Graduate School Newsblog

Category: News

Interesting stories about and for our students.

Women Launch a Publication About Gender Issues

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Two humanities students at Michigan Tech have launched a newspaper called Beyond the Glass Ceiling. They hope it will become an outlet for writers who want to explore gender issues and gender inequality on campus.

“We had a lot of people interested, but most of them wanted to write anonymously. They thought it was too much of a risk.”

Megan Walsh, one of the student editors of Beyond the Glass Ceiling, talks about attempts to establish a base of writers last year as the publication was being launched. If you wonder why we need a feminist publication on campus, for Walsh, the request for anonymity answers it.

“That alone tells me we need to do this.”

Beyond the Glass Ceiling is the successor to the former TechnoBabe Times, a publication largely housed in the humanities department a decade ago. Graduate student Katie Snyder wanted to revive the tradition, with encouragement from faculty, leading to the new publication.

For the full story about the new publication, see online

Published in Tech Today by Kevin Hodur, creative writer

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Jackie Huntoon Honored with the GEM Member of the Year Award

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Jackie Huntoon, Dean of the Graduate School

Jackie Huntoon, associate provost and dean of the Graduate School, has received the National Consortium for Graduate Degrees for Minorities in Engineering and Science Inc. (GEM) Executive Committee Member of the Year Award.

The award recognizes her generous commitment of time, support, and inspiration to the GEM Mission, which is to: “enhance the value of the nation’s human capital by increasing the participation of underrepresented groups (African Americans, American Indians and Hispanic Americans) at the master’s and doctoral levels in engineering and science.”

“For as long as I’ve known Jackie, she has been passionate in her efforts to advance grad studies in STEM that truly reflect the diverse people of America as well as the world,” said President Glenn Mroz. “I’m delighted for her that her colleagues have recognized her energy and effort with this award.”

Published in Tech Today

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Female and Graduate Student Enrollment Rises

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Michigan Tech, like other public universities in the state, submitted its official fall enrollment numbers to Lansing this week. The news was very good.

Michigan Tech has 1,252 first-year students, the largest freshman class since 2008. The average ACT score and high school GPA of those students are at an all-time high, at 26.7 and 3.66.

Graduate student numbers also rose for the fifth straight year, to 1,359.

“I want to thank everyone all across campus for the work they do to attract the highest quality students,” said President Glenn Mroz. “The results of their efforts speak for themselves.”

Total undergraduate enrollment this fall is 5,617, making the University’s total enrollment for the fall semester 6,976, up from 6,945. There are 1,180 female students, the second highest ever. Female enrollment in the College of Engineering is now 906, up from 612 in 2005 and 835 last year. This is an all-time high. And the Graduate School has 392 female graduate students, the most ever.

The number of domestic ethnic minorities has risen to just shy of 7 percent of the undergraduate student body. This is a 10-year high and an all-time record.

“The academic caliber of this incoming class of undergraduates is one of the highest in recent history at Michigan Tech,” said John Lehman, associate vice president for enrollment, marketing and communications at Michigan Tech. “It’s a diverse class with a relatively high proportion of women entering the STEM fields. We’re very excited to have this group of talented, future leaders studying with us at Tech.”

The Graduate School saw the number of first-time master’s degree students rise 22.2 percent, to 314. There are 97 first-time doctoral students, a 1 percent drop from fall 2012. Tech’s Graduate School processed more than 4,100 applications for the fall 2013 semester.

“This is the fifth consecutive year of record graduate enrollment at Michigan Tech,” said Jacqueline Huntoon, dean of the Graduate School. “We are making clear progress toward our goal of 3,000 graduate students by 2035. Also, last year was the fourth consecutive year of record graduation numbers for master’s and PhD students. We want to thank everyone who helped get new graduate students to Tech and who worked closely with the students who are here.”

The enrollment report lists numbers of students in each of Michigan Tech’s Colleges and Schools.

* College of Engineering: 4,329
* College of Sciences and Arts: 1,657
* School of Business and Economics: 365
* School of Technology: 276
* School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science: 242
* No School or College designated: 107

Published in Tech Today by Jennifer Donovan, public relations director

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Peace Corps MS Student Tackles Water, Waste, Volcanoes, Earthquakes in Panama

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To the people of Peña Blanca, Panama, Chet Hopp must seem like a godsend. He’s helping them get cleaner water, improve sanitation and understand their local volcanic hazards.

“I’m an environmental health extensionist, which means that my main responsibilities to my community of Peña Blanca deal with sanitation,” says Hopp, a Peace Corps Master’s International student in geology at Michigan Tech. “Specifically, we work to improve access to potable water through development and construction of gravity-fed aqueducts, as well as improving sanitation practices through education and access to various types of latrines.”

From the beginning, Hopp says, the priority has been latrines, although the water system does concern many in the community. He gives talks on sanitation practices, as well as how to properly construct and maintain the latrines they are building.

And, there’s buy-in, literally, from the locals.

“Each participating family is required to make a $5 deposit, to be returned upon successful completion, and they must pay for half the cost of corrugated metal roofing,” Hopp says. “There are other roofing options, though, so they can opt out of this.”

Read the full story.

Published in Tech Today by Dennis Walikainen, senior editor

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Michigan Tech Garners Best Bang for the Buck Rating

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Michigan Tech has been named a school that delivers the Best Bang for the Buck in ratings released by Washington Monthly magazine. Michigan Tech ranks 29th among national universities in the category, according to the publication.

Washington Monthly created the Best Bang for the Buck category, to address the now-prevalent question of whether or not a college education is worth it. According to their website, they ask, “What colleges will charge people like me the least and give me the highest chance of graduating with a degree that means something in the marketplace?”

“This rating, combined with our Business Insider ranking with underrated universities, shows how Michigan Tech is getting good reviews in the right kinds of profiles,” said John Lehman, associate vice president for enrollment, marketing, and communications. In the Business Insider ranking, Michigan Tech was also praised for the high salaries their graduates earn.

To be included among Washington Monthly’s Best Bang for the Buck rankings, schools are rated in four categories: percentage of students receiving Pell Grants, graduation rate, default rate and net price.

Of the 1,572 schools in their overall rankings, only 349 made the list in the Best Bang for the Buck category.

Other Michigan schools rated in the Best Bang category include Michigan State University (23rd) and Western Michigan University (46th). Michigan Tech is rated just behind Iowa State University and just above Rutgers University.

Michigan Tech was also ranked number 64 in the overall national university rankings, in which the Washington Monthly rates schools “based on their contribution to the public good in three broad categories: Social Mobility (recruiting and graduating low-income students), Research (producing cutting-edge scholarship and PhDs), and Service (encouraging students to give something back to their country).”

Published in Tech Today

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HuskyCard is Coming

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Michigan Tech IT is upgrading the campus card system by transitioning to a contactless smart card and reader system. The new system will be compatible with all of the current card functions such as student, faculty, and staff ID card, library card and meal plans. In addition to providing identification and access, the HuskyCard may optionally be used as a prepaid debit MasterCard, providing students the ability to receive same-day refunds.

The HuskyCard will have two magnetic stripes, one yellow, and one black, as well as a contactless smart chip. Information will be stored on both the yellow stripe as well as the smart chip to allow for a transition to new technology without interrupting current service offerings. When a contactless smart chip reader is installed, card users will be able to “tap” (hold the card very close to the reader) their card against the reader to execute transactions. If you encounter a magnetic stripe reader, swipe the yellow stripe.

The goal is to replace all swipe readers with contactless smart chip readers; including parking gates and computer lab print release systems. Parts of the current system are running on antiquated technology and need to be replaced as soon as possible. Other parts have been updated over the years and will remain compatible with the new system.

All Michigan Tech students, faculty, and staff will be required to receive a new HuskyCard with the contactless smart chip technology. You can exchange your current ID in the library from Aug. 26 until Sept. 15. Save time by updating your picture and preferred name at HuskyCard Photo Upload.

Note that all HuskyCards now have a 16-digit MasterCard number on the front of the card, as well as a black magnetic stripe. The black stripe should only be used for debit MasterCard transactions. The 16-digit number is associated with an optional prepaid debit account, and is only activated if one chooses to “register” their HuskyCard. As a result, new precautions must be taken by campus departments that use the HuskyCard. For example, the temporary holding of another person’s card in all cases is no longer appropriate, and new business processes must be put in place. The HuskyCard should be treated as if it were a personal credit card.

More information about the new HuskyCard is available at HuskyCard.

For questions about the proper handling of HuskyCards, please contact it-help@mtu.edu.

from Information Technology
Published in Tech Today

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Library Establishing a Patent and Trademark Resource Center

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Michigan Tech’s Van Pelt and Opie Library has received official designation from the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property to establish a Patent and Trademark Resource Center (PTRC) in the library. The PTRC will make available the rich resources of technical and commercial information contained in patents and trademarks for inventors, researchers, students, faculty and businesses. Key databases and up-to-date news about intellectual property have never been easily accessible in the Upper Peninsula (and neighboring geographic locations) and are rarely located in rural areas.

This fall, there will be an opening event after which workshops will be available for all. Faculty and other instructors are encouraged also to think about the opportunities within their teaching that would promote the use of these resources to students, labs and entrepreneurial groups or teams.

The impetus for seeking official PTRC status was inspired by Jim Baker’s (executive director, Innovation and Industry Engagement) dedication to instructing graduate students about patents in the library’s NSF-funded Intellectual Property: Copyright and Patents (Is it Original?) program over the past three years.

This program was originally developed by Christa Walck, associate provost, with extensive involvement by Nora Allred, copyright and scholarly communications librarian, and Baker. Graduate students at Michigan Tech and at our partner, University of Texas-Pan American, are keenly interested in patents.

A new instruction and learning librarian, Sarah Lucchesi, took the initiative to pursue this designation, has received specialized training and can be contacted for further information: 7-3379 or slucches@mtu.edu.

submitted by the Van Pelt and Opie Library
Published in Tech Today

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Forestry Recognizes Outstanding Alumni

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The School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science has honored four SFRES alumni. Francisca (Panchita) Paulete ’06 and Aaron M. Everett ’01 were named 2013 Outstanding Young Alumni. David Myrold ’77 received the School’s 2013 Outstanding Alumnus Award, and Jacob Hayrynen ’81 was inducted into the SFRES Honor Academy.

Paulete is a graduate of the Peace Corps Master’s International program at Michigan Tech. She served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Gambia, West Africa, from 2003 to 2005. She now is district planning and environmental coordinator for the Eugene District of the Bureau of Land Management in Oregon.

Read more about the alumni awards in Tech Today.

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Tom Drummer Passes Away

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Fisher Hall will no longer resonate with the hearty laughter of Tom Drummer. The 59-year-old professor of mathematical sciences passed away over the weekend at his home in Chassell.

“It is a big shock,” said Department Chair Mark Gockenbach. “Tom was such a great guy.”

Drummer joined the math faculty in 1985, after completing an MS in Applied Statistics from Bowling Green State University and a PhD in Statistics from the University of Wyoming. He served as interim chair of the department for several months during the 1996–97 academic year and at the time of his death was the department’s graduate program director. He was a member of the Academy of Teaching Excellence, composed of faculty who are finalists for the Distinguished Teaching Award.

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Geology Grad Student Helps Indonesians Understand Their Volcanoes

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Jay Wellik, left, installs a new seismometer near Raung volcano.
Jay Wellik, left, installs a new seismometer near Raung volcano.
Nine thousand miles is a long way to go for research. But, if you are studying volcanoes, Indonesia is the place to be.

For Peace Corps Master’s International (PCMI) student Jay Wellik, it became even more than a place to study volcanoes. It became home, as he worked in Java, mostly near the Raung volcano.

As the first Michigan Tech student to work in Indonesia, Wellik endeared himself to the local governments and people, for his risk perception and mitigation, as well as for his willingness to jump into community life.

He researched two relatively active volcanoes, Raung and Ijen, working from observatory posts there, while also teaching English and coaching basketball in a “madrasah,” a state Islamic school. Wellik says he appreciates the different perspective he gained from the classroom and basketball courts. More.

by Dennis Walikainen, senior editor
Published in Tech Today

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