Sept. 2, 2008 issue
News Briefs

By Krystin Jarrell and Ron Podell

• Football tailgates scheduled
• Meijer Madness set for Sept. 4
• Student Employment Job Fair scheduled Sept. 9
• Fall tuition waiver deadline set
• Board of Regents to meet three times this fall
• Nonprofit Volunteer Career Fair scheduled Sept. 18
• Register now for emergency text message system
• E-Gridiron Group leads EMU to another record fundraising year
• Colleges, Halle Library schedule annual fall meetings
• Online department directory revisions
• International student health insurance
• New e-mail system coming in October

 

The following are news briefs about important activities and events happening at Eastern Michigan University.

EAGLE EXCITEMENT: These Eastern Michigan University alumni and friends enjoy some food and drinks at one of last year's football tailgates. Alumni Relations hosts four tailgates this year, with the first scheduled Saturday, Sept. 13, 10 a.m., before the Toledo game at Rynearson Stadium.

• Football tailgates scheduled: The Alumni Relations Office has scheduled four tailgates for this football season. The schedule includes: EMU vs. Toledo, Saturday, Sept. 13, with a tailgate at 10 a.m. followed by kick-off at noon; EMU vs. the University of Maryland, Saturday, Sept. 20, with a tailgate two hours prior to kick-off, at the University of Maryland Alumni Center; EMU vs. Northern Illinois (Homecoming), Saturday, Sept. 27, with a tailgate at 10 a.m. followed by kick-off at noon; and EMU vs. Army, Saturday, Oct. 11, with a tailgate two hours prior to kick-off, at the University Club Grand Ballroom on Army's campus. Advanced registration is required for the two away tailgates. For more information or to register, contact Alumni Relations, 487-0250, e-mail alumni.relations@emich.edu, or visit www.emich.edu/alumni.

SWEATSHIRT SALE: These two EMU students check out the sale on EMU clothing at last year's Meijer Madness event. This year's rendition takes place Thursday, Sept. 4, 7-11 p.m., at the Meijer store on Carpenter Road.

• Meijer Madness set for Sept. 4: Eastern Michigan University students can enjoy free samples and do some back-to-school shopping at Meijer Madness Thursday, Sept. 4, 7-11 p.m., at the Ypsilanti Meijer store on Carpenter Road. The event will include food, music, giveaways and more. Free transportation from EMU to Meijer will be available from 6:45-11 p.m. at the following bus stops: Ann Street (near the First-Year Center), Washtenaw Avenue (near McKenny Hall), Oakwood (the Student Center circle drive) and Washtenaw Avenue (near the AATA bus stop). For questions, or if you would like to volunteer, call 487-2226 or e-mail eric.ward@emich.edu

• Student Employment Job Fair scheduled Sept. 9: The Student Employment Job Fair is Tuesday, Sept. 9, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Student Center Patio. The fair allows on-campus employers the opportunity to meet, interview and hire incoming freshman and currently enrolled students for job positions in their departments. In an effort to offer more part-time job opportunities, some local area employers will be present. For more information, call 487-2419.

• Fall tuition waiver deadline set: The deadline for the fall 2008 tuition waiver and the last day for 100-percent refund is Friday, Sept. 12. For more information, call records and registration at 487-4111.

Sidlik

• Board of Regents to meet three times this fall: The EMU Board of Regents is scheduled to meet Tuesday, Sept. 16; Friday, Oct. 24; and Tuesday, Nov. 18. The schedule for the meetings is as follows: Athletic Affairs Committee, 12:45-1:30 p.m., room 201; Faculty Affairs Committee, 12:45-1:30 p.m., 205 Welch Hall; Student Affairs Committee, 1:45-2:30 p.m., 201 Welch Hall; Educational Policies Committee, 1:45-2:30 p.m., 205 Welch Hall; and Finance and Audit Committee, 2:30-4 p.m., 201 Welch Hall; and the regular Board Meeting, 4:15 p.m., Welch Hall. As a result of a time gap between the finance meeting and the board meeting, the board meeting may start 15 minutes earlier. Tom Sidlik is the board chair and Roy Wilbanks is the vice chair. For more information, call Board Secretary Jackie Kurtz, 487-2410.

• Nonprofit Volunteer Career Fair scheduled Sept. 18: The Nonprofit Volunteer Career Fair is scheduled Thursday, Sept. 18, 12:30-2:30 p.m., Student Center Ballroom. This event is for students to explore careers with nonprofit agencies, meet face-to-face with agency representatives, and ask what it's like to work in the nonprofit organization. Students seeking employment are encouraged to bring pens and resumes. For more information, call 487-2419.

BE READY: Eastern Michigan University students, faculty and staff are encouraged to sign up for the campus's emegency text messaging system.

• Register now for emergency text message system: EMU has initiated an emergency text messaging system for all students, faculty and staff. In the event of an emergency on campus, a short message would be sent via text message to everyone who registers his or her cell phone with the University. Users also can choose to have the emergency alerts sent to their e-mail. If you do not sign up, you won't be able to receive emergency text alerts. There is no charge to the University, but individual phone carriers assess a charge to users based on individual text messaging plans. Anyone interested in receiving emergency messages can sign up at http://www.emich.edu/alerts/.

• E-Gridiron Group leads EMU to another record fundraising year: Thanks to the leadership efforts of the E-Gridiron Group (EGG), the Eastern Michigan University Athletic Department had a second consecutive record breaking fundraising year. The EGG raised $254,000 for EMU football, which was part of the athletic department's total cash and gifts-in-kind raised of $772,163. In addition, the track and field/cross country programs received $225,000 as part of a five-year, $1 million pledge from alumnus and former track athlete Dan McClory.

The EGG was formed in the spring of 2006 with its early focus set on building a leadership level of fundraising support for EMU football. Over the past three years, the EGG has contributed more than $685,000 to the program, the largest amount of gifts received to date for a non-facility related project by a single group in EMU Athletics history. This has helped to provide the football program with numerous upgrades and is helping to level the playing field with the rest of the Mid-American Conference.

FOOTBALL FRIENDS: The E-Gridiron Group raised $254,000 for EMU football last year.

"The E-Gridiron Group has been an invaluable resource for the football program and our student-athletes," said Director of Athletics Derrick Gragg. "Our mission is to guide, support and inspire our student-athletes in their pursuit of excellence, academically, athletically and socially. The generosity and efforts of the EGG allow us to fulfill that mission and has a direct and significant impact on the quality of experience we are able to provide to our football players."

"The E-Gridiron Group has helped us re-connect so many former players to the program and has provided our coaches and players a great opportunity to interact with those who have helped build our program," said Jeff Genyk, who enters his fifth year as EMU's head football coach. "The efforts of the E-Gridiron Group, coupled with those of the coaches and players, will get EMU football back to a championship level."

• Colleges, Halle Library schedule annual fall meetings: Eastern Michigan University's five colleges have scheduled their fall meetings. The College of Education fall meeting is scheduled Tuesday, Sept. 2, 9 a.m., room 203, Porter Building. The College of Arts and Sciences fall meeting is Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2 p.m., Strong Auditorium. The College of Business will have its meeting Friday, Sept. 5, 9 a.m., room 114, Owen Building. The College of Health and Human Services has scheduled its meeting Friday, Sept. 5, 10 a.m., room 108, Marshall Building. The College of Technology has set its meeting for Friday, Sept. 12, 11:30 a.m., with a location to be announced. In addition, Halle Library has scheduled its fall meeting Tuesday, Sept. 2, 11 a.m. For more information, call each of the colleges individually.

• Online department directory revisions: Revising your online departmental directory is as easy as copy, paste, and e-mail. COPY the department listing of the online directory that needs to be revised. PASTE it to a Word document to make the revisions. E-MAIL the revised document as an attachment to: dept_directory@emich.edu. Please make sure the subject of the e-mail contains only the department name. The list of incoming e-mails is used as a quick reference to identify which department has submitted revisions. For further information, please contact Marion Laskowski, Senior Secretary, Office of Marketing and Communications, at 487-4402.

• International student health insurance: All registered international students with an "F" or "J" visa will be billed for student health insurance, UNLESS the student has received an "approved" waiver from Snow Health Center, no later than 4 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 23. For more information, call Pat Short at 487-3048.

• New e-mail system: EMU will introduce a new system for e-mail, calendaring and collaboration beginning in October. The e-mail component will be implemented Oct. 3, with the other components to follow in early 2009. For more information, go to www.emich.edu/email. An EMU name and graphic identity are needed for the new system. Please visit this brief survey to include input about a name: http://webstage.emich.edu/email_survey/.