NEWS BRIEFS: ‘ADVANCEing STEM Faculty’ topic for symposium

by Dave Jones
April 19, 2013

The annual Distinguished Women in Science Lecture Series, presented by the Consortium for Women and Research, is coming in the form of a half-day symposium this year, “ADVANCEing STEM Faculty at UC Davis,” with UC Davis ADVANCE as a co-sponsor.

ADVANCE, funded by the National Science Foundation, aims to boost the participation of women and underrepresented minorities, particularly Latinas, in academic STEM careers: science, technology.

The symposium is scheduled from 1 to 4 p.m. Thursday (April 25) in Ballroom A at the Activities and Recreation Center.

Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi, principal investigator for UC Davis ADVANCE, will give the keynote address: “Advancing STEM Research Through Diversity.” The program also includes two panels.

Read the complete story, including information on the panelists.

BloodSource ships 20 units to Boston

BloodSource, which conducts campus blood drives (including one earlier this week), has sent off 20 units of O-negative blood to the Rhode Island Blood Center to support its efforts to provide blood to three hospitals caring for victims of the Boston Marathon explosions.

“It might not always seem apparent, but you are each contributing to impacting hundreds if not thousands of lives,” said Brie Leon of BloodSource, in a message to the campus community after another successful blood drive.

The ASUCD-sponsored event, held Tuesday and Wednesday, brought in 1,064 pints. “I hope it puts a smile on your face to know that you have helped someone live another day with their loved ones," Leon said.

GIS pioneer to give campus talk

A geographic information system pioneer is due on campus next week to present recent and transformative changes to GIS technology. Jack Dangermond, founder of Esri, also will launch a pilot project with the arboretum to bring GIS tools and education to public gardens, parks and zoos worldwide.

Dangermond’s talk, free and open to the public, is scheduled from 3 to 4:30 p.m. Friday, April 26, in the Activities and Recreation Center Ballroom.

“If you’ve got a story to tell and you understand the power of location in telling that story, then this talk is for you,” the organizers said in a news release. “You will leave this engagement with ideas for communicating to your audience in ways you did not think were possible without a team of technical experts and data entry specialists, and that is just the beginning.”

To RSVP or for more information, contact Carrie Cloud, crcloud@ucdavis.edu.

Ownership change for SmartSite host

UC Davis technology officials said this week they do not expect any changes to SmartSite as a result of an ownership change for the SmartSite host.

SmartSite has been UC Davis’ main campus learning management system since 2007, hosted, up until recently, by the Sakai division of rSmart, an open-source software services company.

On April 11, rSmart announced that it had sold its Sakai learning management system to Asahi Net International, which has been an rSmart partner for several years. Asahi Net International and its parent company, Asahi Net Inc., provide technology services to educational institutions in Japan and worldwide.

UC Davis officials said they will meet this month with leadership of Asahi Net International to maintain the strong ties that the university had with rSmart.

Read the complete story in TechNews.

Shared Services Center brown bag: April 24

Another in a series of Shared Services Center brown bags for the center’s clients is scheduled from noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday (April 24) in Meeting Room D at the Student Community Center.

The agenda includes updates on the Shared Services Center and the End-to-End Administrative Business Improvement Process.

The next brown bag is scheduled from noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday, May 22, also in Meeting Room D at the Student Community Center.

Two brown bags have been scheduled for the summer — and both will be an hour earlier, from 11 a.m. to noon, to accommodate people who may not be able to attend during the lunch hour. Both of these meetings will be on Wednesdays, June 26 and Aug. 28, in Meeting Room D, Student Community Center. There will be no brown bag in July.