Inside NAU is published weekly for faculty, staff and friends of Northern Arizona University. We welcome story ideas related to NAU's mission, its employees and its students. Submit story ideas to
Tracie Hansen, (928) 523-6908, or
e-mail Inside@nau.edu.
Publisher: John D. Haeger,
President
Contributing writers: Tom Bauer, Tracie Hansen, Diane Rechel, Lisa Nelson— Office of Public Affairs
Design: Tracie Hansen—Office
of Public Affairs
Comments? Questions? Suggestions?
Send us an e-mail. |
Here's a sampling of upcoming events at NAU. For a complete listing of campus events for the next two weeks, including times and locations of those items listed here, click on the links below:
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Big Sky match-ups set
The pairings have been set for the Summit Center Big Sky Conference Men's Basketball Championship presented by Pepsi.
As winner of the conference, Northern Arizona University earned a bye in the quarterfinal.
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Venture to the Employee Appreciation Mixer
on March 16
Find an adventure at Northern Arizona University's 13th annual Employee Appreciation Mixer from 2 to 4:30 p.m. Thursday, March 16, in the du Bois Center Ballroom.
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Higher education
is expensive but affordable, expert says
Robert Zemsky will be the first to tell you that obtaining a higher education is expensive—"obscenely expensive," were his words when he addressed about 100 people at Ashurst Auditorium last week as the latest guest in President John Haeger's Speaker Series. Oddly, though, Zemsky is quick to say that affordability is not what's keeping college-age individuals from attending.
 Building dedications set for
April 21
Spring is a busy time of year, with many pre-commencement activities planned. To help avoid scheduling conflicts of major events, the university announces that the dedication of the College of Business Administration and engineering buildings will be on Friday, April 21, at 3 p.m. in the South Campus quad area. The CBA will host an open house all day that day. The engineering open house will be from 1-5 p.m. |
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Survey shows NAU engages its students
Northern Arizona University is doing well, if not better, than comparable institutions nationwide in engaging its students, according to the 2005 National Survey of Student Engagement.
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Funding available for original recruitment
and retention activities
Those with innovative ideas for recruiting and retaining students on the Flagstaff campus can apply for as much as $2,500 in grant money to help put their ideas into action.
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Poet and NPR commentator to discuss borders and boundaries
Andrei Codrescu's thought-provoking commentary is featured regularly on NPR's newsmagazine All Things Considered. Next week, Codrescu will bring his musings to NAU for a free presentation, "Borders: An Evening with Andrei Codrescu," at 7 p.m. March 8 in Prochnow Auditorium.
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President's Awards nominations due
The deadlines for nominations for a number of university-sponsored awards are on the horizon, giving an opportunity to recognize important contributions from faculty and staff.
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NAU mourning recent deaths
Faculty, staff and students are mourning the recent unrelated deaths of four friends of NAU: Sarah DeMille, freshman journalism student; Charles Milam, long-time NAU police officer and former Homecoming dedicatee; Mary Jeanne Brand Minor, long-time employee in NAU's Chemistry Department stockroom and widow of Charles Minor, the founder of NAU's School of Forestry; and John Prather, the science lead on NAU's ForestERA Project.
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Champion of women's rights portrayed
Nationally acclaimed performer and lecturer Sally Roesch-Wagner will portray 19th century women's rights champion Elizabeth Cady Stanton at 7 p.m. March 9 in the Cline Library Assembly Hall.
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Wind symphony concert features world premiere
The Northern Arizona University Wind Symphony will premiere a piece by Arizona native Rodney Rogers during a free concert beginning at 7:30 p.m. March 1 in Ardrey Auditorium.
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State regulations cover political activities
The director of the Arizona Department of Administration has sent a memo help state supervisors and employees understand the statutory boundaries of allowable involvement in political activities. The regulations cover employees who are subject to the Arizona Department of Administration personnel rules.
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- Gary L. Emanuel and Mary I. Dereshiwsky, associate professors of educational leadership, and Bill Wright, department chair of educational leadership, in the College of Education
- Lea Parker, professor of environmental communication and journalism in the School of Communication
- Richard A. (Tony) Parker, professor of speech communication in the School of Communication
- Donelle Ruwe, assistant professor of English in the College of Arts and Letters
- Jim Wilce, professor of anthropology in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences
Ready for a challenge
For nearly four decades, Royce Moore has taught, supported and encouraged Escondido students. He has been a teacher, principal and administrator and, in December, he added the title of school board president to the list. While discussing his alma mater, Northern Arizona University, Moore matter-of-factly described it as the "academic center of Western civilization." With a twinkle in his eye and tongue in cheek, Moore noted that "people go there for an education, not to play football." He noted that district Superintendent Mike Caston, who is known for his allegiance to the University of Southern California, attended Northern Arizona. "He talks a lot about USC, but he got his real education at NAU, where he did his undergrad work," Moore said.
San Diego Union-Tribune (San Diego, CA), 2/23/2006
Nurturing native Americans on campus
Her first time around, Debby Tewa struggled through just two years of college. Having grown up on the Hopi reservation, she had attended schools in Arizona and California before heading to Northern Arizona University (NAU) in Flagstaff. 'I was totally unprepared,' she says. 'I kind of felt lost.' It was an academic and emotional whirlwind—one that many American Indian students encounter on large campuses. Whatever support systems might have existed at the time, Ms. Tewa didn't know about them. More than a decade after leaving NAU, and in midcareer as an electrician, Tewa came back to finish her bachelor's degree. The enhanced academic and mentoring programs she found hint at the kinds of efforts colleges around the country may need to make to improve retention rates for native American students. Incorporating more Indian history into the curriculum and making sure the campus had native role models is what drew Tewa back to NAU. She saw a brochure for Applied Indigenous Studies, a program that grounds students in both traditional native knowledge and Western academics—and equips them to apply their skills in indigenous communities. The reason the indigenous studies program is so attractive? 'It's affirmation—there's now relevancy for what they're learning,' says department chair Octaviana Trujillo. Although NAU is a bit late to the game—many universities offered native American studies in response to activism in the 1960s and '70s—she's proud that the program was designed in consultation with tribal leaders and has the rare status of a full academic department. Perhaps there's no more tangible form of outreach than the 'resident elders' on campus, such as James Peshlakai. The story of his first semester at NAU shows the ripple effects his presence has had. 'I thought, these kids, they come off the reservation.... I have to build their courage up to face a new life away from their people.' So his first talk was titled, 'Being an Indian youth.' He was shocked when he walked into the room and found it mostly full of white professors. 'So I look around, look up, and say, 'Oh Great Spirit ... give me the power...All of these guys want to be an Indian youth.' So they all laughed,' he says with a face-creasing smile. It was a humorous start to a serious task—helping professors understand their native students.
The Christian Science Monitor (Boston, MA), 2/21/2006
For more NAU in the News this week, click here.
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