January 19, 2024

Michigan Tech IT will be unable to help with non-H-STEM Complex computer or phone move requests from Feb. 19 to March 8 as we assist with the H-STEM Complex office and lab transition.

Remember, if you are planning an office move or campus relocation, please contact IT at least two weeks in advance of your move date, and we will arrange to transfer your phone and computer, ensuring they are connected properly in your new space.

For questions about office and equipment moves, we can help. Contact us at it-help@mtu.edu or call 906-487-1111.

The Essential Education Implementation Leadership Team continues to move forward toward the program's launch in fall 2025. The following working groups have been charged with working on major components of the program:

• Essential Education Experience
  • Co-Leaders: Kari Henquinet (SS), Laura Rouleau (SS)
• Essential Education Assessment
  • Leader: Jean DeClerk (CTL)
• Essential Education Minors
  • Co-Leaders: Chelsea Schelly (SS), Leyre Alegre Figuero (HU)
• Essential Education Course Lists
  • Co-Leaders: Holly Hassell (HU), Kay Oliver (CC)
• Essential Education Activities for Well-Being & Success
  • Co-Leaders: Tayler Haapapuro (KIP), Melissa Michaelson (Career Services)
• Essential Education Michigan Tech Seminar
  • Co-Leaders: AJ Hamlin (EF), Linda Wanless (CTL)
• Essential Education e-Portfolio
  • Co-Leaders: Laura Fiss (PHC), Christopher Plummer (VPA)
• Essential Education Marketing and Communication Advisory Board
  • Leader: Sarah Erickson (UMC)

Monthly communication highlighting the progress of each group will be posted in Tech Today and sent out to unit liaisons on the last Wednesday of each month, beginning this month. Our next communication will detail the mission of each working group.

Our mission is to keep all members of the campus community updated on the direction and progress of the teams toward Essential Education's rollout date.

Thanks to all who continue to provide feedback as we collectively craft this unique learning experience opportunity for our Huskies.

— Essential Education Implementation Leadership Team, essential-ed-l@mtu.edu 

Are you looking to enhance the user experience of your product, system or service? We are seeking partners for a unique opportunity to have your “solution” undergo a comprehensive usability evaluation conducted by our talented students in an advanced Usability Assessment class.

By participating, you'll gain valuable insights into how users interact with your solution, including detailed feedback and design change recommendations.

This collaboration offers dual benefits: It provides you with professional-level usability assessments at no cost, and it gives our students practical experience working with clients.

If you're interested in having your solution evaluated for usability improvements, send an email to Assistant Professor Erich Petushek (CLS) at ejpetush@mtu.edu.

We often hear the phrase “sense of belonging” in the context of students, but have you considered how a sense of belonging can impact University employees? Terrell Strayhorn of Virginia Union University has found that “workplace belonging is positively correlated with job satisfaction for part-time adjunct faculty at 2-year community colleges, year-to-year retention for administrative support staff at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), and reduction in ‘sick leave days’ at 4-year research universities, just to name a few.” These benefits have a combined result of higher productivity and lower burnout.

As you reflect on how you can support diversity, equity and inclusion on campus during the week of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we invite you to consider how you can support an increased sense of belonging amongst University employees. Strayhorn offers several suggestions of promising practices in articles for Higher Education Digest and Higher Ed Jobs:

1. Invest in professional development that allows employees to continue to learn and improve their skills. A recent study found that 94% of employees would stay longer at a place of employment that invested in their development.
2. Allow for a flexible work schedule that accommodates educational, parental or personal needs. Policies and practices that support work-life balance can significantly enhance employee well-being.
3. Foster collaboration and communication. Connecting, exchanging knowledge and building relationships increases employees' sense of belonging. Mechanisms for voicing concerns with appropriate feedback loops also demonstrate respect to faculty and staff.
4. Provide reward structures to celebrate an individual's contributions and achievements. This may include promotions, bonuses and awards.

What action can you take to increase the sense of belonging amongst employees?

Today’s feature was shared with us by the Advocates and Allies Advisory Team. If you have an article you think we should feature, please email it to advance-mtu@mtu.edu and we will consider adding it to the ADVANCE Monthly Roundup.

The ADVANCE Monthly Roundup is brought to you by ADVANCE at Michigan Tech, an NSF-funded initiative dedicated to improving faculty career success, retention, diversity, equity and inclusion. Past articles are available on the ADVANCE Newsblog.

To learn more about our featured topic, our mission, programming efforts, and to check out our growing collection of resources, contact us or visit our website.

As Winter Carnival is quickly approaching, the Royalty Committee of Blue Key National Honor Society is looking for faculty and staff participation in this year's Royalty Competition.

Any and all faculty and staff are encouraged to volunteer to be a finalist judge for this year's Royalty Competition. The Royalty Committee is looking for just one more finalist judge!

Being a finalist judge includes judging on Sunday (Jan. 21) beginning at 9 a.m. and ending around noon on the first floor of Fisher Hall. Lunch will be provided. In addition, as a finalist judge, it is required that you attend the talent/stage appearance on Feb. 3 during the Royalty Coronation at 7 p.m.

If you are interested and able to commit, please email bkqueens@mtu.edu with your information ASAP!

Thank you!

College of Sciences and Arts Dean Ravindra Pandey has selected Patrick McFall as this week's featured instructor in the Deans’ Teaching Showcase. McFall, an assistant teaching professor in the Department of Mathematical Sciences, will be recognized at an end-of-term event with other showcase members and is a candidate for the CTL Instructional Award Series.

McFall served as the director of the Math Learning Center from 2020-23 (co-directing the center in 2023) and has taught many large sections of fundamental math courses for the department since spring 2021. He has been recognized in three different semesters as being in the top 10% of Michigan Tech instructors based on the “Average of 7 Dimensions” for student evaluation scores.

In spring 2023, McFall took on the coordinator role for MA1160/1161 Calculus 1. He co-developed the department’s proposal to address the DFW (drop, fail, withdraw) rate for this class and was instrumental in implementing the project, piloting weekly algebra reviews, developing pre-class videos and quizzes for a blended learning structure, providing handouts for all instructors to increase student engagement and meeting weekly with the instructors to ensure consistency in instruction. As a result of McFall’s efforts, the spring 2023 DFW rate for MA1160/1161 showed a significant decrease from previous spring semesters (the rate for spring 2023 being 25-30 percentage points lower than spring 2022 and spring 2021). McFall’s efforts resulted in similar results last fall.

Jiguang Sun, chair of the mathematical sciences department, praised McFall: “He is enthusiastic about teaching, promotes a positive and engaging environment in the classroom, cares for his students and provides motivation for learning.”

Maria Bergstrom, associate dean for undergraduate education in the College of Sciences and Arts, highlighted the significance of McFall’s contributions as an outstanding instructor: “His work to reduce DFW rates in Calculus I through innovations in pedagogy and curriculum has had a tremendous impact, not just in his department, but also for undergraduate education as a whole at Michigan Tech. A solid understanding of calculus is fundamental to most of the science and engineering programs on campus, and thus student success efforts in these key courses have a ripple effect across campus. We are pleased to showcase his instructional achievements.”

Michigan Tech is a recipient of the NCAA Presidents' Award for Academic Excellence, presented to member schools where student-athletes have an academic success rate of 90% or higher. It's the fourth straight year Tech has been honored.

Michigan Tech student-athletes have a four-year academic success rate of 94% across Division II programs. Nationally, only 44 Division II institutions were recognized, and MTU was the only GLIAC institution to receive the award.

"The academic success of our student-athletes is extremely important to Michigan Tech Athletics," said Suzanne Sanregret, vice president for athletics and recreation. "A 94% academic success rate is a testament to the quality of the student-athletes that we recruit, the commitment from the coaches to focus on academics as well as athletics, and the holistic approach that we take as a department to support them. Also, considering the academic rigor of Michigan Tech and the challenges associated with travel and missed class time, this is an exceptional accomplishment. I'd like to thank the Michigan Tech faculty and advisors for their exceptional support of our student-athletes as they pursue their goals in the classroom and in their sport."

Academic success rate is based on student-athletes who entered Michigan Tech from 2013-16. Every DII athletic program at MTU ranked higher than the national average. Men's and women's Nordic skiing, women's basketball, volleyball, women's and men's tennis, women's cross country and women's track and field achieved a perfect 100%. Men's cross country, men's track and field, and soccer all had over 90%.

"Congratulations to the 44 schools who have earned this prestigious award," said Steven Shirley, president of Minot State and chair of the NCAA's Division II Presidents Council. "It takes a collective effort from the student-athletes, coaches, university and athletic administrators to earn an academic success rate of 90% or higher, and I'm very excited to recognize these schools."

Read more at Michigan Tech Athletics.

The Michigan Tech Nordic ski team returns to the races following a weeklong hiatus, traveling back to Minnesota for the Coleraine CXC Cup over the weekend.

The event was slated to take place in Ishpeming, Michigan, at the Al Quaal Recreation Center but, due to lack of weather leading up to the event, it was moved to Mt. Itasca Winter Sports Center's Nordic ski trails.

The event start tomorrow (Jan. 20) with the 7.5km classic-interval start, with Sunday (Jan. 21) featuring the classic mass start.

Read more at Michigan Tech Athletics.

Len Switzer (ENT), Nate Yenor (OIC) and Brad King (ME-EM) were quoted by UPWord in a story previewing Innovation Week, hosted next week (Jan. 22-26) at Michigan Tech. Scheduled events include talks on innovation and entrepreneurship talks, discussion panels and business pitch competitions

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Jeff Naber and Jeffrey Worm (both ME-EM/APSRC) were quoted by WLUC TV6 in a story about how cold temperatures affect the range of electric vehicles, or EVs.

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The Manistique Pioneer Tribune picked up a Michigan Tech Unscripted Research Blog entry discussing a MTU-led study linking periodontitis to severe forms of osteoarthritis and osteoporosis in moose. Sarah Hoy (CFRES) was quoted in the story and Rolf Peterson and John Vucetich (both CFRES) were mentioned.

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ABC 10 and Patch mentioned Michigan Tech in stories about the astounding video captured by undergraduate Eli Schaefer (geospatial engineering) of a cougar taking down a deer. The Dec. 30 footage was recorded by Schaefer’s trail camera in Toivola, Michigan.

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Manufacturing Dive mentioned Michigan Tech in an article about $4.6 million in grants and matching funds awarded by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation’s to eight colleges to support semiconductor education and training programs. MTU’s share is $838,000 according to a press release from Michigan Tech News in December.

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The Manistee News Advocate mentioned Michigan Tech in a story about West Shore Community College’s hosting of a season-opening FIRST Robotics event earlier this month. WSCC partnered with MTU to begin offering an associate’s degree in robotics and advanced manufacturing in fall 2023.

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Tech Briefs Magazine mentioned Michigan Tech in a preview of the upcoming webinar “Noise, Vibration, and Harshness Priorities for EVs,” which has Jeffrey Pruetz ’07 (B.S. Mechanical Engineering) listed as a speaker. Pruetz is a NVH and vehicle integration manager at FEV North America Inc.

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Crain’s Detroit Business mentioned Michigan Tech in a story covering alumnus Jim Woods being named a partner at OHM Advisors.

Art in Silico 2024

A reminder to all: The Art in Silico computational art exhibition is back for its second year, and the submission window is open until March 4!

This exciting event is situated at the intersection of contemporary art and computing. Submissions may take the form of (but are not limited to) digital art, AI art, robotics, video, audio, interactive artworks, coding, performance and/or traditional media. As long as the artwork addresses some aspect of computing — that’s what this show is all about.

Submissions are open for anyone: We encourage submission from community members and Michigan Tech staff/students/faculty alike.

Submit your art at the Art in Silico webpage (details on the schedule will soon be posted on that page as well).

Questions can be directed to silico-art-l@mtu.edu.

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KIP Seminar Jeopardy Challenge

The Department of Kinesiology and Integrative Physiology (KIP) will have a Jeopardy Challenge as this month's KIP Seminar today (Jan. 19) from 3-4 p.m. in ATDC 101.

Graduate students from KIP and the Central Michigan University DPT program will test their knowledge related to anatomy and physiology, biomechanics, exercise assessment and prescription, public health and more.

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SS Brown Bag with Jongeun You: 'Policy Conflict in U.S. Energy Infrastructure Siting'

The Department of Social Sciences (SS) is hosting a brown bag presentation on Monday (Jan. 22) from noon to 1 p.m. We will meet in AOB 201 or virtually via Zoom.

Please join us in this seminar, where Jongeun You will present his work on "Policy Conflict in U.S. Energy Infrastructure Siting."

From the abstract:
Policy decisions are related to diverse levels of conflict. However, the degree and variance of conflict remain largely unspecified. This study examines how types of energy infrastructure and characteristics of project location are associated with the distribution of conflict around the energy infrastructure siting process. By examining gas pipelines, electricity transmission lines, and solar and wind power projects across the U.S. in 2018, this study finds differences in the distribution of conflict intensity within and between these energy infrastructure types, with gas pipelines and wind power projects presenting relatively higher conflict intensities. Characteristics of project locations that are positively associated with high conflict intensity include the proportion of Democratic voters and the level of urbanization in the places where projects are sited. In contrast, the proportion of Black or Hispanic residents is negatively associated with high conflict intensity.

Speaker bio:
Jongeun You is an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at Northern Michigan University. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the Colorado School of Mines and previously worked for SK Engineering & Construction.

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RTC Brown Bag with Genius Amaraizu

Join the Rhetoric, Theory, and Culture (RTC) graduate program for a Brown Bag event at noon today (Jan. 19) in the Petersen Library in Walker 318.

Genius Amaraizu, RTC graduate student, will present "The 'High-Risk' Migrant: Re-Evaluating (Algorithmic) Automated Decision-Making in the Public-Sector."

From the abstract:
For almost a decade, the Netherlands secretly used the variables of gender, nationality, and age, to profile migrants as “high-risk,” subjecting them to extensive investigations and eventual visa denial in many cases. Artificial intelligence algorithms reinforce power hierarchies that inadvertently or deliberately reinforce discrimination. When computational instructions are central to facilitating profiling systems that calculate the risk of applicants applying for non-/immigration visas, and other border control and migration governance, it relegates the applicants to experimental subjects for the increasing adoption of these automation tools for decision-making in the public sector. This paper investigates the influence of such automated decision-making systems on public-sector decisions in immigration applications. It delves into the ethical and human rights implications arising from deploying algorithms in migration policy and decision-making, as well as the means to strike a balance between efficiency and human rights considerations.

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Requesting Interview Spaces for Spring Career Fair!

We are excited to be hosting the 2024 Spring Career Fair Forged by Nucor at Michigan Tech on Feb. 13! As we have done in the past, Interview Day will be Feb. 14, and we need your help.

In order to provide the best interview experience for both students and employers, we are requesting office and room spaces for interviews on campus. Please submit any available rooms to be included for our Interview Day schedule using our Rooms for Interviews form.

On average, there are over a thousand individual interviews conducted on campus following Career Fair.​​

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to CareerFair@mtu.edu.

We are looking forward to another great Career Fair this spring!

To have your event automatically appear, please submit them to the University Events Calendar.

Label-free Assessment of Early Calcific Aortic Valve Disease Progression – The Role of Altered Metabolism

Friday, January 19, 3 p.m. | Minerals and Materials Engineering Building (M&M), 610

Biomedical Engineering Research Seminar Kartik Balachandran Biomedical Engineering University of Arkansas Abstract Calcific aortic valve disease (CAVD), represents the...

Board Presents: Oppenheimer

Friday, January 19, 6:00 p.m.–1:15 a.m. | 135, Fisher Hall

Join Film Board this weekend as we show Oppenheimer! 💥 We have continued showings Friday 01/19, Saturday 01/20, and Sunday 01/21 in Fisher 135! See our website for more...

(Men's Ice Hockey) Bemidji State vs. Michigan Tech

Friday, January 19, 7:07–10:07 p.m. | John MacInnes Student Ice Arena

Men's Ice Hockey: Bemidji State vs. Michigan Tech

Middle School Volleyball Development League

January 19, all day | Student Development Complex (SDC), Multi-Purpose Gym

A four-week developmental program for middle school girls in grades 7 & 8 to learn and improve their skills in preparation for the upcoming interscholastic season. This...