Thursday, March 5, 2020 ||Memorial Union, Corvallis Campus

We invite your direct contributions to this opportunity to learn from and with one another as we collectively work toward achieving the engagement, retention, achievement, and graduation goals articulated in SP 4.0. 

USSI efforts are organized around five topical areas: Curricular Excellence, Experiential & Research-based Learning, Faculty-Student Interactions, Financial Aid & Scholarships, and the Transition Experience.

All of us play a key role in contributing to the success of our students, so we invite you to submit a proposal based on the efforts you and your colleagues have advanced in your respective areas of the university. 

Possible topic areas might include:

·         Student Feedback/Correspondence – Have you made changes in terms of frequency, modality, or wording that have proven effective?

·         Interactive Engagement and/or Cooperative Learning – What adjustments are yielding positive outcomes in your classrooms, outside the classroom, in laboratories or communities outside of OSU?

·         Diversity, Equity & Inclusion – Efforts to improve the educational experiences of students of color, first-generation, and other “non-traditional” students at OSU. 

·         Achievement Gaps – Sharing your work toward redressing historical achievement gaps within your program, college, or broadly at OSU

·         Communication/Outreach – Have you contributed to campaigns designed to ease students’ navigation of the university, understanding of the curriculum, and/or maximizing the array of opportunities available at OSU? What is working for you? 

·         Financial Supports – Changes implemented to assist students in terms of financial stability

·         Office Hours – What successful strategies have you employed to encourage student attendance?

·         And many, many more…

Presenters may propose a five-to-seven-minute lightning talk, a 45-minute breakout session, a 45-minute panel discussion, or a poster presentation of their work.

Please SUBMIT YOUR PROPOSAL by January 17, 2020

Want to know how to create instructional media for your on-campus courses and to learn best practices of blending classroom and Canvas content? The Center for Teaching and Learning and Academic Technology invite you to explore the new Faculty Media Center to learn how to make audio, video and other media, while planning an upcoming course. All faculty and GTAs invited. Thursday, Oct. 31, 10 a.m. or 2 p.m., Kidder 100; refreshments will be served. Bring a laptop and your imagination. Register.

On behalf of the CWU chemistry department, I’m pleased to announce that we are hiring a tenure-track analytical chemistry faculty position for 2020-2021.  The position announcement is attached – hope you’ll consider sharing it with others who might be qualified and interested in joining our department .

To apply, go to https://careers.cwu.edu and search for position #3322

The Renewable Energy Scholarship Foundation is now soliciting applications for scholarships to be given in 2020. We are excited to announce that Sir Fraser Stoddart has renewed his named scholarship, allowing us to expand our scholarship opportunities.  We will be giving three or more scholarships this year, and one will be designated for an undergraduate.  If you know any top students studying renewable energy, in any sense, in Oregon or Washington, please encourage them to apply.  Applications are always accepted, but they are actively solicited throughout the fall and winter, with a deadline of Feb 15.  All information is on our website, www.resf-pnw.org.

The Department of Chemistry at Louisiana State University is looking for excellent students for our graduate program. We would appreciate it if you would post this letter and flyer and alert your students to the possibilities at LSU.

Our faculty perform research in diverse areas from organic chemistry to structural biology to materials science, energy-related research, and environmental chemistry. Kevin Smith’s group continues its longstanding work on porphyrin chemistry, and Isiah Warner’s group continues its development of the Group of Uniform Materials Based on Organic Salts (GUMBOS) with broad applications in  nanotechnology and medicine. Rendy Kartika applies novel organic reactions to the synthesis of complex molecules of biological and pharmaceutical importance, Graça Vicente uses BODIPY dyes for biophysical and bioanalytical applications and the development of new agents for the photodynamic treatment of cancer, and Mario Rivera is engaged in areas as diverse as iron homeostasis in pathogenic bacteria and fragment screening for the discovery of antibiotics. Weiwei Xie’s group has discovered several new superconductors as part of their research into novel quantum materials, and Tuo Wang’s work in the area of solid-state NMR is providing new insights into fungal cell wall structure. Our recent recipients of DOE and NSF Early CAREER Awards (Kenneth Lopata, Daniel Kuroda, and Revati Kumar) are  involved respectively in theoretical work on attosecond dynamics, experimental studies of two-dimensional infrared laser spectroscopy, and computational studies of graphene oxide-liquid interfaces. Donghui Zhang and Gerald Schneider apply X-ray and  neutron scattering techniques to soft matter research. The Superfund Center concentrates on newly identified pollutant-particle systems including environmentally persistent free radicals (EPFRs).

We have a large (141 students) and diverse group of graduate students in our program, essentially all supported on assistantships or fellowships. We put a large emphasis on the training of women and underrepresented minorities, and have received major awards in recognition of our mentoring, advising, and science education efforts (Nature Award for Mentoring, Presidential Award for STEM Mentoring.  ACS Award for Encouraging Disadvantaged Students).  Our faculty believe firmly that we are here not simply to provide research advice but to also provide advising and mentorship. Above all else, we love to hear from interested prospective graduate students!

Detailed information about our department and our graduate program can be found at chemistry.lsu.edu.  For questions about our research, students are invited to contact any of our faculty. For questions about the application process, they should contact Dr. Caroline Schneider at gradchem@lsu.edu. I should note that there is no application fee for domestic students. We very much look forward to hearing from your students!