Graduate School Newsblog

Author: Debra Charlesworth

Nominations for MAGS Excellence in Teaching Award Open

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MAGS is currently soliciting for nominations for the inaugural 2011 Excellence in Teaching Award. Internal applications are due to Debra Charlesworth no later than 4pm on January 7, 2011. Michigan Tech may nominate two students; one each at the master’s and doctoral level.

Eligibility

Eligible students

  • will be enrolled at Michigan Tech for spring 2011 and have a teaching appointment
  • will have earned the Michigan Tech Outstanding Graduate Student Teaching Award
  • will have an excellent teaching portfolio and student evaluations

Nomination

Programs may nominate eligible students by submitting:

  1. A letter of support from the department head
  2. A current curriculum vitae for the nominee
  3. A current transcript for the nominee
  4. The following materials, limited to six double spaced pages (total):
    1. A teaching portfolio from the nominee which is suggested to include:
      1. Statement of teaching philosophy
      2. Evidence of instructional design and innovation, instructional delivery, course management, and student learning
      3. Publications and presentations, and /or grants proposals submitted and/or funded which support the portfolio
    2. Student evaluation of teaching: courses taught and number of students, instructional responsibility, and a summary of student evaluation of teaching data (not the forms)
    3. Evidence of effective student/colleague mentoring
    4. Awards and honors for teaching excellence

Nomination packets are due by 4pm, January 7, 2011 to Debra Charlesworth in the Graduate School via e-mail or campus mail. Eligible students with a complete nomination packet will be evaluated by a panel of faculty from the University.

Award

Recipients of the MAGS Excellence in Teaching Award will receive:

  • A $750 honorarium.
  • A citation given at the Annual Meeting.  This year’s meeting will be March 30 to April 1, 2011 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
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Andrew Willemsen to represent Michigan Tech in MAGS competition

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Andrew Willemsen
Andrew Willemsen, Michigan Tech’s representative for the 2011 MAGS Distinguished Thesis Award
The Graduate School is pleased to announce that Andrew Willemsen is Michigan Tech’s nominee for the 2011 Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools Distinguished Thesis Award.  Mr. Willemsen was nominated by his advisor, Dr. M. Rao of the Department of Mechanical Engineering – Engineering Mechanics.

His thesis, “Objective Metric for Assessing the Perceived Annoyance of Impulsive Sounds” developed a new method to objectively quantify the overall sound quality of electro-mechanical devices.  This method could improve the design process for these devices by replacing current subjective sound evaluation methods, which are typically expensive, time-consuming, and difficult to quantify.

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NSF Intellectual Property Program: Spring Term 2011

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Patents and Copyright – Spring Term 2011

This program for STEM graduate students begins on Jan. 19, the required orientation session, and continues for 10 weeks.

This is a semester-long, non-credit program for graduate students, funded by the National Science Foundation.  Students receive a certificate of completion for training on the Intellectual Component of Responsible Conduct of Research.   Participants work in small teams to solve one copyright problem and one patent problem in primarily online learning spaces using Blackboard Learn 9.1 tools.  Students are guided by Jim Baker, TED, and Nora Allred, copyright librarian, in these online learning spaces and in face-to-face discussion meetings.

Using online tools offers two benefits compared to traditional classroom or programmed online instruction such as CITI training. First, these tools allow asynchronous learning, which enables graduate students, particularly those with English as a second language and those with demanding schedules, to participate in a relaxed and reflective manner. Second, these tools support active, collaborative learning, which is useful for understanding complex ethical concepts.

Students can register online to participate in the program.

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A Christmas Carol at the Calumet Theatre

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A ballet/dance performance of  “A Christmas Carol,” featuring a cast of many Tech students, will be at the Calumet Theatre at 7 p.m., Friday, Dec. 3, and at 7 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 4.

Donna Armistead, of International Programs and Services, is the choreographer.

These students will perform:

  • Paige Borel (Business Management)
  • Allison Strome (Business Management)
  • Jared Berryman (Exercise Science)
  • Josh Stuempges (Chemical Engineering)
  • Joseph Massoglia (Mechanical Engineering)
  • Cassi Warsinski (Biomedical Engineering)

Scrooge will be played by John Griebel ’09 (MS, Industrial Archaeology).

As well, the dance will feature children of faculty and staff.

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UTC‐MiSTI Announces 2010 Student of the Year

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The University Transportation Center for Materials in Sustainable Transportation Infrastructure (UTC‐MiSTI) has selected Darrell Cass as its 2010 “Student of the Year.”

Cass will receive a $1,000 award, travel and registration expenses to attend the 90th Transportation Research Board (TRB) Conference in Washington, DC, and a certificate from the US Department of Transportation.

The TRB conference annually attracts more than 10,000 participants, including university researchers and students, government officials and industry professionals.

Cass received his Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Tech and will complete his master’s degree in May 2011.

His past research included sustainability applied to construction practices and transportation infrastructure. His current research involves quantifying greenhouse gas emissions associated with highway construction and rehabilitation for the Michigan Department of Transportation. This work will help develop tools to support transportation agencies in making more sustainable decisions in managing transportation infrastructure systems.

Cass, who is advised by Assistant Professor Amlan Mukherjee (CEE), has presented his research at the 89th Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting in 2010; the 2010 Construction Research Congress; the 2010 National Local Technical Assistance Program Association Annual Conference; and the International Conference on Sustainable Concrete Pavements. In February of 2011 he will present his work at the Louisiana State Engineering Conference.

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ESC Announces Fall Travel Grants

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The Ecosystem Science Center has announced the recipients of its 2010 Fall Graduate Student Travel Grants. Following is the list of recipients and their advisors.

  • Sinan Abood, Environmental Engineering (Ann Maclean, SFRES) received $500 to attend and instruct a special session at the ASPRS/CaGIS 2010 Fall Specialty Conference in Orlando, Fla., from Nov. 15-19.
  • Ruth Bennett, Applied Ecology (Joseph Bump, SFRES) received $421 to attend the XIV Congreso de la Sociedad Mesoamericana para le Biologia y la Conservacion in San Jose, Costa Rica, from Nov. 8-12.
  • Marcella Campione, Forestry (Linda Nagel, SFRES) received $500 to present a poster at the Society of American Foresters National Convention in Albuquerque, N.M., from Oct. 27-31.
  • Nan Davis, Forestry (Robert Froese, SFRES) received $500 to present a poster at the Society of American Foresters National Convention in Albuquerque, N.M., from Oct 27-31.
  • Kevyn Juneau, Forestry (Catherine Tarasoff, SFRES) received $500 to give a talk at the MN/WI Invasive Species Conference in St. Paul, Minn., from Nov. 8-10.
  • Laura Kangas, Applied Ecology (Rodney Chimner, SFRES) received $500 to give a talk at the Wetlands in the Landscape Meeting of the Wisconsin Wetland Association, in Baraboo, Wisc., from Feb. 16-17.
  • Trevor Roberts, Forest Ecology and Management (Robert Froese, SFRES) received $500 to present a poster at the Society of American Foresters National Convention in Albuquerque, N.M., from Oct. 27-31.
  • Agustin Robles-Morua, Environmental Engineering (Kathy Halvorsen and Audrey Mayer, SS) received $500 to give a talk at the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco, Calif., from Dec. 13-17.
  • Shawna Welsh, Applied Ecology (Thomas Pypker, SFRES) received $500 to give a talk at the Midwest Fish and Wildlife Conference in Minneapolis, Minn., from Dec. 12-15.
  • Nick Windmuller, Forestry (Robert Froese, SFRES) received $500 to present a poster at the Society of American Foresters National Convention in Albuquerque, N.M., from Oct. 27-31.
  • Rosa Flores, Environmental Engineering (Judith Perlinger, CEE) received $500 to present a poster at the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco, Calif., from Dec. 13-17.
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MBA Online Program in the News

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Michigan Tech’s MBA Online, offered by the School of Business and Economics, is mentioned in the Bloomberg Business Week Business School Rankings and Profiles.

The Tech MBA Online is one of 50 listed in the distance learning section, and the site says, “Advances in educational technology have made distance learning programs a viable alternative to attending bricks-and-mortar campuses.”

“We are pleased to see the online program getting this well-deserved attention,” says Darrell Radson, dean, School of Business and Economics.

School officials said the two-year Tech MBA Online focuses on technology and innovation management. The degree incorporates a solid foundation of fundamental business disciplines, including a global perspective. Training professionals to be ethical leaders who manage financially sound but sustainable organizations is also a program goal. The degree program includes two weekend residencies and a weeklong international residency.

“The uniqueness of our program centers on its connection to technology,” according to Radson. “We are using the expertise of our university and our business school to train students to take new ideas and concepts and move them into new products and new businesses.”

For more information about the Tech MBA Online, call Ruth Archer, graduate program director, at 487-3055, or visit www.mbaonline.mtu.edu .

Published in Tech Today.

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How to edit a style

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Styles apply a common set of formatting to a paragraph within Word.  In a previous post, we showed how to apply a style to a paragraph.  This tutorial will show two ways to edit an existing style.

First, edit the text as you desire.  In the example below, I have edited the text “Introduction” to be a different font (Adobe Garamond Pro Bold) and size (24 point) than the original Heading 1 style.  We can tell Heading 1 is applied to this text because it is outlined in orange in the Style section of the ribbon.

Edit the text to meet your specifications.

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How to apply a style to a paragraph

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Styles in Word are used to format text consistently throughout your document. Each paragraph may have a single style applied to it.  For each paragraph, styles define the:

  • Appearance of the text (bold, bulleted, size, font, etc.)
  • Behavior of the paragraph (does it stay with the next paragraph?  Have a page break before it?)
  • Structure of the document (is this a heading meant for the table of contents?)

Styles are found on the Home tab of Word, in the Styles section (boxed in the figure below).

The Styles section on the Home tab contains all of the built in styles available for use.
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