from The St. Louis Jazz Club, whose primary goal is to support live traditional jazz performance and broaden the understanding of the music.

The concluding concert is open to the public and will feature participating bands, clinicians and the SIUE Concert Jazz Band. General admission is $12, and $9 for seniors and those under 18. SIUE students may attend for free with valid student ID.

Volunteer judges are needed for the regional Science and Engineering Research Challenge (SERC) at SIUE.

8:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
Saturday, April 2
SIUE Student Activity Center, located in the Student Fitness Center

More than 250 regional students from grades 5-12 participate in the SERC. Projects take advantage of a child's natural curiosity, stimulate the imagination and encourage independent critical thinking, all while enabling students to understand that science is an integral part of life. The competition helps students advance their thinking, confidence and interest in STEM.

To be successful, the SERC requires more than 200 judges. Experience in science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) is preferred, but not required. Judges training, a continental breakfast and light lunch will be provided on the day of the event.

Click here to register as a volunteer judge!

For more information, please contact STEM Resource Center Manager Colin Wilson at colwils@siue.edu or 650-3500. 

The Visualizing Research Impacts (VRI) competition is designed to encourage SIUE scholars to show the results and impacts of their research to the public through images. The image can be a photo, drawing, painting, collage, etc.  Scholars can create the image themselves or collaborate with someone to create the image. 

The competition is underway. All entries must be submitted by Monday, April 4. 

It is open to SIUE faculty, staff and students who are currently involved in a research project or creative activity at SIUE.

Prizes will be awarded for (1) Best Representation of Research Impact ($1,500) and (2) Most Creative Representation of Research Impact ($1,000).  The first place winners will receive a monetary award to be used toward their scholarly activities at SIUE.

For complete details and to submit an entry, visit VRI Competition.

The next student parent group meeting will be held:

4:30-6:30 p.m.
Monday, April 4
SIUE Early Childhood Center

Monthly meetings have been designed to connect, develop support networks and build community for students who are parents.

The format of these meetings is designed to meet the interests and needs of group members and may range from stress management, study skills, career planning and family finances to parent education and child development.

Meetings are facilitated by representatives from Counseling Services. Some group meetings may feature speakers from the larger campus or metro community.

Participants must pre-register the Friday before each Monday meeting in order for planning for child care and food.

Children are welcome, but must be preregistered so we can have appropriate child care. A light dinner (pizza) will be provided.

Mark you calendar for the final meeting of the semester, scheduled for Monday, May 2.

The Chancellor’s Council is pleased to invite you to a celebration in YOUR honor!

Please join us for GAME DAY: TEAM SIUE

11:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m.
Wednesday, April 13
Morris University Center’s Meridian Ballroom and on its adjoining patio

There will be games and laughter as we celebrate the end of another successful school year. We’ve also put in an order for sunshine!

Please bring your Cougar ID Card in order to enter into the grand prize drawing. During the week of April 4-9, the Morris University Center Cougar Store will be offering 20% off Cougar clothing that is not already on sale. Present your University ID to take advantage of the deal! Please feel free to wear your SIUE apparel to the event along with your nametag.

Since this year’s theme is GAME DAY: TEAM SIUE, there will be a ballpark menu— brats, black bean burgers, watermelon, pretzel bites and more —along with a number of games and activities.

Campus departments have donated great prizes for a random drawing distribution. These will be on display at the lunch, and will be distributed following the event. You do not need to be present to win.

This year’s festivities will, again, include a photo montage of our departments, available for viewing during the reception. Your help in providing a photo for inclusion in the montage would be appreciated! Please submit photos to Dan Frierdich at dfrierd@siue.edu by April 1. Pictures can be from departmental events during the past year, or feel free to come up with something new and creative.

For those supervisors with employees who have limited access to email, please pass this information along to them so they can join us, or call ext. 2475 to request a flyer for posting.

Free parking will be available in Lot B from 10:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.

We hope you’ll take advantage of this opportunity to visit with us and with your colleagues in a fun, relaxed atmosphere as we celebrate all you do for SIUE.

Thank you!
Steve Hansen, Denise Cobb, Kenn Neher, Rachel Stack and Jeffrey Waple