Thursday's Notes

1. Announcements:

• The Center for Innovative and Engaged Learning Opportunities (CIELO) is requesting proposals for funding four types of grants during the 2006-2007 academic year: Faculty Curriculum Development Grants, Service-Learning Scholar Grants for Student Assistants, General Education/Liberal Studies Course Development Grants, and MOSAIC Mentoring Mini-Grants. Instructions and application forms have been placed in faculty members’ mailboxes. The deadline for submitting applications is Monday, May 8, 2006.
• CIELO will sponsor a mini-conference on Academic Freedom from 3 to 5:30 p.m. on April 18, 19, and 20 (Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday), in the Special Events Room of the Sierra Center. On Thursday, April 20, Ian Barnard will participate on the panel “Teaching and Learning Freely.”
• The Graduate Reading Series will feature Vanessa Bishop, Shayda Kafai, Rick Kilpatrick, and Dustin Lehren on Saturday, April 15, from 7 to 9 p.m., in CSUN’s Noski Auditorium (located at the corner of Etiwanda Avenue and Plummer Street). Light refreshments will be served. Address questions and comments to Kelan Koning at kelan.koning@csun.edu or to Ryan Skinnell at ryan.skinnell@csun.edu.

2. Reminders:

• Dr. William Watkins has requested that faculty members publicize the 2006 Outstanding Graduating Senior Award, to be given to four students “based on academic excellence, campus and community service, and exceptional achievements or personal life circumstances that have been overcome.” The application deadline is Monday, April 17.
• Michael Bryant’s M.F.A. reading will be held on Wednesday, April 19, from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m., in JR 319. The reading will be presented in conjunction with the Graduate Reading Series and the English Department’s Brown Bag Series. Refreshments will be provided.
• The Office of Undergraduate Studies is announcing its search for a tenured or tenure-track faculty member who is interested in becoming Director of Faculty Development. The position carries 9 units of reassigned time each semester. Interested faculty members should send a letter of interest and a CV to Cynthia Rawitch, Associate Vice President of Undergraduate Studies, by the application deadline—Monday, April 24.
• On Saturday, April 29, 2006, CSUN will host a Spring Composition Conference. Featured presenters will be Chris Anson, Sue McLeod, and Les Perelman, with a response from Carol Jago. Presentations will be followed by breakout sessions. Registration information is available online at http://www.compositionconference.com. For additional information, contact Irene Clark at irene.clark@csun.edu.

3. Faculty/Student Achievements:

• Cheryl Spector has been appointed CSUN’s Director of Academic First Year Experiences. She will have an office in CIELO while continuing to teach in the English Department.
• Kimberly Young, in addition to having been accepted into Bennington College’s M.F.A. program, has been awarded Bennington’s Jane Kenyon scholarship.
• Michael Podolny, a TA in our department,has been accepted into the Ph.D. program in English at the University of California, Riverside.
• Irene Clark participated on the National Advanced Placement Language committee on March 31 and April 1 and 2. As a member of the committee, Irene was helping to develop materials for Advanced Placement examinations in language.

4. New Items in the Thursday’s Notes file (ST 708) or on Bulletin Board (Outside 710)

Competitions and Fellowships

• Robert Chianese is recruiting faculty members to apply for a 2007-2008 Fulbright Scholar award. Information about the awards and the application process is available online at http://www.cies.org. Bob can be contacted at robert.chianese@csun.edu.
• The Academy of American Poets Prize Competition is accepting submissions for a 2006 award. The winner will receive a cash prize and publication in The Northridge Review. Two Honorable Mentions will also be awarded. Students should submit duplicate copies of from one to three poems to the English Department Office by Wednesday, April 19. For additional information, contact Dorothy Barresi at dorothy.barresi@csun.edu or Leilani Hall at leilani.hall@csun.edu.

Lectures and Other Events

• On April 11, Dr. Linda Lederman, Professor of Health and Human Communication at Arizona State, will speak on “Senior Citizens and Alcoholism.” Dr. Lederman is Emerita Professor from Rutgers University and author of Changing the Culture of College Drinking. Dr. Lederman will speak at 2 p.m. in the University Club.
• As part of its Spring Program, the Department of Chicana/o Studies will screen the documentary Hey, Pancho on Tuesday, April 18, at 5 p.m., in the Presentation Room in Oviatt Library. For additional information, contact Roberta Orona-Cordova at roberta.orona@csun.edu.
• On April 19, children’s book illustrator Susan Guevara will give a presentation from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. in the Presentation Room of the Oviatt Library. Her appearance is being sponsored, in part, by the Distinguished Speakers’ Program and the Department of English.
• Online Instruction and Faculty Development is sponsoring two sessions on the topic “The Plague of Plagiarism: Its Scope, Damage, and Cure.” One session will be on Friday, April 21, from 12 to 1:30 p.m., and the other session on Tuesday, April 25, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Both sessions are scheduled for the Whitsett Room (SH 451). Make reservations by contacting Donna Brooks at extension 6656 or donna.brooks@csun.edu.
• On Tuesday, April 25, from 2 to 4:45 p.m., the departments of Communication Studies and Deaf Studies, in cooperation with Faculty Development, will present a graduate project titled “I Want My Deaf Students to Succeed.” The graduate student/interpreter will be Jollen Gibbs. The event is scheduled for the Multi-Purpose Room at the National Center on Deafness. Make reservations by contacting Jollen at Jollen.gibbs.872@csun.edu.

Jobs and Opportunities

• The Department of Business Law at CSUN is announcing anticipated part-time faculty positions to teach Business Communications (Business 105) during the 2006-2007 academic year. The application deadline for the academic year is April 21; the application deadline for the Spring 2007 semester only is October 27. Inquiries and applications should be addressed to Kurt Saunders, Chair, Department of Business Law, CSUN.
• The Department of English at California State University, Bakersfield, is looking to hire two full-time lecturers for Fall 2006—one lecturer in linguistics and the other lecturer in Renaissance non-dramatic literature and a secondary field, preferably Restoration and eighteenth-century English literature. A Ph.D. is required at the time of appointment for both positions. Applications should be received by April 30, 2006. Advertisements for the two positions are posted on a bulletin board outside ST 712.

Compiled by Patricia D. Watkins, Associate Chair