USM Public Affairs

ELIZABETH FISHER TURESKY, associate professor of leadership and organizational studies at LAC, co-authored the recently published the articles “Off the Rails: Understanding the Derailment of a Lean Manufacturing Initiative” and “Commentary on Ariens: A Lean Case Study” in the summer 2010  Organizational Management Journal” (Vol. 7, No. 2, pp.110-134 and 133-134).  Turesky and LEIGH MUNDHENK, associate professor and director of field experience at LAC, co-authored an article for the spring 2010 issue of Academic Leadership Journal (Vol. 8, No. 3), titled “Going Beyond Contemporary Leadership Development Practices: Assessing Leadership Using Cognitive Stage and Experiential Learning Theories.” Another of Turesky’s co-authored articles, “Kolbs Experiential Learning as a Critical Frame for Reflective Practice” was published in the same volume of Academic Leadership Journal.

The USM Alumni Association has come up with a way to provide one USM student with $6,000 for academic expenses while building up a scholarship fund for other students.

USM alumni are selling $10 tickets for the association’s first-ever tuition raffle. The winning ticket will provide a $6,000 payment to a student’s account for use in covering tuition, fees and other educational expenses. The $6,000 is the equivalent of the cost of 24 credit hours at the in-state, tuition rate for the 2011-2012 academic year.

Net proceeds over and above the $6,000 will benefit the Alumni Association Scholarship Fund, which awards up to six, $1,500 scholarships each spring.

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Photos courtesy of Vicki Beaver, Ocean Alliance & USM.

After spending months crisscrossing the Gulf of Mexico, faculty and student researchers on the one-of-a-kind USM and Ocean Alliance expedition now shift their focus to the lab where they will generate preliminary findings to determine the impact of the oil spill on whales and the ecosystem that supports them.

The team found little visible evidence of oil, but believes that the spill’s long-term toxic effects could be significant. (more…)

Thanks to a grant from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the University of Southern Maine and the University of Maine, in collaboration with seven partner institutions, will develop a strategy for a statewide, multi-type library program for managing, storing and preserving print collections, while expanding access to existing digital book collections through print-on-demand (POD) and other services. The “Maine Shared Collections Strategy” will also develop policies essential for the management of shared print and digital collections. Grant partners are Colby College, Bates College, Bowdoin College, Bangor Public Library, Portland Public Library, Maine State Library, and Maine InfoNet.
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Deborah Loughlin, administrative assistant and outreach for USM’s Art Department, had her personal story about being a veteran and how it informs her art showcased in the November 10 issue of Newsweek.

Read about Assistant Professor of Art Kelly Hrenko’s presentation on the use of birch bark by the Swedish and Ojibwe cultures in the Concordia College online newsletter.

On November 2, USM Chair and Professor of Political Science Ronald Schmidt provided a live analysis of the election on WMTW-TV Channel 8. (No link available.)

Read the November 4 Village Soup to find out about the USM publication “Words and Images,” which is celebrating its 41 year of publication, and accepting submissions.

Read the November 4 Seacoast Online article to learn about the new YCCC and USM partnership.  Also quoted in the article is USM alumna Maggie Guzman who is working at the new USM/YCCC office.

USM Professor of Music has teamed up with Ronald Lantz, of the Portland String Quartet, for a series of performances.  The upcoming performance at the Sanford-Springvale Historical Museum is discussed in the November 4 Foster’s Daily Democrat article.