NewsBytes
 August 29, 2005
Fall 2005, Volume 3


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Jean Wasp,
Editor, 4-2057

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A Weekly E-Newsletter for SSU Faculty and Staff

Darwin Hall Goes "Charlie Brownish"

Painting of Darwin Hall's exterior started last week as the home of School of Science and Technology got a fresh new paint job - much like her sister buildings Salazar and the Schulz Information Center. Some have called the paint color "Charlie Brownish." It marks the continued renovation of the building paid for by Proposition 47 ($26 million) which the voters approved in 2002. Proposition 55, the school facilities bond of 2004 brings $2.3 million for furniture and equipmment. Renovation is scheduled to be completed in Fall 2006.

WASC Institutional Proposal Draft
Available for Campus Review

The SSU Accreditation Review Steering Committee invites the University community – faculty, staff, students and administrators – to review and comment on the draft of the Institutional Proposal, which SSU will submit to WASC, its regional accreditation agency, on Oct. 15.

The proposal is the first step in the accreditation process and will guide the development of SSU’s capacity and preparatory and educational effectiveness reviews. Read the proposal on-line www.sonoma.edu/aa/portfolio/ institutional_draft.html.

The ARSC welcomes comments through the WASC Interactive Online Forum, which can be accessed on the SSU Portfolio web page on the SSU home page. Feedback can also be made directly to Elaine Sundberg, elaine.sundberg@sonoma.edu, or Rose Bruce, rose.bruce@sonoma.edu. Other members of the steering committee, whose names and email addresses are posted on the SSU Portfolio Web site, can also be contacted. Comments must be received no later than Sept. 15.

Faculty - Download WebCT
Course Archives by Sept. 8

Information Technology will soon be deleting old courses from the WebCT server. WebCT courses from 2004 will be hidden from view on Sept. 9, then archived and removed on Sept. 15. This is to be the first in a series of regular clean up events that will happen once each semester. After the clean up, deleted courses will no longer show up in faculty or student myWebCT course listings.

The IT Web Office will make archives of all courses before they are deleted. However, because these archives won't be readily available to faculty, the IT Web Office recommends that faculty create and download their own WebCT course archives by Sept. 8. Instructors who have not used WebCT do not need to archive course shells.

Instructions for creating and downloading WebCT course archives can be found on the WebCT@SSU site: www.sonoma.edu/it/its/webct/faq/archive.html. Instructors needing hands-on assistance creating and downloading archives can come to the New Media Lab during Web Office drop-in hours listed online at www.sonoma.edu/it/websupport/hours.html. Questions? Contact Barbara Moore,
barbara.moore@sonoma.edu, 4-2721.

Queer Studies Conference
Reports Beginning Success

SSU’s first annual Queer Studies Student Research Conference took place on June 23 and 24 on campus and provided a forum for 16 scholarly papers and two original films. The conference drew both graduate and undergraduate students from a variety of universities.
Full Story

News on New Vendor
Items and Catering Menus

Sonoma State Enterprises is pleased to announce a multitude of new offerings in each of its areas. In response to customer feedback, SSE has instituted the new services to better serve all students, faculty, and staff.

Full Story

"Talks on Texts" Features
Faculty and Their Inspiration

"Talks on Texts" is a series of Wednesday noon-time lectures by SSU faculty about the “texts” that have transformed them and inspired their lives.  Inspired by Communications Studies Professor Jonah Raskin, the series of short talks begins Sept. 14 and runs through Oct. 26. Two faculty will speak each session with time for questions and discussion.

Faculty from across campus have been invited to participate, giving them wide latitude for selecting their specific text. A text might be as short as the First Amendment to the Constitution or as long as James Joyce's Ulysses.  It might be the musical score to a George Gershwin piece of music or Einstein's Theory of Relativity. Music professor Lynne Morrow and history professor Steve Estes kick off the first lecture. For a complete list of the series, visit http://libweb.sonoma.edu/about/lecture.html.

Are You for the Birds?

Two SSU professors who are serving on Madrone Audubon Society board and committees - Bryant Hichwa and Liz Thach - are looking for staff or faculty from SSU to join them in volunteering with Sonoma County's premier birding organization. Several board and committee positions are open. For more information, contact the president, Sylvan Eidelman at sylvan_lee@yahoo.com.

Prior Learning Portfolio Course Offered Fall 2005

Sonoma State University grants credit for learning that has been documented and evaluated according to University policy through the Faculty Evaluated Prior Learning Program using a portfolio assessment process.

The starting point is the Portfolio Workshop (UNIV 310), a mentoring seminar for students re-entering higher education which helps students assess their accomplishments and set academic goals, re-orient to campus life and services, and also guides them in the preparation of their portfolios for evaluation by SSU faculty.

The workshop, available through School of Extended Education, is open to both SSU students and non-SSU students (through Open University). It is offered Wednesdays from 5 -7:40 p.m from Sept. 7 through Dec. 14. The fee for the course is $510.

FEPLP coordinators ask that this information be shared with SSU undergraduate students with prior learning experience, as well as those in the community who are considering an undergraduate degree. Contact the FEPLP Coordinator, Barbara Lesch McCaffry at 4-2273 or mccaffry@sonoma.edu with any questions about the program. An informational brochure about FEPLP can also be picked up in Carson 38 or requested by e-mail. For details about the course, contact the instructor, Inese Heinzel, at 578-7101 or heinzeli@sonoma.edu.

Reception for Retiring Charlotte Brown

Charlotte Brown from Accounts Payable in Financial Services is retiring. Financial Services is inviting those who wish to attend a potluck lunch retirement party on her last day at noon on Aug. 31 in Salazar Conference Room A. Brown began work at SSU as a temporary employee in Housing. She then moved to Accounts Payable/Financial Services and has been with the University for nine years. She has been a Vendor Representative for five years. She has always been a very willing person when it came to resolving Accounts Payable issues with the campus community, say colleagues. After her retirement, she and her husband will move to Southern California.

Travel Center Busy with
Winter Vacation Arrangements

Hawaii, Europe, Australia and Las Vegas are the top requested travel destinations by SSU faculty and staff through the Experience Travel! Center in the Student Union lobby. For rates and service on winter travel packages, international air tickets, cruises, group or individual travel, call Laurie Lubeck, the on-campus travel advisor, at 4-3400. Walk-in hours are Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.; other hours by appointment. For further information, contact experience.travel@sonoma.edu.