Weisers donate $1M to UM-Dearborn engineering lab project
University of Michigan Regent Ronald N. Weiser and Eileen L. Weiser have donated $1 million in support of UM-Dearborn’s new $90 million Engineering Lab Building project. The gift, the largest to the project to date, represents a major investment in the facility — a signature building on campus that will transform engineering education, the College of Engineering and Computer Science and the university. With its expected opening in fall 2020, the new ELB will include cutting-edge teaching labs designed to facilitate entrepreneurial problem solving, encourage multidisciplinary cooperation in the context of 21st-century engineering instruction and provide students with new collaboration and project spaces. In recognition of the donation, UM-Dearborn will name the Weiser Family Atrium, a space for student and faculty collaboration, project work, presentations and industry showcases.
Nominations sought for Sarah Goddard Power, Rhetaugh Dumas awards
The Academic Women’s Caucus is accepting nominations for the Sarah Goddard Power and Rhetaugh Dumas Progress in Diversifying awards from the university community. Nominations for the 2017-18 Sarah Goddard Power Award are due Nov. 10. To qualify, a candidate should have made significant contributions to the development of the status of women at U-M in addition to demonstrating exceptional leadership, notable scholarship or significant professional accomplishments. For more information, contact Marilee Benore at marilee@umich.edu and go to myumi.ch/L33NN. Nominations for the 2017-18 Rhetaugh G. Dumas Progress in Diversifying Award are due Nov. 10. The award recognizes outstanding institutional initiative in demonstrating notable progress by academic units in achieving ethnic, racial and gender diversity in the professor, clinical professor, research professor and research scientist faculty ladders and tracks. For more information, contact Patricia Coleman-Burns at pcb@med.umich.edu and go to myumi.ch/LPznY.
UM Emergency Alert test scheduled for Friday
A test of the UM Emergency Alert has been scheduled for noon Friday. The semester test will be sent through all methods of the alert system, including the Michigan App, U-M Gateway, Division of Public Safety and Security website, interior building digital signs, Twitter, RSS feeds, email, phone calls and text messages. A full-system test is conducted each semester, and the test will confirm system operations readiness. The UM Emergency Alert system is intended to notify the campus community of an active, major campus emergency such as an active attacker, severe weather warnings or emergency reduction in operations. For more information about UM Emergency Alerts, go to myumi.ch/LBN7o.
Rackham offers new certificate for developing student DEI skills
As a central part of its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Strategic Plan, the Rackham Graduate School now offers a graduate student DEI Professional Development Certificate that is designed to prepare students to work in a diverse environment while fostering a climate of inclusiveness. The program, which was designed in response to student feedback, recognizes a relatively new and rapidly growing movement among employers, both within and outside of the academy, to require job applicants to demonstrate a commitment to diversity. To earn the certificate, students must complete five of seven core DEI trainings offered regularly at Rackham, along with a minimum of five additional trainings in a skill track of their interest, such as teaching, research, leadership, or service and outreach. As part of their participation, students must also submit a reflection form within 72 hours of each training and draft a personal diversity statement at the end of the program.
— Compiled by Safiya Merchant, The University Record
