Olivia DrakePat Melley, director of Employee Benefits, is preparing for Open Enrollment for 2007 in November. She hopes to meet several Wesleyan employees during this time. Posted 09/15/06 Being Wesleyans director of Employee Benefits is a huge benefit on its own. Pat Melley, who was hired into this role in August, says she enjoys this opportunity to problem solve, mentor and collaborate. I think of Wesleyan employees as my customers, and I strive to serve them the best that I can, Melley says from the Office of Human Resources. I love the challenge of answering questions from faculty…
Harriett Epstein, desktop support specialist, troubleshoots problems Wesleyan employees may encounter with their computers. Posted 09/15/06 Q: When did you come to Wesleyan and for what department?A: I came to Wesleyan in July 1998 as a desktop configuration specialist for the PeopleSoft Team in Information Technology Services. Q: Explain what a desktop support specialist does. A: It is the responsibility of a desktop support specialist to perform trouble-shooting and remediation of software and hardware problems on computers and peripherals and install and configure new desktop computers and peripherals. We also provide support/coordination for special projects requiring technical expertise within…
Posted 09/15/06 David Titus, Professor Emeritus of Government, died on June 13, 2006. Professor Titus taught at Wesleyan from 1966 until his retirement in 2004, serving as chair of the Government Department, the College of Social Studies and the East Asian Studies Program. He played a crucial role in establishing East Asian Studies at Wesleyan; he served as Resident Director of the Kyoto Program three times, and was a member and frequent chair of its Executive Board. His masterwork was his Palace and Politics in Prewar Japan, which established his reputation as a leading scholar of Japanese politics; it was…
Drew Black, wrestling coach and strength and conditioning coach, explains how to use a medicine ball for strength training via video on a new Strength and Conditioning Web Site. Posted 09/15/06 With moves like the spider lunge, chest fly, sumo squat, wood chop, push jerk and the inch worm, strength and conditioning lessons have never been so easy and entertaining. Through a series of online videos and written training plans, Drew Black, Wesleyan wrestling coach and strength and conditioning coach, shows how to properly execute 241 movements in the weight room. Some can be applied in the workplace…
Posted 09/15/06 On May 4, 2006, Doug Bennet '59, P'87, P'94, Wesleyan's 15th president, announced his decision that the 2006-07 academic year will be the 12th and final year of his presidency. The Wesleyan Board of Trustees is in the process of convening an 18-person search committee composed of alumni, trustees, faculty, staff and students to undertake a comprehensive search to identify and successfully recruit Bennet's successor. The alumni and trustee members of the search committee are Kofi Appenteng '81 and chair, Stephen Daniel '82, Jim Dresser '63, Joe Fins '82, Ellen Jewett '81, Michael McPherson P'98, Megan Norris '83,…
Science teachers in Connecticut teachers take classes at Wesleyan through the Project to Increase Mastery of Mathematics and Science Program (PIMMS). PIMMS is teaming up with the Connecticut Science Center to provide science and math education techniques to K-12 teachers. Posted 09/15/06 A new partnership between Wesleyan University and The Connecticut Science Center in Hartford will be designed to engage more students across the state to the sciences than ever before. Specifically, The Connecticut Science Center will be partnering with Wesleyan's Project to Increase Mastery of Mathematics and Sciences (PIMMS). Together they will train Connecticut middle school science teachers how…
Posted 09/15/06 Each year, the Office of University Communications collects objective and comparative measures of Wesleyan's strengths from data compiled by outside sources. Following is a brief list of recent findings:No. 1 in National Science Foundation (NSF) Funding among Liberal Arts Peers This is an objective ranking based on available NSF funding data. Between 2001 and 2003 Wesleyan received $14.49 million in NSF funding (this reflects the most recent data available Wesleyan was also No. 1 in the previous survey that ran up to 2001). Next closest was Mt. Holyoke at $5.31 million. Carleton was 3rd, Barnard 4th and…
Posted 09/15/06 The Center for African American Studies is hosting a fall lecture series titled "Revisiting Slavery." The schedule includes:Slavery and the United States Constitution 4:15 Sept. 27 in the CAAS lounge by Lawrence Goldstone. Goldstone holds a Ph.D in American constitutional studies. He is the author of Dark Bargain: Slavery, Profits, and the Struggle for the U.S. Constitution.Complicity: How the North Promoted, Prolonged, and Profited from Slavery 4:15 p.m. Oct. 19 in the CAAS lounge by Anne Farrow, Joel Lang and Jenifer Frank. Farrow, Wesleyan alumnus Joel Lang and Frank are veteran journalists for The Hartford Courant. Farrow and…
UP, UP AND AWAY: Wesleyan's Davison Art Center received a new fiberglass cupola atop its building Aug. 9. The new addition replaces a deteriorated wood cupola, which was removed in July. The new cupola is a replica of the former cupola. The 1,500-pound white, decorative cupola was hoisted by crane to the DAC's rooftop. Contractors lower the cupola to a copper-rimmed base. The new cupola brings beauty to the DAC second and third-story views, as well as the DAC's courtyard below. Macri Roofing provided the labor. (Photos by Olivia Bartlett)
Posted 08/24/06 Classes, sport teams, social groups, community outreach, advocacy groups and studying consume a students time and energy. Gary Comstock, university protestant chaplain, believes being part of a spiritual group can provide a sense of calmness to the hectic college student lifestyle. Students spiritual community allows them to get away from it all, to unwind, to relax, to de-stress, he says. It gives them the opportunity to contemplate and reflect and to enjoy some peace and quiet. Comstock, one of four University Chaplains, says hes always on call to help students through any issues, religious in nature or not.…
Artist Mary Lum works on her painting, which is part of the exhibit "Up Against the Wall" opening in the Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery on Sept. 8. Posted 08/24/06 Up Against the Wall, an exhibit featuring art that relies exclusively on the interior surfaces of architecture for inspiration and material support, will open at the Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery on Sept. 8. Organized by Nina Felshin, curator of Zilkha Gallery, the exhibition includes work by William McCarthy, gallery supervisor of Zilkha Gallery and Davison Art Center gallery supervisor, as well as artists Shoshana Dentz, Elana Herzog, Mary Lum…
Posted 08/24/06 Wesleyans Music Department will sponsor a memorial service for David McAllester, professor of music and anthropology, emeritus, at 2 p.m. in the Memorial Chapel Sept. 24. McAllester, a founder of the Society for Ethnomusicology, died April 29, 2006, after suffering a stroke. He was 89. David had a huge impact on generations of Wesleyan students, many of them not music majors or grad students, says Mark Slobin, professor of music, who worked with McAllester for 15 years. When I was hired at Wesleyan in 1971 and looked at a college guide, the only course singled out was McAllesters…