SHARP Center grants first Schafer Research Faculty Award
The Sport, Health and Activity Research and Policy Center and the Institute for Research on Women and Gender have awarded the first annual Joan Schafer Research Faculty Award in Sport, Fitness, and Disability to Petra Kuppers, professor of English, art and design, theatre and drama, and women’s studies for her project entitled “Water-Based Movement Training: A Disabled Woman’s Journey.” As a disabled dancer and scholar, Kuppers works at the intersection of movement and writing, feminist somatics and politicized bodies. Since 2013, she has led community water-based workshops around the world, which incorporate physical movement and artistic expression in pools, lakes, rivers and oceans. With support from the Schafer Research Faculty Award, Kuppers will deepen her water-based movement work by training in Ai Chi, a water-based total body strengthening and relaxation program, and Watsu, a one-on-one therapeutic form of aquatic bodywork that relies on touch. Established in 2015, the Joan Schafer Research Faculty Award supports projects investigating how living with a physical challenge influences access to and participation in sport and physical activity.
2016 Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center call for proposals
The Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center is accepting proposals for the fall 2016 Small Grant for Technology to Support Health Management and Independence. The grant is awarded in the spring and fall of each year for an innovative technology project that will improve the lives of adolescents and young adults with physical, cognitive and neurodevelopmental disabilities. To learn more or to submit a proposal, go to cthi.medicine.umich.edu/projects/tiktoc-rerc/small-grants. Applications must be submitted by Oct. 12 and the winner will be announced Nov. 30.
NEH awards funding to three U-M professors for projects
Three U-M projects have received funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Mark Clague, associate professor of music and director of entrepreneurship and career services at the School of Music, Theatre & Dance, received $150,000 with a $150,000 match for his project titled “The George and Ira Gershwin Critical Edition,” a preparation of a critical edition and performance scores of works by George and Ira Gershwin. Nicola Terrenato, Ester B. Van Deman Collegiate Professor of Roman Studies and professor of classical archaeology, LSA, received $135,646 with a match of $111,134 for “At the Roots of Roman Urbanism: The Gabii Project,” an archaeological excavation and analysis at the ancient city site of Gabii, near Rome. Donald Lopez, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, Arthur E. Link Distinguished University Professor of Buddhist and Tibetan Studies, chair of the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures, and professor of Buddhist and Tibetan studies, LSA, received $207,688 for “Rethinking Area Studies Through the Modern Asia Novel,” a four-week college and university institute for 30 participants, on understanding Asia through the reading of Asian novels, to take place at U-M.
IPE center annual report now available
The year-one annual report from the Michigan Center for Interprofessional Education now is available, online and in print. The report highlights tremendous progress in collaborative work among the U-M health science schools on the Ann Arbor, Flint and Dearborn campuses, and it features students, faculty, staff and leadership from across the units. Michigan Creative helped design and produce the report. Hard copies are also available by request to IPEcenter@umich.edu. The IPE center coordinates interprofessional health education and collaborative care efforts at U-M. By carefully aligning and integrating the needs and interests of health professions education with collaborative practice, the center works to transform the way U-M students are prepared. Interprofessional education at U-M is supported by a five-year, $3 million grant from the provost’s Transforming Learning for the Third Century Initiative, which is matched with an additional $3 million from the deans of the seven health science schools: School of Dentistry, School of Kinesiology, Medical School, School of Nursing, College of Pharmacy, School of Public Health, and School of Social Work.
Nominees sought for Distinguished Diversity Leaders Award
Nominations are being accepted for the annual Distinguished Diversity Leaders Award, which recognizes individual staff members and staff teams that have demonstrated extraordinary achievement in supporting diversity at the university. Co-sponsored by the Office of the Provost and University Human Resources, the DDLA provides a monetary prize — $1,000 for individuals, $2,500 for teams — to be used toward professional development activities. Staff members at the Ann Arbor, Dearborn and Flint campuses and in the U-M Health System are eligible. The award recognizes the exceptional contributions of staff. A full list of previous awardees, nominees and a sample of a winning nomination can be found on the award website, hr.umich.edu/working-u-m/awards-recognition/distinguished-diversity-leaders-award. Nominations for the award will be accepted through Oct. 7.
MTRAC program invests $500K in transportation technology
Five technologies demonstrating high potential to solve the toughest challenges in transportation are moving closer to product commercialization with a combined $500,000 in funding from U-M’s Michigan Translational Research and Commercialization (MTRAC) program. The MTRAC program is run jointly by the Center for Entrepreneurship and Office of Technology Transfer, in partnership with the Michigan Economic Development Corp. The program enables U-M researchers and innovators to discover commercial opportunities to advance their projects out of the lab and into the market. U-M is one of four universities with an MTRAC program. Others include Michigan Technical University, Michigan State University and Wayne State University. Each university has a different focus for projects to receive funding to accelerate to commercialization, including agriculture biology, life sciences, advanced transportation and biomedical. Developed and managed by the MEDC, MTRAC programs, through June 2016, have funded 86 projects, helped develop 13 startup companies, created 38 jobs, secured $23.8M in follow on funding, and licensed technology to three Michigan companies to date.
U-M’s Google and Box services get new wordmarks
The university’s M+Google and M+Box services are transitioning to new wordmarks and names to more effectively align with the institution’s branding model. Campus community members should now refer to the services as “U-M Google” or “Google at U-M” and “U-M Box” or “Box at U-M.” U-M Google is Michigan’s implementation of Google Apps for Education. The service is a comprehensive suite of cloud-based collaboration and communication tools provided to faculty, staff and students. U-M Box provides anytime, anywhere access to collaborative file storage, file sharing, user-controlled security, mobile-device access, more than 1,000 partner apps, privacy of data and a secure storage location for many types of sensitive data. Information and Technology Services is working to make sure the transition goes smoothly. Individuals and teams needing access to the new wordmarks should visit the U-M Google and U-M Box brand webpage.
U-M Museum of Art launches revamped website
Just in time for the start of classes, visitors to umma.umich.edu will be greeted with a new website. UMMA relaunched its website Aug. 25 – a project over a year in the making. The new website offers a responsive experience – meaning the site adapts to users’ devices like mobile phones and tablets, an updated look and feel, and a design philosophy that makes planning a trip to the museum even easier. New features of umma.umich.edu include: larger images and graphics throughout the website, exhibition pages connected to related programs automatically, updated branding and design to align with UMMA’s graphic identity, a “How Do I…?” section that answers visitors’ most frequently asked questions, an interactive map to help with navigating the museum and a revamped homepage to give visitors an at-a-glance view of upcoming exhibitions and events. UMMA collaborated with Ann Arbor-based web design firm Boxcar Studio to redesign the website.
FASAP offers parenting, divorce, caregiver stress support groups
The Faculty and Staff Assistance Program is offering the three support groups beginning in September. The groups are provided at no charge and are open to all faculty and staff to attend. Please register now to reserve space for one or more of the following groups: Parenting Teens, Dealing with Divorce and Break-Up, and Stress Relief for Caregivers. Learn more about the support groups and register now: tinyurl.com/hdh84yf.
— Compiled by Jill A. Greenberg
