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Fresh from being named one of America's "Best 357 College's" by Princeton Review, Olin College has joined an even more select group. Olin is one of fewer than 100 hundred schools nationwide to be selected for inclusion in to 2006 edition of "America's Best Value Colleges," a Princeton Review/Random House college guidebook. The selection is based on a wide range of criteria, including tuition and financial aid information reported by the colleges, as well as input from students on their satisfaction with their financial aid packages.
The following are members of the Competencies Implementation Committee, Mark Somerville (Chair), Ellen Cooney, Caitrin Lynch, Gill Pratt, and Ann Schaffner. The student members and meeting time will soon be determined. The minutes can be found on the website. The new committee reports to ARB. The group is responsible for coordinating the competencies system at Olin for 2004-05. Some other areas of responsibility include:
- Maintaining competency descriptions, rubrics (as they develop) and examples of associated student work and assessment instruments
- Documenting portfolio-related procedures for students and faculty; monitor participation in portfolio system
- Maintaining portfolio system
- Documenting competency assessment related procedures for students and faculty
- Collecting pre and post course information on competency assessments
- Organizing and scheduling Expo and curriculum retreat
- Working with Competency Certification Committee, ARB, and OIR on related aspects of competencies.
The College is looking to fill three positions that have recently opened up:
• Campus Services Assistant, Campus Services
• Access Service Librarian, Library
• Data Entry Coordinator, Financial Services
Additionally, Olin continues to seek qualified candidates for a Machine Shop Technician and Director of Post Graduate Planning. HR would like to remind the community that employee referrals are always welcome.
In the spirit of community, all Olin faculty and staff members are invited to Olin's second annual Family Weekend, October 22-24. Olin community members and their families are invited to participate in all of the weekend's fun events, including a BBQ, FWOP performance, ice cream social and family game night. The Family Weekend committee is encouraging Olin employees to RSVP through the Family Weekend website.
Suggestions for the 2005 Summer Book Program should be sent to Rod Crafts by October 29. Please include the title, author and, rationale.
The White House has established the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM) program. The program, administered on behalf of the White House by the National Science Foundation, seeks to identify outstanding mentoring efforts/programs designed to enhance the participation of groups underrepresented in science, mathematics and engineering. The awardees serve as exemplars to their colleagues and are leaders in the national effort to more fully develop the Nation's human resources in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
Nominations to honor individuals and institutions are invited for the competition of these annual awards. The call for nominations for the 2005 Presidential Awards for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring is now available. The deadline for the next cycle of submittals is Tuesday, March 1, 2005. You may access the current document through the NSF Online Document System by its number (NSF 04-525) or directly by using the following: www.nsf.gov/pubs/2004/nsf04525/nsf04525.htm.
On November 3, Olin will host a guest speaker on campus as part of the Big Conversations speaker series. The day long event brings the community together for a discussion around the theme of “what's important” with a guest who has made an impact on the world through science and technology. Look for more information on the schedule and speaker in the coming weeks.
The National Science Foundation has given Babson and Olin a $600,000 grant over three years to develop programs to teach engineering faculty how to instill an "entrepreneurial" mindset and spirit into the nation's engineering schools. As part of an initiative called the Symposium for Engineering Entrepreneurship, teams of engineering educators and entrepreneurs will learn about the process and content of teaching entrepreneurial venture creation and management. The symposium will also introduce new topics of specific interest to engineering educators partnering with technology entrepreneurs.
- Click Community Calendar for the calendar on upcoming community-wide events:
- Click CORe Public Calendar for the calendar on upcoming student activities.
- Both can be found in Outlook under Public Folders > Calendars.
Career Initiatives Day is a daylong event for Olin students, dedicated to thinking about and preparing for career and life opportunities. If you are interested in playing a role in this year's Career Initiatives Day – from helping greet guests, to being a room facilitator, to assisting with a workshop – staff participation is welcomed. Time-respecting and interest-matching opportunities are available. Please contact Leslie Larocca or Rod Crafts by Wednesday, September 29.
Hold the date for the following IT Tech Talks, which will take place at 7:00 p.m. in the Olin auditorium.
- On Tuesday, October 12, Gary Cattarin and Bruce Ostrowski of Nortel Networks will present “Multi Media Applications and the Next Generation of Communication, Cool, Fun Stuff.”
- On Tuesday, November 9, James Chen of Jenzabar will present a talk entitled, “Software Development Life Cycle - Take an Idea and Turn it into a Product.”
- On Wednesday, December 1, “Challenges and Technology Evolution of Managing our Global R&D Environment” will be presented by Tony Leger of Nortel.
- On Tuesday March 1, 2005 there will be a panel on “Women and Technology Professions.” The panel will feature Cynthia Golden, executive director for Professional Development for Educause and Patricia Couillard, vice president for Global Operations at Nortel, among others.
Is there some question about Olin College you'd like to get an answer to? Help is on the way. The college, under the auspices of the Faculty/Staff Meeting and Organizational Health Committees, has created a 'Question Box' electronic mailbox to which you can send queries. Want to find out the latest on the construction of East Hall? Or what's up with the curriculum? Your general informational queries, sent to questionbox@olin.edu, will be read by Joe Hunter or Ann Schaffner and forwarded to the appropriate area for response within two weeks. All queries will be treated confidentially. If you want complete anonymity, you can place your question in the box on the second floor mezzanine in the Olin Center. A response will be posted within two weeks.
Are you spending a lot of time in meetings? Are you asked to lead or facilitate meetings? Do you wonder why meetings can be so difficult to manage? Do you want to know more about effective meeting techniques? OIR is sponsoring Meeting Management Workshops again this fall. The focus of the workshops will be on giving you an introduction to leading small committee meetings. The two-day workshop is scheduled for October 19 and October 21 from 1-2 p.m.
These are lunchtime brown bag sessions. You should plan to attend both sessions. Everyone is invited —students, faculty, staff. In past groups we've found it helpful to have a mix of participants.
Sign up with Carole Perrin by Tuesday, October 12. The workshops will require your active participation during the session, but no homework. If you're interested but can't make this time around contact Ann Schaffner.
Two identical white 2002 Club Car 6 Carryall golf carts, with an industrial van boxes, ladder racks, and gray seats are for sale. The carts have electric 48-volt key-start engines, headlights, tail lights, horns, battery capacity indicators, and on board chargers. They plug into any outlet. Each cart has a heavy duty front bumper and springs, 3.75 HP motor, heavy duty Trojan batteries with hour meter, an enclosed cab with doors, sliding windows, and seat belts. Additionally, the carts have heaters, fans and defoggers that make them great for all seasons. They will be sold as is for $8,000 each. Email Scott Slaboden for further details.
Olin's 2004-05 Catalog will soon be available. You can expect a copy in your internal mailbox within the next few days. Feedback and requests for additional copies can be sent to Krissy Raposa.
Save the evening of Wednesday, October 6 for a talk by entrepreneur Gary Hirshberg, CEO of Stonyfield Farm entitled “The Best Way to Predict the Future is to Invent It.” The talk will take place at 7:00 p.m. in the Glavin Family Chapel. A reception for attendees will follow in the rotunda of the Blank Center.
Jhoom, AMAN's first Cultural Show, surpassed all Babson College expectations last year. If you are interested in planning, multimedia, costume design, hospitality, food, marketing, or finance/sponsorship for this year's event, email the group at aman@babson.edu.
Jay Gantz (‘06, away) invites the entire Olin community to join him on Tuesday, September 28 from 1-3 p.m. EST as he discusses his research. To participate in Olin's first web cast virtual poster session, visit http://eship.olin.edu. Jay will be available online to discuss the research he presented at a national research meeting in February 2004. Jay received assistance from OIR for this research endeavor. The poster documents are available at http://students.olin.edu/jgantz.
Matthew Cottle, vice president for Institutional Advancement was named a “Faculty Star” by CASE (Council for Advancement and Support of Education) after speaking at the organization's annual conference for corporate and foundations relations officers held this June in San Francisco. The Faculty Star designation is awarded to speakers who receive combined scores of 4.5 or better (on a scale of 5.0) in feedback forms filled out by conference participants.
“Generosity Overloads Computer Program,” By Franceen Shaughnessy, Needham Times,
September 22, 2004
“Nortel Nurtures Virtual Enterprise,” By Caron Carlson, eWEEK, September 13, 2004
EXCERPT: Olin College of Engineering has been testing several of Nortel's new tools this summer and has found the technologies helpful and reliable for the school's 225 students and 40 faculty members, according to Olin CIO Joanne Kossuth in Needham, Mass.
Last week we asked how F.W. Olin earned a living before entering Cornell. Kevin Tostado was the first to answer correctly that F.W was a
farm machinery repairman. Kevin will soon be receiving Olin Gear for his correct response. Olin trivia buffs, do you know ...
Q:
What is the name of Dean Moody's dog? Extra points if you also know the breed.
A: First person to correctly respond to Jennifer Thomas receives a prize.
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