June 14, 2021

In order to work toward improvements within our programs, the human research protection program (HRPP) and Michigan Technological University Institutional Review Board (MTU-IRB) will have limited availability for the month of July.

With the exception of funding-related submissions that require HRPP determination of research or MTU-IRB approval for pending awards, human subject research projects submitted to IRBNet from July 5 to July 30 will be reviewed after Aug. 2.

To minimize interruptions to ongoing or planned research during this time, we encourage human subject researchers to submit projects for determination of research or review (i.e., amendments to an approved project, new approval or continuing renewal) to IRBNet by next Monday (June 21). Projects submitted by this date will be processed in the order they were received.

For more-than-minimal-risk projects, the next convened MTU-IRB meeting is scheduled for July 1. These projects must also be submitted to IRBNet and ready for MTU-IRB review by June 21 to be considered for review and approval at the July 1 convened MTU-IRB meeting.

Federal law requires that undergraduate research assistants on funded research projects must complete responsible conduct of research (RCR) training. Accordingly, the Research Integrity Office has created an online RCR course tailored for undergraduate researchers at Michigan Tech.

Undergraduate research assistants can enroll in the RCR training course online and must complete the course by July 14.

Required learning modules in this short course discuss:

• Research Misconduct
• Data Management
• Research with Human Subjects
• Research with Animal Subjects

In addition to these four required modules, 12 optional modules on topics ranging from Authorship to Presentation of Research Findings and Reproducibility of Research Results allow supervisors and students to customize their RCR training.

The overall goals of RCR training are to empower researchers with the ability to make responsible and ethical decisions about their research and to provide researchers with an understanding of common mistakes that can derail an otherwise successful research program.

For more information, contact the Research Integrity Office at 906-487-2902 or researchintegrity@mtu.edu. 

A production system maintenance window is scheduled for June 27 from 7-11 a.m.

The following production services will be unavailable during this time:

Banner 9 Admin Pages
Banner 8 Forms and Reports
DARS Web Audits
UC4/Appworx

If you have any questions or concerns, we can help. Contact us at it-help@mtu.edu or call 906-487-1111.

Please consider nominating a registered student organization (RSO) you advise (and/or a student within the organization) for the Student Org Spotlight!

RSOs and students selected for the Spotlight are featured on the Student Leadership and Involvement social media and web page, highlighting your RSO and student members to a large audience.

We want to hear about outstanding leadership, amazing events and exceptional organizations! Please use the nomination form and include at least one picture for Student Leadership and Involvement to feature. Questions? Email us at rso@mtu.edu.

Outstanding Woman in Business

Fourth-year management information systems (MIS) major Macy Pawielski is the 2020-21 Outstanding Woman in Business.

Originally from Marquette, Michigan, Pawielski said choosing Michigan Tech has been one of the best decisions she’s ever made.

“I’ve not only had amazing career and leadership opportunities, but I’ve made friendships and professional connections — it’s beyond anything I could have imagined for my college career,” she said.

Read the story on the College of Business Newsblog.

Outstanding Man in Business

Fourth-year MIS major Chris Arbuckle is the 2020-21 Outstanding Man in Business.

The Lake Orion, Michigan, native serves as vice president of the Organization for Information Systems, treasurer of Phi Kappa Tau and vice president of administration for the Interfraternity Council, is a member of the Order of Omega Honor Society, and was an Orientation team leader.

Arbuckle said being involved in these campus organizations has given him opportunities to work with others, developing leadership skills required for the future.

Read the story on the College of Business Newsblog. 

Join the Center for Diversity and Inclusion from 2-4 p.m. on June 24 in MUB Ballroom A for the MiCUP Program's Research Poster Presentation.

Students from Delta College, Grand Rapids Community College and Wayne County Community College who have been participating in research labs with Michigan Tech professors will present their research findings. Please join us in a celebration of their accomplishments.

This event is free and open to the public. Individually wrapped refreshments will be available.

Michigan Tech senior Laura De Marchi has been named to the 2021 CoSIDA Academic All-District Volleyball Team for the second straight season.

De Marchi is a setter and biomedical engineering major from Milan, Italy. She holds a 3.77 GPA. 

DeMarchi was named the 2021 GLIAC Volleyball Player of the Year, the GLIAC Setter of the Year for the fourth straight season, and to the All-GLIAC First Team for the fourth year in a row. She led NCAA Division II setters with 12.72 assists per set.

Read more on the Michigan Tech Athletics website.

Jeffrey Naber (ME-EM/APSRC) is the principal investigator (PI) on a project that has received a $4,498,650 federal research and development co-op/joint agreement-cost from the U.S. Department of Energy.

The project is titled "APRA-E NEXTCAR Phase II - L4/L5 CAV Enabled Energy Reduction."

Darrell Robinette (ME-EM/APSRC), Bo Chen (ME-EM/APSRC) and Jeremy Bos (ECE/APSRC) are co-PIs on this three-year project.

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Rodney Chimner (CFRES/ESC) is the PI on a project that has received a $488,845 research and development grant from the State of Michigan, Department of Natural Resources.

The project is titled "Northern White Cedar Regeneration Project."

Christopher Webster (CFRES/ESC) and Laura Bourgeau-Chavez (MTRI/ESC) are co-PIs on this potential three-year project.

Vice President for University Relations and Enrollment John Lehman was quoted in a Daily Mining Gazette article on the value higher education brings to the Upper Peninsula.

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An interview with graduate student Alexis Pescaris (SS) was featured in a pv magazine article on agrivoltaics.

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Michigan Tech’s research into autonomous vehicles in wintry conditions was covered by Self-Driving Cars 360.

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The Keweenaw Time Traveler project, housed in the Department of Social Sciences, was featured by WJMN Local 3 as a way for communities to share stories and memories of the three historic buildings in Calumet, Michigan, that burned in the May 21 fire.

Fill Out the COVID-19 Symptom Monitoring Form Before Coming to Campus

If you are working on campus while the University is at Health Safety Level Two, remember that no one is permitted to come to campus with symptoms consistent with COVID-19.

Employees are required to monitor for symptoms daily before coming to campus using the Daily Symptom Monitoring Form.

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Mail Services Resuming Normal Operations

Effective Monday (June 14), Mail Services will resume mail delivery to campus departments using the traditional mail pickup and delivery schedule. Given changes in staffing, as well as planned vacation or unexpected absences, there will be occasional days when mail delivery will not be available. We encourage each department to have key staff members join the Mail Services Updates email list to receive notifications when these infrequent disruptions occur.

Departments are welcome to pick up and drop off mail. During summer hours, the service window on the garden level of the Administration Building is open and staffed from 8:30 a.m. to noon and 12:30-3:30 p.m. Mail Services staff are available to assist with mail, shipping (UPS and FedEx) and bulk mailing. Contact us at mail-services-l@mtu.edu or 906-487-2348 with questions.

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Editing Services Available to MTU Community

Professional editing services are available to all members of the Michigan Tech community through the Center for Teaching and Learning.

• Any academic document (proposals, reports, journal articles, dissertations, etc.)
• Editing for grammar, spelling, punctuation, flow and readability
• All via email and with quick turnaround

Editing services are provided by highly qualified English language instructors with expertise in grammar, writing and language instruction.

Contact Emily Kastamo at ekastamo@mtu.edu to get an estimate and free sample edit. Visit our Editing Services page for more information and hourly rates.

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Application Open for Michigan Tech Sustainable and Resilient Communities Faculty Research Fellowship

The Tech Forward Initiative on Sustainability and Resilience is accepting applications for the Michigan Tech Sustainable and Resilient Communities Faculty Research Fellowship.

Fellows will receive support to buy out one or more courses from their teaching responsibilities in the spring 2022 or fall 2022 semester.

Fellows will be expected to:

1. Develop and submit proposals to external funding opportunities;
2. Establish a relationship with an existing center and institute to build support for sustainability and resilience research on campus; and
3. Participate in Sustainable and Resilient Communities Social Network and Research Collaborative (SRC-squared) events during the 2021-22 academic year.

Potential applicants are required to provide information about their potential projects via the pre-proposal Google form. Applicants will be contacted (within two weeks of submitting the form) and potentially encouraged to submit a full application.

The full application will require:

• A list of funding opportunities (submission deadline, max budget, link to solicitation);
• One paragraph describing planned submission;
• A list of (expected) team members, with indication of confirmed collaborators and collaborators to be invited (not more than one page);
• A brief explanation of how these projects, if funded, align with sustainability and resilience research and how this fellowship opportunity would allow pursuit of new opportunities that otherwise would not be pursued (not more than one page); and
• A letter of support from the supervising chair or dean, with budget requirement indicated.

Particularly encouraged elements include transdisciplinary and convergent teams, a combination of teams experienced in collaboration and new collaborative teams, a combination of teams internal to Michigan Tech and teams including external collaborators, and a clear connection to growing the visibility of sustainability and resilience research at Michigan Tech.

Applicants should consider as a general benchmark submitting a minimum of three funding proposals totaling a minimum of $2 million, although more proposals and larger funding amounts are encouraged, as are creative pursuits of funding opportunities outside of this general benchmark.

The Tech Forward Initiative on Sustainability and Resilience welcomes and encourages inquiries about this opportunity! Please contact Chelsea Schelly at cschelly@mtu.edu with any questions.

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Nominations Open: 2021 CGS/ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award

Nominations are now open for the 2021 Council of Graduate Schools (CGS)/ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award. Please submit nominations to the Graduate School no later than 4 p.m. on Wednesday (June 16), following our online instructions.

This year, nominations are being accepted from dissertations in the fields of:

1. Biological and Life Sciences
2. Humanities and Fine Arts

Michigan Tech may nominate one student in each field. Ph.D. students who have completed all of their degree requirements between July 1, 2019, and June 30, 2021, are eligible. The fields of competition for 2022 will be Mathematics, Physical Sciences and Engineering; and Social Sciences.

Nominations must be delivered to Debra Charlesworth in the Graduate School no later than 4 p.m. on Wednesday. Email nominations to gradschool@mtu.edu are preferred.

Contact Charlesworth at gradschool@mtu.edu if you have any questions about the competition.

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2021-22 Diversity Literacy Workshops Open for Registration

Diversity Literacy training for the 2021-22 academic year is open for registration. This year we have changed the registration process to an online registration form.

The Diversity Literacy Online Workshop (DLOW) is part of Michigan Tech's ongoing commitment to faculty diversity in building a supportive campus climate. Successful completion of the DLOW is required to serve on faculty hiring and tenure promotion committees. The full workshop is organized as a three-week asynchronous online course in Canvas (with two to three hours of work per week) building literacy in recognizing unconscious bias, and culminates with a one-week seminar on the legal aspects of diversity-centered hiring practices.

For those who have already taken the full three-week diversity literacy course, a one-week refresher course is required every four years. See the Diversity Training Status page for more information and a list of current training status for all faculty.

The workshop dates are listed below and can also be found on the training website. Please note that legal aspects training will immediately follow the diversity literacy training, and faculty will be registered for them both at the same time. We suggest that individuals register early for fall workshop dates if they are serving on faculty search or promotion and tenure committees in the coming year. If your certification is expiring but you don't need it for immediate service, we would appreciate if you register for a spring workshop instead, as the fall enrollments can get high.

If you have any questions about the DLOW and training, contact workshop administrator Amy Marcarelli at ammarcar@mtu.edu.

Full course and refresher dates for academic year 2021-22:

Fall Refresher 1: 
Sept. 13-17 — Diversity Literacy Refresher Workshop
Sept. 20-24 — Legal Aspects of Hiring – Online Course

Fall Full Course: 
Oct. 4–22 — Diversity Literacy Full Course
Oct. 25-29 — Legal Aspects of Hiring – Online Course

Fall Refresher 2: 
Nov. 8-12 — Diversity Literacy Refresher Workshop
Nov. 15-19 — Legal Aspects of Hiring – Online Course

Spring Refresher 1: 
Jan. 17–21 — Diversity Literacy Refresher Workshop
Jan. 24-28 — Legal Aspects of Hiring – Online Course

Spring Full Course: 
Feb. 7-25 — Diversity Literacy Full Course
Feb. 28-March 4 — Legal Aspects of Hiring – Online Course

Spring Refresher 2: 
March 21-25 — Diversity Literacy Refresher Workshop
March 28-April 1 — Legal Aspects of Hiring – Online Course

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

New Husky Orientation

Monday, June 14, 8:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m. | Lakeshore-comm-rm123

Parent & Child Huskies Group Swim Lessons Summer Session 1

Monday, June 14, 9:00–9:40 a.m. | Student Development Complex (SDC), Pool

Come make a splash this summer in Huskies Group Swim Lessons! American Red Cross Parent & Child Aquatics levels are being offered at the SDC Pool for ages 6 months to 3 years...

Preschool Huskies Group Swim Lessons Summer Session 1

Monday, June 14, 9:00–9:40 a.m. | Student Development Complex (SDC), Pool

Come make a splash this summer in Huskies Group Swim Lessons! American Red Cross Preschool Aquatics levels are being offered at the SDC Pool for ages 4 to 5 years old. Social...

Huskies Group Swim Lessons - Learn to Swim Levels 1-4 Summer Session 1

Monday, June 14, 10:00–10:40 a.m. | Student Development Complex (SDC), Pool

Come make a splash this summer in Huskies Group Swim Lessons! American Red Cross Learn-to-Swim Levels 1-4 are being offered at the SDC Pool. Social distancing will be...

Huskies Group Swim Lessons - Learn to Swim Levels 1-4 Summer Session 1

Monday, June 14, 10:00–10:40 a.m. | Student Development Complex (SDC), Pool

Come make a splash this summer in Huskies Group Swim Lessons! American Red Cross Learn-to-Swim Levels 1-4 are being offered at the SDC Pool. Social distancing will be...

Junior Huskies Summer Swim Session 1

Monday, June 14, 4:00 p.m.–4:50 p.m. | Student Development Complex (SDC), Pool

Come make a splash this summer in Junior Huskies Swim Clinic! This program provides additional attention and competitive guidance to proficient swimmers ages 6-17 who are...

Adult Huskies Summer Swim Session 1

Monday, June 14, 5:00 p.m.–5:50 p.m. | Student Development Complex (SDC), Pool

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

UP & Moving Strength Training and High Intensity Interval Training ("HIIT")

Monday, June 14, 5:30 p.m.–6:15 p.m.

We are a group of Michigan Tech graduate students who are focused on improving the health of our community. We are contributing to the COVID-19 response by providing health...

Music in Sacred Spaces: conScience

June 14, all day

conScience: Michigan Tech Chamber Singers, under the direction of Dr. Jared Anderson, present a series of three recorded mini-concerts in historic sacred spaces in the Copper...

Superior Wind Symphony: Reparations

June 14, all day

The Superior Wind Symphony, under the direction of Dr. Michael Christianson, use the unique setting of the 2020-21 academic year to explore the music of Black composers in a...