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On Monday, Aug. 28, the Academic Senate discussed the provisional Marriner S. Eccles Institute for Economics and Quantitative Analysis. A resolution was passed to charge the new senate ad hoc committee on centers, institutes and bureaus “with the responsibility of reviewing and recommending revisions to policy and guidelines regarding establishment” of such entities with provisional status.

The next Academic Senate meeting will be Monday, Oct. 2 at 3 p.m. in the Moot Courtroom of the College of Law. Senate meetings are open to the public.

The agenda will be posted approximately one week before at utah.instructure.com/courses/51590/modules. 

Academic Analytics ranked the University of Utah’s Department of Special Education 14th in the country with regard to faculty scholarly productivity. As Susan Johnston, chair of the department stated, “these rankings illustrate the faculty’s commitment to academic excellence and their dedication to improving the quality of life of people with disabilities and their families.”

The Academic Analytics Database includes information on over 270,000 faculty members associated with more than 10,000 departments at over 385 universities in the United States and abroad. The data include the primary areas of scholarly research accomplishment, the publication of scholarly work as books and journal articles, citations to published journal articles, research funding by federal agencies and honorific awards bestowed upon faculty members.

Lindsay Kite, who earned her master’s and doctorate in communications from the U, has been invited to speak at TEDxSaltLakeCity, Sept, 9, 2017. Her talk will be based on her doctoral research about positive body image, which includes a focus on representation of women in media and how it affects people’s perceptions of female bodies. 

Along with her identical twin sister, Lexie Kite, who also earned her master’s and doctorate in the department at the same time, Lindsay founded and directs the nonprofit Beauty Redefined. Through online education, advocacy and speaking events all over the U.S., Lindsay and Lexie teach people to recognize and reject harmful messages about beauty and health in order to achieve body image resilience. Their work is founded on the premise that positive body image isn’t believing your body looks good, it is believing your body is good, regardless of how it looks. 

TEDxSaltLakeCity will be held at Kingsbury Hall on Saturday, Sept. 9, 2017. The all-day event will include 15 speakers and five performers. Tickets are available through the Kingsbury Hall Box Office, with significantly discounted student tickets for just $5.

U receives grant’ announcement to say: “Michael Free, professor in the Department of Metallurgical Engineering and Dr. Prashant Sarswat, an assistant research professor in the Department of Metallurgical Engineering in the College of Mines and Earth Sciences, were awarded $288,999 from the Office of Nuclear Physics of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science to lead research aimed at developing a more efficient way to separate isotopes to facilitate domestic isotope production and personnel training. Congratulations Dr. Free. 

The University Teaching Committee encourages the efforts of faculty members, departments and colleges to improve individual teaching skills, devise effective teaching techniques and recognize and reward superior achievements in teaching. A variety of awards are now seeking applications and nominations.

To see criteria and deadlines, click here.

On Sept. 8, 2017, Campus Information Services (CIS), the online application used by students, faculty, and staff to access everything from paychecks to class schedules, is getting a new look.

Visually cluttered lists of links will be replaced by clickable tiles with intuitive icons. The home pages and subsequent tiles are dedicated to user roles, functional areas, and common themes. For example, in addition to the student and employee pages, the new CIS offers a “Financial Services” page with links to finance applications; a “Faculty and Research” page with links to resources for faculty, graduate students, and principal investigators; and a “University Resources” page with links to applications and services common to all campus users (e.g. Marriott Library, Campus Map or Shuttle Tracker). Users may add or remove optional link tiles on any of their pages, and can create their own custom home pages with the tiles they use most.

For questions about the new CIS, please contact the UIT Help Desk at 801-581-4000 option 1.

Stay on track to graduate with a Fall Break Intensive Course (Oct. 9-13). Classes are offered Monday through Friday 8 a.m.-5 p.m. with a one-hour lunch. Intensives are offered on campus as well as at the U’s Sandy Center location. Intensive classes will be as rigorous as a semester-long class and requires attendance at each class session. In addition to time spent in the classroom, students will be required to complete pre and post work.

Explore options at flexibleoptions.utah.edu.

Questions? Call 801-585-9963.

The University Teaching Committee encourages the efforts of faculty members, departments and colleges to improve individual teaching skills, devise effective teaching techniques and recognize and reward superior achievements in teaching. A variety of awards are now seeking applications and nominations.

To see criteria and deadlines, click here.

On Sept. 8, 2017, Campus Information Services (CIS), the online application used by students, faculty and staff to access everything from paychecks to class schedules, is getting a new look.

Visually cluttered lists of links will be replaced by clickable tiles with intuitive icons. The home pages and subsequent tiles are dedicated to user roles, functional areas, and common themes. For example, in addition to the student and employee pages, the new CIS offers a “Financial Services” page with links to finance applications; a “Faculty and Research” page with links to resources for faculty, graduate students, and principal investigators; and a “University Resources” page with links to applications and services common to all campus users (e.g. Marriott Library, Campus Map or Shuttle Tracker). Users may add or remove optional link tiles on any of their pages, and can create their own custom home pages with the tiles they use most.

For questions about the new CIS, please contact the UIT Help Desk at 801-581-4000 option 1.

Due to an increased focus on English language proficiency for international applicants, the University of Utah has recently approved the addition of a few new test options to prove English proficiency for undergraduate applicants. In addition to test results for the TOEFL or IELTS, we will now accept test results for any of the following tests:

• TOEFL
• IELTS
• Cambridge
• HKDSE
• PTE
• Password
• EIKEN
• TOEIC
• Pearson Versant
• GCSE/IGCSE
• CEFR

If you are interested in applying as an international applicant, or if you know someone who is, please feel free to share this new information.

If you have any questions about these new tests, or the minimum standard required for one of these tests, please feel free to contact Teri Clawson, associate director of Admissions (teri.clawson@utah.edu), or Chelsea Wells, assistant director of International Admissions (cwells@sa.utah.edu).