Faculty and Staff Newsletter Jan. 3, 2011 YOUTM • Prior to the release of the Modern Language Association’s report “Enrollments in Languages Other Than English in United States Institutions of Higher Education, Fall 2009” on Dec. 8, Dr. Bob Peckham, professor of French, was inter- viewed by several representatives of the national and international media. The first, on December 6 was Travis Kaya of the Chronicle of Higher Education. Peckham was quoted subsequently by Mark Bauerlein “Foreign Languages and Stark Numbers” in his Chronicle blog, “Brainstorm” on the 7th, and in Kaya’s article “Foreign-Lan- guage Enrollments Rise Over All, but Decline in Graduate Programs” in the Chronicle on the 8th. On the 7th, Peckham was interviewed by AP national writer on education, Eric Gorski about the MLA report. Subsequently, he was quoted in articles appearing in news forums such as the Washington Post, Pittsburgh Post Gazette, Huff- ington Post, Seattle Times, USA Today, Bloom- berg, Miami Herald, News Observer (Chapel Hill & Durham, NC), Lexington Herald-Leader, Sa- lon.com, Monterey Herald, Winona Daily News, San Francisco Examiner, Los Angeles Winnipeg Free Press Times, Arkansas Democrat, Idaho Statesman, Minneapolis Saint-Paul Star-Tribune, MSNBC, CBS News, Yahoo News. After four years, it was time for a change. The current UT Martin Web site was implemented in 2006 and, at the time, was a much-needed update to the university’s Web presence at www.utm.edu. But, much has changed, and a new Web site design was recently unveiled. Several things happened at the same time to push the Web site redesign as a univer- sity priority. Chief among them were recommendations by STAMATS, a nationally known higher education marketing firm. STAMATS conducted research on univer- sity outreach efforts in several areas, including the Web site. The company’s research showed that current and prospective students want more interaction when they visit a Web site, more social media integration and more current designs. So, Web site design trends in higher education, along with the need to reach out to current and prospective students and provide them with the experience that they expect and want were the main impetus for the redesign. New features of the Web site include richer multimedia elements on the homep- age, the ability to customize certain homepage elements and a revamped, unified search that includes searching the Web site and the UT Martin phone directory at the same time. Plans for the near future also include incorporating more audio and video on all levels of the Web site and a total revamp of the admissions area to pro- vide students and their parents easier access to the information they need to know about UT Martin. New Web design is ready Marlow Peters and her husband, John, of Dresden, recently donated a Steinway upright piano as part of the All-Steinway Campaign at UT Martin. At the culmination of the cam- paign, UT Martin will become one of more than 120 conservatories, colleges and universi- ties worldwide and the third public institution in Tennessee with the distinction as an All -Steinway institution. Students in these institutions perform and are taught primarily on Steinway pianos. Peters is a Paul Meek Library distance librarian. The Office of Extended Campus and Online Studies and UT Martin Reading Center are offer- ing three spring reading clinic sessions for students grade 2-12. The sessions run from Jan. 24-Feb. 17, Feb. 21-March 24, and April 4-28. There will be no classes the week of March 14. The registration fee is $125, including a workbook. The course, led by Dr. Beverly Hearn, UT Martin Reading Center director, is for students who need extra support and practice in reading. Students meet twice per week for one hour per meeting and can choose either a Monday/Wednesday or Tues- day/Thursday schedule. Times available: are 3-3:50 p.m., 4-4:50 p.m., 5-5:50 p.m., 6-6:50 p.m. or 7-7:50 p.m. To register, call ECOS at ext. 7082. Reading clinic sessions set
Transcript
FacultyandStaffNewsletter Jan.3,2011
YOUTM
• Prior to the release of the Modern Language Association’s report “Enrollments in Languages Other Than English in United States Institutions of Higher Education, Fall 2009” on Dec. 8, Dr. Bob Peckham, professor of French, was inter-viewed by several representatives of the national and international media. The first, on December 6 was Travis Kaya of the Chronicle of Higher Education. Peckham was quoted subsequently by Mark Bauerlein “Foreign Languages and Stark Numbers” in his Chronicle blog, “Brainstorm” on the 7th, and in Kaya’s article “Foreign-Lan-guage Enrollments Rise Over All, but Decline in Graduate Programs” in the Chronicle on the 8th. On the 7th, Peckham was interviewed by AP national writer on education, Eric Gorski about the MLA report. Subsequently, he was quoted in articles appearing in news forums such as the Washington Post, Pittsburgh Post Gazette, Huff-ington Post, Seattle Times, USA Today, Bloom-berg, Miami Herald, News Observer (Chapel Hill & Durham, NC), Lexington Herald-Leader, Sa-lon.com, Monterey Herald, Winona Daily News, San Francisco Examiner, Los Angeles Winnipeg Free Press Times, Arkansas Democrat, Idaho Statesman, Minneapolis Saint-Paul Star-Tribune, MSNBC, CBS News, Yahoo News.
After four years, it was time for a change. The current UT Martin Web site was implemented in 2006 and, at the time, was a much-needed update to the university’s Web presence at www.utm.edu. But, much has changed, and a new Web site design was recently unveiled.
Several things happened at the same time to push the Web site redesign as a univer-sity priority. Chief among them were recommendations by STAMATS, a nationally known higher education marketing firm. STAMATS conducted research on univer-sity outreach efforts in several areas, including the Web site. The company’s research showed that current and prospective students want more interaction when they visit a Web site, more social media integration and more current designs. So, Web site design trends in higher education, along with the need to reach out to current and prospective students and provide them with the experience that they expect and want were the main impetus for the redesign.
New features of the Web site include richer multimedia elements on the homep-age, the ability to customize certain homepage elements and a revamped, unified search that includes searching the Web site and the UT Martin phone directory at the same time. Plans for the near future also include incorporating more audio and video on all levels of the Web site and a total revamp of the admissions area to pro-vide students and their parents easier access to the information they need to know about UT Martin.
The Office of Extended Campus and Online Studies and UT Martin Reading Center are offer-ing three spring reading clinic sessions for students grade 2-12. The sessions run from Jan. 24-Feb. 17, Feb. 21-March 24, and April 4-28. There will be no classes the week of March 14. The registration fee is $125, including a workbook.
The course, led by Dr. Beverly Hearn, UT Martin Reading Center director, is for students who need extra support and practice in reading. Students meet twice per week for one hour per meeting and can choose either a Monday/Wednesday or Tues-day/Thursday schedule. Times available: are 3-3:50 p.m., 4-4:50 p.m., 5-5:50 p.m., 6-6:50 p.m. or 7-7:50 p.m.
To register, call ECOS at ext. 7082.
Readingclinicsessionsset
Published weekly during the academic year and biweeklyduringthesummerbyUTMartin;Martin,TN38238
Saturday, Jan. 8- 4 p.m. – Skyhawk women’s basketball vs. Tennessee State, Elam Center- 6 p.m. – Skyhawk men’s basketball vs. Tennessee State, Elam Center
SubmiteventstotheWebCalendarThe Web Events Calendar, accessible from the home page, is managed by Boling Univerity
Center Information Center. Campus departments/organizations hosting or facilitating events must submit information to the Information Center in order for an event to be posted on the
Web calendar.
The recent 26th annual Santa’s Village, Dec. 9-12, at Ned McWherter Agricultural Complex, recorded the seventh largest attendance in the event’s history with 12,746 visitors. Food and toy donations totaled $50,494.
Santa’s Village featured 26,000 square feet of lights, holiday displays and continuous entertain-ment. Admission was the donation of $5 of food items or toys.
Santa’s Village gets off to a good start each year with food provided by Weakley County schools, via the WCMT can caravan. WCMT reported a total of 14,450 canned goods collected this year.
“On behalf of the City of Martin and the Universi-ty of Tennessee at Martin, we once again would like to extend our thanks to the volunteers who imple-ment Santa’s Village and the visitors who have do-nated food and toys to help people in the area have a good Christmas,” said Brian Moore, Martin Parks and Recreation Department director.
Service agencies receiving food and toys collected at Santa’s Village included: Chimes for Charity, We Care Ministries, Obion County Chapter American Red Cross, Santa’s Helpers and Northwest Tennes-see Economic Development Council. Co-sponsors for the event were the City of Martin and UT Martin. Additional sponsors of the event include: University Plaza, First State, MTD Products, Tyson Foods, Volunteer Community Hospital, Greenball, Frontier Communications, McDonald’s and Hud-dle House.
Serviceagenciesreapbenefits
TwoPaulandMarthaMeekAwardswerepresentedattherecentcommencementexer-cisesat theUniversityofTennesseeatMartin.Dr.MargaretToston,vicechancellor forstudentaffairs,announcedtheawards,whicharetheonlyawardspresentedduringcom-mencement.Allotherawardsarepresentedduringhonorsday.TheMeekAwardisacashawardgiventograduatingseniorswhodemonstrateoutstandingqualitiesofleadershipwhileatUTMartin.TheawardismadepossiblebythechildrenofPaulandMarthaMeek.PicturedwithToston,center,areCourtneyBrackeen,ofHumboldt;andCayceCurlin,ofFulton.AmagnacumlaudegraduatewithaBachelorofArtsdegree,Curlinhasservedasassistantnewseditor,newseditorandexecutiveeditorofThePacerstudentnewspaper.SheisamemberoftheSocietyofProfessionalJournalists,WomeninCommunications,AlphaDeltaPi andKarateClub. She ledThePacer to recognitionasaBestCollegiateNewspaperinthesoutheastandwasnamedBestFeatureWriterinthesoutheast.Acumlaudegraduateinhealthandhumanperformance,BrackeenhasservedontheStudentActivitiesCouncilandasamemberofSigmaAlpha,CollegiateFFA,SHAPEClub,Pre-VetClubandAthleticTrainingSociety.Shealsohasservedasacampusambassador,SummerOrientationandRegistrationstaffmember,PEPleaderandregionalHealthOccupationsStudentsofAmericacompetitionjudge.ShewasnamedMostOutstandingAthleticTrain-ingStudent.
The Vanderbilt Kennedy Center is of-fering training during the spring semester for volunteer advocates at UT Martin. The training will be on Thursday evenings, from 5:30-8:30 p.m., Jan. 13-March 31. The train-ing will be held on the Vanderbilt campus and video-conferenced to UT Martin and other sites. There is a $30 charge to cover the cost of materials.
The purpose of this project is to train vol-unteer advocates to provide instrumental and affective support to parents of children with disabilities. In this training, partici-pants will learn more about special educa-tion law and advocacy strategies. At the end of the training, each participant will shadow an advocate at a special education meeting. Following graduation from the program,
participants will be linked with a family of a child with a disability. Each volunteer advo-cate is expected to work with, at least, four families, at the discretion of The Arc and STEP.
The training will include a binder of ma-terials including passages from: the Indi-viduals with Disabilities Education Act, No Child Left Behind, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Additionally, the partic-ipants will be given copies of each training session’s PowerPoints along with relevant materials. For each training session, the par-ticipant will read pertinent materials.
For more information, contact Meghan Burke at [email protected], call 615-585-1420 or visit http://kc.vanderbilt.edu/kennedy/vap/.
