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INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
Why it’s not always a bad thing to have a crush on your professor.
Lakers play Notre Dame College in first home game of the year.
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SPORTS I B1 T H U R S DAY, S E P T E M B E R 6 , 2 01 2
UAS looks on past success, future improvement By Lizzy Balboa GVL News Editor
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rand Valley State University relies on a number of councils that work to make sure the campus runs smoothly and remains up-to-date. One of these assemblies is the University Academic Senate, which involves administrators and faculty representatives from departments around campus who wish to have a voice in the future of the university. During the 2011-2012 school year, the UAS celebrated a number of achievements, including the establishment of a religious studies program, recommendation to the Provost to accept the General Education program, cancellation of classes on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and reduction of the number of personnel reviews professors must undergo before being considered for tenure. “I’ve heard from many individuals (students, faculty,
and deans alike) that last year was a very productive year for us in terms of making impactful recommendations to the provost which allows our university to grow and become an even better place to learn and work,” said Figen Mekik, UAS chair. Mekik added that the UAS worked effectively as a group and experienced minimal inner-group conflict, and her vice chair, Cory DiCarlo, agreed. “There were many times that people were on either side of an issue, but that is expected and beneficial,” DiCarlo said. “Even though we all have ideas as different as the subjects we individually teach, the overarching goal of the senate is to continue to shape a university dedicated to providing the best possible education for the students who attend. Every decision starts and ends with this criteria.” Although they said group maintenance is hardly an issue, the vice chair said the UAS will experience some
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Slugger: Figen Mikek, chair of the University Academic Senate at GVSU, stands in front of her book collection in her office. Mekik said that although UAS accomplished a lot in the past year, there is still room for improvement this coming year.
internal changes to work more efficiently. One adjustment for the new year is a transition to include more online evaluation of UAS documents requiring multi-group reviews. The
online process will allow for more streamlined editing and revision by groups within the senate, thereby providing the council more time to address more important issues. These topics include the
possibility of a fall break similar to ‘spring break,’ which was brought to the UAS by the Student Senate and would put GVSU in line with many other public institutions; the review of new program pro-
posals, like an LGBTQ minor and new health science program; and the possible revision of Advanced Placement score levels. SEE UAS, A3
I.T. updates servicBy Rachel Cross GVL Staff Writer
The Information Technology department at Grand Valley State University has been implementing new changes to services, starting with the end of July, when IT changed it’s anti-spam solution program from Proofpoint to Microsoft Forefront Online Protection for Exchange for faculty and staff. This new program will limit incoming e-mail messages from outside GVSU to 100 megabytes, and a quarantine message will be sent out daily.
This quarantine message notifies faculty if the system recognizes an email as spam or not, and the staff can then determine if they want it to be moved to their junk folder. Bill Fisher, associate director for technical services, promoted the switch to Forefront, at no cost, from a previous three-year Microsoft agreement that Fisher said totaled at $48,000. “Before switching to Forefront, we were paying quite a bit for Proofpoint,” Fisher said. “It made sense to
integrate this program because it already came with our campus use agreement.” Sue Korzinek, director of IT, was another key-player in the university’s switch to Forefront. “GVSU students will benefit from this change because we are continuing to budget resources to allocate money by reviewing products we use,” Korzinek said. “It’s a fiscally SEE I.T., A3
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Warm welcome: President Thomas J. Haas speaks with members of GVSU’s Graduate Student Association at the DeVos Hall University Club Wednesday.
HAAS WELCOMES GRAD CLUB BY SARAH HILLENBRAND GVL STAFF WRITER
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JESSICA HOLLENBECK | GVL
Automatic updates: Students Adam Terwilliger, Rachel Gregg and Melanie Reed work in the Niemeyer computer lab.
he Graduate Student Association at Grand Valley State University puts on many different events throughout the year to get both new and returning graduate students to feel more welcome and connected to campus and their peers. At their first event of the year, GSA brought in President Thomas J. Haas to their weekly Wednesday night meetings at the DeVos Center’s University Club. The event gave members of GSA the chance to hear Haas speak in a more informal manner and allowed them the opportunity to ask questions. “The purpose of GSA is to build a graduate community,” said Austin Dean, GSA president.
“There is a lot of emphasis on undergraduate students, but graduate students need that too, and we forget that sometimes.” During his talk with GSA, Haas said there are almost 900 new graduate students at GVSU this year, including more full-time graduate students than there were in past years. “We want to help you reach for a goal, but also help you connect with each other and staff,” Haas said. With GVSU adding more new buildings and increasing space, Haas said he wants to make the graduate programs grow even more. “I would like it to grow by 1,000 students in the next five years in full time programs, but it comes down to additional space,” he said. “I want to reach out and SEE GSA, A3
CAMPUS
LIFE NIGHT
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