In House

UNT breaks ground on new stadium

More than 1,000 Mean Green
supporters were on
hand

Jordan Case (’81), chair of the volunteer committee raising private donations for the stadium; Dakota Carter, Student Government Association president; UNT President Gretchen M. Bataille and Athletic Director Rick Villarreal turn dirt at the stadium groundbreaking.

See more photos at meangreensports.com.

Nov. 21 as UNT broke ground for its new stadium, set to open in 2011.

With Scrappy, cheerleaders and the pep band in full swing, proud Mean Green supporters like NFL Hall of Famer Joe Greene (’69) helped the university celebrate. And the ceremony emcee was George Dunham ('88), co-host
of a top-rated sports radio show on KTCK-AM — "The Ticket" — in Dallas and the play-by-play announcer for the Mean Green Radio Network.

“It’s a great day for UNT,” Athletic Director Rick Villarreal says. “This has been 9 years in the making. It is a great and historic moment for North Texas.”

The multi-purpose facility, which will be under construction beginning in January, will feature increased tailgating space, luxury suites, a club level, a Spirit Store and a Touchdown Terrace.

The stadium will be the centerpiece of UNT's Mean Green Village. In addition to hosting UNT events, it will serve the entire region as a venue for outdoor concerts, community events, high school games and band competitions.

Support from alumni and community members is vital to the future stadium.

“I've waited for years to build a new stadium for the Mean Green,” says Jordan Case (’81), chair of the volunteer committee raising private donations for the facility. “Thanks to the many donors who are making lead gifts and those who will join us in the coming months, our new stadium will be a spectacular demonstration of UNT’s commitment to first-rate athletics.”

UNT President Gretchen M. Bataille and Villarreal led the platform party in the ceremonial groundbreaking. Following the ceremony, the crowd joined fans at Fouts Field to watch the Mean Green take on Army. The victims of the shooting at Fort Hood also were remembered, and first-responders to the tragedy were honored at midfield during the playing of the national anthem.

To learn more about the stadium, visit www.unt.edu/stadium....

Bah, humbug! Economy may make retailers wish for Christmas of the past

The retail industry has been hit hard by the global economic slowdown, and will be looking to the holiday season for a much needed boost.

Terry Clower, left, director of the Center for Economic Research and Development, says that retailers will be anxiously watching consumer behavior over the next few weeks for signs of willingness to spend during the holiday season.

Weighing on retailers’ minds are forecasts that predict Christmas shopping profits will be 3 percent lower than last year, poor consumer confidence because of high unemployment, and a continuing trend of households paying down debt instead of spending.

Retailers began earlier than usual to attract consumers. Holiday décor and sale items appeared on Halloween in many stores. And many have reached back to the 1950s and 1960s for promotions that attract cash-strapped shoppers. “Early promotions are now the norm,” says David Strutton, right, professor of marketing.

Sears, Kmart, T.J. Maxx and other retailers now offer layaway plans, which are being marketed as alternatives to credit cards. But Strutton called layaway plans promotional ploys “aimed at enticing generally less-well-off people to obtain ‘stuff’ they likely do not need at all, or, at best, need only marginally, by allowing them to postpone payment until later.”

“In fact, many such customers may postpone payment forever,” Strutton says. “Layaway policies prevailed in the ‘50s and ‘60s, but the cultural and societal norms of the time were able to accommodate these policies because in those times, consumers were far less willing to overextend themselves financially and far more predisposed to pay off debts. Today, these cultural norms no longer prevail to the degree they did then.”

“This holiday shopping season could shape up to be a game of ‘chicken’ between retailers and shoppers,” says Clower. “Shoppers are going to expect bigger discounts as the holidays get closer, but retailers are saying that there will not be huge discounts because they are carrying less inventory this year. It’s a matter of who will flinch first.”

Without some unexpectedly good news about jobs or income growth, Bah, humbug! may be retailers’ view of Christmas 2009, says Clower.

(Interviews by Alyssa Yancey, News Promotions, University Relations, Communications and Marketing. Photo, the ghost of Jacob Marley, right, visits Ebeneezer Scrooge, in Dickens' A Christmas Carol, courtesy of The Gutenberg Project.)...

TAMS student Hu to compete for prestigious Siemens prize

Peter Hu, left, a student at the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science, will compete for the top prize in the prestigious National Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology Dec. 3-7.

Hu, 18, of Denton, was awarded the top prize at the regional competition in Austin for his work developing a biocompatible material that can be used to deliver protein drugs. Hu will compete against five other regional winners.

The Siemens Competition is the nation’s leading original research competition in math, science and technology for high school students. In 2008, TAMS student Wen Chyan won the top national prize for his work engineering new polymer coatings for biomedical devices that could prevent common, and sometimes deadly, bacterial infections resulting from hospital stays. Each student selected for the national finals receives a $3,000 scholarship. The top individual and top group in the finals will receive a $100,000 scholarship. Runners-up receive scholarships ranging from $10,000 to $50,000.

Both of Hu’s parents are physicists, which he said spurred his interest in science at a young age. Hu’s father is Zhibing Hu, Regents Professor of physics.

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Groundbreaking ceremony to begin stadium construction

A public groundbreaking ceremony for UNT’s new energy efficient football stadium complex, skydiving by the U.S. Military Academy’s Black Knights parachute team and Mean Green football versus Army are scheduled Nov. 21.

Groundbreaking will be at 11 a.m. on the stadium site east of the Athletics Center, formerly the Eagle Point Golf Course.

The stadium, rendering, right, will be a multi-purpose facility with capacity for about 30,000 fans, and it will be a venue for concerts, community events, high school games and band competitions. The stadium likely will be the nation’s first college venue to be Gold LEED certified, one of the highest levels of sustainable achievement.

• Learn more about the new stadium.
• Learn more about the Black Knights and their Nov. 20 practice jumps.
• Buy tickets to the game, Mean Green versus Army, 3 p.m. at Fouts Field, the final home game of the season.

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Code of Student Conduct revised, new Academic Itegrity policy written

Code of Student Conduct revised
The Code of Student Conduct, effective this fall, was revised to be more student friendly, applicable to UNT and less legalistic. It was rewritten to contain less legal jargon and has a more positive educational focus. The code was separated from academic integrity and includes a definition section. The revised code does a better job of describing the allegations of misconduct, sanctions, processes and procedures for students.

“Universities and the professional association of ASCA (formerly ASJA) Association for Student Conduct Administration are moving away from the legal or judicial aspect of university discipline to address the conduct of students,” says Maureen McGuinness, left, assistant vice president for Student Development. “Our focus is to be educational, not punitive.”

The new code of conduct was written by a committee, chaired by Renee Hebert, director of the Professional Leadership Program, representing many different areas of the university including: academics; information technology; student development; general counsel; university police; student government; and student representatives. The Model Code of Student Conduct by Edward Stoner was used by the committee to understand how a Code of Conduct needs to be written when addressing issues involving college students.

McGuinness says, “Our new conduct process will hopefully help alleviate some of the anxiety a student may experience and help them understand the university has a responsibility to address student behavior, but the ultimate goal is to educate our students.”

The Code of Student Conduct is upheld by the Center for Student Rights and Responsibilities. Faculty and staff can help inform students of the code by including the CSRR web site in their syllabi or referring students to the CSRR when appropriate.

New Academic Integrity policy
A new Student Standards of Academic Integrity policy was written to update and replace the previous academic dishonesty provisions of the Student Code of Conduct. Two overarching goals of the policy are to emphasize the importance of academic integrity among students and to place oversight responsibilities for student academic integrity issues in the academic branch of the university.

Issues of academic importance should be decided by faculty and the university’s academic authorities. The policy places responsibility over academic integrity on the shoulders of the faculty, department chairs, deans and the chief academic officer.

"Faculty should know their responsibilities under the new policy, including the responsibility to allow alleged policy offenders to remain in class until their cases are adjudicated and all appeal rights exhausted," says Bill McKee, right, academic integrity officer.

It was a collaborative effort of the Faculty Senate and the Provost’s Office. The Faculty Senate convened an ad hoc committee consisting of faculty, students and staff. The committee looked at numerous policies at universities across the country in an attempt to identify best practices that made sense for UNT.

There is an increased emphasis on academic integrity that will be promoted through training and other means for students and faculty. Under the policy, the faculty has primary authority over grades, with appeals of grade penalties going to the heads of academic departments. For major violations of the policy, the academic integrity officer has the authority to place students on probation, suspension and expulsion with appeals to the Academic Integrity Panel.

Academic honesty at UNT is taken seriously. An Academic Integrity Database was established that contains disciplinary outcomes and related records of students found in violation of the Student Standards of Academic Integrity, plus a history of involvement in training. Repeat offenders are handled accordingly.

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Holl named director of arts institute

Herbert Holl, who has 27 years of experience in community arts organizations and higher education, has been named director of the Institute for the Advancement of the Arts and UNT on the Square.

Holl will oversee the IAA, which launched this fall to support faculty members and professionals in the creative and performing arts. In addition, he will coordinate activities at UNT on the Square — a 2,400-square-foot building on Denton’s historic courthouse square — which will be used as the institute’s home and as a gathering place and exhibition space for the arts.

Most recently, Holl served as coordinator for the arts for Texas Woman’s University. Before that, he was executive director of the Greater Denton Arts Council between 1987 and 2005. He has also served as executive director for the Arts and Humanities Council of Tulsa and the Cultural Council of Victoria in Victoria, Texas. Holl began his career at the Texas Commission on the Arts, a state agency.

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Fun Fact: Black Knights with parachutes will land on Fouts Field

Black Knights will fall from the sky at the Mean Green’s final home football game Nov. 21 at Fouts Field. What are the Black Knights?

A. Free discs with a new computer game.
B. The West Point Parachute Team.
C. Candy provided by a Dallas manufacturer.
D. Firecrackers dropped by U.S. Navy fighter jets.

The correct answer is B, the West Pont Parachute team, right, which is scheduled to land, with the game ball, on Fouts Field before the 3 p.m. Mean Green versus Army football game.

The team is scheduled to practice landing, weather permitting, on the field from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. Nov. 20.

• Find a video of the Black Knights jumping at West Point on Veterans Day.
• Learn about 11 a.m. Nov. 21 groundbreaking ceremony for the new football stadium.
• Buy tickets to the game.

The team was founded in 1958 by Lt. Col. (Ret.) Henmar “Gabe” Gabriel. At the end of his plebe year at West Point, Cadet Gabriel, class of 1961, wrote the commanding general of the 82nd Airborne Division and asked for permission, as an ex-member of the division, to participate in parachute jumping and training for sky diving at Fort Bragg during his leave. His intent was to start a Cadet Sport Parachute Club.

Ten cadets formed the nucleus of the club, all airborne qualified. Non-commissioned officers assigned to West Point included many airborne soldiers who wanted to stay qualified to jump. So, a Sport Parachute Club was formed for all serving ranks.

To win a free UNT T-shirt gift pack, send an e-mail with the word “Army” in the subject line to inhouse@unt.edu by 5 p.m. Nov. 25. The winner will be selected at random from all e-mails received.

The Black Knights team is composed of 36 cadets from the United States Military Academy. Cadets join the team during their plebe, or first, year and train six days a week with coaches from West Point's Department of Military Instruction. The team competes at the national and collegiate level in several parachuting and skydiving disciplines, provides demonstrations for the academy and the surrounding community, and jumps the game ball into Michie Stadium for every Army home football game.

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Kennedy assassination photos on UNT's Portal to Texas History

A paperback copy of the novel 1984 was probably not an uncommon item in households in 1963, including the white, two-story home at 214 Neely St. in Dallas. But because that home was the boarding house of Lee Harvey Oswald, George Orwell's 1949 cautionary tale against totalitarianism was seized by Dallas Police Department officers as evidence on Nov. 22, 1963 – along with other items belonging to Oswald.

For the first time, photographs of these items and many other Dallas Police Department photos related to the investigation of President John F. Kennedy's assassination are now available for public viewing via a search engine, thanks to UNT Libraries' Portal to Texas History and the Dallas Municipal Archives. Left, police officers with Oswald.

The UNT Libraries' Digital Projects Unit, which manages the portal, recently received a Rescuing Texas History grant from the Summerlee Foundation to digitize 404 images taken by the Dallas Police Department during the week following Kennedy's assassination. The Dallas Municipal Archives, a division of the City of Dallas City Secretary's Office, possesses all of the original investigation files except for those that have been transferred permanently to the federal investigation collection held at the National Archives.

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Desktop computing support groups to merge

Over the next two to three months, desktop computing support groups within administrative (non-academic) divisions on the UNT campus will be merged into a single group that will report to the Vice President for Information Technology and CIO.

The consolidation of groups currently supporting desktops and servers in the administration offices (ABN), Student Development, Facilities, Fiscal Office, Business Services, Computer Information and Technology Center, and the Microcomputer Maintenance Shop will improve both staff and hardware utilization throughout those offices. Two different consulting groups have recommended such a change over the past three years and the consolidation represents best IT practices among national public universities.

The objectives of this merger are:
• Enhanced service. Although the current support staffs in the distributed units are doing a fine job of supporting their users, better services to users can be achieved by:
- increased efficiencies in operations achieved by close attention to service-level agreements and metrics that demonstrate the achievement of service objectives
- better utilization of support staff through geographical disbursement and specialization (e.g., dedicating staff to particular buildings on campus that are in proximity to each other or assigning Apple-savvy technicians to service Macintosh users)
- more efficient management of the servers, storage devices, and backup devices, which will be virtualized in a centrally-supported data center and free up technicians to work on desktop support.

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Congratulations to this week's InHouse prize winners

Congratulations to this week’s randomly selected winners who responded to last week’s InHouse prize giveaways.

• Mary Taylor, student assistant
• Lora Connaughton, customer service estimator , Printing Services
• Amy Gray, administrative assistant III, New Student & Student Success Programs
• John L. Baier, professor of higher education , Counseling and Higher Education
• Ginny Richards, team leader, Computing and Information Technology Center
• Marilyn Wiley, senior associate dean and professor, College of Business
• Larry S. Talley, untranet/share point, Computing and Information Technology Center
• Kathryn McCauley, lawyer/director, UNT Student Legal Services
• Marjorie Hayes, professor, Dance and Theatre
• Debra Khoury, accountant, Purchasing and Payment Services
• Pamela Milner, senior academic counselor, College of Business
• Denise Jeppson, academic advisor, College of Education
• Joyce Bellar, assistant director, Payment Services

Winners are randomly chosen from all responses. Prizes include UNT T-shirt gift packs and free tickets to concerts, sports and other campus activities that are generously provided by event sponsors and departments.

InHouse is the electronic newsletter that is always online and is regularly updated with news about events and strategic activities at UNT. The formatted version is emailed to faculty and staff each week, usually on Wednesdays. Click on headlines, which link to continuously updated postings, to find the complete article and its links to related information. Find occasional updates at www.twitter.com/InHouseUNT.

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Message from the President: Standards of Conduct still in place

Nov. 17, 2009

Dear UNT staff member,

This year, UNT is off to an incredible start. You may have heard that we recently made U.S. News & World Report’s “Top Up-and-Coming Schools” list, tying for ninth among public universities. We made this list, in part, because of our innovative changes across campus and our staff’s excellence.

Each of you played an important role in helping UNT earn this recognition. You are on the front lines, embodying our student-centered creed through your actions and making sure our students have the tools they need to succeed in college and in life. I am proud of the work you do and the knowledge and commitment you bring to UNT as a member of our university family.

With so many changes and advances taking place across campus, it is more important than ever to be mindful of our professional ethic and legal responsibilities. Every UNT staff member — regardless of job title, assignment, length of service, or sphere of influence — must adhere to and comply with applicable laws and policies set by UNT, its Board of Regents and the State of Texas.

Attached are standards of conduct guidelines. These guidelines do not replace any written policies or laws, however, they will serve as a point of reference for workplace conduct and expectations; make you aware of rules regarding such issues as conflict of interest, research and gifts; and help you find an applicable policy or appropriate point of contact for issues that arise.

Please take the time to review the guidelines and keep them on hand for future reference. If you have specific questions, I encourage you to speak with your supervisor or with the points-of-contacts in the offices and agencies listed below.

With green pride,
Gretchen M. Bataille
President...

Research may lead to improvements in manufacturing of glass

Zhibing Hu, left, Regents Professor of physics, helped develop a new and potentially better way to model the formation of glasses, a type of amorphous solid that includes common window glass.

Hu worked with a team of researchers from Harvard and Columbia on the findings, which are detailed in the November issue of Nature. The team was led by David Weitz of Harvard.

The research could lead to improvements in the design and manufacturing of high-performance glasses.

“The insight gained from this study can help us understand the origin of dynamic processes in glassy systems,” Hu says. “For example, we found that elastic energy plays an important role in glass formation, something that was not previously determined.”

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Aloha! Hula skills available during Staff Appreciation Week

Shaureece Park, Human Resources manager, in Human Resources, taught a hula class during Staff Appreciation Week. The Nov. 2-6 week included food and merchandise discounts, classes and awards (Photos by Vanessa Mendoza)

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Administrative Announcement: Upgrade to shut down some services of Enterprise Information System

Some portions of EIS, the university's Enterprise Information System, are being upgraded beginning at 5 p.m. on Nov. 20 and several services will be unavailable until Nov. 23. The myUNT portal (my.unt.edu) and the EIS Campus Solutions (myls.unt.edu) websites are affected by the upgrade.

Business processes accessed through these administrative applications will be out of service during this upgrade period. The myls.unt.edu website provides administrative functions in support of student administration, human resources, payroll, and advancement. The myUNT portal provides self-service capabilities for students, faculty and staff.

Services independent of myUNT, such as UNT eCampus, EagleConnect, EIS Financials (myfs.unt.edu), www.unt.edu, and Outlook webmail are not affected by the outage and will continue to be in service.

The shutdown of these services is required to complete the upgrade tasks and restore services by Monday. Many employees in the Computing and Information Technology Center, Student Services, Finance and Administration, and Advancement at UNT as well as their counterparts at UNTHSC will be working throughout the period to complete the upgrade.

We realize the shutdown of these services is an inconvenience and has some impact on UNT’s operations and we appreciate your understanding and flexibility while we improve the services to the campus.

For more information regarding the upgrade project, you may contact Cathy Gonzalez at cathy.gonzalez@unt.edu.

Maurice Leatherbury
Acting Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer
Leatherbury@unt.edu
940-565-3854

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Concert a tribute to long-time vocal studies professor

The Other Side of the World, A tribute choral concert for Frank McKinley, right, Professor Emeritus of music who helped build the vocal studies program,will be at 8 p.m. Nov. 17, in the Winspear Performance Hall of Murchison Performing Arts Center.

• Buy tickets: www.theMPAC.com or 940-369-7802.

Known by his students as “Mr. Mac,” McKinley led the A Cappella Choir for more than 30 years. During that time, he built one of the strongest choral departments in the nation. Under his direction, the choir repeatedly performed throughout the United States and Europe.

McKinley, who died Oct. 23, 2008, was professor of music from 1940 to 1947. Following service in World War II and a brief stint at Kentucky Wesleyan College, he rejoined the faculty in 1947. He continued teaching and conducting until retirement in 1980.
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Food, festival, exhibits highlight International Education Week

Food, a festival, movies and a debate are scheduled during International Education Week, an annual event sponsored by UNT-International.

International Education Week, a joint initiative of the U.S. Departments of State and Education, celebrates the benefits of international education and exchange. Programs prepare Americans for a global environment and attract students from other nations to study in the United States and exchange experiences with U.S. students. Left, Japanese calligraphy at the 2008 week.

• Learn more about the Ang Lee Film Festival.
• Enter to win a copy of Big Coal: The Dirty Secret Behind America’s Energy Future, the 2009-10 One Book, One Community selection. Send an e-mail to inhouse@unt.edu with “Debate” in the subject line by 5 p.m. Nov. 13. Winners will be selected at random from all responses. Coal and energy sources will be the subject for a debte at 3:30 p.m. Nov. 19 in the General Academic Building, Room 104.

Other scheduled events include:

Nov. 12, 3 to 5 p.m.
H1-B Seminar with Attorney David Swaim – Career Center, Chestnut Hall, Room 120 A-B. Co-sponsor: Tidwell, Swaim & Associates, P.C. and UNT Career Center

Nov. 14, 5 to 9 p.m.
Diwali Festival 2009, India Students Association, Auditorium Building; purchase tickets at orgs.unt.edu/isa or International Welcome Center, Information Services Building, Room 286. Diwali is the annual Hindu festival of lights, a harvest festival and a celebration of the triumph of good over evil. Find photos of Diwali celebrations around the world.

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Fundraiser Baronio named vice president for advancment

Nov. 10, 2009

Dear UNT community,

Today I am proud to announce that Lisa Birley Baronio, right, vice president for development at the University of Connecticut Foundation, will join UNT as Vice President for Advancement and Director of Development of the UNT Foundation. She will join our campus Jan. 4.

The appointment is the result of a nationwide search that began in April. Provost Wendy Wilkins led the broad-based 16-member search committee that interviewed and considered a number of top-rated candidates.

With more than 16 years of experience in higher education fundraising, Baronio will bring to UNT a wealth of leadership experience and personal accomplishment that includes growing the level of giving to individual colleges as well as entire universities. At UConn, she successfully developed the framework for operations and focused the UConn Foundation staff of development officers to achieve campaign goals in constituent-based development, planned giving and the annual fund.

She also has served as associate vice president for development at Wichita State University in Kansas and at the University of Nebraska Foundation as director of corporate relations and foundation relations where she helped raise $220 million in corporate and foundation support for Campaign Nebraska. Baronio holds an Executive Master’s of Business Administration from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and a B.A. and B.B.A from the University of Iowa.

As head of UNT’s fundraising operations, Baronio will oversee the university’s division of advancement and work closely with the UNT Foundation and UNT Alumni Association. Her leadership experience and proven track record will be a great complement to our future as we continue to grow as a national research university that is committed to providing a campus dedicated to excellent academics, arts and athletics. She will help us build strong partnerships with our alumni, community, corporate and other partners so that our momentum will only accelerate.
With green pride,
Gretchen M. Bataille
President

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Employees recognized for years or service

UNT is proud to recognize employees who reached a milestone in November. To learn more about the service recognition program, contact Beth Bates-Verges in Human Resources at 940-565-4817.

25 Years of Service
Zelma Isis Deleon, assistant director, Student Financial Aid and Scholarships
Beth Peel Leggieri, student services specialist, Mathematics Department
Susan Lynn Pierce, manager, Micro Maintenance/Classroom Support

20 Years of Service
Peter Lansing Fullinwider II, facilities manager, Facilities and Construction

10 Years of Service
Jeffery Scott Cochran, assistant director, College of Music
Martha L. Hall, accountant, Financial Reporting
Ailene Sue Horton, administrative specialist, Admissions
Edward E. Hueske, senior lecturer, Criminal Justice
Sheila M. McWilliams, administrative specialist, College of Business

Five Years of Service
Jeffrey Michael Arrington, police officer, Police, Parking and Transportation
Toni L. Bodine, student services specialist, College of Business Student Services
Danielle L. Bridges, student services specialist, Career Center
Paula Kay Davis, programmer analyst, Computing and Information Technology Center
Bradford Jason Dye, administrative specialist, Housing Administration
Lana F. Gee, administrative specialist, College of Visual Arts and Design
Joseph Albert Harrison, environmental health and safety coordinator, Risk Management Services
Michael Heredia, manager, Computing and Information Technology Center
Dustin L. Mayfield, student services representative, Admissions
Don Walton McClure, specialist, Computing and Information Technology Center
Susan L. Nayback, grounds maintenance worker, Facilities and Construction
Lance Eric Standifer, grounds maintenance worker, Facilities and Construction
James Chad Terrill, police officer, Police, Parking and Transportation
Chi Yang, postdoctoral research associate, Chemistry Department...

Congratulations to these InHouse prize winners

Congratulations to this week’s randomly selected winners who responded to last week’s InHouse prize giveaways.

• Jordan Smith, research compliance analyst, Office of Research Services
• Marie Bloechle ,electronic acquisitions librarian, UNT Libraries
• Lisa Ayala, accountant, Payroll
• Christina Spurgeon, accountant, Payroll
• Virginia Fisher, undergraduate academic advisor, College of Engineering
• Billi Gravely, DARS coordinator, Registrar
• Dana McBride-Sachs, billing and safety coordinator, Health and Wellness Center
• Mary Roby, accountant, Student Accounting and University Cashiering Services
• Mariya Gavrilova, graduate research assistant, Learning Technologies

Winners are randomly chosen from all responses. Prizes include UNT T-shirt gift packs and free tickets to concerts, sports and other campus activities that are generously provided by event sponsors and departments.

InHouse is the electronic newsletter that is always online and is regularly updated with news about events and strategic activities at UNT. The formatted version is emailed to faculty and staff each week, usually on Wednesdays. Click on headlines, which link to continuously updated postings, to find the complete article and its links to related information. Find occasional updates at www.twitter.com/InHouseUNT....

Morgan O'Donnell: Coordinator, Women's Studies Program

(Morgan O’Donnell is coordinator of the Women’s Studies Program. She’s also immersed in sustainability and green living, and dreams of writing science fiction. Women’s Studies monthly movie on Nov. 11 - Veterans Day - is Lioness, about a group of women in the U.S. Army involved in some of Iraq’s bloodiest battles. The film will be screened at 5:30 p.m. in Chilton Hall, Media Library.)

What is your title and department?
Coordinator of the Women’s Studies Program.

What was your first job?
I was a soldier in the U.S. Army. I started off as a motor vehicle operator, then moved into supply and finally was trained as a Russian linguist for military intelligence.

What is your educational background and past experiences?
I have an interdisciplinary master’s degree with an emphasis in women’s studies and a bachelor’s degree in English with an emphasis in professional writing. Besides serving in the U.S. Army, I have worked as a college field representative in Frankfurt, Germany, an office manager for psychologists, a public services librarian and a public relations coordinator for a boys’ ranch. I even drove a taxi one time for a few months!

What are the biggest issue facing women today? What can be done about it?
This is a difficult question because it depends on perspective. Women do not all face the same issues. For women in the Congo, it may be that rape as a tool of war is the most pressing issue. However, for Hispanic women in Texas it may be that a lack of affordable healthcare is at the top of their list. Still other women may feel that reproductive rights are the biggest issue facing women. My advice to anyone wanting to help women is to find one or two issues that really matter to you and then focus your energy on those. If domestic violence keeps you up at night, then educate yourself about it, volunteer at the local women’s shelter, talk to your friends, family, and coworkers about the issue, and write letters to the editor and your government representatives. Each person taking action, even small actions, can make a difference.

How do you define success?
Once, I would have defined success as becoming an officer in the Army and being attached to the Pentagon. After I was divorced and struggling to finish my bachelor’s, I would have defined success as financial security. Today, I would say that success for me is making progress towards my goal of living a sustainable life in all of its aspects, from leaving a lighter footprint on the Earth to securing a fulfilling, eco-friendly job to improving and maintaining my health.

How do you spend your free time?
I spend a good portion of my free time writing and blogging. Currently, I am a contributing writer for Green Gigs, a homegrown site helping people find green telecommuting jobs. I used to blog for GreenZoneOnline, a site focused on discussing environmental issues with a light-hearted and humorous approach. I like to write in a variety of genres and have published essays and poetry.

I also volunteer with Connemara Conservancy, a small nonprofit land trust dedicated to preserving and protecting open space and the natural beauty in North Texas. I serve on the outreach and fundraising committee and help with different projects.

I love to read. I typically read articles on writing, sustainability and workplace flexibility issues. I also love science fiction/fantasy novels. In fact, I have been reading and rereading Frank Herbert’s Dune for over 20 years.

Who are your heroes?
I really admire newspaper humor columnists Molly Ivins, who died in 2007, and Dave Barry for being able to use humor to explore serious topics.

What accomplishment are you most proud of?
When I first started working at the University of Texas at Dallas, I found that I really missed the camaraderie and support of my Toastmasters club, the North Texas Toastmasters. I pitched the idea of starting a club to my boss ... from there I organized an informational meeting, which ended up with standing room only. The people I met there were wonderful as well as enthusiastic and helped me negotiate the complexities of the administration’s rules.

What is your dream job?
I would love to work in an outreach or communications type of position focusing on sustainability, conservation and the environment, where I would create newsletters, write email blasts, blog, maintain the website and coordinate events. My alternate dream job is to go back in time and be one of the writers on the now defunct TV show Battlestar Galactica.

(Interview by Elizabeth Knighten, student assistant, University Relations, Communications and Marketing)

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