November 19, 1999
In a continuing effort to make the University of Oregon a better place for students, faculty and the citizens of Oregon, President Dave Frohnmayer on Nov. 15 announced seven new construction projects designed to help meet the needs of the next century.
The projects have a total estimated value of more than $135 million, the bulk of which is being funded through private donations. They are part of a campus-wide planning effort to expand and update aging buildings, provide improved facilities for study and research, support diversity on campus and create new opportunities for contributing to the local community and the state.
The UO building projects, many details of which are estimates and therefore subject to change because the projects are in various stages of planning and development, are:
Architecture and Allied Arts Field House:
The 2,500—3,000 square-foot facility for Architecture and Allied Arts will provide hands-on workshop space for architecture, landscape architecture and historic preservation programs. The $250,000 project is privately funded through a gift from the Bowerman Family Foundation. Construction is targeted for completion in summer 2001.
Autzen Stadium:
The expansion and renovation project will increase seating capacity from 41,700 to 53,800, add 32 skyboxes, create a new concourse and improve restroom and concession facilities. The $70—$80 million project is being funded through private gifts (85 percent), stadium revenue (10 percent) and the sale of state bonds (5 percent). Construction is slated for completion in summer 2002.
Gilbert Hall Expansion and Renovation:
The planned $30—$40 million renovation and expansion of Gilbert Hall for Lundquist Business will enhance classrooms and learning environments and include the Chiles Business Center. The majority of design and construction costs for the 196,500-square-foot project will be financed through private donations. The construction timetable is being developed.
Many Nations Longhouse:
The planned 5,200-square-foot longhouse will serve as a community, cultural and educational center for Native American and non-native students, tribal groups and the general public. The $1.5 million project is being funded through private donations. The construction timetable is being developed.
Museum of Art:
The project will add 38,290 square feet to the existing 24,890-square-foot building, renovating the museum’s public spaces, galleries and support areas. The $12 million project is being funded through private, federal and state contributions. Construction is targeted for completion in 2002.
Museum of Natural History:
The project will completely redesign and renovate the museum’s 3,500 square feet of exhibit spaces to provide three distinct types of spaces for permanent displays and changing exhibits. The $1.2 million project is being funded through private donations. The construction timetable is being developed.
Vivian Olum Child Development Center:
The 2,688-square-foot addition, the Lois Scharpf Reed Wing, will provide facilities for 16 toddlers and 25 school-age children. The $600,000 project is being funded through private gifts and the sale of state bonds and is targeted for completion by fall 2000.
"Added to what we’ve already accomplished in the 1990s–a new and already very popular student recreation center, a law center second to none in the nation, the complex of science buildings that have helped us attract some of the best researchers in the world, and our new zebrafish research facility–the seven projects we announced Nov. 15 will round out a campus building boom as great as any in the history of the University of Oregon," Frohnmayer told a gathering of news reporters and campus officials.
More than 90 percent of the projects’ costs will be funded by private donations from UO alumni and supporters. Overall, fund raising currently stands at almost 50 percent of the fund-raising goal.
Details of individual projects will be announced later, as financial and architectural plans are confirmed.
The university’s Freshman Interest Group (FIG) program is one of the nation’s top character-building efforts, according to a national guide.
Cited for its exemplary encouragement of character development for first-year college students, the FIG program is listed in this year’s edition of The Templeton Guide: Colleges that Encourage Character Development. The guidebook for students, parents and educators who believe that character matters is published by the John Templeton Foundation of Radnor, Pa. It profiles 405 college programs, 50 college presidents, and 100 colleges and universities that inspire students to lead ethical and civic-minded lives.
"We are very pleased to be recognized nationally because it’s a confirmation of our interest in developing our students, intellectually and in other ways as well," says Jack Bennett, FIG program director in Academic Advising and Student Services. "At the UO, we recognize that education is not only education of the intellect, but also a process of developing character."
He says program administrators currently are using grant monies to encourage faculty to work together to develop more cross-disciplinary FIGs and to increase the number of year-long FIG experiences for new students.
More than 300 four-year public and private universities are included in The Templeton Guide. Individual programs were selected in the following categories: First-Year, Academic Honesty, Faculty and Curriculum, Volunteer Service, Substance-Abuse Prevention, Student Leadership, Spiritual Growth, Civic Education, Character and Sexuality, and Senior-Year.
Information about the John Templeton Foundation’s College and Character Initiative is available at http://www.collegeandcharacter.org.
This fall, a new grant is helping the University of Oregon identify and support underrepresented students who want to earn a graduate degree.
The Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program is part of a group of federally funded programs known collectively as trio. The UO McNair Program offers extensive academic support for qualified students who also meet trio’s goals of offering support for low-income, first-generation students and those from groups traditionally underrepresented in graduate education. The linchpin is a paid summer internship involving students in original research with faculty mentors in their fields.
ALS instructor Gail Unruh, McNair coordinator, says the program is "a natural part of the university’s commitment to enhance diversity on campus. It also is an effective, constructive way to enhance diversity in higher education generally."
The UO McNair program, recently funded at $190,000 annually for four years, is part of Academic Learning Services (ALS). Unruh expects the first of many groups of McNair Scholars to be selected by the end of fall term.
To apply for the McNair Scholars Program, pick up an application at ALS in 68 PLC. For information, visit http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~als/mcnair/mcnair.htm, send e-mail to gqunruh@oregon.uoregon.edu or call 6-2182.
A limited number of Year-2000 desk calendars are now for sale from the UO Bookstore or University Publications. These 12-month calendars, costing $9.95 each, feature full-color photos of UO places and faces. To purchase, visit the UO Bookstore or contact Barbara Oppliger, 6-5397.
Freshman Seminars invites faculty to submit proposals for innovative courses designed to enhance UO students’ first-year experience. The program aims to create a learning community and build students’ academic abilities. Freshman Seminars provide funds to faculty members who design 3- or 4-credit seminars through which students can investigate fascinating academic topics, explore and exchange ideas, and sharpen critical reasoning and communication skills in a small class environment. Submit proposals to Student Retention Programs, 372 Oregon, by Jan. 20, 2000. For applications and information, call 6-1136.
Faculty, administrators and students willing to volunteer their time as neutral observers are invited to apply for 15-20 positions available in the Neutral Observer Program. Operated by Conflict Resolution Services, the Neutral Observer Program provides trained observers at rallies, demonstrations, protests and other events that take place on the UO campus. The presence of trained observers at these events allows for the availability of unbiased witnesses should there be any form of escalation. Observers remain uninvolved with incidents, but observe and note significant activity of all parties. Other campuses report a "calming effect" resulting from the presence of neutral observers. For more information and an application, call Annie Bentz, 6-0617, or send e-mail to annhb@oregon.uoregon.edu.
Applications for 2000-2001 Women’s Studies Faculty Fellowships are due by noon on Wednesday, Dec. 1. Teaching fellowships are for developing an undergraduate or graduate course relating to women’s studies. Submit completed applications and four photocopies to Women’s Studies in 315 Hendricks. Notification of recipients will occur in January. For information, call Barbara Corrado Pope, 6-5223.
"Donate a dollar. Feed a family for a week." That friendly invitation to give greeted everyone walking through the Gilbert courtyard on Nov. 10.
Members of two Lundquist Business student groups–Alpha Kappa Psi (undergraduates) and the MBA Association–proved that "Even $1 can make a difference" and raised $544 in just one day for the Charitable Fund Drive.
Their effort, the first-ever student campaign in support of the voluntary giving program by employees, helped push the campus total toward reaching this year’s target.
"UO employee contributions are very near our 1999 CFD goal of $180,000, but we’re not there yet," reports campus coordinator Nancie Fadeley, Provost’s Office, "so keep those checks and pledges coming. If the dog ate your pledge form, you can get another from your department’s CFD coordinator or contact me at 6-3013."
Praising the business students’ initiative, enthusiasm and generosity in organizing and conducting their campaign, Fadeley says perhaps it won’t be the last time students participate in CFD.
"Those business students are so psyched by their success that they are considering challenging other UO student groups to do better," she says.
The University of Oregon ranked 12th among U.S. public universities and 18th among all U.S. universities for the number of students (7) who received Fulbrights in 1998—99.
President Dave Frohnmayer will receive the 1999 Citation Award from the Boalt Hall Alumni Association at the University of California, Berkeley. The law school’s highest alumni honor recognizes Frohnmayer’s distinguished career in law and public service. A 1967 graduate of Boalt Hall, he graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College in 1962 and attended Oxford University on a Rhodes Scholarship in 1964. Among previous recipients of the Citation Award are former Oregon Gov. Neil Goldschmidt in 1988 and retired Oregon Supreme Court Justice Hans Linde in 1990.
Vice President Dan Williams, Administration, and Greg Byrd, UO senior, are part of a new 12-member special task force named by the Oregon University System to study how affordable health care coverage can be made available for Oregon university students.
Ehud Havazelet, Creative Writing, is one of 10 up-and-coming writers who received a $35,000 Whiting Foundation Writers’ Award. The award, announced Oct. 28 in New York, was for his collection of fiction stories, What Is It Then Between Us? and Like Never Before. The awards, given annually since 1985, go to emerging writers of exceptional talent and promise.
Gwen Steigelman, Affirmative Action, has been appointed assistant vice provost for academic affairs. She fills posts vacated by recent retirements.
Joe Wade, Academic Advising and Student Services director, has been appointed interim associate vice provost for academic affairs. Hilary Gerdes, currently associate director, has been appointed interim director of Academic Advising and Student Services. Steve Stolp, Academic Advising and Student Services associate director, will add responsibility for student athlete counseling to his current duties.
Thomas Connolly, State Museum of Anthropology, is the author of Newberry Crater: A Ten-Thousand-Year Record of Human Occupation and Environmental Change in the Basin-Plateau Borderlands (University of Utah Press). Contributors to the volume include museum faculty Dennis Jenkins and Guy Tasa, and Anthropology graduate student Scott Byram.
Greg Ringer, International Studies adjunct, co-authored a chapter, "Tourism in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar: From Terrorism to Tourism?" in Tourism in South and South East Asia: Issues and Cases, edited by C.M. Hall and S.J. Page, New York: Butterworth Heinermann (October 1999).
Gordon Sayre, English, published "Abridging Between Two Worlds: John Tanner as American Indian Autobiographer" in the journal American Literary History 11:3 (Fall 1999).
Raymond F. Mikesell, Economics emeritus, presented a paper, "Globalization and Social Progress in Latin America," on Aug. 4 at an international economic conference at the University of Cordoba in Argentina. On Oct. 2, Mikesell also presented a paper, "The Future of Official International Organizations," at a conference in Chicago on "Lessons from Recent Global Financial Crises" sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and the Bank for International Settlements.
Pearl M. Hill, UO Upward Bound Program director from 1972 until her retirement in 1996, died Nov. 4 of heart failure in Eugene. Hill, 50, was a founder of the National Council of Educational Opportunity Associations and the Northwest Association of Special Programs. She received numerous honors for her voluntary service, including the university’s Jewel Bell Award. She earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the UO. A memorial service was held Nov. 9. Memorial contributions may be made to the Pearl M. Hill Memorial Scholarship Fund at Eugene branches of Bank of America.
Marian Card Donnelly, Art History emerita, died Nov. 15 in Eugene. A member of the UO faculty from 1966 until her retirement in 1981, Donnelly, 76, was a graduate of Oberlin College and Yale University. She was an expert in Scandinavian art and architecture, served as president and was a fellow of the Society of Architectural Historians, and was the author of five books, including Architecture in the Scandinavian Countries. She also had been a member of the Oregon Bach Festival board of directors. Memorial arrangements will be announced later.