Interesting stories about and for our students.
The Center for Diversity and Inclusion’s Heritage Programming Committee is proud to host a panel discussion (Minorities and the Military: Personal Experiences Panel Discussion) in celebration of Native American History Month. Student veterans and members of the community will share their service experiences.
Please join the Heritage Programming Committee on Wednesday, Nov. 12, from 6 to 7:30 p.m., in MUB Alumni Lounge B; snacks will be provided.
Originally posted in TechToday (11/6/2014)
Michigan Tech owes a lot of thanks to Mother Nature for its beautiful setting. From lakes and forests to mountains and trails, Michigan Tech’s wild side sets us apart. Now it’s time to earn bragging rights for how much we use these assets to our advantage.
From Sept. 27 through Nov. 21, members of the campus and community—students, alumni, faculty, staff and community members—are being urged to get outdoors and document their experiences online to prove that the Michigan Tech community is the most outdoorsy in the nation.
Michigan Tech is competing with nine other schools and is currently in 2nd place.
“We need your help to overtake the #1 spot,” says Caitlin Wilkins, a Tech student and Outdoor Nation competition coordinator on campus. “Anyone, anywhere can participate for Michigan Tech. They just need to create an account at this website and start logging their outdoor activities to earn points and the chance to win prizes.”
Once participants create an account and choose the school they want to earn the points, they can log in from now through Nov. 21 and log their outdoor activities.
Faculty, staff, students, community members, alumni and friends of the University, even those who have never been to Houghton or campus, can compete for Michigan Tech. “We need to get as many people participating as we can to ensure that we have a chance to win,” said Wilkins. “Tell your friends, old roommates, students, professors, the nice people you babysit for, even your family, wherever they live. We want as many people as possible to log points and activities for Michigan Tech, so we can show people that we do more than just academics well.”
Some of the prizes include CamelBack Water Bottles, The North Face gear, reusable bags and one lucky participant will win a touring kayak from Down Wind Sports in Houghton.
“We’re so excited to be able to show off Tech’s amazing location through this great competition,” said Wilkins. “We know that a love of the outdoors is a common thread among all Huskies, and this way we can really show it off.”
Throughout the competition, there will be a variety of events to encourage outdoor activity, including a free adventure bandana giveaway for current students, bike repair clinics, a photo competition and more, hosted by the Outdoor Adventure Program, WHSA, Outdoor Venture Crew, IRHC, Paintball Club and more.
“There are plenty of ways for people to get active and share their experiences,” Wilkins said. “Stay tuned to our Facebook event page for more information.”
There is still time to apply for the Fall 2014 Graduate Student Government Travel Grants. Travel grants t help subsidize the cost of attending and presenting at conferences. These awards are sponsored by GSG and the Graduate School. For more information, visit the Travel Grants web page.
Applications must be completed before 5 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 10. As part of the application, advisors are sent an email to verify eligibility and approval for student conference attendance. A response to this email is necessary for the application to be considered complete.
For questions, contact GSG Treasurer Jennifer Winikus at jawiniku@mtu.edu.
At the recommendation of the US Department of Education, Michigan Tech is establishing an online course on harassment, discrimination and retaliation. All University employees and graduate students will be required to complete the course by Dec. 31.
The course will replace a previous course on sexual harassment that has been required of all incoming employees since 2009. It also satisfies the federal requirement for training mandated by the Violence Against Women Act and Title IX and aligns with the Campus Clarity courses that incoming first-year students must complete.
“The new course is extremely informative regarding harassment and discrimination and suggests best practices in the workplace,” said Jill Hodges, director of the Office of Institutional Equity. Regarding the sexual harassment portions of the course, President Glenn Mroz said: “Despite the significant progress made in reducing violence against women, there is a long way to go. It is our responsibility as a university community to work towards eliminating sexual misconduct and sexual violence, and to do so, we must be well informed.”
Employees and graduate students will receive email notification when the course is assigned and reminders if they have not completed the course. The course requires audio. Employees or graduate students whose computers do not have audio capability can use campus computers designated for training purposes.
If you have questions, contact Title IX Coordinator Beth Lunde in the Office of Institutional Equity at titleix@mtu.edu.
The American Physical Society–an organization that works to advance and spread knowledge of physics through research journals, scientific meetings, education, outreach and advocacy–just issued a report listing the universities that awarded the highest percentages of PhDs in physics to women between 2010 and 2012. Michigan Tech placed 12th in the nation with 42 percent of physics PhDs earned by women.
“This is a well-deserved recognition of the physics faculty members who are committed to diversity at Michigan Tech,” said Ravindra Pandey, chair of the Department of Physics.
Michigan Tech has made increasing the numbers of women students and graduates a key part of its strategic plan. Due to a number of recruitment and retention initiatives, the percentage of women has been rising at the University, now nearing 25 percent, and Tech’s goal for 2035 is a student body that is 40 percent female.
“The Physics Department has already met and surpassed that goal, which is a great accomplishment,” said President Glenn Mroz. “This is awesome recognition of the work of Ravi and his faculty.”
The College of Engineering also has been recognized recently for its percentage of overall doctoral degrees awarded to women. In its latest Profiles of Engineering and Engineering Technology Colleges, the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) ranked Michigan Tech 10th in the nation in percentage of engineering doctorates earned by women. According to the ASEE, engineering doctorates received by women at Michigan Tech totaled 31.9 percent of all engineering doctoral degrees awarded by the University in 2013.
The Graduate School is pleased to announce that the following students have earned the Doctoral Finishing Fellowship:
Photographs and details of awards and fellowships coordinated by the Graduate School can be found online.
Nominations are currently being accepted for spring 2015 finishing fellowships. Nominations are due Oct. 21 by 4 p.m. to Debra Charlesworth. Please see the website for full details.
There is still room to register for the fall 2014 Safe Place training. The Michigan Tech Safe Place program is a comprehensive resource to better prepare faculty and staff to address the needs of students who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning (GLBTQ).
The training program addresses a wide range of terms that GLBTQ students use to define their identities, issues that they often deal with during the coming out process, concerns that they face both in and out of the classroom, ways that faculty and staff can create inclusive classroom and office environments, and refer students who need to report harassment, and the on-and off-campus resources available to students.
View the fall 2014 training times and register online.
The Holland Sentinel published a feature article on Michigan Tech’s Industrial Archaeology students’ analysis of early mining activity in the vicinity of Fort Wilkins State Park.
Published in Tech Today.
Michigan Tech submitted its preliminary fall enrollment figures to the state this week. Enrollment totaled 7,100 this fall, up from last year and the second highest since 1983.
Female enrollment in the College of Engineering is 1,005, an all-time high at 22 percent.
American minority students totaled 474, nearly 7 percent of the student body and another all-time high.
Graduate School enrollment also hit an all-time high this fall, at 1,442 or 20 percent of the student body. The Graduate School received 1,800 more applications this year than last.
Michigan Tech’s 1,093 international students represent another all-time high. Retention—the percentage of first-year students who return for their second year—was 85 percent, the highest it has been since 1993.
Read the the full story.
Published in Tech Today by Jennifer Donovan, director of news and media relations
PhD students Ankit Vora (ECE) and Jephias Gwamuri (MSE) co-authored a paper with Joshua Pearce (MSE/ECE), Paul Bergstrom (ECE) and Durdu Guney (ECE) titled “Multi-resonant Silver Nano-disk Patterned Thin Film Amorphous Silicon Solar Cells For Staebler-Wronski Effect Compensation,” in the “Journal of Applied Physics.”
Published in Tech Today.
