Date: 05/14/2007

At the recent University Library Spring Open House for new faculty members, Dean Kifer announced the library has instituted a new program allocating $1,000 in collections funding to each new faculty member. The funding will be used to identify specific resources for the library to purchase, resources that support each faculty member's individual research interests. Kifer plans to extend the same offer to future cohorts of new faculty members, which will allow the library to build a collection that supports faculty research needs while broadening the library's scope of resources.

Career Center Director Cheryl Allmen-Vinnedge, in collaboration with the University of California-Berkeley and San Francisco State University career services directors, recently addressed an audience of college relations managers and employment recruiters from a variety of Bay Area companies on "How to Succeed in a Competitive Marketplace: Best and Worst Practices in Campus Recruiting." This mentoring event, held at the Campus Recruiting Forum in San Francisco, supported employer representatives in increasing the effectiveness of their university outreach and recruiting efforts in hiring interns and graduates.

Robertta Barba, chair of the Department of Instructional Technology, Steve McGriff, a professor in the same department, and graduate student Gwendolyn Dapper assisted with a recent showcase for the Marine Biotechnology and Bioinformatics for Teachers project at the Moss Landing Marine Laboratories. Project participants -- middle and high schools teachers and staff -- presented lesson plans to stakeholders in education, academia, government and industry. The teachers developed the plans after spending three weeks working on a marine biotechnology research project in Moss Landing.

Gail Evans, associate dean and director of general education for undergraduate studies, has been invited to serve on the faculty of the 2007 Greater Expectations Institute for the Association of American Colleges and Universities. The institute is a "five-day, intensive program designed for campus leadership teams working on ways to increase student engagement, inclusion, and high achievement," the association said. More.

Nikos Mourtos, professor of aerospace engineering, recently helped the College of Engineering at King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, prepare for an upcoming accreditation visit. He gave presentations at the college on the accreditation process at SJSU and on assessment tools. He also reviewed nine engineering programs."I truly enjoyed the traditional Arab hospitality, which included scrumptious meals, tours, even a scuba dive in the beautiful corals of the Red Sea with a private instructor. The dean and the faculty are eager to collaborate with SJSU on scholarly activities as well as exchange of students and faculty. At the end of my visit I was honored by being given the title of associate member of their Academic Accreditation Unit," Mourtos wrote.

Udeme Ndon, associate professor of environmental and civil engineering, and three environmental engineering graduate students -- Lale Guven, May Htay and Marta Siguan -- recently made three presentations at the 97th Annual California Water Environment Association Conference in Ontario, Calif. The presentations were on the professor's research on reactor kinetics for the treatment of waste water, research that will also be published in scholarly journals.

Mahesh Rajan, assistant professor of marketing, helped arrange a recent visit to the Lucas Graduate School of Business by Rammohan Rao, dean of the Indian School of Business. Rao had lunch with the dean, associate deans and department chairs then met with MBA students. At lunch, Rao talked about management education in India as well as the challenges and opportunities of doing business in India. "The Indian School of Business is highly regarded worldwide and its executive board is literally a who's who of Indian business. Furthermore, the school continually attracts many powerful dignitaries including political leaders and business executives -- President Bush visited the last year along with Secretary Rice," Rajan said.

Professor Jacob Tsao, Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies Ping Hsu and Associate Dean of Graduate and Extended Studies Ahmed Hambaba -- all of the College of Engineering -- hosted a round table discussion between students who have participated in the college's Global Technology Initiative and 12 Asia Pacific and U.S. journalists. The initiative, which is supported by a $1 million endowment, takes students on an all-expenses-paid tour of technology and business developments in the Asia Pacific region. The journalists were Jefferson Fellows at the University of Hawaii's East-West Center. The fellowships provide reporters with the opportunity to broaden their knowledge of Asia Pacific-U.S. issues through education, dialogue and travel.

Joel West, associate professor of organization and management, recently traveled to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass., to present a paper entitled "MIT's Golden Age of Information Theory." The presentation was adapted from his forthcoming book on technology entrepreneurship in the post-war telecommunications industry. More.