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OSU Headline News
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Wednesday, March 31, 2004
This page is updated three times weekly at approximately 4 p.m.,
except during holidays and academic breaks.
OSU Restructures University Outreach Activities
OSU Senior Vice President and Provost Marlene Strathe has announced
the adoption of recommendations from a university task force appointed to
deal with a more than $2 million restructuring of outreach programming
activities at OSU-Stillwater.
The cuts are expected to eliminate duplication of programs and
services and to help OSU deal with leftover effects from last year’s
massive state budget reductions. Strathe emphasized that the reorganization
will not have an impact on the university’s Cooperative Extension programs,
which are administered by the Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural
Resources.
Strathe said the reorganization plan has been discussed since last
summer, and that many outreach units left vacant positions unfilled or
placed employees in other program areas as positions became available, in
anticipation of the cuts.
It’s expected that eight to ten persons will be affected by these
cuts. However, Strathe emphasized that the university will do all it can to
help place people in different positions that are vacant throughout the
university.
“Due to an unprecedented state budget reduction faced by OSU last
year, the administration was forced to identify program areas where state
support could be reduced,” Strathe said. “Approximately $2 million was
identified in the University Extension, International and Economic
Development (UEIED) budget.”
Strathe said the cut actually took effect July 1, 2003; however, the
reductions were funded with one-time monies for an additional year to give
affected departments time to plan for the reorganization.
Following Strathe’s arrival on campus, a task force was appointed in
Fall 2003 to identify ways to achieve the targeted reductions. The task
force presented five different models on how to restructure the units. The
final plan is a mix of those recommendations, Strathe said.
Organizational changes will be effective July 1, 2004, and permanent
funding reductions will be implemented for FY 2005. State funding for
central UEIED activities will be reduced by $1.2 million to $605,000.
Budgets for outreach activities within OSU colleges will be reduced by $1.1
million, from a current budget of $2.05 million to $914,700.
Programs that remain in the colleges will be identified as “outreach”
or “continuing education.” The term “extension” will be used exclusively
for programs conducted through the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service.
Strathe said she has asked all of the affected areas to develop a plan for
functions that will be continued and those that will be reduced or
eliminated.
“Many departments have held positions open during the past year, so I
anticipate that the impact on personnel may be significantly less because
of their planning,” Strathe said. “These decisions were not reached easily
or hastily, and I am hopeful that we can achieve the reductions with a
minimum impact on our employees.”
OSU Senior Wins Grand Prize in State Research Competition
Gov. Brad Henry and Higher Education Chancellor Paul G. Risser have
announced that an OSU senior's research into improved Internet
communications security won first place in the 2004 EPSCoR Research Day
Summer Undergraduate Research Competition at the State Capitol. Chris
White, son of OSU Policy Analyst Robert White, won the grand prize that
includes an internship valued at $4,000 and an additional $2,500 award to
the university to offset expenses associated with sponsoring the
internship. Chris also received a $500 cash prize. He is majoring in
electrical and computer engineering, with minors in math and French. He
began working in Dr. Keith Teague’s Speech and Audio Communications
laboratory as a CEAT Freshman Research Scholar and has since completed two
Wentz Research projects. Chris also is one of only seven students accepted
into the electrical engineering Ph.D. program at Johns Hopkins University
and has received a full scholarship.
Friends of the Forms Events April 1-2
OSU Friends of the Forms presents Professor Michael Tye, a philosopher at
the University of Texas at Austin, for the 29th annual
Philosopher-in-Residence program. The program is intended to expose
students, faculty and interested members of the public to the ideas of a
significant philosopher of national rank. Dr. Tye has served as a visiting
professor at King’s College, London and was the occupant of a chair at the
University of St. Andrews. He will deliver a public lecture April 1 at 7
p.m. in Noble Research Center 106. The topic is, “Can I Survive My Own
Bodily Death? Philosophical Reflections on Persons and Personal Identity.”
In addition to his lecture, Dr. Tye will be available for informal
discussion in the conference room of the Philosophy Department on Friday,
April 2 from 10:30 a.m. until noon. He will present an additional lecture
Friday at 3:30 p.m. in the Student Union Case Study 2. Lectures and
discussions are free and open to everyone.
Kids on Kampus April 2
The annual Kids on Kampus day is Friday, April 2. Moms and dads can bring
their kids to work for a fun day that includes several activities on the
OSU Library Lawin. Activities are scheduled from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. The
Non-Traditional Student Organization, Off-Campus Student Association and
Student Government Association are sponsors. Children must be accompanied
by an adult at all times.
Campus Plans Shaping up for Final Four Finale!!
Game Shown at ShowDown -- Attendees at the Brooks & Dunn ShowDown Concert
Saturday, April 3 will get an extra treat. The Final Four game against
Georgia-Tech will be shown on the big screens in Gallagher-Iba prior to the
concert. Due to logistics problems, only ticket holders to the concert will
be allowed in to watch the game. Tipoff for the game is 5:07 p.m. Doors
open at 5 p.m., or as soon as the Brooks & Dunn crews complete their sound
checks. The concert begins at 8 p.m. There are still tickets available. You
can buy them at Ticket Central in the Student Union, at the north end of
Gallagher-Iba on the day of the concert or on the ShowDown website at
http://osunet.okstate.edu/theshowdown/
Monday Game at Gallagher-Iba, if OSU Advances
-- If OSU advances to the
final game, everyone's invited to Gallagher-Iba to watch the game Monday
evening (April 5). There will be no admission charge. Tipoff is at 8:21
(Central). Doors will open at 7 p.m. The live feed from CBS is expected to
begin at 8 p.m. Pre-game and half-time activities will feature an emcee,
the Cowboy Cheerleaders and the band. Concessions will be open.
Final Rally Set for Tuesday (April 6) -- Win or lose
OSU will honor the
Cowboys at a mega rally on Tuesday evening. Doors at Gallagher-Iba will
open at 5:30 p.m. If we win, you'll see edited versions of the national
championship game. If something else happens, we'll watch highlights of Big
12 and NCAA tournament victories. As always, the cheerleaders, band and
others will be there, along with OSU President David Schmidly, Coach
Sutton, AD Harry Birdwell and the players. The formal program starts at 7
p.m. More info on all these events will be available, beginning tomorrow
(April 1) at www.okstate.com.
More Final Four News
President Urges Orange -- President David Schmidly e-mailed an urgent plea
today to students, faculty and staff at all OSU campuses to wear orange day
and night to show our support for the Cowboys. Let's face it, if the Prez
can wear the "sacred" robe and wig on national television, the least we can
do is put on some orange.
OSU Fans Still Not Nutty Enough
-- A report today that OSU is still
trailing in the "Which NCAA Division I School has the Nuttiest Fans?"
contest, sponsored by Planters Peanuts. Go to
http://www.planters.com if you want to help.
'Hot Hand' Lucas Named to Wooden All-American Team
-- John Lucas is one of
10 players in the nation named to the 2003-04 John R. Wooden Award
All-American team. The top-five players will be announced this weekend
during CBS' coverage of the Final Four. They and their coaches will be
invited to Los Angeles for the 28th annual Wooden Award Show on April 10.
The award is presented to the college basketball player of the year.