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News for faculty, staff and retirees

August 18, 2021

TODAY'S HEADLINES

#URecord

Geoffrey Chatas named executive vice president and CFO

Geoffrey Chatas has been named executive vice president and chief financial officer at U-M. Chatas is currently the senior vice president and chief operating officer for Georgetown University. His five-year appointment — effective Oct. 1 — is authorized by President Mark Schlissel.

Student move-in to bring changes to traffic and parking

This year’s student move-in will take place Aug. 25-29, and community members can expect changes to the usual traffic and parking patterns during that time. Michigan Housing is coordinating move-in to manage the traffic impact on the Ann Arbor and campus communities.

Campus transit changes for fall term take effect Aug. 22

Logistics, Transportation & Parking will introduce a service change for campus bus routes Aug. 22 to support increased fall semester activity on campus. There will be six fixed campus routes and four fixed Michigan Medicine routes. COVID-19 prevention measures, including required face coverings, remain in place.

Sinkhole surprise

The rise of oxygen levels early in Earth’s history paved the way for the spectacular diversity of animal life. But for decades, scientists have struggled to explain the factors that controlled this process, which unfolded over nearly 2 billion years. This video shows how an international research team, including researchers from U-M, studied present-day microbial communities growing under extreme conditions at the bottom of a submerged Lake Huron sinkhole in their search for answers. Read more about the oxygenation research.

All U-M students, faculty and staff are required to self-report their COVID-19 vaccination status through Wolverine Access by Aug. 30.

+ Self-report your vaccination status

Spotlight: Law professor relaxes by baring all for art’s sake

Clinical law professor Dave Moran has modeled nude an estimated 150 times at two dozen different places. Moran said his first time as a nude model ranks among the three scariest experiences of his life, along with skydiving and the first time he argued a case before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Report examines how to best support first-generation students

The portfolio of student resources offered by universities continues to grow, but a new report by the Office of Enrollment Management finds some resources and their delivery mechanisms may not be helping first-generation college students reach their academic goals and suggests alternatives.

Most powerful laser in U.S. to begin operations at U-M

Said to put the United States back on the map of high-power laser facilities, the 3 petawatt ZEUS laser at U-M has been awarded $18.5 million by the National Science Foundation to establish it as a federally funded international user facility. ZEUS is expected to begin its first experiments in early 2022.

MICDE awards 20 Ph.D. student fellowships for 2021-22

Twenty Ph.D. students have been awarded fellowships by the Michigan Institute for Computational Discovery and Engineering at U-M for the 2021-22 academic year. The fellowships aid students whose research involves scientific computing techniques and practices and aims to advance computational discovery.

Remembering UM-Dearborn’s John Artis

Colleagues and former students shared their memories of longtime education lecturer John Artis, who died Aug. 2. His career as an educator spanned more than 50 years and epitomized the value that those with real-world professional experiences bring to the faculty ranks at UM-Dearborn.

COMING EVENTS

Aug. 16

Attend at Home — For the Week of Aug. 16

Each week, U-M’s Arts & Culture website highlights selected virtual events or exhibitions around the university, and some events that are reopening to in-person activity.

At home: The Clements Bookworm: Michilimackinac, “Where archaeology and history meet”; “Highlights of the Kelsey Museum.”

In-person: Summer Carillon Concert: Jenna Moon; “We Write To You About Africa.”

The Record is suspending most daily Coming Events and its print-edition events calendar for the summer. All submitted campus events can be found at Happening @ Michigan.

+ More Events at Happening@Michigan

IN THE NEWS

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“We have a situation in which the White House is essentially giving a private gallerist that no one has ever heard of a political position,” said Joan Kee, professor of history of art, on the announcement by a small New York City gallery that it plans to sell 15 works by President Biden’s son, Hunter, for as much as $500,000 apiece.

The New York Times

“She seems to me to be like many Black women opera singers in not having easily categorizable voices. … We think of her as the only one, and in many ways she’s the only one who made it to the top. But she isn’t just this crazy anomaly. … I would love someone to listen to Marian Anderson’s recordings and think, ‘Who else is out there?’” said Naomi André, professor of Afroamerican and African studies, women’s studies and Residential College.

The Associated Press

“We’ve known for over a decade that nurses have been concerned about their workloads. … There is also a unique combination of their personal health at risk, their loved ones’ safety, and then the societal split in our approach to this public health crisis. … We’re on a hamster wheel here, where nurses just can’t get off,” said Christopher Friese, professor of nursing and health management and policy.

Vox

Volker Sick, professor of mechanical engineering, and Sue Anne Bell, assistant professor of nursing, discussed the recent UN report on climate change. “We don’t have a silver bullet, one thing that fixes everything. So we need individual action, we need policy action, new technology,” Sick said. Bell said she is “all about picking one thing at a time and trying to stick with it, rather than being overwhelmed with unsustainable changes.”

Los Angeles Times

+ MORE IN THE NEWS

LOOK TO MICHIGAN

Enhanced experience

In March 2019, long before COVID-19 halted live events, Stephen M. Ross School of Business alumni Joe DeWulf and fellow U-M graduate Stephen DeBrincat started Cadenza, a livestream platform they believed would change the music industry.

Faculty and staff ombuds

The Office of the University Faculty Ombuds and the Office of the Staff Ombuds provide independent, confidential, impartial and informal conflict resolution services for U-M faculty and staff members.

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