Northern News

What’s happening on campus and in the Northern Colorado community

New Leadership Education Program

A unique leadership program targeted at senior executives is being launched in Fall 2009 by the Monfort Institute (part of UNC’s Monfort College of Business). Courses in the Sustainable Transformation Program will be taught by role-model executives who led transformations at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co., Boeing and Clarke American, together with expert consultants and principals at the Institute.

“This series of non-credit workshops will help senior leaders design their own leadership systems and transform their organizations into sustainable enterprises, taking a triple bottom line approach (people, plant, profit),” said John Latham, director of the Monfort Institute. “Our research on high performingorganizations, along with years of experience in leading and advising on transformation initiatives, provides a solid base for a rich experience.”

In the “Architect,” the program’s five-day flagship offering, participants work on their own leadership and organizational challenges, define a real project to work on, and receive follow-up coaching after the course is completed from Monfort Institute facilitators and a personal board of advisors.

The second and third courses are two-day offerings taken after the flagship course, and will be facilitated in a summit meeting format. The “Pioneer” maps out a systematic approach to leading change and the “Steward” tackles the realities of “sustaining the gain” following change initiatives.

The flagship “Architect” course is being offered at the university’s Centerra facility in Loveland. The “Pioneer” and “Steward” will be offered at mountain locations in Colorado. For more information, visit www.monfortinstitute.org or call 970.351.2632.

Library of Congress Honors Teacher

Lisa Brose, an art teacher at Lopez Elementary in the Poudre School District in Fort Collins and frequent participant in local Teaching with Primary Resources workshops, offered through the University of Northern Colorado, was one of 12 educators in the country selected to develop exemplary lesson plans for the Library of Congress.

The lesson plans are for the online element of the Library of Congress Experience (LCE) website, known as myLOC.gov, which features tools and resources for teachers and students that enhance the interactive exhibitions at the library.

The Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Resources program works with universities and other education organizations to offer professional development that helps teachers use the library’s digitized primary source materials to cultivate their classroom instruction. The UNC-based program offers free professional development to Colorado educators, with priority of serving rural, outlying and small towns within the state. Primary sources are actual records that have survived from the past, like letters, photographs, articles of clothing and music..

UNC Faculty Awarded $600,000 in Grants

The University of Northern Colorado College of Education and Behavioral Sciences faculty have been awarded more than $600,000 in federal grants that will provide funding for two unrelated research studies. A U.S. Department of Education grant of $232,000 was awarded to UNC’s National Center on Severe and Sensory Disabilities for a project studying students with visual impairments. About 1,000 students will participate in the research in which the existing curriculum will be examined to help determine whether there is a relationship on postschool outcomes. Kay Ferrell, the center’s director and professor of special education, and Daniel Mundfrom, professor emeritus of applied statistics and research methods, will oversee the project.

In addition, a two-year $377,000 grant was awarded to Kristina Phillips, assistant professor of psychology, by The National Institute on Drug Abuse, a division of the National Institutes of Health. Phillips will lead a study to develop a drug abuse intervention to reduce viral and bacterial infections associated with injection drug use.

UNC Adds a Sixth College: University College

University College at UNC will give first-year and transfer students who have not declared a major their own college this fall by offering superior learning opportunities in the following areas: l First-Year and Transitional Student programs l Honors, Leadership, Undergraduate Research and Civic Engagement l Core and Interdisciplinary Studies

This new college includes more than 100 programs of study for undergraduates, including the Center for Honors, Scholars and Leadership, interdisciplinary studies including self-designed majors, academic support and advising, Liberal Arts Core classes, and new student orientation. The programs are designed specifically to support academic success and personal growth as many students transition into majors that are best suited for them.

The Liberal Arts Core will be housed in the University College in which students who are exploring a major will enroll in the “Exploring Liberal Arts” program where peers share a common set of curricular and co-curricular learning experiences.

Thomas Smith, PhD, is the assistant vice president of undergraduate studies and dean of University College. For more information, visit www.unco.edu/universitycollege.

Gov. Ritter Proclaims June 18 Little Theatre of the Rockies Day in Colorado

Gov. Bill Ritter sent a proclamation declaring June 18 as Little Theatre of the Rockies Day in Colorado.

The Little Theatre of the Rockies (LTR) was founded as a summer company in 1934 during the depths of the Depression by then-Colorado State College president George Frasier and the company’s first director, Helen Langworthy. LTR is one of Colorado’s longeststanding and most active theater companies.

LTR produces five shows during its annual summer ensemble. It mixes students with nationally known guest performers and has been cited as a national model for educational stock. LTR has continued to provide students with pre-professional work in performing, education, technical theatre and production areas.

Professor Wins George C. Pimentel Award in Chemical Education

Henry W. Heikkinen has had an impact on teachers and students from grade school to the university level. His work continues to inspire science education internationally. For his contributions, Heikkinen received the 2009 George C. Pimentel Award in Chemical Education from the Ameican Chemical Society. Heikkinen, 73, is a professor emeritus at the University of Northern Colorado where he was a professor of chemistry from 1987-2001. His work in chemistry education focuses on curriculum design and evaluation, student understanding, problem-solving, and conceptual change. He is the chief editor of the ACS high school textbook, “Chemistry in the Community,” a text used by more than 2 million students and teachers in high schools. The book, first issued in 1988, is now in its fifth edition, was adapted for use in Russia and has been translated into Spanish and Japanese.

Heikkinen received a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Yale in 1956. He returned to school to earn a master’s degree in science education from Columbia University in 1962 and a PhD in chemical education from the University of Maryland in 1973. His first teaching job was at Richfield High School in Minnesota where he taught chemistry and physics from 1962-69.

He then became a full-time faculty member at the University of Maryland in 1973 and later joined the University of Northern Colorado in 1986. Heikkinen helped establish UNC’s nationally recognized PhD program in chemical education. During his career, he served on research committees of more than 50 doctoral and master’s level students.

Along with receiving the George C. Pimentel Award, Heikkinen recently received an honorary doctorate from the University of Helsinki for his leadership in international science education reform. He also received the Winchester Distinguished Scholar Award from UNC and the Leo Schubert Award for Excellence in University Teaching from the Washington Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C.