Profile: Take Flight
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University of Minnesota Morris Digital Well University of Minnesota Morris Digital Well Profile Campus News, Newsletters, and Events Fall 2005 Profile: akT e Flight University Relations Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.morris.umn.edu/profile Recommended Citation University Relations, "Profile: akT e Flight" (2005). Profile. 25. https://digitalcommons.morris.umn.edu/profile/25 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Campus News, Newsletters, and Events at University of Minnesota Morris Digital Well. It has been accepted for inclusion in Profile yb an authorized administrator of University of Minnesota Morris Digital Well. For more information, please contact [email protected]. UNIVERSITY OE MINNESOTA MORRIS - Voluine~X!;Edition 1, Fall 2005 llll~l~lffiliim~11i~~m111111 UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA MORRIS 3 1956 00474 8246 In this issue ... Chancellor's message .. .. ... .... ............... ... ..... .... .. .... ... ... ... ... ... .... ..... .. ...................... .. ...... .. ... .. .. ....... .. ... ... ... .... ..... ....... ..... 1 Associate vice chancellor for external relations greeting .. .. ... .. ........... ... .. ..... ....... ... ... ....... ... ... ... ... ......... ..... .. .. .. ............. 2 Honor Roll stories Meyer scholarship gift honors parents, grandchildren and WCSA .. ... ...... ..... ... .. .... .. .. .. .. ... 3 Barbara McGinnis: "Big on scholarships " .................... ... .. ........ .. ... .. .. ............. ................ .4 Nathaniel E. Williams Memorial Scholarship celebrates life, UMM and Minnesota ... ...... 5 Loren W Carr Memorial Scholarship grows thanks to community teamwork .. ................. .6 LaFaves ' kindness leaves lifelong impressions ................................................... .. ............... 7 Campus news ...................... .... ... ........... ......... ....... ................ ... ....... .... ...... ... ................ ............ .. ... .... ...... ................ ..... ... 8 Feature story. .................... .. .. ... .. ........ .. ... .. .. ... ........... Take Flight ........ ..... ........ .. .. ... ... .. .. .. ... ... ..... ...... ... .. .. .. .. .. ... ........ ... 13 Alumni association news ... .. ............................................. .. ........ .. ........................... ... .. .... ................ ..... .......... ... ... .... ... 16 Class Notes .................. .. ... .. ... ... .. .. ........ .. ..... ............. ... ... ...... ... ... .. ............................. ... ...... .............................. .. ... .. ..... 18 Cougar athletic news ......... ... ....... .. ... .. ... ................ ... ..... ... ..... .......... .. ....................... ....... ... ... ....... .. .......... .... ....... .. ....... 24 Honor Roll of Donors ............. .............. .. ... ... .. .. .. .... .. ........ ............................................... ............... .. ...... .. .......... ........ .. 26 UMM Mission Statement The mission ofUMM as an undergraduate, residential, liberal arts college is distinctive within the University of Minnesota. The Morris campus shares the University's statewide mission of teaching, research and outreach, yet it is a small college where students can shape their own education. The campus serves undergraduate students primarily from Minnesota and its neighboring states, and it is an educational resource and cultural center for citizens of West Central Minnesota. Through its instructional excellence, its commitment to research, its numerous extracurricular programs and services, and its strong sense of community, UMM endeavors to achieve its place among the best liberal arts colleges in the nation. Cover: Mattie Lasch 'OS story on page 13. Photo by Michael Cihak, Media Services. Below: Student Center on a beautiful autumn day. UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA MORRIS Certainly not standing still - a message from Chancellor Sam Schuman As many of you know, I announced to our campus community that after the current academic year, Nancy and I will begin to phase into the retirement period of our lives. Come graduation next May, I will be ending eleven years at UMM, eight of them in the chancellor's office. I calculate that I have seen over 25 percent of all our graduates cross the stage at commencement; two-thirds of the faculty now teaching at UMM have come here since I arrived. Both Nancy and I are in our mid-60s, and we are eager to move into retirement while we still have the mental alertness and physical vigor to enjoy it! Next year I will be on leave from the University of Minnesota and wi ll be serving as the Curruthers Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Honors College of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. The following year, I'll return to the University of Minnesota as a teacher or in some temporary administrative capacity. We are looking forward to spending more time at our house in the mountains of western North Carolina and seeing a bit more of our kids and our beautiful new granddaughter. The past decade has been a fu 11 and a challenging one for UMM, for the University of Minnesota and for American higher education in general. UMM has moved forward during that period in a number of significant ways. Our first major capital campaign was successful beyond our projections and expectations, raising nearly $10 million. This is a tremendous investment in UMM's future and a gratifying vote of confidence for our co ll ege. I anticipate that the next decade will see a second capital campaign with even more ambitious goals and results. After years of discussion, our athletic program has found a new home back in NCAA Division III with institutions similar to us in mission, size and budget. Cougar athletics at the Division III level in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference has seen a tremendous boost in the victory column and, even more importantly, an equally upward movement in the morale of student athletes, coaches and fans. My goal was to help our intercoll egiate athletics department reach a point where every time a UMM student athlete entered a competition, she or he knew there was a chance to win. I think we are at that point. Our physical campus has evolved dramatically since 1995. The old gym has been replaced by the spectacular new science building, while the old science building has been splendidly renovated. The campus/community Regional Fitness Center has become a wellness magnet for both the college and the city. Work is moving forward on the renovation of the Social Science building and about to begin on the joint college/high school football field and the biomass heating-cooling plant. Working with the West Central Research and Outreach Center, we now draw over 50 percent of our electrical power from the wind turbine on the ridge over the Pomme de Terre River. UMM has been nationally recognized as a leader in alternative, environment-friendly energy. And, our campus has been declared a National Historic District at the same time; we have worked to bui ld a campus that combines the very best of the past and the future! We converted to the semester calendar; we added the May term; we received significant national recognition among public li beral arts colleges; we revived the First-Year Seminar; we have moved forward in service-learning and undergraduate research- we have certainly not been standing still. There have, of course, been disappointments along with these high points. I had the remarkable bad luck to serve as chancellor at UMM through a period during which the University of Minnesota suffered unprecedented fiscal strain and we have participated ful ly in that pain. Whi le we have avoided the most dramatic of cuts, we have also missed inviting opportunities and had to live together as an institution in an atmosphere of enforced and often uncomfortable frugality. There will certainly be challenges and labor ahead for my successor. In particular, I hope that she or he will see our recruitment of new students grow dramatically; our already-impressive program of international opportunities expand to include each and every UMM student; and the low salaries and high workload of all our employees, faculty and staff move to a point of greater equilibrium. Not surprisingly, I have been asked more than once in the past few weeks why I am retiring now. Like most major decisions one makes in life, there is no simple answer. The time seems right for me and for my family and for the college; UMM is in a position of strength to move forward into the Twenty-First Century; I am eager to do more teaching and writing. I told our campus community that only time will tell ifl was the right person at the right time for UMM, but that I know already that UMM was certainly the most right college for me, and I was incredibly lucky to land here. I have had the rare and wonderful honor to work with a splendid administrative team, to follow three exceptional predecessors, to know an outstanding faculty and a dedicated staff and, most of all, to encounter the best students any college in the world could attract. For all those gifts and many, many more, I am profoundly grateful. Fall 2005 Profile page l UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA MORRIS A message from Maddy Maxeiner associate vice chancellor UMMgiving for external relations facts and figures Welcome to our annual Honor Roll of Donors issue of for Fiscal Year 2005: Profile. In these pages we celebrate your support for UMM's mission. Your generosity is a wonderful gift, and we want