Provost's Briefing for October 2, 2019
Student Engagement and Success Updates
Undergraduate Research Stimulus Program Accepting Applications
The Undergraduate Research Stimulus Program (URSP) is intended to facilitate research partnerships between undergraduate students and Eastern Michigan University faculty. Successful student applicants will receive a $2,000 fellowship in support of their research efforts. The collaborating faculty member may receive $500, which can be used for lab/studio supplies or equipment, professional travel, or other professional expenses.
Submission dates are November 1 for Winter Awards and February 17 for Summer Awards. Read more about the URSP and feel free to contact Tracy Pytlak at [email protected] or 734.487.4875 with any questions you may have.
High Performing Academic Programs and Quality Research Updates
College of Engineering and Technology Programs Achieve ABET Accreditations
Four of Eastern’s programs recently achieved accreditation from the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET): Mechanical Engineering Technology, Electronics Engineering Technology, Product Design Engineering Technology and Information Assurance and Cyber Defense. This is a major achievement for the college as most of these are first time accreditation efforts. Congratulations to the faculty and staff of the College of Technology, especially the Schools of Engineering and Information Systems and Applied Computing, for their hard work in securing these important program distinctions.
Eastern Faculty Awarded NSF Research in Predominantly Undergraduate Institutions (RUI) Grant
Congratulations to Professor Ruth Ann Armitage and her team in the Department of Chemistry for securing a $122,630 grant from the National Science Foundation. The project, “RUI: Evaluating the Limits and Capabilities of Plasma Chemical Oxidation for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry” will continue Eastern’s long tradition of supporting undergraduate research.
Last Call for Applications: Culture of Research Excellence (CoRE) Faculty Fellowship
The Office of Research Development and Administration is soliciting applications for the fourth cohort of the EMU Culture of Research Excellence (CoRE) Grant Writing Program, starting Winter 2020.
The CoRE program is for faculty who are ready to write a proposal and would like support during the process in order to produce a highly competitive grant proposal. Applications due October 7, 2019. Read more about this fellowship opportunity and consider applying today!
Service and Engagement Updates
Guest Lecture: Teaching Literacy at a High-Security Prison
Deborah Appleman, faculty at Carleton College and author of “Words No Bars Can Hold: Literacy Learning in Prison,” is coming to Eastern to speak on her extensive experience teaching language, literature, and writing in a high-security men's prison. The lecture will be on October 31 at 5:30 pm, in the Student Center, room 350. Additionally, [email protected] will host a small brunch and conversation with Deborah Appleman on November 1 at 11 am in 203 Boone Hall. The first five people to RSVP will receive a free copy of her book! RSVP to Janice Lee if you would like to attend. Download the event flyer [PDF] as well as an excerpt [PDF] of the prelude from her book.
Eastern Women to Participate in Leadership Shadow Program
Two of our colleagues have been selected to participate in fifth cohort of the MI-ACE Women’s Network Senior-Level Leadership Shadow program. Julia Heck, associate director, Office of the Ombuds, will shadow Beverly Walker-Griffea, president of Mott Community College; and Beth Kubitskey, associate dean of students and curriculum, College of Education, will shadow Anita Welch, dean, College of Education at Wayne State University. Please join us in congratulating them on being selected to participate in this noteworthy leadership development program!
Eastern Administrator Accepted into Leadership A2Y Class of 2019-20
Congratulations to Doris Fields, director of undergraduate studies, on being selected to participate in the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Regional Chamber’s (A2Y) Leadership A2Y Class of 2019-20. This program builds upon participants existing leadership skills and aims to create closer connections to the community through numerous networking events and professional development sessions.
Operational Effectiveness Updates
Resource Document for Faculty: FAQ’s on ICE
Based on current events and discussions on campuses nationwide, faculty have requested guidance on ICE enforcement practices and campus policies. The university has constructed a Frequently Asked Questions document [PDF] to serve as a resource.
Safety First! Duo Two-Factor Authentication Required
Effective Friday, October 4, 2019, all Eastern employees (staff, faculty, lecturers, graduate assistants and student employees) must enroll in Duo to access most Eastern online services. All employees who have not enrolled by Friday, October 4th will be redirected to the Duo enrollment portal to complete the enrollment process when logging into EMU systems. Self-enrollment for your device can be completed at Duo Device Management Portal. Detailed enrollment instructions are available on the Duo Tips page. An enrollment process video demo is available on the Duo Guide site. Questions can be directed to Rocky Jenkins at [email protected].
Open Enrollment for Health Benefits Continues Through October 15
Open enrollment is the time of year when you can enroll or make changes to your benefit elections for the next calendar year. Changes made during Open Enrollment are effective January 1st and typically remain in effect until the end of the calendar year or until you lose eligibility.
If you would like to continue or enroll in Flexible Spending Account (FSA) or a Health Savings Account (HSA) you MUST go through the workflow, re-enroll in the Health offer, and make a new election for your 2020 FSAs or HSA.
If there are no changes desired, you do not need to re-enroll. All your elections will automatically carry forward from 2019 to 2020 (with the exception of FSAs and HSA). For more information visit the HR Open Enrollment page.
Upgrade to Graduate School Application System
We are pleased to announce that on September 20 the Graduate School launched a new graduate application progress-tracking system. This tool allows applicants to login to the graduate application portal and check the status of their application as it progresses through the various steps of admissions review. Many of the included status comments indicate how much time to allow an application to complete a given step. We believe these comments will help set applicant expectations for the duration of the full review process, while demonstrating the application is actively progressing toward a final admissions decision.
During the time the application is being reviewed by the academic program, the student will see this status comment: Your application is being reviewed by faculty in the academic program you identified in your application. This review may take a few days to a couple of weeks. In addition, some programs do not review applications until after an application due date. Please review the program’s website or contact the program coordinator for more information about application review times.
We are excited to have developed this new tool for our graduate application system.
Mark Your Calendar!
Join Us for an Open House!
The Office of the Ombuds, Office of Wellness and Community Responsibility, and Disability Resource Center (DRC) invite you to a joint open house on October 10 from 12 – 2 pm in the DRC, Student Center room 246. Join us and enjoy some light refreshments and raffle prizes as you learn more about these offices and the staff who serve our students. We hope to see you there!
Reminders:
- October 4 - EMU Benefits and Wellness Fair, Student Center Ballroom from 11 am - 3 pm.
- October 18 - Symposium to Commemorate and Examine Professor Mark Jefferson's Service as Chief Cartographer at the Versailles Peace Conference
- October 25 - Global Perspectives on Health Care Teleconference
Be sure to bookmark the EMU Today site to keep current with all the news and events taking place on campus!
