Berkeleyan

News Briefs

14 March 2007

Nominations due April 6 for Chancellor's Awards for Public Service

Faculty, staff, and students are invited to recommend individual members of the campus community, organizations, and partnership programs to be recognized with Chancellor's Awards for Public Service for their outstanding work during 2006-07. Their contributions should involve research, service learning, campus-community partnerships, community impact, and/or civic engagement. The awards reception will be May 14 at University House, hosted by Chancellor Birgeneau.

Nominations are due by April 6. The award criteria and a nomination form can be found on the websites of the Office of Community Relations (communityrelations.berkeley.edu) and the Cal Corps Public Service Center (calcorps.berkeley.edu).

Proposals and nominations sought for 'green' projects and sustainability awards

In anticipation of the campus's fourth annual Sustainability Summit, on April 27, the Chancellor's Advisory Committee on Sustainability (CACS) is accepting applications and nominations for two programs - its Green Fund Grants and Sustainability Awards.

The Green Fund provides grants for campus projects that promise to create a greener, more environmentally sustainable campus. A total of $30,000 is available this year - $10,000 of it for one-time grants of $2,500 to $10,000 to be awarded to students, faculty, and/or staff for their green projects, and $20,000 for green loans to execute efficiency or conservation projects that can demonstrate the potential to generate savings.

Applications for Green Fund Grants are due by Thursday, April 5. See sustainability.berkeley.edu/greenfund/CGCF_App_2007.pdf for program details and an application form.

Additionally, nominations are being accepted for Campus Sustainability Awards, which honor groups and/or individual members of the Cal community for their contributions to sustainability. There is significant flexibility as to which groups or projects qualify; creativity is welcome. Nominations are due Monday, April 16; self-nominations are permissible.

For information and forms required for both CACS programs, visit sustainability.berkeley.edu/summits/2007/03/summit-2007.html.

Staff are invited to apply by March 23 for BSA mentorship program

The Berkeley Staff Assembly (BSA) is soliciting applications for the 2007-08 staff mentorship program. Now entering its third year, the program enables less-experienced professional and support staff to learn from more-seasoned colleagues. The program is scheduled to begin July 1 and run through June 30, 2008. Any staff member in classifications PSS 1 to PSS 5 who is a member of BSA may apply. (Membership is free for the first year, $15 thereafter; staff may join at any time.) Mentors come from the PSS 5 classification and above.

The BSA mentorship program differs from an internship in that the focus is not on skill-building. Rather, it offers mentees the opportunity to build relationships with campus colleagues at higher job classification. BSA has offered several information sessions on the 2007-08 program; the final session is noon to 1 p.m., Thursday, March 15, in 120AB Bechtel Engineering Center.

The deadline for applications is Friday, March 23. For an application in downloadable PDF form, go to the BSA website (bsa.berkeley.edu/index_files/Page892.htm).

UC to honor IT innovations with annual Sautter Award

The University of California is seeking applications for the Larry L. Sautter Award for Innovation in Information Technology. Named for UC Riverside's former associate vice chancellor for computing and communications, the award is open to faculty and staff from all UC campuses, the Office of the President, and the three UC-managed national laboratories. It recognizes information-technology innovations that have the potential to improve UC administrative or academic processes - with two Golden Awards (for Best IT Practices in Business Processes and Services or for Innovation and Entrepreneurship in IT) and two Silver Awards (for Achievement in University Computing).

Award recipients will be announced July 30 at the UC Computing Services Conference at UC Santa Cruz. Winners receive a commemorative wall plaque and will be invited to give presentations on their projects at the conference. The application deadline is 5 p.m., Friday, May 18. See www.ucop.edu/irc/itlc/sautter/welcome.html.

Helmholz Scholarship Endowment established at I-House

More than 30 donors have jointly established a $250,000 endowment, in the name of Carl and Betty Helmholz, to provide annual International House room and board awards for an entering first-year doctoral student, preferably in physics. The recipient will also receive tuition, fees, and a $5,000 stipend, through a Graduate Division matching program. The scholarship honors the late Carl Helmholz, nuclear physicist and former chair of the physics department from 1955 to 1962, and his wife, Betty Helmholz, who provided distinguished service to the I-House board for nine years. The effort to raise funds to establish the endowment was led by Howard Mel, professor emeritus of biophysics.

Bay Area lectures for alums and parents address globalization and the 'flow of knowledge'

Berkeley alumni and parents are invited to attend a Discover Cal lecture on "Globalization and the Flow of Knowledge," which will be offered at two times and locations: Wednesday, March 21, in Danville (Blackhawk Museum, 3700 Blackhawk Plaza Circle) and Thursday, March 22, in Mountain View (Tunis Tech Talk Room, Google Building 43, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway). A reception with no-host bar is from 6 to 7 p.m., followed by the lecture and Q&A session from 7 to 8:30 p.m.

Speakers for these Discover Cal lectures are Berkeley professors AnnaLee Saxenian, dean of the School of Information, and Steven Weber, director of the Institute of International Studies. Space is limited; early registration is encouraged. For information or to register, see discovercal.berkeley.edu or call 643-3249.

Administration posts new issue of management newsletter

The winter 2007 issue of "InSights for Management," an online newsletter for managers and supervisors, is available on the campus' Administration website. The current issue includes updates on the Spot Award Program and Career Compass, planned changes to the campus budget process, and upcoming workshops, among other topics. See administration.berkeley.edu/forms/newsletter/winter-07.htm.

Berkeley Faculty Association calls for 'joint governance' of UC Retirement System

The Berkeley Faculty Association (BFA), as part of the Council of UC Faculty Associations (CUCFA), participates in consultations with the UC Office of the President over proposed changes to systemwide UC policies that affect Senate faculty. At its most recent meeting the BFA passed a resolution calling for joint governance of the "unilaterally managed" UC Retirement System (UCRS) "to ensure that significant pension plan decisions are based on full and accurate information, that conflicts of interest do not impact the management and performance of the UCRS, and that the UCRS is financially sound and well managed in a fair and appropriate manner."

For information about this and other BFA priorities, visit www.aaup-ca.org/bfaindex.html.