 July 17, 2008 |
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New & Updated Items - July 17, 2008 Faculty Convocation Set Friday, Aug. 15 UVI's 2008 Convocation for full-time, part-time and research faculty is scheduled for 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 15. Sessions will be available in Evans Center room 401 on the St. Croix campus and in Business 110 and Education 101 on the St. Thomas campus. For details, contact the Office of the Provost at 693-1200 or 692-4022. UVI Students' Survey on Ecosystems A group of UVI students are surveying U.S. Virgin Islands residents on how they relate to coastal ecosystems. Data generated by the study will help natural resource managers design management strategies for human as well as marine and terrestrial environments. An online survey is available here Survey Link. More information is available from this Web site: http://www.chrissettar.com. In completing the survey, which should take less than 20 minutes, participants will be aiding scientists, resource managers, UVI students and the general public. Student Activities on St. Thomas UVI's St. Thomas campus Student Activities Office is preparing a calendar of events for the Fall 2008 Semester. Individuals wishing to have events included should forward information for the August calendar by July 18. Items for the September calendar must be received by Aug. 4. Send information to jviolen@uvi.edu or call 693-1111. Voting for Staff Council Officers Friday, July 18, is the deadline for UVI employees to cast ballots for officers of the UVI Staff Council (UVISC). Ballots have been distributed to all employees via campus mail. Ballot boxes for the completed forms are available as follows:
The following positions will be filled: Chair; Vice Chair; Secretary; Professional Staff Representative STT, Human Resources Committee Chair, Communications Committee Chair, Membership Committee Chair and Nominations/Elections Committee Chair. A list of the current UVISC officers is available from the Committees section of the UVI Staff Council web site. Negotiations Are Under Way The annual negotiations between the Government Employees Service Commission Health Insurance (GESC) Board of Trustees and CIGNA HealthCare are under way, according to UVI Director of Employee Benefits Veda Richards. She added that, based on national trends, the cost for health insurance has increased annually. As a result of the negotiations, all covered University employees are advised that a rate increase is imminent. Any changes to the plan are expected to become effective on Oct. 1, 2008. Once the plan has been approved by the governor of the Virgin Islands and the Legislature, UVI's office of Benefits Administration will provide the University community with additional details. For more information, contact Richards at 693-1429 or send email to vrichar@uvi.edu. 2007-2008 UVI Fact Book UVI's 2007-2008 FactBook is now available online from the Office of Institutional Research and Planning's (IRP) web site: http://faculty.uvi.edu/iresearch/ids1.htm. The FactBook contains interesting facts regarding the University's enrollment, students and academic divisions. For more information, contact IRP Director Dr. Mary Ann La Fleur at 693-1013 or via email at mlafleu@uvi.edu. AES/CES Win Grant to Study UVI's Agricultural Experiment Station, in conjunction with the Cooperative Extension Service, was recently awarded a grant from the Virgin Islands Urban and Community Forestry Program from the V.I. Department of Agriculture. Study co-authors Brian Daley (biotechnology-agroforestry) and Carlos Robles (natural resources management) were awarded more than $19,000 for equipment and to create a comprehensive spatial database of the trees on both UVI campuses. Using hand-held GPS units, and with assistance from UVI students, they will mark and identify all campus trees and record their size and condition. The results will produce a planning tool that will assist in the management of valuable urban trees on both campuses. It will also help in the determination of what kinds of trees to plant in the future and where to plant them. For more information, contact Daley at 692-4078 or Robles at 693-1083.
Financial Literacy Workshops A free workshop on financial literacy for Virgin Islands residents who have disabilities and their family members, originally scheduled for July 21 on St. Croix, has been postponed. A new date for the workshop will be announced as soon as possible. The workshop will be held at the Sunshine Mall office of UVI's Small Business Development Center (SBDC). The session is presented by the Virgin Islands University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities and the Virgin Island Assistive Technology Foundation (VIATF) in partnership with Banco Popular and the SBDC. The workshop is designed to assist individuals who have credit problems, or no credit, and who are interested in obtaining loans in order to purchase assistive technology equipment or services. The following areas will be covered:
Representatives from the VIATF, Banco Popular and the SBDC will be on hand to answer questions and provide individualized assistance. For details, contact Diane Hampton at 692-1919 or Deborah Samuel-Sinclair at 692-5270. Other Current Items ... Fall Semester Orientation Schedules Fall orientation schedules for new and transfer students are now available from the Student Life Services page of the UVI web site and from these direct links: St. Thomas Schedule | St. Croix Schedule. UVI's fall 2008 semester classes will begin on August 18 and continue through December 10. UVI Students Urged to Apply UVI students are encouraged to apply for Thurgood Marshall Scholarships for the 2008-2009 academic year. More information is available from this Web site: www.thurgoodmarshallfund.org. Details are also available from UVI's Thurgood Marshall Fund Scholarship Coordinator Ardrina Scott-Elliott at 340-693-1043. Music Camp Students Presenting Twenty-nine junior and senior high school musicians attending the UVI Summer Band Camp are giving a series of free, public concerts from 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. each Wednesday in July at St. Thomas' Emancipation Garden. The camp, under the direction of UVI Prof. Austin A. Venzen, takes place in the Music Building on UVI's St. Thomas campus. It includes students from St. Thomas, St. Croix and Antigua. The UVI community and the general public are encouraged to attend the concerts. The camp also features four instrumental ensembles, one of which performs each Sunday at a different church on St. Thomas. The camp is sponsored by the Law Enforcement Planning Commission, the Virgin Islands Council on the Arts and UVI. For more information, contact Prof. Venzen at 693-1192. |
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Other Current Items (Cont.) ... UVI Community Invited to Picnic All UVI alumni, their friends and families, and the general public are invited to attend the 2nd Annual Alumni Picnic from 2 to 8 p.m. on Sunday, July 27, in Lithonia, Georgia. The event is hosted by the UVI South Atlantic Region Alumni Chapter and will be held at the Bransby Outdoor YMCA. This Virgin Islands styled picnic promises to be fun and will include activities such as tennis, sand court volleyball, a three-on-three basketball tournament, sack races and a moonwalk. Attendees can also enjoy the use of the pool. All are encouraged to bring a lawn chair or a blanket. DJ Patrick will provide the music and mocko jumbies will perform. Barbeque, food and drinks will be on sale. UVI alumni and Virgin Islanders who live in or will be visiting Georgia are encouraged to attend. For directions, send a request to uvi_sarac@yahoo.com. For more information call 340-693-1040. A news release is available from the UVI web site - www.uvi.edu - or from this direct link. UVI New Hires/Separations The UVI Human Resources Department has released the University's New Hires, Promotions and Separations report for June 1-30, 2008. The list is available to individuals accessing the Internet via the UVI computer network from the HR section of the UVI Announcements web page or at this direct link. Summer Upgrades Under Way UVI St. Thomas Campus Executive Administrator John D'Orazio has announced that the St. Thomas campus will undergo a series of physical projects and upgrades during the summer. One of these upgrades includes the renovation of the upper campus restrooms. The project, which began on June 25, is expected to be completed in approximately six weeks. Signs will be posted as to which restrooms will be operational during this time. Other campus projects and upgrades include door and hardware replacements in the upper academic buildings, smartcard access for student laundry services, science building renovations and residence hall furniture upgrades. There will also be a request for qualifications for the Brewer's Bay restroom and shower. A complete list of projects and upgrades is available from this direct link. Library Renovations Blog Available The Ralph M. Paiewonsky Library is undergoing a series of renovations. Check out the library renovations web log (blog) to stay up to date with the latest improvements: http://www.sttlibraryren.blogspot.com/. You can also access the blog through the libraries' website: http://library.uvi.edu/. Ongoing Items ... Tuition, Room Rate, Fees to Increase; New and returning students needing assistance with identifying funding options in light of a five percent University tuition increase that will take effect at the beginning of the Fall 2008 semester should contact the University's Financial Aid Office at 340-693-1090 on St. Thomas, on St. Croix at 340-692-4193, or by email at mgilchr@uvi.edu. For scholarship information students should contact the Office of Institutional Advancement at 340-693-1043 or by email at aelliot@uvi.edu. More information is available from these links on the UVI web site: Financial Aid | Cost of Attendance. Email Reminder for UVI Students Student email addresses ending in .. @uvi.edu are no longer functional. Students are asked to update their Blackboard accounts with an email address of their choosing. Students may request a UVI student email account with Google Mail. Please contact the Help Desk to request an account or with additional questions and concerns, 693-1466 or send email to helpdesk@uvi.edu. UVI Community Encouraged to Support The UVI community is encouraged to support UVI's Buccaneers basketball team that is participating in the Housing, Parks and Recreation Co-Ed League on St. Thomas. Games are played at 9 p.m. in the Charlotte Amalie High School gym. The league schedule is as follows:
St. Thomas Summer Exercise Schedule Note changes in italic are effective July 14, 2008 UVI's Student Activities Office has organized a free summer exercise program on the St. Thomas campus. The following classes are offered on the schedule below. They take place in the UVI Recreation Center (next to the tennis courts). For details, call 693-1111 or 693-1120.
Reminder: Performance Incentive Award All UVI employees are reminded that nominations for the University's 2008 Performance Incentive Awards program are now being accepted. The goal of the program is to promote consistent and exceptional performance by recognizing the achievements of those who have exceeded personal, unit, and organizational goals, and who have contributed significantly to the progress of UVI and the Virgin Islands community. Employees are encouraged to nominate individuals they feel have met these criteria. Details of the 2008 program and links to online nomination forms are available from the "University Employee Compensation Program" area in the Archives section on the UVI Announcements web page - http://announce.uvi.edu. Information is also available from this direct link. The nomination process continues through August 20, 2008. UVI's Eastern Caribbean Center The Eastern Caribbean Center of the University of the Virgin Islands is conducting the 2008 Virgin Islands Community Survey (VICS) during the months of May, June and July. This scientific survey of a sample of households is a follow-up to the one conducted in 2007 that collected information similar to that gathered in the census of 2000. VICS data for 2008 will be gathered on two topics - population and housing. A news release is available on the UVI web site - http://www.uvi.edu - or from this direct link. CELL Notes ... CELL Offers Personal Computer UVI's Community Engagement and Lifelong Learning (CELL) Center is offering two, five-week summer courses on computers on the University's St. Thomas campus. Basic and intermediate courses will be offered. Each course costs $200. A late fee of $25 will be charged for those who sign up after the posted registration deadlines. To register, or for additional information, call UVI-CELL at 693-1100 or visit http://cell.uvi.edu. The basic computer course will be offered on Mondays and Wednesdays from July 23 through Aug. 11. The course will teach basic skills needed to operate a computer and use commercial software packages. Participants will explore Windows, word processing functions, spreadsheet basics, using the Internet, email and much more. The registration deadline for the intermediate course is Friday, July 11. The intermediate course is scheduled for Mondays and Wednesdays from Aug. 28 through Sept. 8. This course will allow students to explore advanced topics such as troubleshooting PCs, the internal structure of a PC, using system tools to maintain peak performance and much more. The registration deadline for the advanced course is Friday, Aug. 1. CELL to Offer Taxi and Tour A six-week certification program for Virgin Islands taxi and tour operators will be offered by UVI's Community Engagement and Lifelong Learning (CELL) Center beginning on August 7. The program, with classes from 6 to 8 p.m. on Thursdays, covers the areas of customer service, V.I. history and culture, points of interest and presentation skills. The training costs $250 and includes materials. Students are required to pass a 100-question exam and to demonstrate presentation skills in order to receive certification. The program was developed by UVI's CELL Center and is endorsed by the U.S.V.I. Hotel and Tourism Association and the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association. To register, call the UVI-CELL Center at 693-1100 or visit http://cell.uvi.edu. |
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