Berkeleyan

News Briefs

29 August 2007

Advisory committee for selecting new UC president named

A special advisory committee has been formed to consider the selection of a new president for the UC system, in the wake of Robert Dynes' decision to step down as the University's systemwide leader.

In keeping with its bylaws and policies, the UC Board of Regents will undertake a national search for Dynes' replacement. The presidential appointment policy calls for the chairman of the board to appoint several regents to a special committee that also includes the president of the systemwide Alumni Associations of the University of California and the student regent as well as the governor of California, who serves as the president of the board, and the current and former chairmen of the board who serve as ex officio members of the committee.

The members of the advisory committee are regents' chairman Richard Blum, who will serve as the committee's chair: regent Sherry Lansing, who will serve as vice chair of the committee; Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger; Benjamin Allen, 2007-08 student regent; Eleanor Brewer, AAUC president and alumni regent; and current regents Russell Gould, Eddie Island, John Moores, Gerald Parsky, Norman Pattiz, and Leslie Tan Schilling.

Blum, who appointed six regents rather than five to ensure broad representation, will seek ratification of that decision through a technical amendment to the governing policy at the regents' Sept. 19-20 meeting.

In keeping with regental policy, the committee will consult broadly with constituent groups of the university from across all 10 campuses, including representative advisory committees comprised of faculty, students, staff, and alumni.

Staff org proposes to promote sustainability

Berkeley staff concerned about the university's energy footprint have decided to organize to promote environmental awareness and sustainability on campus. The first meeting to discuss how to make this happen will take place on Thursday, Sept. 13, from noon-1 p.m. in the Section Club Room on the first floor of the Tang Center, 2222 Bancroft Way.

The goal of the first meeting will be to determine the group's name, operating process, and aims. The group will also discuss its strategy and in particular its approach to the University's existing policies and practices around sustainability and how the group would work with the Chancellor's Advisory Committee on Sustainability (CACS).

CACS participants will also be on hand to brief the meeting on sustainability developments on campus.

For more information, contact Nick Slater (nslater@berkeley.edu).

Longer hours, easier access to golf-cart service

The individualized campus golf-cart service known as "The Loop" - now open to anyone on campus with mobility difficulties - will be even easier to use this fall. The system's morning hours have been extended by 45 minutes, now 7:45 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. In addition, there is no longer a need to apply to use the service; it is open to anyone on campus with permanent or temporary disabilities that affect their mobility. The carts pick up users at several central-campus locations and drop them off near their destination, along a pre-set route. For details, visit loop.berkeley.edu or call 642-2795.

October deadline for Haas Public Service Award nominations

Nominations are now open for the 2007 Peter E. Haas Public Service Award. The deadline for nominations is Oct. 5.

The Haas family established this award to recognize an alumnus/alumna of UC Berkeley who has been devoted to the betterment of society through acts of voluntary service in one of four major areas: community service (including social service), health care, environmental work, or education.

The award includes a cash prize of $20,000 and an additional prize of $20,000 to be donated to a charity of the recipient's choice, plus an engraved medallion.

For more information or a nomination form, visit the awards website (www.urel.berkeley.edu/haas) or call Lila Blanco at 643-7003.

Recent grants to Bancroft Library

Four funding agencies recently awarded grants to the Bancroft Library totaling more than $1.5 million. The four grants will fund projects to improve access to and preservation of major segments of Bancroft's wide-ranging holdings.

The National Historical Publications and Records Commission granted $64,000 to process the library's Spanish Borderlands collection, which tells a story of encounter, exploration, and settlement in the West from the mid-1500s through 1820. Creating finding aids for the Web will make the collection available to a wider audience. This one-year project begins October 2007.

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) granted $261,356 to begin processing the San Francisco Examiner Photograph Archives, donated in 2006. It also provided a three-year grant of $450,000 to improve housing, storage, and environmental conditions for the Bancroft Pictorial Collection.

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation each granted $400,000 to fund a survey of the Bancroft Library's entire manuscripts collection, including more than 25,000 cartons that are currently listed as unavailable to researchers. The Bancroft will thus be able to create a detailed overview of its manuscript collection, which is now one of the largest held by any single institution in the United States outside the federal government.