News Briefs

Meetings on U.Va. Health Plan changes
The open enrollment period for employees to make changes to their health plans is Nov. 3-Dec. 12. Employees must choose one of the new programs, Direct Access or Point of Service, or they will be switched automatically to the Direct Access program.

The benefits office has scheduled information sessions (see below) to explain details and answer questions about changes in the U.Va. health plan.

• Nov. 10, 2 p.m.
Darden Classroom 40

• Nov. 11, 2 p.m.
Newcomb Hall Commonwealth Room

• Nov. 14, 1 p.m.
Carruthers Hall – ITC Conference Room A

• Nov. 18, 8:30 a.m.
Medical Center Camp Heart Auditorium

• Nov. 24, 9 a.m.
Newcomb Hall Commonwealth Room

• Nov. 25, 3 p.m.
Facilities Management, Lunch/Break Room

• Dec. 2, 4 p.m.
Medical Center Camp Heart Auditorium

• Dec. 11, 10 a.m.
Newcomb Hall Commonwealth Room

International education
Virginia’s first-ever Governor’s International Education Day will take place Nov. 17 in Richmond. The University will sponsor its own weeklong program Nov. 16-23 to coincide with International Education Week. U.Va. events will include an open house featuring information on study abroad programs Nov. 17 at 11 a.m. in Minor Hall room 216; a student musical reception at the Lorna Sundberg International Center on Nov. 16 at 3 p.m.; and a viewing of the new Japanese woodblock print exhibit at the University Art Museum Nov. 23 at 3 p.m.
For information about the state program, visit the Web site at http://www.odu.edu/webroot/orgs/ao/ip/ip.nsf/pages/govIntlEducDay.

For information about the U.Va. program, call 924-7983
or 982-3010.

CASTEEN DECLARES NOV. HIV/AIDS MONTH
President John T. Casteen III has declared November to be “HIV/AIDS Awareness Month” at U.Va. The annual observance — formerly just a week long — was created as a service learning project through a nursing course, “HIV/AIDS: A Personal and Social Perspective,” taught by Reba Moyer Childress.

Various awareness and fund-raising activities will take place throughout November and early December, including:

• Nov. 5 and 6: Dinner & A Movie Benefit, 5-10 p.m., St. Maarten’s Café, 14th and Wertland streets. The restaurant will donate a percentage of its nonalcoholic sales. Diners are eligible for a free movie drawing.

• Nov. 11: A Cappella FUN-D Concert featuring the Academical Village People, Virginia Belles, Hullabahoos, Silhooettes and Virginia Gentlemen. 8 p.m., McLeod Hall. Tickets, $4 in advance and $5 at the door, will be on sale Nov. 10-11 on the Lawn.

• Nov. 15: AIDS/HIV Services Group of Charlottesville’s 13th Annual Creative Charlottesville Auction. 6:30 p.m., Fry’s Spring Beach Club. The theme: “Puttin’ on the Ritz: Celebrating the Swing Era.” It will include food and dance, plus the auction. Tickets begin at $40; for reservations, call 979-7714.

Extra holiday leave
Gov. Mark Warner has authorized an additional three days (24 hours) for the Commonwealth of Virginia holiday schedule, considered compensatory “float time” leave for University classified employees.
Four hours of “comp special” leave will be credited to employees’ leave balances on Nov. 26, and 20 hours will be credited to balances Dec. 22. For general faculty, the additional 24 hours of leave should be worked out with managers. The leave must be used within 12 months of the date earned. While managers are asked to give maximum consideration to employees’ preferences, they must make sure offices are adequately staffed.

The extra leave applies to the Academic Division, but not to the Medical Center.

CEO appointed for international consortium
President John T. Casteen III announced Oct. 20 that Blaine A. Brownell, president of Ball State University, will lead U21pedagogica, a wholly owned subsidiary of Universitas 21, an international higher education consortium that includes U.Va. and 16 other research universities.

Brownell will tentatively begin his duties Feb. 1, 2004, and will work
out of an office in Charlottesville.

U21pedagogica is charged with developing global standards for academic quality for Universitas 21. Among the consortium’s activities is Universitas 21 Global, an online university created in partnership with The Thomson Corp. and aimed at students in countries without highly developed educational infrastructures. U21pedagogica approves Universitas 21 Global’s courses, subjects, templates, processes, instruction and assessment, ensuring that each meets Universitas 21 quality standards.

Local ministries honored
The Chaplaincy Services at the U.Va. Health System presented the first Clyde M. Watson Jr. Distinguished Service Award in Pastoral Care and Education to local ministries. The two recipients are: Dr. Nan Brown of the Way of the Cross Baptist Church in Fluvanna for her involvement with Chaplaincy Services and for her work in educating people about HIV/AIDS; and the Cherry Avenue Christian Church for its 25 years of programming at the Kluge Children’s Rehabilitation Center. They are being honored for their work in providing pastoral care to patients at the Health System. A presentation was held Oct. 22. The award is named in honor of Clyde M. Watson Jr., who founded clinical pastoral education at U.Va. and served as the director of Chaplaincy Services from 1965 to 1996.

Biomedical engineering becomes undergraduate major
The Department of Biomedical Engineering has received approval from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia for a new undergraduate major.

“This new degree will enable us to compete for the most talented young people in the country who are captivated by this exciting discipline,” said Thomas C. Skalak, chairman of the department.

U.Va. has offered graduate degrees in biomedical engineering since 1967 and an undergraduate minor for the past four years. The field has gained acceptability and visibility in recent years, and jobs in medicine and industry have opened up for graduates, said William F. Walker, assistant professor and the program’s undergraduate program director.
The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that jobs in biomedical engineering will increase 31.4 percent by 2010 .

Distance learning in engineering master’s on rise
Thanks to the Commonwealth Graduate Engineering Program, students working toward a master’s degree in engineering at any of five universities in Virginia — including U.Va. — can take classes at any of the participating schools. Now in its 20th year, the distance-learning program has helped nearly 400 professional engineers improve their skills while strengthening the engineering capabilities of private companies and government agencies around the state.

“This distance education program for graduate engineering was one of the first in the nation,” said James Groves, U.Va.’s program director who assumed the role of statewide program director this fall. U.Va.’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies administers the program.

For information, see http://www.cgep.virginia.edu/.

Notable
Awards and achievements of U.Va. faculty and staff
Dr. Richard L. Guerrant, the Thomas H. Hunter professor of international medicine and director of the Medical School’s Center for Global Health, has been elected to the Institute of Medicine.
Part of the National Academies, the institute announced the election of 65 new members and five foreign associates Oct. 27.

The Gerontological Society of America has chosen John R. Nesselroade, Hugh Scott Hamilton Professor of Psychology, to receive its 2003 Award for the Distinguished Career Contribution to Gerontology.

The prize is given annually to an individual whose theoretical work has made significant contributions to the field of gerontology.

GSA noted that Nesselroade helped establish “the field of life-span development as a legitimate area of study in the social sciences.”
The award will be presented this month at the society’s annual meeting in San Diego. GSA is a national multidisciplinary scientific organization devoted to the advancement of gerontological research.

Edmund Russell received the Edelstein Prize from the Society for the History of Technology for his book, “War and Nature: Fighting Humans and Insects with Chemicals from World War I to Silent Spring,” published by Cambridge University Press in 2001. The prize is for an outstanding book on the history of technology published in the previous three years. Russell is an associate professor in the Engineering School’s Department of Technology, Culture and Communication.

Jann Balmer, director of Continuing Medical Education for the School of Medicine, has been selected by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to receive the 2003 Willard M. Duff Award. The award recognizes volunteers who have provided exemplary and long-term service to the ACCME. According to the ACCME, Balmer’s career reflects her commitment to continuing medical education.

Trees: a living memorial celebrates legacy
For more than a century, U.Va. has honored those who have made significant contributions to the Grounds or to the life of the University community by planting trees on Grounds. More than 100 of these trees are now identified on a Web site spearheaded by Helen Wilson, a landscape architect in the University’s Office of the Architect, and funded by the Arboretum and Landscape Committee. The Web site, at http://www.virginia.edu/architectoffice/memorialtree, lists honorees, tree species and maps showing their locations.

A memorial tree program has been in place since 1947, allowing individuals and groups, through private donations, to honor alumni, families and friends connected with the University. In 1970, the University began an annual tradition of planting a tree on Founder’s Day to honor someone whose legacy in the areas of design, planning and care has shaped the University’s landscape.

In Memoriam
Dorothy S. Crute, 55, of Charlottesville, died on Oct. 22. She worked as a cook for the U.Va. Hospital West Snack Bar and Cafeteria.

Linda Cogdill Winner, 60, of Charlottesville, died of cancer on Oct. 25. During her tenure as director of leadership development at the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service, she was instrumental in establishing the Senior Executive Institute, a highly regarded leadership program for select local government managers.

Gladys M. “Blue” Calloway, 50, of Charlottesville, died Oct. 24. Still employed at the time of her death, she worked at the Medical Center for 29 years.

Publication Dates
Inside UVA will be published two more times this semester: Nov. 21 (with a Nov. 12 deadline) and Dec. 5. The deadline for the December issue is Nov. 25. The newsletter will resume printing with the Jan. 16, 2004 issue.