Campus Connections

Issue Date: October 22, 2007

News and Notices

Student mural asks “What do all people deserve?”

Students, alumni, faculty and staff helped create a mural-like painting last week as part of Student Life’s community-building and diversity education program.

The idea for the mural came out of a presentation titled “Our Identities, Our Differences, Our Community,” delivered by Vernon Wall during New Student Orientation. Wall invited each student to consider the question “What do all people deserve?” and to write his or her answer on a Post-It Note.

After the presentation, two Student Life interns, Dana Cuykendall ’09 and Yan Chen ’10, came up with the idea to attach the 400 notes to seven-inch squares of canvas and invite the campus community to paint the squares. The squares will be sewn together into a student mural that will hang on the wall outside the bookstore above the free literature display table near the entrance of the Trail Room.

“I’m so thankful to them—their idea was the perfect bridging between the great energy of NSO and most effective use of the wall space reserved by the Templeton Advisory Board,” says Houston Dougharty, dean of students. “Holding an activity like this during Homecoming week furthered the notion that we are building community, and you can see it happening.”

Over the next two weeks, faculty and staff are invited to paint a canvas square to be added to the mural. For more information, go to the office of student leadership on Wednesdays, Thursdays or Fridays.

New Strategic Initiatives Fund implements Planning Task Force recommendations

As part of the 2007-2008 budget process, the president created a Strategic Initiatives Fund in order to provide annual support for numerous recommendations identified by the 2006 Planning Task Force Report. To fund this ongoing expense, the Operations Council cut $500,000 from Common Services budgets in 2007-2008. During its initial year, multiple Strategic Initiative Fund proposals were submitted by each Executive Council member.

In order to qualify for funding, each project needed to be connected to one or more Planning Task Force recommendations and be a one-time or short-term duration project. Each proposal was also required to submit feasibility studies or other planning processes that showed how the project would provide significant new sources of revenue to the institution or would have other significant strategic impact. Proposals were given priority if they identified strategic impacts for another office or department, identified secondary impacts and offered solutions.

Last month, Executive Council members approved nine of the 21 initiatives submitted. The balance of the proposals will either be subsumed into operating or capital budgets or deferred. The following projects have been selected, for a total of $461,775:

Development of Global Law Program—$142,500

Lisa Lesage, assistant dean and director of business law programs, and Susan Mandiberg, law professor, will lead the law school in its exploration of a more coordinated approach to global legal education that includes providing a richer and more varied curriculum in global law, providing expanded opportunities to study law abroad, adding a renowned international law expert to build and guide the curriculum and scholarly work, attracting leading international law scholars to global law symposia and generally enhancing the law school’s reputation and rankings with a world-class presence in the global law arena.

Academic and Event Space Management—$87,900

The Academic and Event Space Management Working Group coordinated by Michael Ford, associate vice president for Campus Life, will engage Paulien & Associates to analyze current academic and event space use and utilization across the institution. The study will help the College identify the optimal number and size of future classrooms and event spaces. The project will also purchase an upgrade to existing EMS Enterprise event management systems, which will, for the first time, allow events on the Fir Acres, Law and Grad School campuses to be scheduled in one electronic system.

Redesign Lewis & Clark’s Web site—$80,000

Led by Tom Krattenmaker, associate vice president for Public Affairs and Communications, the College will engage consultants to help with the redesign of the Lewis & Clark Web site in order to attract and retain high-quality students, improve internal communications, project our core values and support decision-making processes that are effective, collaborative and consistent across the institution.

Community and Career Connections Office—$56,875

Funds will support an expanded Office of Community and Career Connections in the College of Arts and Sciences supervised by Associate Dean of Students Greg Caldwell. The office’s staff, programs and services will help students and alumni better synthesize academic, co-curricular and community experiences into objectives and goals for their futures through internship and career advising.

Electronic Document Management—$45,000

In an effort to improve methods of institutional communication, Assistant to the Provost Wendy Washburn will hire IKON Office Solutions to expand the College’s electronic document management system to include Institutional Governance documents, such as Board of Trustees bylaws, resolutions and minutes. Allowing access to these documents across all three campuses will provide a sense of inclusiveness and help build our community.

IWOK—$20,000

Lewis & Clark has partnered with the tribal leaders of the Pacific Northwest through the Indigenous Way of Knowing Program (IWOK) to address unmet needs of Native communities in the region. Among its projects, IWOK prepares native and non-native teachers, counselors and related community leaders for positive and informed leadership roles. The funding supplements a Ford Foundation grant in support of IWOK activities this year. Se-Ah-Dom Edmo is the IWOK Coordinator.

Exempt Staff and OEE Classification and Compensation Study—$19,500 for two years

Fox Lawson Consultants will conduct a staff compensation study over two fiscal years in an effort to follow the Planning Task Force’s recommendation to “commit to fair and competitive compensation, provide professional development opportunities and implement a system of performance evaluation for all employees that will serve as a positive incentive for the highest standard of performance and will allow us to retain the best faculty and staff.” This project will be coordinated by Greg Walters in Human Resources.

Sexual Harassment Training—$10,000

Vice President, Secretary and General Counsel David Ellis will conduct a study of best practices to implement a better institution-wide policy.

Bodine Research Lab Renovation—Up to $145,212

To enhance undergraduate science programs, funding a new integrated science building will be a primary goal in an upcoming capital campaign. Since it will take a number of years to secure the necessary funds, it is important to update several biology research labs as a transitional step. Funding for these lab renovations will combine annual capital project funding with federal indirect cost grant support and either College of Arts & Sciences operating surplus or Strategic Initiative Funds. Up to $145,212 from the 2008-09 Strategic Initiatives Fund has been approved for these renovations, which will begin in January. Biology Department Chair Deborah Lycan will oversee the project.

Pioneer Express gets a makeover

The Pioneer Express shuttle bus was revamped this month with the Lewis & Clark logo and colors as part of a new communications strategy that emphasizes academic leadership, global and local engagement and Lewis & Clark’s distinctly “Portland” personality.

“Our aim is to have the ‘branded’ bus build awareness of our presence in the city and affirm our role as a neighbor and citizen in Portland,” says Tom Krattenmaker, associate vice president for Public Affairs & Communications. “Lewis & Clark people and Lewis & Clark the institution are deeply entwined with the life of Portland and important contributors to this city’s success and vibrancy, and we think the bus will serve as a steady reminder of that.”

Other expressions of the strategy include a community-engagement report, ads for lectures and performances in local newspapers, a new look and story-telling style for Lewis & Clark publications and the upcoming redesign of the Lewis & Clark Web site.

“We have received an overwhelmingly positive response from the community on the new look for the Pio Express,” Krattenmaker said. A sampling of responses include:

“I love the look of the new bus. Now that we have it, it seems so obvious that it should have always been this way.”

“WOW! The Pioneer Express’ new look is wonderful and more ‘modern’ than the ‘blue bullet.’ Great job.”

“How about sprucing up the interior of the bus?”

“As someone who rides the shuttle regularly, I just wanted to share that I appreciate the makeover. I agree that it will help build awareness - and also helps clarify for first-time riders that they are getting on the right bus! Also, it looks great and gives me a sense of school pride when it pulls up!”

“I love the new shuttle! I was thinking that I wished the Raz said something about Lewis & Clark on it one day when I was getting on the shuttle downtown. I'm proud be a college student at Lewis & Clark, and I think it's important to strengthen our bonds with the surrounding community and make our presence known.”

To share thoughts about the new-look shuttle bus, as well as any questions and comments about the way we are telling the institution’s story, send an email to Tom Krattenmaker at tkratt@lclark.edu.

Yoga for faculty and staff

Yoga instructor Ryan Crosby, MSW, RYT, a certified Yoga teacher registered with The Yoga Alliance, will offer yoga classes on Wednesdays, from 11:30 a.m. to 12.30 p.m., in the Pamplin Sports Center Mat room, beginning Oct. 24. Classes will run through Dec. 5, with no class on Nov. 7 or 21. Classes are appropriate for all levels and will focus on strengthening, stretching, and centering. Sessions cost $35 for 5 prepaid classes and $9 for drop-in classes. For more information, send an email to ryancrosby@comcast.net.

IT offers fall classes

Information Technology offers ongoing computer training courses. During the next two weeks, these classes are available: Beginning PowerPoint (2-part); FileMaker Calculations; and Moodle: Gradebook. For more information, contact IT at extension 7020.

People News

New faces, new titles

Several people have joined the community recently, and some continuing employees have taken on new roles and responsibilities at Lewis & Clark. They include the following:

James Bunnelle, acquisitions and collections development librarian, Watzek Library; Lucrecia Choto, temporary assistant director, Overseas & Off Campus Programs; Lauren “Camille” Jarmie, administrative and recruitment coordinator, Career Services; Jesse Keen,, associate director for corporate and foundation relations, Institutional Advancement; Johanna Neuschwander, director of publications, graduate school academic publications; Susan Page, administrative coordinator, law school; William Penn, public interest law coordinator, Career Services; Jill Severson, circulation attendant, Watzek Library; Katherine “Katy” Warner, research technician, Biology; and Aaron Whiteford, administrative specialist, Annual Giving.

Published, presented, honors, and achievements

Faculty and staff serve as ambassadors for the College through their publications, presentations, awards, grants, and other accomplishments. Highlights include:

Anne Bentley, assistant professor of chemistry, received a $30,000 Faculty Start-up Award from the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation. Her project is titled “Synthesis of Luminescent Lanthanide Nanoparticle/Solid State Thin Film Composite Materials via Electrochemical Co-Deposition.”

Greg Hermann, associate professor of biology, received a fourth $7,200 supplement from the National Science Foundation on his existing grant, “Genetic and Molecular Analysis of Lysosome Assembly and Stability in C. Elegans.”

More listings of faculty and staff achievements can be found in our online pressroom.

Lewis & Clark in the news

College faculty and staff are in the news on a regular basis. Read full articles without subscription fees by logging in with your Lewis & Clark e-mail username and password. Recent media appearances include:

Portland Tribune: Thomas Doherty helps others reach their individual green goals with ecopsychology

The Oregonian:Doug Beloof comments on the difficult area of child neglect prosecution

Events

Upcoming

Visit the campus Web calendar for events coming up in October and November.

About Campus Connections

Campus Connections is published every other week on the Web for the faculty and staff of Lewis & Clark College during the academic year. Campus Connections is published monthly during the summer.

Next issue publishes on:
November 5

News items should be sent to the Office of Public Affairs and Communications by noon each Wednesday prior to publication.

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For more information, contact Vanessa Fawbush, communications officer, at 503-768-7992 or fawbush@lclark.edu.