The Donald P. Shiley School of Engineering will celebrate the 100th birthday of Charles Howard Vollum, co-founder of Tektronix, on Friday, May 31, from 3 to 5 p.m., in Shiley Hall, according to Aziz Inan, engineering. The celebration will include an invocation by Rev. David Sherrer, C.S.C., welcoming remarks by engineering dean Sharon Jones, a biography by Aziz Inan, presentations by former Tektronix employees and Vollum’s sons, Don and James Vollum, and the unveiling of an extremely rare, vintage Tektronix 511 Oscilliscope found recently in storage in Shiley Hall. All faculty and staff are invited; please RSVP to Jamie Strohecker, engineering, at 7292 or stroheck@up.edu by Tuesday, May 28.
Academics
Beacon Awards Keep Rolling In
The University’s student-run weekly newspaper, The Beacon, won 27 awards—including first place for General Excellence— at the statewide collegiate awards ceremony of the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association on May 11, according to Nancy Copic, student activities. The citation for first place reads: “The Beacon is an excellent student newspaper. It has a strong mix of stories and columns, extraordinarily good design, and a quality of journalism that is very high. One issue covered thoroughly a campus discussion of the university’s nondiscrimination policy and did so ably. Even though the paper’s position was clear, it was not a rant. In fact, it was professionally handled. Students are shown everywhere in the paper, as a good student newspaper should. There is clearly no fear in taking on issues that could be controversial on campus. The Beacon is impressive.”
For more information contact Copic at 7470 or copic@up.edu.
An Open Invitation
University president Rev. E. William Beauchamp, C.S.C., invites the University community to nominate candidates for the University’s annual presentation of honorary doctorates. Such men and women have in a remarkable way encapsulated the three central tenets of the University’s mission— teaching, faith, and service— and are notable in their professions and/or communities for dedication, commitment, creativity, service, and the manner in which they have turned their talents to the common good. Notes of nomination should be sent to John Soisson, special assistant to the president, at soisson@up.edu, or Tom Greene, provost, at greene@up.edu, by the end of June. Names should be accompanied by a short explanation of the candidate’s life and work.
Library Instruction For Summer
Librarians are here on campus during the summer and can work with faculty to tailor library instruction sessions for their students’ research needs. Classes meet in the library classroom (Franz 330), which have laptops that students can use to gain hands-on experience. For classes larger than 30, library staff will reserve other computer classrooms on campus. To schedule instruction, contact Stephanie Michel at 7418 or michel@up.edu.
New Vanport Flood Museum Display
Sixty-five years ago, the University of Portland’s commencement exercises took place on Memorial Day, Sunday, May 30, 1948. During the ceremony, University president Rev. Theodore Mehling, C.S.C., announced that the dike surrounding the nearby city of Vanport had broken and Vanport was flooded. Several senior students and a number of commencement guests lived in Vanport, a hastily constructed housing project in North Portland built during World War II to house shipyard workers. To see photos of Vanport and the devastation caused by the flooding, stop by and view a new display created by the University museum in the display case near the computer stations in the Pilot House. The display includes a picture of a water-stained letterman sweater owned by Vanport resident and 1941 graduate Emmett Barrett, whose apartment and belongings were covered in mud. The original flood-damaged letterman sweater is on display in the museum.
The University museum is located in the basement of Shipstad Hall in room 014. Hours are Monday and Tuesday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Wednesday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.; and by appointment. All are welcome to visit the museum. Contact Carolyn Connolly, museum coordinator, at 8038 or piatz@up.edu for more information.
New Vanport Flood Museum Display
Sixty-five years ago, the University of Portland’s commencement exercises took place on Memorial Day, Sunday, May 30, 1948. During the ceremony, University president Rev. Theodore Mehling, C.S.C., announced that the dike surrounding the nearby city of Vanport had broken and Vanport was flooded. Several senior students and a number of commencement guests lived in Vanport, a hastily constructed housing project in North Portland built during World War II to house shipyard workers. To see photos of Vanport and the devastation caused by the flooding, stop by and view a new display created by the University museum in the display case near the computer stations in the Pilot House. The display includes a picture of a water-stained letterman sweater owned by Vanport resident and 1941 graduate Emmett Barrett, whose apartment and belongings were covered in mud. The original flood-damaged letterman sweater is on display in the museum.
The University museum is located in the basement of Shipstad Hall in room 014. Hours are Monday and Tuesday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Wednesday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.; and by appointment. All are welcome to visit the museum. Contact Carolyn Connolly, museum coordinator, at 8038 or piatz@up.edu for more information.
From Our Past
Vernia Jane Huffman, who served as dean of the School of Nursing from 1961 until 1973, died on May 14, 2008, at the age of 92. She was first appointed acting dean, but was confirmed to a full appointment in 1962. All previous deans had been Sisters of Providence. She had served as a nurse in the U.S. Navy during World War II and for part of the Korean war. She had come to the University in 1960 to begin a course in public health nursing. During her tenure as dean, the School of Nursing first received national accreditation. She saw the nursing program through its often tumultuous transfer from St. Vincent’s Hospital to The Bluff, and strove tirelessly to transform the program from one that produced “technical” nurses to one that produced professional nurses, setting into motion the school’s emphasis on a wholistic, integrated curriculum that emphasizes compassionate, knowledge-based professional nursing. After her retirement, Huffman regularly attended University nurses’ pinning ceremonies at graduation, until failing health prevented her from doing so after 2005. An award is given annually in her name for outstanding service by a graduating senior in the area of community health nursing.
For more University history from this week see the University Almanac at www.up.edu/almanac.
AmeriCorps VISTA Position
Fr. Mark Poorman, C.S.C., Fr. Gerry Olinger, C.S.C., and Tom Greene have collaborated to sponsor a one-year AmeriCorps VISTA member who will work full-time on developing programming specific to first-generation students at the University of Portland, according to Michele Leasor, honors program and fellowships and grants. Faculty and staff are asked to assist in recruiting for this position by sharing the job posting with qualified individuals (http://tinyurl.com/cjdbjsp). For more information contact Leasor at 7857 or leasor@up.edu.
New Garaventa Center Directors
The provost’s office has announced the appointment of Karen Eifler and Rev. Charles Gordon, C.S.C., as co-directors of the Garaventa Center for Catholic Intellectual Life and American Culture, effective July 1, 2013.
Eifler is well known across campus and involved in many activities that speak to the very essence of the Center. She has been a board member and leader in Collegium, a national organization that explores issues similar to those explored by the Garaventa Center. Eifler and Norah Martin, College of Arts and Sciences, have led the Friday afternoon Faith and Intellectual Life Discussion Group for many years. Eifler is a respected and recognized teacher, author, and colleague. Her vast experience, inexhaustible creativity, deft organizational skills, and unquenchable thirst for knowledge and understanding will be assets in leading the Center forward.
Fr. Gordon is well-known for his public lectures in the region and his scholarly discussion groups. His students also find his classroom lessons stimulating and provocative. Cambridge educated and an expert in American culture from the sublime to the ridiculous as well as a widely respected Holy Cross priest, he will add his capacious set of attributes to advancing the Center.
Jamie Powell will continue in her role as program coordinator for the Garaventa Center. For more information contact Powell at 7702 or powell@up.edu.
New National Science Foundation Grant
The University of Portland has been awarded $446,307 by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to increase retention in engineering and computer science with a focus on at-risk first year and sophomore students. The University of Portland is the only Oregon university and one of nine universities and colleges nationwide to receive NSF grants as part of a public-private partnership called Graduate 10K+.
The NSF works in partnership with Intel and General Electric (GE) to stimulate comprehensive action at universities and colleges to help increase the annual number of new graduates in engineering and computer science by 10,000. This effort is funded with $10 million in donations from Intel and the GE Foundation as well as a generous personal donation from Mark Gallogly.
Shiley School of Engineering dean Sharon Jones was the principal investigator of the national grant, with co-principal investigator Tammy VanDeGrift, engineering. Engineering and computer science are fields in which industry leaders lament an inadequate supply of graduates with the knowledge and skills needed in business and industry, and they are fields in which women and minorities are chronically underrepresented. Engineering and computer science are also part of a general trend in which many undergraduates pursuing majors in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields leave them entirely during their first two years in college.
Graduate 10K+ projects will operate for five years. Each of the projects has identified factors that can derail would-be engineers and computer scientists in their first or second year of undergraduate study and taken a targeted approach to addressing those factors. Other schools receiving Graduate 10K+ grants were California State University Monterey Bay, Cornell University, Merrimack College, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Syracuse University, University of Texas at Austin, University of Texas-Pan American, University of Washington, and Washington State University.
For more information contact the Shiley School of Engineering at 7314 or spir@up.edu.