Inside Gustavus April 15, 2010 | Volume 42, Number 28

President's Cabinet Summary

The President’s Cabinet met on April 13 and discussed the following items:

• Dr. Leila Brammer (comm. studies) shared a brief Faculty Senate update that work on the academic strategic plan and changes to the faculty handbook are proceeding on schedule and will be presented to the Board of Trustees for its review at the Board's April meeting, and that tenured faculty are currently considering membership on a number of faculty committees for the coming academic year.
• Members reviewed the agenda for this week’s Board of Trustees meeting, including the groundbreaking ceremony for the new academic building at 3:30 p.m. on April 16, as well as the scheduled 23rd annual convention of the Gustavus Adolphus College Association of Congregations on campus this Saturday, April 17. The work of the Governance Task Force related to the Board organizational structure will be reviewed.
• The Cabinet approved an Athletics replacement position following the announcement of soccer coach Larry Zelenz’s resignation.
• The Cabinet approved the hiring of two replacement positions in Financial Aid, one due to a recent resignation and the other granting permission to reopen a search that was suspended last year.
• The Cabinet discussed the College’s graphic design needs.
• Discussion points were introduced regarding the College’s policies on technology and harassment, and the Cabinet made plans to review those policies in coming months.

News & Announcements

Community Invited to Groundbreaking... On Friday, April 16, at 3:30 p.m., Gustavus Adolphus College will hold a ceremonial groundbreaking at the future site of a new state-of-the-art 125,000-square-foot academic building to be built just west of Christ Chapel. Construction will begin on the building this spring, and it is expected that it will be ready to serve Gustavus students and faculty by September 2011. The new academic building, which will house the Departments of Communication Studies, Economics and Management, History, Psychology, and Sociology and Anthropology, is one component of a $44 million commitment made by the College’s Board of Trustees in January to move forward with three major building projects. Also included in the plan is the development of a west mall extending from Christ Chapel and a major renovation of the Anderson Social Science Building.

Enrollment VP Search Update... The Vice President for Enrollment Management Search Committee met four times since the last update. Members reviewed candidate materials and narrowed the candidate pool to a manageable number. The Committee conducted preliminary telephone interviews and will be inviting candidates to visit campus within a few weeks. Prior to their campus visits, candidate materials will be available to the campus community, and a schedule of meetings with members of the community will be developed.

Carlson Award Nominations Sought... The Provost's Office invites all members of the Gustavus community to nominate a faculty member for the Edgar M. Carlson Award for Distinguished Teaching. Nominations are due on April 15, 2010.

Partnering with the United Way... Gustavus partners with the United Way of St. Peter by sponsoring a student-led online auction. Gustavus students have organized and are promoting the auction, to begin Tuesday, April 20 (at noon) and run until Friday, April 23 (at noon). You can go online at gustavus.edu/groups/unitedway/ and support the event by bidding on your favorite item beginning on Tuesday, April 20. The United Way of St. Peter helps to support 17 local non-profit agencies, including Little Saints Preschool, Habitat for Humanity, and the Gustavus Big Partners, Little Partners. For more information, contact Hannah Nordell at hnordell@gustavus.edu or Maria Jeremiason at mjeremiason@gmail.com.

Plant Sale... Give a plant a home this Earth Week. Stop by the greenhouse on the third floor of Nobel Hall on Tuesday, April 20, between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. to purchase a plant. Orchids, aloes, and cacti are just some of the many unique and colorful plants to choose from.

Faculty and Administrator Service to Be Honored... The annual Faculty and Administrator Service Awards dinner will be held on Thursday, May 20, in Alumni Hall, beginning with a social hour at 5 p.m. followed by dinner at 6 p.m. The College and the Gustavus Alumni Association will recognize 2010 retirees and the commitment of faculty and administrators who have served the College 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, and 45 years. Cost for the dinner is $10 per person. All are welcome to attend. You can register online now at https://secure2.gac.edu/ecommerce/148 or contact the Office of Alumni Relations at x7511 by Friday, May 14. Individuals celebrating milestone anniversaries of service are listed below. If you are aware of any who may have been left off this list, please contact the Office of Alumni Relations at x7511.

• 10 Years
  - Rebecca Fremo
  - Jon Janzen
  - Brian Koeneman
  - Michele Koomen
  - Jane Lalim
  - Jillian Locke
  - Thomas LoFaro
  - Brett Peterson
  - Michelle Twait
  - Barbara Zust
• 15 Years
  - Jennifer Ackil
  - Greg Aune
  - Heidi Carlson
  - Kari Eckheart
  - Cindy Johnson
  - Terry Morrow
• 20 Years
  - Florence Amamoto
  - Eric Carlson
  - Laurie Dietrich
  - Max Hailperin
  - Alan Meier
  - Christine Sutton
  - Stacia Vogel
  - Phil Voight
  - Steve Wright
• 25 years
  - Richard Aune
  - Charles Niederriter
  - Brian O'Brien
  - Randall Stuckey
• 30 Years
  - George Georgacarakos
  - Bob Neuman
  - Ron Timmerman
  - Karen Zins
• 35 Years
  - Joel Jackson
• 40 Years
  - Barbara Simpson
  - Dick Martin
• 45 Years
  - Horst Ludwig
  - Bruce McClain
• Retirees
  - Mark Anderson
  - Will Freiert
  - Roland Thorstensson

Belle Plaine CSA Project Seeks Shareholders... Gullywash Gardens, a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) in Belle Plaine, is seeking additional shareholders for pick-up at the St. Peter Co-op. Full vegetable shares arrive weekly for $520 and half-shares arrive biweekly for $355. For more information, please contact Joe Lencioni at joe@gustavus.edu.

Campus Happenings

Chapel Schedule... All are invited to the worship services at 10 a.m. weekdays and 10:30 a.m. Sundays in Christ Chapel. The upcoming schedule is as follows.

• Friday, April 16 - Service of Recognition for Tenured Faculty
• Sunday, April 18 - Chaplain Brian Johnson
• Monday, April 19 - Taizé
• Tuesday, April 20 - Jon Carlson (athletics)
• Wednesday, April 21 - Morning Praise
• Thursday, April 22 - Steve Bennett (student affairs)
• Friday, April 23 - Chad Fothergill (music/chaplains' office)

Newly Tenured Faculty Recognized... Four faculty members who were recently tenured and will be promoted to associate professors effective for the Fall 2010 semester will be honored during the chapel celebration tomorrow (Friday, April 16). The honorees are Brenda Kelly (biology & chemistry), Michele Koomen (education), Karl Larson (HES), and San Skulrattanakulchai (MCS).

Mankato Children's Chorus Performs on Campus... The Mankato Children's Chorus Spring Concert, "Garden of Music - Where the Music Begins," will be presented on Sunday, April 18, at 3 p.m. in Christ Chapel. Sunday's performance will feature all 5 choirs of MCC and over 200 singers from the greater Mankato area. Tickets are $10 for adults and $7 for senior citizens and students 18 and under and will be available at the door.

'Farming Forward' Returns... Back by popular demand, Farming Forward, the sustainable farming documentary produced by Martin Lang (communication studies) and sophomore Ethan Marxhausen, will play again on Monday, April 19, at 7 p.m. in Confer 128. If you missed it in March at the Treaty Site History Center, this is your chance to catch it. The film runs about an hour; Q&A to follow for those interested.

Gustavus Oratorio Festival Set for Tuesday... The 2010 Gustavus Oratorio Festival is slated for Tuesday, April 20. The festival, sponsored by the Department of Music, brings high schools choirs from around the region to campus for a day of choral study and performance. The festival provides an opportunity to study choral music at the college level and to participate in the Festival Concert, presenting choral masterworks with a full symphonic orchestra. The Festival Concert begins at 7 p.m. in Christ Chapel.

Arabian Nights Come to Gustavus... The spring 2010 mainstage production of the Department of Theatre and Dance, The Arabian Nights, directed by Henry MacCarthy (theatre & dance), opens Thursday, April 22, and runs through April 25 in Anderson Theatre. Playwright Mary Zimmerman’s adaption of One Thousand and One Nights, has been heralded as a “celebration of the salutatory powers of storytelling." This world of ancient (and not so ancient) Persia—complete with six tons of sand—will be presented starting at 8 p.m. on April 22, 23, and 24 and at 2 p.m. on April 25. Order tickets online at gustavustickets.com or call the ticket center at 507-933-7590.

Celebrate Earth Week... Come celebrate Earth Week in the Linnaeus Arboretum! During the lunch hours of Wednesday, April 21, through Friday, April 23, you can take part in a variety of events that are part of the Arboretum's biennial Trees For Heart, Mind and Spirit, including an "Arb Fun Run," the opening of the Interpretive Center's new wood artwork exhibition, Qi Gong lessons, and a performance by members of the Vasa Wind Orchestra. For a complete list of Trees for Heart, Mind, and Spirit events, visit gustavus.edu/arboretum/arborweek. And stop by the Interpretive Center anytime between 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. on those three days to pick up your free tree sapling!

Lunch & Learn... "Legal Documents" is the title of a luncheon seminar being held twice on Thursday, April 22—at 11:30 a.m. or 12:30 p.m.—in the Jackson Campus Center Banquet Room. Do you know what legal documents you need to have in place to protect yourself and your family? Stacey Edwards Jones, attorney at law, will discuss key elements of estate planning, including wills, health care directives, and powers of attorney. Stacey will also discuss how to utilize trusts and other helpful tools to avoid probate. To register, please call or e-mail Kari Eckheart at x6416 or keckhear@gustavus.edu. Participants may come with their own lunch or go through the buffet line for $5.

A Conversation on High-Risk Drinking... Jeff Stocco (dean of students) invites all members of the Gustavus community to a conversation on high-risk drinking Thursday, April 22, 5:30-7 p.m., in Heritage Room, C. Charles Jackson Campus Center. Several incidents this year involving alcohol point to the dangers of excessive alcohol consumption. A brief introduction and information session will be followed by small-group discussions, guided by a series of questions that address the extent of the issue, what is currently being done, and what more needs to be done, as well as suggestions for continued conversation. To make it as easy as possible for community members to attend, a light meal will be served. Your active engagement is critical to the success of the College's efforts to address this issue. To facilitate our planning, please send an e-mail to dos@gustavus.edu to express your willingness to participate.

Faculty Shop Talk... Seán Easton (classics) will present the next Faculty Shop Talk of the 2009-10 academic year. His talk, titled "Ancient Greece in U.S. Popular and Political Culture during the Second Gulf War," will be presented on Friday, April 23, at 4:30 p.m. in the Interpretive Center. Feel free to arrive any time after 4:15 p.m. The abstract for this and future talks may be viewed at the shoptalks website.

Choir of Christ Chapel Presents Home Concert... The Choir of Christ Chapel, conducted by Patricia Kazarow (music), will present its home concert on Friday April 23, at 7:30 p.m. in Christ Chapel. The concert comes on the heels of the ensemble's four-day tour in the Phoenix-Tucson area on April 15-18, during which the choir performed worship music themed "within the circle of our lives." The home concert is open to the public without charge.

'Imagining Peace'... Imaging Peace” is the topic of the 30th annual MAYDAY! Peace Conference, to be held Wednesday, April 28, on the campus. Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer, assistant professor of justice and peace studies at the University of St. Thomas and a nationally recognized writer, public speaker, and activist committed to nonviolent social change, will open the daylong conference at 10 a.m. in Christ Chapel. The afternoon schedule includes an audience-participatory World PeaceGame simulation workshop. The conference is open to the public at no charge. For more information, contact the Office of Marketing and Communication by calling 507-933-7520, or visit gustavus.edu/events/mayday/.    

Off-Campus Events of Interest

Spiritual Practices Study Group Meets... The Spiritual Practices Study Group will continue to meet after Lent on third Thursday evenings at 7 p.m. in the Pioneer Parlor of First Lutheran Church. This group, initiated by Patricia N. Freiert (classics, emerita) and Liz Power Hawkinson, is studying practices in various traditions that have nurtured and enriched spiritual life and opened doorways to the divine and a deeper faith throughout history. The study group's next book, The Sonic Thread by Cynthia Snodgrass, tells of her spiritual journey through music. The author, an Episcopalian priest who uses music from Eastern and Western traditions for healing in her hospice ministry, recounts the stories of her own spiritual journey as a musician and Christian and the results of her studies of music in major spiritual traditions throughout history. More information about her work is available at her website. The plan is to read the first two chapters prior to the next meeting, which is tonight (April 15). Copies are available from the website, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble, and a copy in the church library is anticipated. Read the first two chapters and join the group.

Reservations Due for GLA Author Day... Gustavus Library Associates welcomes Sue Leaf, Class of 1975 and author of The Bullhead Queen: A Year on Pioneer Lake, as guest speaker for its Spring Author Day on Wednesday, April 21, at the Edina Country Club. Leaf will read from her collection of engaging meditations and share her insights on the intersection of nature and faith in her life. Make reservations online at gustavustickets.com by Friday, April 16, or by calling the Office of Marketing and Communication at 507-933-7550.

George Saunders at the Fitzgerald... Jill Locke (political science) has 50 free tickets to give away to the George Saunders show at the Fitzgerald Theater (in St. Paul) on Thursday, April 29, at 8 p.m. The Saunders show is part of Minnesota Public Radio's "Wits" program. The geophysical engineer-turned-writer George Saunders is author of the essay collection The Braindead Megaphone, among other books. The Syracuse University creative writing professor is a frequent contributor to The New Yorker, GQ, McSweeney's, and Harper's. From soil engineer to convenience store employee to award-winning writer, George has a vast store of experience to draw from when he talks about hard work. Authors Chuck Klosterman and Amy Sedaris will join us by phone to labor over the question as well. More information about the program may be found at MPR's website, and more information about Saunders is available at www.georgesaundersland.com. Call Jill at x6226 for tickets.

Obituaries

• Donald Johnson, father of Chris Johnson (CVR), passed away Saturday, April 3, in Litchfield, Minn. Funeral services were held Wednesday, April 7, at Beckville Lutheran Church in rural Litchfield.

To inform the campus community of the death of a current student, employee, or trustee; an emeritus professor or trustee; or an immediate family member of a current employee, contact the Office of the President (x7538 or pleagjel@gustavus.edu). Death announcements and funeral notices for students, current and emeritus faculty and employees, and trustees will be sent to the community via written notice from the president, posted on community-l, the official campus-wide e-mail list, and published in the Inside Gustavus or Summer Scoop. Notices for immediate family members of current employees will be published in the Inside Gustavus or the Summer Scoop unless they occur during a publication break, in which case they will be posted on employee-l.

Congregational Outreach

Partners in Education... Presenters for this week include xx. Partners in Education is a program coordinated by the Office of Church Relations in which participating faculty and staff members prepare topical presentations for adult forums, workshops, and seminars in congregations of the ELCA.

Association of Congregations' Annual Convention... This Saturday, April 17, the Office of Church Relations will host the 23rd annual Gustavus Adolphus College Association of Congregations convention on campus. This convention provides enriching learning and fellowship experiences for pastors and delegates from the 546 ELCA congregations from the region and across the country that are members of the College's Association of Congregations. The morning worship service at 9:30 a.m. in Christ Chapel will feature the Reverend Stanley Olson as homilist and will include music by the Gustavus Choir and the Christ Chapel Bells. The keynote address, "Building Agreement and Strategies for Spiritual Discernment in Community," by Pat Taylor Ellison, managing director of research and development at Church Innovations in St. Paul, Minn., will follow at 11 a.m. At the noon luncheon, the Rev. Terry Morehouse will receive the Association’s Covenant Award, which is given annually to an individual who has made distinctive contributions toward strengthening the partnership between Gustavus and member congregations. The afternoon will be devoted to discussion designed to help congregations transform conflict into a vehicle of positive change. The schedule for the day is as follows:

• 8:30 a.m. - Registration and Coffee, Jackson Campus Center (lower level)
• 9:30 a.m. - Morning Worship, Christ Chapel
• 10:10 a.m. - Welcome and GACAC Business Meeting, Christ Chapel
• 11 a.m. - Keynote Address by Pat Taylor Ellison, Christ Chapel
• Noon - Luncheon and Covenant Award Presentation, Alumni Hall, Johnson Student Union
• 1:30 p.m. - Discussion Groups, Jackson Campus Center
• 2:45 p.m. - Closing Session by Pat Taylor Ellison, Jackson Campus Center
• 3 p.m. - Closing Reception, Johnson Student Union

For more information, or to pre-register for the day, visit gustavus.edu/churchrelations or contact Marilyn Beyer in the Office of Church Relations at 507-933-7001 or mbeyer@gustavus.edu.

Student Leadership Day on Campus... The second annual Student Leadership day, hosted by the Office of Church Relations, will be held at Gustavus on Saturday, April 17. Student Leadership Day is an opportunity for youth directors and pastors to bring their talented youth to Gustavus for a day of learning and fun in order to further their education about being leaders in their churches. The day will include worship and a keynote address by Tiger McLuen, from Youth Leadership, a company designed to promote leadership in the churches. Also included in the day will be time for small-group reflection to brainstorm ways to apply their newly gained leadership knowledge to growing a vibrant youth ministry at their churches. Registration will take place at 8:30 a.m. in the Jackson Campus Center, and leadership day activities will commence at 9:30 a.m. in the Dive, lasting until 3:30 p.m. For more information, contact Jerod Freeberg, church relations intern, at 507-933-7073 or jfreeber@gustavus.edu.

Plugs

Looking to Rent... Athena Owen Kildegaard '83 would like to rent a space in St. Peter for three weeks, ideally the last week in May and the first two weeks of June. She needs a bed, a desk, and a small kitchen, at a minimum. Contact her at the_ahs@hometownsolutions.net.

For Sale... A beautiful two-bedroom home in downtown St. Peter, within walking distance of local downtown establishments, parks, and Gustavus. The home was built in 1920, with kitchen and bathroom updates in 2001. The house offers many unique features, including a bay window, skylights, and a den area. There is also a detached heated garage with a full workbench and storage areas. For more information, and to view photos of the house, contact Ann Johnson at x6515 or 380-1132.

House for Rent/Share... 3+ bedrooms, 2 baths, detached 2-car garage, hardwood floors, close to parks, downtown, and Gustavus. Available June 1, July 1, or August 1. "We are relocating to Minneapolis and would like to rent our house, but want to use one bedroom during two nights per week (Mon. and Thurs.). Rent is $700 per month. Utilities will be split—we will pay one-third of the cost. This is a great opportunity to live in a large family home at a great discount." Contact Mike Hvidsten at hvidsten@gustavus.edu.

House for Sale in St. Peter... 2-story on large fenced-in lot with detached 2-stall garage with upstairs. House has 4+ bedrooms and 2.5 baths. Hardwood floors and 6-panel oak doors throughout. Finished basement has family room and bedroom/office. To schedule a showing, call 420-8533.

"Plugs" is maintained as a forum by which members of the Gustavus community may offer goods and/or services to others in the community, or seek the same from them. It is not meant to accommodate ads or announcements from area businesses such as real estate agents or retailers, although from time to time such announcements may be published when deemed to be of particular interest to the community.

 



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Inside Gustavus is a newsletter for Gustavus Adolphus College employees produced by the Office of Marketing and Communication. It is published weekly during the academic year (except during the week of Thanksgiving, the Christmas break, Touring Week, and the Spring and Easter breaks). Anyone may submit items by filling out an online submission form. While online submissions are preferred, items may also be submitted typewritten on a letter-sized sheet of paper. Send "snail mail" items to: Inside Gustavus, Office of Marketing and Communication. Items must reach the office no later than 4:30 p.m. on the Tuesday before publication. The week of Nobel Conference the deadline is 4:30 p.m. Monday. For more information, contact Steve Waldhauser (waldo@gustavus.edu or x6413).

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