March 2003

Bear Briefs
High Headcount-UM-Missoula posted the largest spring semester enrollment in UM's 110-year history with a total of 12,626 students, an increase of 212 over last spring's headcount of 12,414. The spring record-breaker comes on the tail of an all-time high enrollment of 13,058 students during fall semester 2002. Spring semester headcount traditionally is lower than in the fall. In addition, full-time equivalents (FTE) rose from 10,773 in spring 2002 to 10,897 this year. An FTE represents 15 undergraduate or 12 graduate semester credits. "I think that's very good," UM President George Dennison said of the overall increases. "It indicates that we are still serving students' needs. And it's important to note that students are staying with us."

Alumni Awards-The UM Alumni Association is seeking nominations for Distinguished Alumni Awards, which are given each year during Homecoming. Recipients of the awards are former students or graduates of UM who have distinguished themselves in a particular field and who have brought honor to the University, the state or the nation. The nomination deadline is April 1. For a form and required procedures, call the Alumni Association at (406) 243-5211.

Rural Health Help-A grant received by UM's School of Pharmacy and Allied Health Sciences will bring health care services to seven Montana counties where professionals in the field are in short supply. Associate professors Tim Stratton and Cathy Bartels received the $482,500 grant from the federal Office for the Advancement of Telehealth. Grant funds have been used to purchase and convert a motor home into a traveling clinic. The clinic is equipped to offer screening and adult immunization services, as well as improved access for rural health care providers to the latest drug and health information. During 2003 the mobile clinic will serve Chouteau, Glacier, Hill, Liberty, Pondera, Teton and Toole counties.

Peace Propagators-The Peace Corps has just released its 2003 list of "Top Producing Colleges and Universities," and UM tied with Stanford University at 10th place in the category of universities with 5,001 to 15,000 undergraduates. The schools are ranked according to the number of alumni currently serving as Peace Corps volunteers. Today, 32 alumni from UM work with people of the developing world as Peace Corps volunteers - placing Montana ahead of the University of Notre Dame, Duke University and Johns Hopkins University. Since 1961, when the Peace Corps was founded by President John F. Kennedy, more than 168,000 Americans have served in 136 countries. At the present time, the Peace Corps has 6,678 volunteers serving in 70 countries worldwide.

Math Leader-UM mathematics Professor Johnny Lott has been tapped to head the world's largest mathematics education organization, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Lott's two-year term as president of the organization began last year, and he has taken on the formidable task of leading the organization, which is made up of more than 100,000 math educators in the United States and Canada. His duties as president include presiding over annual meetings, working with the $16 million operational budget and editing four NCTM journals that are each published nine times per year. As the primary professional organization for math educators in grades K-12, NCTM assumes the responsibility of providing national leadership in areas related to math education. As part of this responsibility, the organization has a set of standards that address all aspects of mathematics education to serve as guidelines for teachers, schools, school districts, states and provinces in developing and evaluating their math curricula.

Marketing Masters-UM's marketing and recruiting efforts garnered national recognition last month from the Admissions Marketing Report. Joan Melcher of University Relations won a Gold award -- the highest given in the national competition -- for an in-house advertisement in the Spring 2002 Montanan. Broadcast Media Center producer Brent O'Connor won a Bronze award for a general recruiting video on UM. University Relations won three merit awards for a 30-second promotional spot for television, a general recruiting ad for newspaper and recruiting ads that appeared in the Missoula Fun Map. Enrollment Services won two merit awards for its total recruitment package and its student guide.

Asian Endeavor-Peter Koehn, a UM political science professor, has received a Fulbright Senior Specialists Program grant in political science at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He will be in Hong Kong until March 29. The Fulbright Senior Specialists Program offers two- to six-week grants to leading U.S. academics and professionals to support curricular and faculty development and institutional planning at academic institutions in 140 countries worldwide. The Fulbright Scholar Program aims to increase mutual understanding between people of the United States and other countries. Grantees also undertake new activities, such as conducting teacher training, developing educational materials, and leading seminars.

Experiential Learning-From guitar and belly dancing to investing and yoga, UM's Experiential College offers classes you won't find anywhere else this semester. The short, inexpensive evening classes are offered through University Center Programming, and many don't start until April. The classes are open to all. To register, visit the University Center Information Desk or call 243-4636. For more information, call 243-6187.

Fine Photographers-Two UM students fared well in the latest photography competition of the 2002-03 Hearst Journalism Awards Program. Lido Vizzutti, a senior from Missoula, won 10th place and a $500 award. Leigh Tonya Jimmie, a sophomore from Sanders, Ariz., captured 11th place and earned an award certificate. They competed in the second round of the annual Hearst photojournalism competition, which was entered by 49 students nationwide in the category of "sports and news." The competitions are held at universities that are members of the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Legal Leaders-A UM law school negotiation team finished second in the nation at a recent American Bar Association competition. Second-year law student Malin Stearns of Missoula and third-year law student Todd Denison of Kalispell earned the honor at the ABA's National Negotiation Competition in Seattle Feb. 8-9. Twenty teams from across the country competed at the event, in which law students practice legal negotiation skills using hypothetical situations. Working with entertainment law, the UM duo negotiated a record company contract and a dispute of that contract. UM defeated law schools from Marquette and Washington and Lee universities and then proceeded to the finalist round, where they beat South Texas College of Law.

Doughty Debaters-The UM forensics team earned several awards at the William O. Douglas Invitational Feb. 7-9 at Western Washington University in Bellingham. In addition to a variety of individual awards, the team took home the tournament second-place sweepstakes award, as well as the second-place overall sweepstakes award for the 2002-03 season in Division II of the Northwest Forensics Conference.

University Relations | Cary Shimek, Editor
The University of Montana-Missoula
32 Campus Drive | Missoula, MT 59812
phone (406) 243-2522 | fax (406) 243-4520
© 2004 The University of Montana