Wows within Student Success
(WoWSS!)

Winter 2007 Edition

DEPARTMENTAL UPDATES: _____________________________

Academic Achievement & Access Center (AAAC)

• Learning Communities Program reached 500 students 06-07.
  
  
• Satisfactory completion of VPSS Implementation Plan for Learning Communities program development 2004-06.
  
  
• Learning Communities: Recipient of 2-Year Grant Award from Washington Center for Improving the Quality of Undergraduate Education for Learning Communities Assessment.

Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS)

• The search for the director of CAPS began this fall.  Dr. Sarah Kirk, faculty member from Clinical Psychology, is chairing the committee.  Other committee members include: Heather Frost, Linda Keeler, Barb Smith, Tracy Wechselblatt, Shane Lopez, Margaret Severson, Leah Luckeroth, Eric Grospitch, Rueben Perez, Jennifer Austenfeld, Zak Beasley, Lance Watson.  A review of applications will begin on February 9th with the goal of having a permanent director by late spring/early summer.

Department of Student Housing (DSH)

• The search process for the Director of the Department of Student Housing has begun.  Nona Golledge from KU Dining Services is serving as the chair of the committee.  Other committee members include: Vince Avila, Kip Grosshans, Doug Carter, Jennifer Wamelink, Robert Page, Lee Furbeck, Linda Dixon, Cayla Witty, Carlos Martinez, Lance Watson, Julie Hartness, Dan Bernstein, and Schuyler Bailey.  A review of applications will begin in mid-February with the goal of having a permanent director by late spring/early summer.

Hilltop Child Development Center (Hilltop)

• Planning is under way for the Hilltop expansion project and will include the addition of six more classroom spaces and an additional laundry/storage room.  Modifications to the current space will create a new larger staff room and storage area, an additional office and a small conference room.  Bob Rombach, the DCM project manager, provided a preliminary idea of the timeline for the project.  Barring further delays, architect interviews will occur in March, contract bidding by September 1, and construction by October 1.  If this timeline is accurate and the weather is good, some classrooms could be ready to open in August 2008.

KU Information (KU Info)

• There is now a section on the Kyou Portal for the upcoming KU Info Tip of the Day.  It is in the Announcements section of the portal.  If you click on Manage Topics, you'll find you can check a box and get the Tip of the Day emailed to you each morning!  Get a head start on your colleagues and see the Tip before it appears in the Kansan!
  

KU Memorial Unions (Unions)

• The Jaybowl received great publicity from the December 25th Kansas City Star article about Julian Wright.

New Student Orientation (NSO)

• NSO invited orientation alumni back to campus for Homecoming Weekend, October 7, 2006. Over 100 alumni and guests gathered in the Kansas Union for socializing, reminiscing, and Union brownies, including Terry Schull Busch and Marty Green Milburn, best friends, who met as Orientation Assistants in 1978!

Office of Admissions & Scholarship (OAS)

• Admissions and Scholarships has a new position, Associate Director, Multicultural and Transfer Admissions. Lee Furbeck joined OAS in this position in December.

Office of Multicultural Affairs

• The Colors of KU Diversity and Leadership Retreat was recently featured in the November, 2006 issue of The Bulletin of the Association of College Unions International in "Best Practices for College Unions and Student Activities:  Multicultural and Diversity Programming" by Michael Sutton.
  

• On September 22-23, alumni and students participated in the Hispanic American Leadership Organization (HALO) hosted a celebration banquet to honor its 35th year anniversary on KU campus.  The weekend included a keynote address by Ms. Pegine Echevarria of Team Pegine, an Alumni Brunch sponsored by the Office of the Chancellor, scholarship presentation, and a HALO Regional Meeting attended by six other HALO's in the states of Kansas and Missouri. 
  

• OMA co-hosted the second annual Tools For Social Justice Conference, along with ACPA, College Educators International and PaperClip Communications, in Kansas City, Missouri on Nov. 9-11 and included over 100 participants. The featured workshop and presentation, “Deveoping the Path to Competence” was led by Dr. Jamie Washington & Dr. Kathy Obear. For more information about the 2007 conference, please contact Precious Porras at pporras@ku.edu or 864-4350.
  
  
• (OMA-MRC) Construction on the Sabatini Multicultural Resource Center designed by Gould Evans began last summer. The new building will have more than 7,000 square feet, twice this size of its current facility; it will have the appearance of a one-story building with its top floor dedicated to the center. The Sabatini Multicultural Resource Center will feature updated technology, more programming space for student organizations and more academic resources. The updated facility includes additional study areas for the MRC’s tutoring program (SOAR) as well as space for other multicultural education programs. The 2.7 million dollar building is expected to be completed in fall 2007.

Office of the Vice Provost for Student Success (VPSS)

• KU has a contract for ImageNow (image system) which is currently being used by the Comptroller's Office, Human Resources, and the Graduate School.  Student Success has received funding to add additional licenses and new hardware for the Office of Student Financial Aid and the Office of Admissions and Scholarships.  After the current software is upgraded, which also involves upgrades of computer hardware, steps will begin to back-scan all the documents in OSFA and then begin setting up systems in these initial two offices.  This software technology allows for imaging and electronically filing and retrieving documents.  Other offices who are interested in learning more about this software and project should contact Dan Consolver in ATS.
  

Student Information Services (SIS)

• Financial aid processing for the 2008 aid year is being modified to unify KU Lawrence Campus and KU Medical Center into one Title IV aid institution.  Processing for 2008 begins in late January, 2007.

• In November, Sheri Phillips, Linda Brooks, Jonathan Glauner and Bob Turvey (SIS) were invited to make a presentation to students in IST 326 Database Management Systems.  The presentation focused on the Implementation of Enterprise Systems.

Student Involvement & Leadership Center (SILC)

• SILC collaborated with Union Programs to host its first, “Finals Frenzy,” which included an all-campus yell during fall finals. Look for this to be a new tradition at KU.

University Career Center (UCC)

• Gina Starnes brought the first Public Service Career Fair to KU in October 2006 with the assistance of Liz Caldwell.
  

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