David McKinney/University Relations

The Center for Design Research is nearing completion and will host an opening ceremony July 16. The facility, which will house collaborative research in "smart energy" products and innovations, was designed and built by students in KU's Studio 804.

A step in the 'smart' direction

Center for Design Research opens; will house collaborative research in energy solutions

A new facility for collaborative research in sustainable energy will officially “power up” July 16 with a a 10 a.m. to noon open house and a 10:30 a.m. dedication ceremony. The

public is invited to attend, and refreshments will follow.

The Center for Design Research structure, located on Bob Billings Parkway at Westbrooke Street, is a design-build project of KU’s

renowned Studio 804. Dan Rockhill, the J.L. Constant Distinguished Professor of Architecture, leads Studio 804, a program in the School of Architecture, Design and Planning. More than 20 KU students participated in the

project as designers, workers and even fundraisers. No public money was required for the construction, which is located on property owned by KU Endowment.

David McKinney/University Relations

A studio 804 student puts some finishing touches on the Center for Design Research. Students designed, built and raised funds for the innovative facility.

Greg Thomas, professor of design and director of the center, describes it as an incubator for innovations in products and services and will focus in the area of “smart energy” technologies and applications. The building features a wind turbine, an electric vehicle charging station, an energy-

conserving plant-covered roof and a vented wall that promotes cross-ventilation in the summer and circulation of warm air in the winter. The building, one of the first LEED platinum-certified buildings in the community, will feature a Westar Energy “smart grid” meter that provides continuous data about energy use at the site. It is the first such meter to be installed in Lawrence.

According to Thomas, the center will encourage collaboration among faculty and students in many disciplines. It will help address challenges and create new knowledge about sustainable practices in fields such as architecture, design, engineering and business. The facility will showcase new technologies and be open to the public to share knowledge developed at the center.

John Gaunt, dean of the School of Architecture, Design and Planning, will host the dedication ceremony, which will also feature

remarks by Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little, representatives of Westar, the City of Lawrence and Thomas. Rockhill will speak on behalf of the Studio 804 team and will introduce the students who worked on the projects. Students will also explain features of the building during the open house. The reception will take place in the adjacent Chamney Barn, and the latest in all-electric vehicles will be on display at the charging station.

The Center for Design Research recently received its first major boost, a $25,000 gift from the Kansas City-based environmental design firm Dimensional Innovations. Tucker Trotter, president of Dimensional Innovations, earned a bachelor’s degree in industrial design at KU.

“We firmly believe in supporting the Center for Design Research and assisting in the development of innovation studies and techniques,” Trotter said.

Chuck France/University Relations

Rachel Myslivy, research assistant at the KU Center for Research on Learning, has won a grant from Harvard University to collect and document the history of a group of Catholic nuns in Concordia, Kan. who have made environmental activism their work.

Keeping up the good fight

Myslivy earns grant to document environmental activism of Kansas nuns

In north central Kansas, a group of nuns is fighting for the Earth. Rachel Myslivy

intends to tell their story before it’s lost to the ages.

Myslivy, research assistant at the KU Center for Research on Learning, has won a grant to document the

environmental activism of the Sisters of St. Joseph at the Nazareth Convent and Academy in Concordia, Kan. Myslivy won the grant as a result of a project she undertook in a grant proposal writing class she took through KU’s tuition assistance program, which pays for one class per semester for KU staff members. The grant is from the Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University

Around research grants every day in her job, Myslivy thought it would be a good idea to take the grant proposal writing course to further her knowledge of research funding.

“I’ve worked on grants and written and edited grants,” Myslivy said. “I thought taking the class would be good both for my professional classifications and for my own research interests.”

The class, taught by Christine Jensen Sundstrom, director of the Graduate Writing Program, and Ron Wilson, lecturer in film and media studies, required students to write a grant proposal for a project they were interested in. Myslivy had previously taken part in a project to document oral history of religion in Kansas, led by Tim Miller, professor of religious studies. She saw the importance of collecting stories, and had spoken with Sister Bernadine Pacta, one of the nuns in Concordia.

“Environmental themes kept popping up in our conversation. She started telling me about the importance of recycling, composting, eating low on the food chain and so on,” Myslivy said. “The effects of environmental degradation, over-consumption and pollution are most directly felt by the poor. The sisters see protecting the Earth as a primary means of protecting those who need it most.”

Myslivy’s great aunt, Sister Susan Kongs, is also a member of the convent. She told her about the sister’s community efforts, including leading a garden in which local citizens can rent space to grow their own food, screening of films about the world’s food supply and other work. The religious aspect combined with the environmental concern appealed to Myslivy, who lives on a small farm with her husband and two daughters. They use all organic methods and grow food they use throughout the year.

She then learned of grants available through the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard and decided it was the grant she would write her proposal for.

“I sent my application off thinking ‘oh why not? I’m not even a full-time grad student yet, but I should try it,’” she said. “Thankfully I got it. Now I can go back and get the rest of their stories.”

The grant, which was open to applicants from across the nation, will pay for Myslivy

to travel to Concordia and document the nuns’ environmental and spiritual work. She’ll make at least two trips there this summer to interview the sisters, observe their community work and environmental activism and record it all for a future written project. Myslivy has already found that the sisters in Concordia aren’t the only ones working to care for the Earth and improve the health of the nation’s food supply.

“It’s a large, underground movement,” Myslivy said. “I think the work is unique, and it’s not getting much press.”

She feels an urgency to document the work and the nuns’ history before it’s too late. Many of the sisters are more than 60 years old, and their way of life is changing. When they were young, there were not as many options available for women, leading many to a life in service of the church. Fewer young women are joining the sisterhood today, and the numbers of convents in small towns such as Concordia are dwindling.

Myslivy said she hopes the project is the first of many and hopes to secure funding to expand the oral history project to include other convents in the state. She plans to continue taking graduate classes in religious studies through the tuition assistance program. Her goal is to continue researching the intersection of religion and environmentalism in Kansas. She gives credit to Tim Miller and the Religious Studies Department, Jensen Sundstrom, Wilson and, of

course, the Nazareth Convent and Academy for making the project possible.

“They’re amazing women,” she said of the nuns. “Throughout history nuns have always been at the

forefront of working for what’s right. It only makes sense that they’d be fighting for the Earth now.”

KU Medical Center lands $20 million grant to turn lab discoveries into cures Patients will gain faster access to the benefits of health research throughout the region thanks to a new grant.

The KU Medical Center has received a $19,794,046 Clinical and Translational Science Award from the National Institutes of Health. The five-year grant puts the medical center among an elite, 60-member group of universities collaborating on clinical and translational research, which transforms laboratory discoveries into treatments and cures.

Launched by the NIH in 2006, the Clinical and Translational Science Awards program goals are to speed laboratory discoveries into treatments for patients, to work with communities in clinical research efforts, and to train a new generation of researchers to bring cures and treatments to patients faster.

With its new grant, KU Medical Center will create a program called Frontiers, greatly expanding the reach of its existing Heartland Institute for Clinical and Translational Research, which has been the center of clinical and translational research for Kansas and the greater Kansas City region.

Scientists at KU have been doing translational research for years. For example, clinical trials are now being held for an ovarian cancer drug that KU researchers have reformulated so that it can be delivered in a patient’s abdomen instead of intravenously, which caused negative side effects. Other scientists have discovered that DHA, the omega-3 fatty acid common in fish oil, may help infants develop better attention skills. In part, as a result of this research, DHA is now added to many infant formulas. Other researchers are studying whether exercise can slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.

“This award is recognition that KU Medical Center now stands among the national leaders in health and health care research,” said Barbara Atkinson, executive vice chancellor of the KU Medical Center. “The grant will give our researchers tremendous momentum and resources as we move toward our ultimate goal of making our state and region a healthier place to live.”

“The University of Kansas Medical Center has consistently been a leader in making discoveries that benefit patients. This award

is evidence that the national scientific community recognizes our achievements in turning research into treatments and cures,” said Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little. “We will use this award to further our work with communities in identifying their health care needs. And we will now work within the network of leading institutions around the country to address emerging issues in health care.”

Kansas leaders welcomed news of the award.

“This is a significant accomplishment for the state and region,” said Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer. “It reflects well on all of the individuals and organizations who've worked hard to reach this goal. Now, we look forward to the exciting health opportunities it brings to the area and the economic activity associated with the initiatives.”

Atkinson expressed appreciation to the grant's principal investigators, Richard J. Barohn, chair of the KU Medical Center Department of Neurology, and Lauren S. Aaronson, professor in the KU School of Nursing and Department of Health Policy and Management.

“Drs. Barohn and Aaronson worked tirelessly over the past several years to develop the programs and forge the partnerships that led to this successful grant application,” Atkinson said.

"We see great opportunities with this new award to train the next generation of clinical and translational researchers and to build upon our established successes," Barohn said. “We will now be able to play a larger, national role in improving the lives of patients across a spectrum of diseases.”

"This award is the result of the collaborative efforts of

researchers, educators, clinicians and community leaders across our region and state, all with the shared vision of improving the health of our citizens. We look forward to continuing and strengthening these collaborations,” Aaronson said.

Over the past several years, Aaronson and Barohn successfully brought together regional partners to build the research infrastructure. Health-care-provider partners include The KU Hospital, Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics, St. Luke’s Hospital, the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Kansas City,

Truman Medical Center, Swope Health Services, the Center for Behavioral Medicine and Wesley Medical Center and Via Christi Health System in Wichita. In addition to the university’s Lawrence and Wichita campuses, academic partners are the University of Missouri-Kansas City and the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences.

Most of the new Frontiers operations will be conducted at the new KU Clinical Research Center in Fairway. Set to open later this year, the center is the northern point of the Johnson County Education and Research Triangle.

More than 99 percent of Kansas students took KU-developed online assessments in 2010-11 The days of bubble sheets seem to be numbered in Kansas.

During the 2010-11 school year, nearly all of Kansas students took high-stakes accountability assessments online as part of the Kansas Assessment Program. The program consists of statewide assessments in math, reading, science and social studies at grades 3 through 12, administered by the Center for Educational Testing and Evaluation.

Since Kansas began No Child Left Behind testing in 2006 through Kansas Computerized Assessments,

the number of students moving from paper-and-pencil to computer-based testing has steadily increased. In 2006, 65.4 percent of Kansas general and Kansas Assessment of Modified Measures assessments were taken through Kansas Computerized Assessments. Five years later, Kansas has increased that number to a record 99.7 percent.

“We are very fortunate in Kansas to be able to provide computerized assessments and to have such a high percentage of our students participating in state assessments via computer,”

said Diane DeBacker, Kansas commissioner of education.

School districts across Kansas have benefited from the move to online testing. Bonnie Williams, testing coordinator for Royal Valley USD 337, has seen nothing but positive results.

“The testing went very well this year,” Williams said. “We didn’t have any problems, and really it’s been that way since we started using it.”

Williams reported that USD 337 takes 100 percent of its tests on the computer and has for some time. She cited ease

and efficiency as reasons for the programs’ success but said one of the main reasons involved the students themselves.

“I think the biggest thing about the computer (assessment) is that the kids are so used to using computers. It’s second nature to them,” Williams said.

For this reason, Williams said, all future assessments will be computer-based at her school.

DeBacker sees computer-based testing as beneficial to students and educators.

“Because teachers and schools receive near immediate results from computerized assessments, they’re able to make

instructional decisions and adjustments within the same school year,” she said. “The ready access to results that comes with computerized assessment also increases student motivation and engagement.”

George Abel, assistant superintendent and testing coordinator for Emporia USD 253 agreed, finding that his staff could easily make assessment adjustments with the computer-based system. Abel also found the system to be key in accurately gathering information from the district’s 4,500 students.

“There is a lot less potential for inaccuracy with computer assessments,” Abel said. “Sometimes that happens with paper and pencil tests.”

The Center for Educational Testing and Evaluation continues to set the pace in computer-based assessment by developing products that integrate testing with teaching. Work on the next-generation assessment system is already under way. The system will incorporate new item types that make use of advances in technology to go beyond traditional multiple-choice items and model good instructional techniques. The center also developed the Kansas Writing Instruction and Evaluation Tool, an online writing environment for student writing that allows teachers to offer educational feedback within the tool itself. The center also offers online training resources, practice tests and tutorials to help prepare educators and students.

Public Administration becomes School of Public Affairs and Administration The top-ranked Department of Public Administration is now the School of Public Affairs and Administration.

“This is a big step toward enhancing an already impressive program,” said Provost Jeffrey Vitter. “As a department, KU’s public administration program has established a solid footing among the top 10 programs in the field. Its new designation as a school will greatly aid its continued climb in the rankings.”

Since 1998, U.S. News & World Report has ranked the

Master of Public Administration degree (MPA) in city management and urban planning at KU as first in the nation. The department is currently ranked alongside the University of Michigan at No. 7 in overall program rankings.

“The change of status from ‘department’ to ‘school’ reflects the reality of a full-service research and teaching enterprise in public administration,” said Danny J. Anderson, dean of the College. “Our program has been the only public

administration program ranked in the top 10 not designated as a school or college. This new designation will further solidify the program’s reputation as a leader in the field of public administration.”

Because the department already functioned much like a school, it will not be restructured. The names of the degrees currently offered will not change. The school will maintain academic administration of degree programs at the undergraduate, master’s and doctoral levels. The Public

Management Center will remain a separate unit within the school.

The program will remain in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and will continue to be led by Marilu Goodyear as director of the school.

Of the other top 20 national programs, two are constituent parts of liberal arts colleges – at University of Wisconsin-Madison and George Washington University. The connection to the liberal arts is an integral part of KU’s program, Goodyear said.

“We prize our place in the KU College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and our relationship to the social sciences,” she said. “Our school offers a unique combination of social science theory and practical application to public sector organizations. Our students are liberally educated and public service oriented, and our research speaks directly to public sector problems.”

The change was first proposed by an external review panel in 2008. In addition to the opportunity to enhance the program’s reputation, the panel also recognized many characteristics in the department that are common to schools in the discipline. These characteristics include offering baccalaureate, master’s and doctoral degrees; professional education opportunities (through the Public Management Center based in Topeka and Overland Park); extensive connections with professional communities; and assistance in city management throughout the state, the United States and abroad.

The new designation was recommended unanimously by program faculty, endorsed by Vitter and approved by the Kansas Board of Regents in April.

The change of name from “public administration” to “public affairs and administration” reflects the

legacy of education for committed public sector professionals who lead local governments and other public sector organizations as well as the interdisciplinary contributions to the field of public affairs, recognized by broader academia and external funding agencies.

The school’s Edwin O. Stene Master's Program in Public Administration is one of the oldest and most respected programs in the United States educating local government managers. The school has its roots in the late 1930s and early 1940s when Edwin O. Stene in the Department of Political Science conducted seminars to aid practicing city managers in their professional development. In 1948, with support from the Carnegie Foundation, the first students enrolled in the MPA program established under the direction of Stene. Today the program serves students pursuing careers in city management and those seeking leadership positions in all public service organizations.

Professor Profile: Philosophy, beats and rhymes

Derrick Darby, associate professor of philosophy

Politics, hip hop and law school may not be the first things a person thinks of when the topic of philosophy is brought up, but they are at the forefront of Derrick Darby’s work. Darby, associate professor of

philosophy, discusses political philosophy, rights, teaching in the School of Law and hip hop’s relationship with his field of study in a new KU YouTube video. To see the video, visit http://www.oread.ku.edu/~or

ead/2011/july/11/stories/profile.shtml.

Like many areas of the discipline, political philosophy examines grand questions that relate to people both in their everyday lives

and on a much larger scale. Society imposes certain rules on its citizens and expects certain behaviors from its inhabitants. Instead of simply accepting these conditions as the way things are, Darby digs into them, probing for meaning.

“Some of the longstanding problems that political philosophers have struggled with include how to think about the basis for political obligation, ‘why should I obey the law?’ ‘What role does punishment play in the state?’ ‘What forms of punishment should the government engage in,’” Darby said.

In American political thinking, the concept of rights is paramount. Forefathers drafted the Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights with phrases such as inalienable rights and ideas that all people possess certain rights contained throughout. The African-American historical experience is obviously one that has not always followed those ideals, however. Darby, who recently won a University Scholarly Achievement Award at KU, has written extensively on what it means to have rights in America, and how race and America’s history influences these questions.

“When we think about what it is to have rights, if we reflect upon the peculiar experience of black Americans in the United States from slavery through segregation, we should be compelled to give up the idea

that rights are things that individuals possess naturally,” Darby said, “simply in virtue of being a human being, and instead to see being a right holder as a status that has to be won and gained through various forms of social recognition.”

While Darby explores the United States and its history of race and rights, he has also worked extensively in countries such as South Africa and Brazil, nations that have their own histories of difficult race relations. He has worked with scholars, policy makers and others in both countries in examining what can be thorny questions while keeping in mind the unique cultural histories and challenges each has while considering what they can all learn from each other.

That spirit of drawing together intellects from various vantage points also comes into play in Darby’s teaching in the School of Law. Each year he teaches a class that applies philosophy to questions of law.

“One of the things I try to do in that course, when I bring together my law students and my graduate students from philosophy and other disciplines, is to appreciate the complexity of some of the problems we have to deal with on an intellectual level,” Darby said. “But also to appreciate the way those problems challenge us as we make law and public policy.”

Names such as Plato and Biggie Smalls might not normally appear together in either textbooks or songs, but

Darby brings them together in using hip hop as a vehicle to explore philosophy. A native of Queensbridge, New York, a fertile breeding ground for some of the art form’s early pioneers, Darby’s early passion for hip hop led to his pursuit of knowledge through philosophy.

“One of the things that I got out of growing up on the streets of New York, was not just looking at hip hop just as a matter of the beats and the rhymes and the partying, but as a vehicle through which young people were able to describe the world that they lived in, the problems that they faced and their hopes and aspirations,” Darby said. “So growing up in what were sort of fairly difficult circumstances, it helped inspire me to find a way to transcend those circumstances through embracing knowledge, which is the forgotten fifth element of hip hop, I would say.

“Hip hop is an amazing form of popular culture. One of the things that is so special about it is that it has such universal appeal. One of the things I’ve learned from my teachers, those teachers who have really been outstanding, is that the best way to reach students is often to meet them where they are, to find something that they’re interested in and engaged by and they know something about, and use that to take them where you want to take them, to help them discover some things that maybe they didn’t know.”

Audio-Reader: There's an app for that

Service now available through Apple mobile devices

Audio-Reader can now be found on Apple mobile devices, thanks to the iBlink Radio application.

Developed by Serotek Corp., iBlink Radio is touted as the first app for the blind and visually impaired. The app makes it easy to listen to currently streaming and archived recordings of print materials — including local, regional and national newspapers, magazines and other periodicals.

To download the free iBlink Radio app, go to iTunes, itunes.apple.com/us/app/i-blink-radio, or click the App

Store on an Apple mobile device and search for iBlink Radio. Once installed, the iBlink Radio app offers an alphabetical listing of reading services. Look for “Audio-Reader, Lawrence, KS” and tap the name to listen to the stream.

“Thanks to this free app by Serotek, tech-savvy listeners can now hear Audio-Reader broadcasts from anywhere,” said Janet Campbell, director of Audio-Reader. “This is one more way Audio-Reader can provide access to printed information for the visually impaired.”

Offered as a public service by KU, Audio-Reader is a reading and information service for blind and print-disabled individuals throughout Kansas, western Missouri and beyond. Audio-Reader exists to provide print-disabled citizens with access to the printed word and other information via closed-circuit radio and telephone reader broadcasts, Internet, special request and audio-description of live theater. Services are provided free of charge.

For more information about Audio-Reader, visit reader.ku.edu.

The KU Staff Summer Food Drive will be held from July 11 - 15 across campus. Monetary donations are strongly encouraged this year, as Just Food is now able to buy food at ten cents per pound.

Staff looking to stretch food dollar ten times over for community

Annual food drive collecting food, monetary donations

KU staff are helping the community stretch its food dollar 10 times over this summer.

The Unclassified and University Support Staff senates are teaming up for the third annual Summer Food Drive July 11-15, and have added a new dimension to this year’s collection. This year the senates are collecting monetary donations as well as food. Food donations are

critical, but donating money can provide an even greater benefit. Just Food, the Douglas County food bank, can purchase one pound of food for ten cents. For the roughly 75 cents one might pay for a can of beans, Just Food can provide one person with an entire meal. With that in mind, this year’s goal is to collect one ton of food donations and enough money to purchase 20,000 pounds of food, or $2,000.

Monetary donations can be made online at www.justfoodfund.org. To ensure the donations are counted for the KU Summer Food Drive, donors should enter “KU Fights Hunger” in the comments section. Money can be donated between July 11 and 22.

Non-perishable donations can be given at numerous sites around campus including Ambler Student Recreation

Fitness Center, Anschutz Library, Kansas Union, Burge Union, Computer Center, Parking and Transit Office, Strong Hall, Watson Library and many others. For a full map of campus collection points, visit facebook.com/HelpKUFightHunger. Physical donations must be made by noon July 15.

“The KU community has stepped forward and showed how much it cares by collecting an outstanding amount of food the last two summers,” said Thelma

Simons, IT process improvement specialist and an organizer of the food drive. “I know it’s hard to believe that hunger is a reality for one of every six people in Douglas County, but it’s true. Donations can help us change this sobering reality. All we need to meet this year’s financial goal is to have 100 people donate $20 each. I am sure that we have enough caring people on our campus to easily meet that goal.”

The KU Staff Summer Food Drive is held each year in

July to combat food shortages in the community. Donations to food banks traditionally drop during the summer, and demand is higher as children are not in school and eat more meals at home. The first two food drives collected almost three tons of food for the community. The drive is open to everyone, including faculty, staff, students, campus visitors and the public.

For more information on Just Food, visit eckan.org/justfood.

Schöenecih named Higuchi Distinguished Professor in School of Pharmacy Christian Schöneich has been named the Takeru Higuchi Distinguished Professor of Bioanalytical Chemistry at the School of Pharmacy. His new appointment will be effective when fall classes begin in August.

Christian Schöeneich

Schöneich joined the KU faculty in 1992 and was named chair of the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry in 2005. He’s earned international recognition for his research on protein oxidation and its role in human aging and degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and diabetes. Schöneich is considered one of the foremost experts on molecular oxidation and human diseases, and his research is heavily supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Schöneich received his diploma from Free University in Berlin, Germany, and his doctorate in chemistry with honors from the Technical University, also in Berlin.

University Distinguished Professor of Pharmaceutical

Chemistry Val Stella sat on the committee that selected Schöneich for the distinguished professorship. Stella said that through outstanding scholarship and research, Schöneich has earned the respect of colleagues worldwide.

“He could teach anywhere he wanted to teach,” Stella said. “We’re glad that he has chosen the University of Kansas School of Pharmacy, and we hope this recognition and the added responsibilities that come along with it will keep him here for many more years.”

Schöneich joins an elite group as he becomes the 17th KU School of Pharmacy faculty member to be honored with a distinguished professorship in the school’s 126-year history.

“The title of distinguished professor is reserved for those extraordinary researchers and educators who have established themselves as leaders in their disciplines,” School of Pharmacy Dean Ken Audus said. “Christian Schöneich

has clearly demonstrated that he belongs in that group.”

The Takeru Higuchi Distinguished Professorship was established in 1984 by the late Professor Takeru Higuchi to honor a faculty member who has established

an international reputation for accomplishments in bioanalytical chemistry or a related scientific discipline, including carrying out cutting-edge research that relies significantly on bioanalytical chemistry expertise.

Rodriguez named first vice provost for diversity and equity Veteran educator Fred Rodriguez has been named KU’s first-ever vice provost for diversity and equity.

Fred Rodriguez

Rodriquez has served as interim associate vice provost for diversity and equity since April 2009. The position has been elevated from associate vice provost to vice provost in recognition of the importance of the university’s mission of creating a diverse community of scholars.

“In visiting with members of the KU community over the

past year, many suggested the creation of a vice provost for diversity and equity position,” said KU Provost Jeffrey Vitter. “We’re excited to elevate the status of this position, and we couldn’t ask for a better person to assume the role than Fred. We look forward to Fred’s continued leadership and expertise in making KU a more diverse and inclusive community.”

Rodriguez’s new role will largely resemble his previous role as interim associate vice provost, with some additional duties. As vice provost, Rodriguez will report directly to the Provost’s Office and focus on the recruitment, retention and development of under-represented faculty, staff and students, as well as on the overall climate of diversity and equity at the Lawrence and Edwards campuses.

“KU has always been motivated by serving the public good, and I can see no higher ideal than working toward a more diverse, equitable and inclusive campus for all,” Rodriguez said. “I am honored and

humbled by the role and responsibility that I have been offered, and I look forward to engaging with the campus community to promote and support a diverse and inclusive KU environment.”

Since 1995, the number of multicultural faculty members has increased by more than 80 percent, and the number of female faculty members has increased by nearly 60 percent.

KU has increased multicultural student enrollment each year since 2002. The 2009 and 2010 incoming freshman classes both set all-time high marks for diversity. And in 2010, the university had the most diverse student body in KU history, with 14.4 percent of students identifying as American Indian/Alaskan Native, Asian, African-American, Hispanic, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander or multiple ethnicities. That was up from 12.8 percent in 2009.

Rodriguez’ specific responsibilities will include: university leadership and

planning oversight for diversity and equity; fostering a supportive university climate for faculty, staff and students that values and supports inclusiveness and diversity; development of active links with the community and alumni groups in support of campus diversity and equity; coordination of the efforts of diversity and multicultural initiatives; and development of evaluation methods and implementation of systems of accountability to promote diversity programs and plans.

Under his leadership as interim associate vice provost

for diversity and equity, the university adopted a formal policy statement on diversity and inclusion in fall 2010; launched a Spanish-language version of the KU website; elevated the status of the Langston Hughes Visiting Professorship; established the first-ever Spring Symposium on the Scholarship of Diversity; and established two monthly e-newsletters – Diversity Outlook and La Visión.

An associate professor in the School of Education’s Department of Curriculum and Teaching, Rodriguez also serves as director of both the

Multicultural Scholars Program and the Professional Development Schools Alliance.

Rodriguez has held a number of administrative positions in the School of Education, including interim dean from 2004 to 2005. He was director of the Center for Teaching Excellence from 1997 to 2001.

Rodriguez earned his bachelor’s degree from Chadron State College before going on to earn his master’s and doctorate from the University of Nebraska in Lincoln.

Several offices to open for weekend hours prior to Monday fall semester start Several Student Success and other key KU departments will be open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Aug. 20, and Aug. 21, to serve new and returning students and their families and help prepare them for the Monday start to fall classes.

“Since this is the first time since 1995 that fall semester classes will start on a Monday, the university wants to ensure that new students and their families can find and use the services they need prior to the first day of classes,” said Kathryn Nemeth Tuttle, assistant vice provost for Student Success.

KU departments that will be open 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Aug. 20 and 21:

• Admissions

• Academic Achievement and Access Center

• Bursar’s Office

• CLAS Student Academic Services (1 – 5 p.m., August 21)

• Financial Aid and Scholarships

• IT Customer Service Center

• Kansas Union and Burge Union

• KU Card Center

• KU Edwards Campus Aug. 20 only

• KU Info

• Multicultural Affairs

• New Student Orientation

• Parking and Transit

• Student Housing

• Student Involvement and Leadership Center

• University Advising Center

• University Registrar

• Vice Provost for Student Success

Other departments that will be open with regular hours:

• Ambler Student Recreation Fitness Center – 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Aug. 20 and 12 p.m. to 12 a.m. Aug. 21

• Student Health Services – 12 to 4 p.m. Aug. 20

• Anschutz and Watson Libraries – 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Aug. 20 and 10 a.m. to 12 a.m. Aug. 21

Personal class schedule tours will also be offered Aug. 20 and 21. Those interested should bring their class schedule and meet at the bronze Jayhawk in front of

Strong Hall at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. or 3 p.m. either day.

For more information, contact the Office of the Vice Provost for Student Success at 864-4060 or vpss@ku.edu.

Submitted/Bart Redford

A group of Russian and Eurasian delegates visited KU and Kansas recently to learn more about environmental policy and regulations. The group visited with several KU, city of Lawrence and state officials. Delegates are pictured above with Gov. Sam Brownback. The group is, from left, Mariya Zhevlakova, chair of the council, Saint Petersburg City Organization for Assistance for Environmental Education; Mariya Sukhanevich, deputy chair, Arkhangelsk Regional Committee on Environmental Protection; Roman Romashin, deputy director, Yaroslavl Electric Supply, Rostov City Branch and deputy, Rostov Provincial District Council; Brownback; Svetlana Devyanina, facilitator, Kursk; Erdeni Tsydenov, deputy minister; chair of the Committee on Environmental Management State Policy, Republic of Buryatia, Department of Natural Resources.

Russian environmental officials come to KU, Lawrence for lessons in American management

The Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies hosted a delegation of Russian environmental administrators and activists June 18-26.

The five delegates in the June program were from cities across Russia, and stayed with host families in Lawrence. On June 21, the group met with representatives of the Lawrence City Waste Reduction and Recycling Division, and toured a number of Lawrence facilities. That same day, the delegates toured Westar’s Leed Silver-Certified Lawrence Service Center. Other meetings included visits with KU units, local environmental non-governmental organizations and private firms focused on environmental management. One day of their visit was spent in Topeka, meeting with the representatives of KU’s Center for Public Management and touring the Kansas Statehouse. The group also traveled to Greensburg, Kan., to tour the small town that was rebuilt as

a model green community after a devastating tornado.

“The Open World Program is a tremendous asset to creating local, people-to-people relationships, which then foster good will, understanding and peaceful international relationships,” said the center’s director Edith Clowes. “Hosting these delegations at KU, in Lawrence and Northeast Kansas, living in local families, we can see an immediate, positive impact on both sides.”

Managed by the independent Open World Leadership Center, Open World is designed to enhance understanding and capabilities for cooperation between the United States and the countries of Eurasia by developing a network of leaders in the region who have gained significant, firsthand exposure to America’s democratic, accountable government and free-market system. Funded almost entirely by the U.S. Congress, Open World links members of congress to Eurasian leaders and is an

instrument for Americans engaged in citizen diplomacy.

The Open World Leadership Center awards grants to a broad range of non-governmental organizations and educational institutions to host Open World delegations, and selects host organizations on an annual basis through a competitive grant process. The Washington, DC-based Graduate School asked the Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies to take part in its proposal to organize the visits of a number of delegations throughout the year.

According to the Open World website, “Open World has introduced more than 12,000 current and future Russian decision-makers to American political and civic life, and to their American counterparts. Open World delegates range from first-time mayors to veteran journalists, from nonprofit directors to small-business advocates, and from political activists to high-court judges.”

Aubé lands grant to help build drug addiction fighting compounds Drug addiction destroys lives, tears apart families and harms society. The National Survey on Drug Use and Health reported that 8 percent of the population aged 12 or older were current users of illicit drugs in 2008.

Now, medicinal chemistry researchers at KU have earned a five-year, $1.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to build new compounds that someday may help people struggling with drugs such as cocaine and heroin.

“If we’re really lucky, some of those compounds may advance into a drug-discovery project,” said Jeff Aubé, professor of medicinal chemistry and principal investigator of the grant. “What we’re trying to do now is determine the relationship between the

structure of a molecule and its biological activity.”

Aubé leads teams at the Specialized Chemistry Center and Center of Excellence in Chemical Methodologies and Library Development at KU that together have developed and improved five classes of molecules, or chemical compounds, that show promise for addiction treatment. The molecules first were singled out from a group of 300,000 molecules tested by the Sanford–Burnham Research Medical Institute, a member of the NIH-supported Molecular Libraries Probe Production Centers Network. KU’s Specialized Chemistry Center is also a part of the same network.

“What this new grant is for is to explore those compounds and derivatives of those compounds at further depth,” Aubé said. “It will allow us to take these a step beyond — to really allow us to understand what these compounds are doing in their biological setting.”

The molecules are designed to interact with kappa opioid receptors, located within

neurons in the human spine, which play a role in drug dependency.

“New molecules that act at that receptor are of interest because that receptor is implicated in a lot of things besides the reduction of pain,” said Aubé. “It’s implicated in addiction behavior because it helps to mediate levels of dopamine that are present in the brain.”

The medicinal chemistry researchers at KU will work with pharmacologist Laura Bohn, research associate professor at the Scripps Research Institute in Jupiter, Fla. Bohn will test molecules developed at KU against opioid receptors isolated in test tubes and mice to gauge their potential.

“You start off with a molecule that has a particular chemical structure and you measure the biological response,” said Aubé. “Then you change the structure a little bit and you see how that change affects the biology.”

The grant will make possible two new research positions at the Structural Biology Center

on KU’s west campus and fund graduate student research. Down the road, the researchers at KU and Scripps even may be able to patent chemicals that show likely potential as drug therapies for addiction.

“This grant is strictly for the basic medicinal chemistry and pharmacology,” said Aubé. “But if we have exciting compounds, KU and Scripps will certainly patent those compounds and will seek to develop them so that a drug company could actually bring them all the way through to the clinic. But we’re a long way from that point.”

Aube emphasized the collaborative nature of the research at KU, citing important contributions by Kevin Frankowski, research associate; Frank Schoenen, courtesy associate professor of medicinal chemistry; Tom Prisinzano, associate professor of medicinal chemistry; and staff scientists Stephen Slauson, Partha Ghosh, David Whipple and Kelin Li.

Teaching summit to explore education as 'community enterprise' “Teaching and Learning as a Community Enterprise” is the theme of the 2011 KU Teaching Summit. The event, open to all faculty and staff, is set for 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Aug. 18, with the plenary session in 130 Budig Hall.

The keynote, titled “The power of i4 instruction: Making online learning interactive, intelligent, integrated and instrumented” will be presented by Marsha Lovett of Carnegie Mellon University. Lovett will

discuss what makes online instruction effective, and how course authors and instructors can tell. Her talk will address such questions via the case study of an online statistics course in which students learned a full semester’s

material in half the time and showed significantly greater learning gains.

Other topics at the summit will include collaborating with KU partners in course redesign, using tutorials to improve out-of-class learning, measuring graduate student learning, designing problem-based learning, identifying quality indicators, developing blended courses for deeper learning, engaging student learning through sequential writing

assignments, improving language learning, heading off classroom incivility, understanding the ombudsman’s role, creating and assessing learning outcomes for a program, developing curriculum statements for improved recruitment and advising, evaluating teaching at the department level and making lectures an effective teaching tool.

To register, contact the Center for Teaching

Excellence at (785) 864-4199 or cte@ku.edu. Lunch will be provided to those who register by Aug. 15. A continental breakfast will be served at the center until 8:20 a.m. The first session will begin at 8:30 a.m. in 130 Budig.

The conference is presented by the Center for Teaching Excellence, Office of the Provost and the KU Medical Center.

Nagel to lead technology commercialization, new business relationship efforts Building business relationships and enhancing the Kansas economy are high priorities for KU. To help further that mission, KU has created a new position and hired an experienced scientist and business strategist to lead the effort.

Julie Nagel

Julie Nagel will join KU Aug. 1 as director of industrial partnerships, reporting to Julie Goonewardene, associate vice chancellor for innovation and entrepreneurship in the Office of Research and Graduate Studies. Nagel is currently managing director of the Oncological Science Center at Purdue University’s Discovery Park.

At KU, Nagel will work closely with the KU Center for Technology Commercialization to move university technology into the marketplace through startup companies and licensing agreements. In the process, Nagel will strengthen and broaden relationships with external partners – such as the Lawrence-Douglas County Biosciences Authority and its Bioscience

and Technology Business Center – seek grants in support of these efforts, and assist with the development of a strategic plan for technology commercialization and outreach.

“KU is on the threshold of becoming a first-rate center for technology commercialization,” Nagel said. “It has all the pieces in place. This is an opportunity to join a team that can look at the assets we have and use them to make a difference in peoples’ lives. That means fostering innovation, creating jobs and focusing every day on how to make an impact.”

Prior to joining Purdue in 2005, Nagel was a program director for Biotechnology Business Consultants, following service as a

technical coordinator with Rubicon Genomics in Ann Arbor, Mich.

“That introduced me to the business side of the life sciences,” Nagel said. “I learned about all sorts of technologies coming out of the University of Michigan and Wayne State University. I also learned why some technologies make it and others don’t.”

Nagel’s academic background includes a bachelor’s in biology from John Brown University, a master’s in zoology from Oklahoma State University,

and a doctorate in ecology and evolutionary biology from the University of Tennessee.

“Julie has experience integrating different groups, reducing silos and leveraging research strengths across traditional boundaries to find what benefits everyone,” Goonewardene said.

At Discovery Park, for example, Nagel managed a multi-institutional, $8 million cancer care engineering project that involved proposal development, project management, regulatory compliance, interdisciplinary

research and the interface with research coordinators at clinical sites.

“At Purdue she’s focused on making it easier for industry to work with faculty by finding solutions to the obstacles that sometimes block collaboration with the university,” Goonewardene said. “She’s also helped educate faculty about becoming entrepreneurs and risk-takers with their ideas. We are about to ramp up our educational program in that area and Julie will make a significant contribution.”

Discovery grants available to KU researchers investigating autism spectrum disorders By Karen Henry

The Kansas Center for Autism Research and Training, established in 2008 by the Life Span Institute, has issued its fourth annual Discovery Grants request for proposals to KU and KUMC researchers. Proposals are due Aug. 15.

Discovery Grants fund intramural pilot projects to attract researchers — including younger scientists and collaborations between established investigators — to autism spectrum disorder research.

The two-year grant awards range between $20,000 and $40,000 for original

empirical research projects at KU and KU Medical Center that will contribute to the overall competitiveness of K-CART for external funding.

The Discovery Grants program is made possible by a combined KU/KU Medical Center five-year, $1 million contribution.

Submission instructions can be found online at http://www.oread.ku.edu/~oread/2011/july/11/stories/lsigrants.shtml. Last year’s recipients were:

Nancy Brady, assistant professor of speech-language-hearing, and Christa Anderson, research associate, who are developing

a nonverbal method to test language comprehension using eye-tracking technology and eye movements.

Juan Brusés, associate professor of anatomy and cell biology, who is studying the effect of cytokine levels, part of the immune system response, on the developing brain in a mouse model.

Winifred (Winnie) Dunn, professor and chair, occupational therapy education and Lisa Mische-Lawson, research assistant professor, occupational therapy education, who are testing the effectiveness of a sensory processing intervention with children

with autism spectrum disorders.

Rene Jamison, assistant clinical professor, will evaluate an intervention aimed at improving social

communication in adolescent girls with autism spectrum disorders.

GTA salary levels established KU has reached an agreement on minimum salaries for graduate teaching assistants for fiscal year 2012.

The university, the Kansas Board of Regents and the Kansas Association of Public Employees, which represents GTAs, set the rate in accordance with their memorandum of agreement.

In fiscal year 2012, GTAs at a 50 percent FTE appointment will receive a minimum salary of $12,750. The minimum bi-weekly rate of a half-time GTA will be $656.25. The rates go into effect Aug. 18.

Faculty and staff employing GTAs should consult with their deans concerning the total allocation for fiscal year 2012 GTAs by department.

The following chart shows the minimum annual rate for each FTE from .10 through .75:

FTE Annual rate

.10 $2,550

.15 $3.825

.20 $5,100

.25 $6,375

.30 $7,650

.35 $8,925

.40 $10,200

.45 $11,475

.50 $12,740

.55 $14,025

.60 $15,300

.65 $16,575

.70 $8,925

.75 $19,125