September 10, 2024

Anyone conducting research that involves people as a source of data is reminded to check in with the Human Research Protection Program (HRPP) for help complying with University policies. It is important to do this well in advance of starting a project so that we can help you through the process.

What counts as research involving human subjects?
HRPP policies define research as “a systematic investigation, including research development, testing, and evaluation, designed to develop or contribute to generalizable knowledge.”

A human subject is defined as "a living individual about whom an investigator (whether professional or student) conducting research: (i) Obtains information or biospecimens through intervention or interaction with the individual, and uses, studies, or analyzes the information or biospecimens; or (ii) Obtains, uses, studies, analyzes, or generates identifiable private information or identifiable biospecimens."

These definitions cover most research involving questionnaires, interviews, observations and measurements taken from living individuals. However, they do not always apply to class projects, assessments/evaluations, oral histories or the analysis of data that has already been collected and stripped of identifying information.

If you have any questions about whether or not an activity meets these definitions, please contact the HRPP office at irb@mtu.edu or 906-487-1799.

With the fall semester well underway, Facilities Management would like to remind faculty, staff and students that Michigan Tech has a centralized trash collection program in place for campus buildings.

Like many other colleges and universities, campus operations shifted to a centralized trash/recycling collection program several years ago. The primary goals of the program are to minimize health hazards for employees and improve sustainable practices on campus by encouraging people to be mindful of the waste they’re generating, but also reducing the number of single-use plastic bags used in waste collection.

Centrally located trash and recycling bins are placed in strategic locations in all campus buildings. Office occupants are expected to bring their office waste to these locations. A list of the waste collection locations for your building can be found on our Centralized Trash Collection page.

Custodial staff will continue to enter offices on a biweekly basis to inspect for potential maintenance issues and to clean floors. If needed, custodians will also empty office trash receptacles at this time. Trash and recycling accumulated in centralized waste locations will be emptied by custodial and grounds staff on a regular basis.

Building personnel can report issues related to trash and recycling collection by submitting a Facilities work request.

The University Senate will convene Meeting 702 at 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 12, in Chem Sci 102.

Those within the University community unable to attend in person have the option to attend the University Senate meeting via Zoom. Please note: You will need to log in to your MTU Zoom account to join the virtual meeting.

Senators are responsible for making their constituents aware of the agenda for this meeting. Senators who are unable to attend should arrange for their alternates to attend in their place.

View the agenda to Meeting 702.

Making decisions about your money can feel difficult, especially when it comes to retirement. But you don’t have to go it alone — especially since access to financial consulting is included as part of your retirement plan. Consulting sessions will help you determine whether you’re saving enough, invested appropriately and on track.

Matthew Bunch from the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (TIAA) will be available on Michigan Tech's campus for one-on-one sessions from Oct. 7 through Oct. 10, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day.

Bunch is scheduled at the following locations: 

• Monday, Oct. 7 — Lakeshore Center 201
• Tuesday, Oct. 8 — MUB Datolite Room
• Wednesday, Oct. 9 — MUB Datolite Room
• Thursday, Oct. 10 — Lakeshore Center 201

RSVP today, as space is limited. You can register for financial consulting sessions with TIAA directly by logging in to your TIAA or guest account, then searching for "Michigan Tech" in the Institution field. When asked how you would like to meet, select "In Person at My Employer."

You can also register for a meeting by calling TIAA at 800-732-8353 on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET.

Join faith-based student organizations and local congregations/faith-based groups at the Faith Fair on Thursday, Sept. 12, from 12-2 p.m.

Groups will be set up at Michigan Tech on the lawn between Fisher Hall and the Van Pelt and Opie Library to share information and resources with the campus community.

The fair is being sponsored by the Dean of Students Office, Center for Diversity and Inclusion, Student Leadership and Involvement, and the Cooperative Campus Ministry.

Join the William G. Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) for this week’s casual coffee chat, where educators from across campus can come together to exchange ideas and experiences.

This week, we’ll focus on how faculty and staff foster a sense of belonging in the classroom and explore how this impacts student retention. It’s an open, informal space to share strategies, learn from each other and collaborate — no agenda or presentations, just conversation. Come connect and contribute.

This week's coffee chat will be held on Thursday, Sept. 12, from 2:30-3:30 p.m. in Library 243.

La Peña meets today, Sept. 10, in the Walker Arts and Humanities Center (HDMZ 120A) from 5-6 p.m.

Please join us for an hour of laid-back Spanish speaking to chat and play board games. All language levels welcome.

Future dates: Sept. 24, Oct. 8, Oct. 22, Nov. 5, Nov. 19

The Graduate School is offering writing support to assist graduate students who wish to apply for the National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship.

The fellowship provides a $43,200 annual stipend plus health insurance. Applications are due Nov. 1.

For details, including eligibility information, visit the NDSEG Fellowship Program website and the About NDSEG page.

If your academic unit has students who may be eligible for this fellowship, please refer them to Sarah Isaacson at sisaacso@mtu.edu.

How can you create an impact on students so that what you teach, like Newton’s law, stays in motion even when the initial impact is gone? Learn techniques to support creating lifelong learning desires, confidence and motivation in your students at a faculty development presentation hosted by the William G. Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL): "Creating Impact: How to Fall in Love with Teaching Again" with Angela Trego.

This course equips participants with tools that enable them to:

• Review the need for creating an impact
• Identify methods to create impact
• Understand how to implement creating an impact on students

Event Details:

• What: Creating Impact: How to Fall in Love with Teaching Again with Angela Trego
• When: Tuesday, Sept. 24, from 2:30-3:30 p.m. 
• Where: Fisher 138
• Registration: Register to attend (registration is required)

For accommodation requests or questions, please contact the CTL at 906-487-3000 or ctl@mtu.edu.

Join us for a follow-up workshop directly afterward on the three C's of the classroom! Find ways to instill curiosity, connection and value back into your classroom and your teaching!

Nyeema C. Harris, Knobloch Family Associate Professor of Wildlife and Land Conservation at the Yale School of the Environment (YSE), will present "Carnivores amid a Dynamic Anthropocene" as part of both the Ecosystem Science Center's Distinguished Ecologist Lecture Series and the Department of Biological Sciences Seminar Series.

All are welcome to join us this Thursday, Sept. 12, at 3 p.m. in GLRC 202 or via Zoom.

Attend the "Carnivores" seminar on Zoom. 

Harris’ research explores carnivore behavior and movement and ecology and conservation in urban systems and national parks at a global scale, with ongoing projects throughout the Americas and Africa, specifically. She examines spatial and temporal variations in species interactions, how networks are structured, the ecological consequences of species loss and land-use change, and mechanisms that promote coexistence between carnivores and humans.

Harris directs the Applied Wildlife Ecology (AWE) Lab at YSE, which aims to promote human-wildlife coexistence around the world in urban, agricultural and protected landscapes while demonstrating a commitment to public engagement and inclusivity. She co-founded the Black Ecologist Section of the Ecological Society of America and recently completed a National Science Foundation-funded project centered on environmental literacy in urban youth in Detroit.

The next guest speaker in the Department of Biomedical Engineering (BioMed) Seminar Series will present Friday, Sept. 13, at 3 p.m. in person in Chem Sci 102 and virtually via Zoom.

Bryan Pfister from the New Jersey Institute of Technology will present "The Mechanics of Living Tissues: Mechanobiology from Growth to Injury in the Nervous System."

Read Pfister's abstract and bio at the University Events Calendar.

Attend the BioMed Seminar on Zoom.

The Michigan Tech volleyball team began its 2024 volleyball season with a 4-0 run at the Oredigger Classic on the campus of the Colorado School of Mines.

Tech was the only team to go 4-0 at the tournament, and MTU outside hitter Meg Raabe was named MVP on the All-Tournament Team after averaging 3.6 kills and 4.0 points per set on the weekend. She tallied 54 kills, 14 digs, eight blocks, two assists and two aces.

The Huskies began the classic 2-0 on Friday, Sept. 6, sweeping No. 13 Regis 3-0 in the morning and defeating Gannon 3-1 in the afternoon. MTU added a pair of 3-1 wins on Saturday, Sept. 7, to finish the classic. The Huskies trailed in both matches but defeated No. 17 Colorado Mesa early in the day and tournament host Colorado School of Mines in the finale.

"I don't know how else to say it, but that was as good a start to a season as we could've asked for," Jennings said. "Not just the record, but how we got there and the way we played through it. We are starting to believe in ourselves. The focus and drive going forward will be everything."

Read more at Michigan Tech Athletics.

The Michigan Tech cross country men's squad won the third annual Phoenix Open, scoring 44 points to come away with their second straight victory in the event. The women's squad placed fifth with 131 points.

"It would be hard to be much happier with how we opened our season," head coach Robert Young said. "We had a significant number of student-athletes run really excellent races showing some really nice growth over last year."

"Our teams are off to a fantastic start," assistant coach Luke Moore added. "We went into the race with the goal of having the strongest last 1,000m in the field. By and large, both teams executed the race plan very well."

Read more at Michigan Tech Athletics.

For the first time since the 2021 season, the Michigan Tech soccer team completed the opening weekend undefeated with a 1-0 victory at Minnesota Duluth on Saturday, Sept. 7.

The Huskies headed home with a record of 2-0, adding to their first victory over St. Cloud State on Sept. 5.

"I'm incredibly proud of the team for the continuous hard work throughout the game to secure the win," head coach Melissa Kuhar said. "It wasn't the prettiest game for us but we found a way to win as a group. We were able to come together at halftime and fix some things, which helped us get the early goal in the second half — props to our backline and goalkeeper for another shutout!"

Read more at Michigan Tech Athletics.

Michigan Tech quarterback Alex Fries has been named week one's GLIAC Offensive Player of the Week. The honor is the first of Fries' career.

Fries broke the school record for single-game passing yards (471 yards) with five touchdown passes in the longest game played in Michigan Tech history, lasting four overtimes. The Huskies erased a 21-point deficit to overcome South Dakota Mines 52-50 at Kearly Stadium last Thursday, Sept. 5.

Fries broke the single-game passing record of 441 yards set by Tyler Scarlett in 2012 in just his 12th game as MTU's starting quarterback, completing 29 of 51 attempts with a long pass of 59 yards.

Michigan Tech cross country's Michael Dennis has been named GLIAC Athlete of the Week after opening his career as a Husky with a sixth-place finish at the third annual Phoenix Open, helping the Huskies defend their 2023 men's team title. The honor is the first of Dennis' early career.

Dennis clocked 25:08.1 to set the low time of the day for Tech's men's squad, whose top five runners averaged 25:12 and finished within a spread of 15 seconds.

Read more at Michigan Tech Athletics.

Friday, Sept. 13
• Volleyball vs. Minnesota Duluth, 10 a.m. at SDC Gym on Mix 93 WKMJ and FloSports
• Volleyball vs. Findlay, 6:30 p.m. at SDC Gym on FloSports

Saturday, Sept. 14
• Football vs. Hillsdale, Noon at Kearly Stadium on Mix 93 WKMJ and FloSports
• Volleyball vs. St. Cloud State, 3 p.m. at SDC Gym on FloSports

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Athletics News
Read more in the MTU Athletics weekly update.

Job Posting for Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024

Staff and faculty job descriptions are available on the Human Resources website. For more information regarding staff positions, call 906-487-2280 or email humanresources@mtu.edu. For more information regarding faculty positions, contact the academic department in which the position is posted.

Manager of Environmental Health and Safety, Environmental Health and Safety. Apply online.

Michigan Technological University is an Equal Opportunity Educational Institution/Equal Opportunity Employer that provides equal opportunity for all, including protected veterans and individuals with disabilities.

Accommodations are available. If you require any auxiliary aids, services, or other accommodations to apply for employment, or for an interview, at Michigan Technological University, please notify the Human Resources office at 906-487-2280 or humanresources@mtu.edu.

Mark Rhodes and Kathryn Hannum (both SS) are the authors of an article published in the Journal of Tourism Futures.

The article is titled "UNESCO, mining heritage and the scalar sustainability of tourism geographies at industrial World Heritage Sites."

Through a comparison of three mining World Heritage Sites in Wales, England, and Castile and León, Rhodes and Hannum isolate the increasing need to incorporate more complex scalar and spatial theories and methods into the study of increasingly complex heritage sites.

The article is available open-access through NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences.

Travis White (GLRC) was quoted by Grand Rapids’ WXMI FOX 17 in a story highlighting the Armada 8, an autonomous surface vessel launched from the Great Lakes Research Center to search for the remains of a National Center for Atmospheric Research plane lost in 1968 over Lake Superior.

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Taylor Piering (SLI) was quoted by WLUC TV6 in a story about Michigan Tech's 2024 K-Day, held last Friday, Sept. 6, at Chassell’s Centennial Park. MTU undergraduates Kyle Coenen, Donn Bacon and Cameron McKenna were quoted in the story as well.

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MTU undergraduate Ashdon McDaniel (applied ecology and environmental science) was quoted by The Daily Mining Gazette in a story covering the end of the American Red Cross blood drive held Sept. 4-5 at Michigan Tech. The story said a total 15,804 units of blood have been donated at the biannual campus blood drives since their inception at Tech in October 1990.

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WLUC TV6 mentioned Michigan Tech’s Husky Food Access Network in a story previewing Geek U.P. Chibi, a celebration of writing, artistry, comic books and other fandoms held in the Memorial Union Building on Saturday, Sept. 7. The event raised funds and resources for the Husky FAN.

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Radio Results Network mentioned Michigan Tech as one of the institutions participating in College Night events hosted by Bay College on its Escanaba and Iron Mountain campuses on Sunday and Monday, Sept. 8-9.

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

Career Fest - Michigan Day

Tuesday, September 10, 11 a.m.–2 p.m.

Meet these Michigan companies who want to hire you! Come and learn more about who they are, what they do, and the career opportunities they offer.

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CTL Lunch and Learn: 2024 CTL Instructional Award Recipient Presentations

Tuesday, September 10, 12–1 p.m. | J. Robert Van Pelt and John and Ruanne Opie Library

Join the Center for Teaching and Learning for the following opportunity: CTL Lunch and Learn: 2024 CTL Instructional Awards https://mtu.libcal.com/event/12715859

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Submission and Formatting 101: Master the Dissertation, Thesis, and Report Process

Tuesday, September 10, 2–4 p.m. | Administration and Student Services Building, 404

Students who are completing a dissertation, thesis, or report are invited to join the Graduate School to learn about the resources available to them to assist in scheduling...

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CTL Technical Workshop: Getting started with Panopto Basics

Tuesday, September 10, 3–4 p.m. | J. Robert Van Pelt and John and Ruanne Opie Library, 243

Join the Center for Teaching and Learning (Technical Workshops) for the following opportunity: https://mtu.libcal.com/event/13102861

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Resume Review with Employers

Tuesday, September 10, 3–5 p.m. | Administration and Student Services Building, 220 Career Services

Take advantage of the opportunity to have an employer give you feedback on your resume after each Career Fest event.

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Girls Basketball Little Huskies League

Tuesday, September 10, 4–6 p.m. | Student Development Complex (SDC), Multipurpose Gym

This league is open to girls entering grades 2 - 5 as of Fall 2024. Learning skills, working as a team, and having fun: that’s Michigan Tech’s Little Huskies Girls’ Basketball...

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Huskies Swim Training - Session 1

Tuesday, September 10, 4–5 p.m. | Student Development Complex (SDC), Pool

Huskies Swim Training is a program that provides additional attention and competitive guidance to advanced swimmers looking to focus on stroke technique and...

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HuskyLEAD - Recruiting: Working Effectively with New Contacts

Tuesday, September 10, 4–5 p.m. | Fisher 230

You've just had a successful recruiting event. What can you do with the information you've gathered that will do the most for your org? This workshop will give you tips and...

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Adult Huskies Swim Lessons - Session 1

Tuesday, September 10, 5–6 p.m. | Student Development Complex (SDC), Pool

Adult Huskies Swim Lessons provides aquatic education for the beginner to intermediate swimmer who is looking to become more comfortable in the water and learn the fundamental...

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Adult Huskies Swim Training - Session 1

Tuesday, September 10, 5–6 p.m. | Student Development Complex (SDC), Pool

Adult Huskies Swim Training provides additional attention and competitive guidance to swimmers ages 18 and older who are looking to improve their swimming skills and fitness...

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Career Fair Prep: Landing an Internship

Tuesday, September 10, 5–6 p.m. | Fisher Hall, 101

Learn what it takes to land an internship in a competitive market.

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La Peña - Spanish Conversation Hour

Tuesday, September 10, 5–6 p.m. | Walker Arts and Humanities Center, HMDZ 120A

Come unwind, meet new people and play board games all while you refresh your Spanish! Bring a friend or anybody you think might enjoy speaking some Spanish, everybody is...

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Main Meeting!

Tuesday, September 10, 7–9 p.m. | WADS G42W

Main meeting for our organization where we listen to preaching, take communion and have fellowship

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Needle Felting - Husky Hobbies

Tuesday, September 10, 7–9 p.m. | The Makerspace (MUB Basement)

Come learn to needle felt with Craft Club! All supplies and instructions included.

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Rubber Band Wars

Tuesday, September 10, 7–9 p.m. | TKE House

Join the brothers of Tau Kappa Epsilon for this fantastic event. Stop by to learn more about how we can help you create lifelong relationships that enhance educational,...