News briefs

13 August 2003

Campus’s charitable contributions to United Way are safe
Last month, PipeVine Inc., the nonprofit company that processed donations to the United Way, went out of business, due to “a severe liquidity crisis,” according to the company’s website. This will not affect the $175,746 in pledges that UC Berkeley employees made to the 2002-03 Campus Charitable Campaign, because the university’s contract was with the United Way, not with PipeVine.

Horace Mitchell, Vice Chancellor – Business and Administrative Services, recently spoke with Anne Wilson, president and CEO of the United Way of the Bay Area, to confirm that all contributions made by campus employees will be distributed in full to all designated charities. The United Way is preparing a report that will verify the status of all donor designations, says Mitchell.

Donors who have questions about their contributions may call the United Way of the Bay Area customer service line at (800) 273-1779, or visit www.uwba.org/about_us/commitment.htm.

Nominations open for Chancellor’s Oustanding Staff Awards
The annual Chancellor’s Outstanding Staff Awards program, honoring staff who have made exceptional contributions to the university or community, is now accepting nominations.

The award recognizes individuals or teams of staff whose work is above and beyond normal expectations and has had a positive impact on such areas as student services, customer relations, operational effectiveness, mentoring, staff development, or community service.

All members of the campus community are encouraged to submit nominations. To be eligible for the award, staff must have completed at least one year of employment at the university and cannot hold academic or executive tier titles. Award winners will be honored at a special ceremony on Monday, Nov. 3.

The deadline for nominations is 5 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 12. For information, contact James Dudek at 642-2907 or jdudek@uclink.berkeley.edu, or visit csac.chance.berkeley.edu.

Help welcome new students
The Chancellor’s annual receptions for new undergraduate students will be held this year in the garden of University House on Tues., Aug. 19 through Thurs., Aug. 21, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Faculty and staff wishing to join the Chancellor in welcoming new students to the campus may call Lila Blanco, University Events and Ceremonies, at 643-7003 to sign up.

Staff internship program suspended for 2003-04
After 14 years of successful operation — during which more than 100 campus employees advanced their short-term career goals through internships in more than 100 campus departments — the Staff Internship Program is being suspended for 2003-04 due to budget reductions. Guidelines for departments wishing to develop and fund their own internship programs are available at hrweb.berkeley.edu/learning/sip/sipabout.htm.

For information, contact Pat Lavelle at plavelle@uclink.berkeley.edu or
642-3595 after reviewing the online guidelines.

Contributions sought for bereaved student employee
Trang Nguyen, a student employee with the Cal Annual Fund office, lost both of her parents on July 25, when a gunman shot and killed them in their Sacramento-area jewelry store. Her job with the Annual Fund is one of three she was working to put herself through school and help support her family, including five younger siblings.

Members of the campus community interested in offering financial support (which will likely be applied to a reward for information leading to the arrest of the killer) may contact Gwen Barrett at gkb@dev.urel.berkeley.edu or 643-8993. For
information on the case, see www.kimvanreward.com.

For the record
In the July 24 Berkeleyan, the caption accompanying a photo of participants in AileyCamp contained errors. AileyCamp, overseen nationally by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, is locally administered and hosted by Cal Performances.