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ACCREDITATION VISIT
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The NEASC reaccreditation visiting team came, inquired, and went in
early November and is in the process of preparing its report for the
association. President Bro Adams
will meet with NEASC commissioners and Rob Oden, president of Carleton
and head of our visiting team, in March for the official final report.
After the visit Oden sent this message to FYI to share: “I've
done plenty, as in a whole lot, of accreditation visits,” he wrote.
“What was most remarkable to me and to all on the visiting team about
Colby was the notable and uncommon dedication of everyone on the
faculty and the staff to the mission of Colby: teaching the liberal
arts to talented, committed, loyal undergraduates.”
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OPEN DOORS PROVES GLOBAL REACH
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Each year the Institute of International Education releases Open Doors,
with data on Americans studying abroad and international students
enrolled in the United States. This year Colby shows up prominently in
both categories. In the 2007 study, just released, Colby ranked ninth
in the nation among undergraduate institutions for the percentage of
students who study abroad. We also were 40th among undergraduate
schools for the number of non U.S. citizens enrolled on campus. Colby
claims an unusual level of global reach; tables at http://opendoors.iienetwork.org/ back it up.
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CLASSIC DISTINCTION FOR J. ROISMAN
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Yossi Roisman
(classics) has been selected to deliver a prestigious lecture series in
history at the University of Missouri in 2010. As the Fordyce Mitchel
Memorial Lecturer, he will deliver three formal lectures on "The
Veterans of Alexander the Great," and the lectures will be published in
book form by the University of Texas Press. This is a huge
international distinction for classicists. The last Fordyce Mitchel
lecturer was the Regius Professor of Classics at Oxford.
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SIX AND A HALF RHODES’S?
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Laurel S. Gabler,
a member of Colby's Class of 2006 who transferred to Stanford for her
last two years, was named a 2008 Rhodes Scholar. Gabler, currently in
Thailand as a Luce Scholar studying traditional Thai medicine, says she
loved classes at Colby and named favorites among the faculty: Leo Livshits (math), Jean McIntyre (chemistry), Ira Sadoff (English), and Das Thamattoor
(chemistry). At Oxford Gabler plans to earn an master's degree in
global health sciences and ultimately would like to own a health clinic
and run a non-governmental organization in a developing country. Colby
claims six previous Rhodes Scholars, the most recent Will Polkinghorn ’99. More on 2008 winners is online.
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SCRABBLE SPICES UP HERB’S LIFE
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Herb Wilson (biology) and Bets Brown
(CFGR and biology) spent three days in Burlington, Vt., Nov. 16-18,
competing at a regional tournament of the National Scrabble
Association, and Herb took second place (and a $165 prize). They played
in the beginners’ division. In the semifinal round (the 14th of 15 he
played) Herb used all his letters to spell “readily,” then drew seven
new tiles and played “enabler.” Two plays, two 50-point bonuses, 163
points.
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TWO SECONDS FOR JOHNSON & JOHNSON
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Meanwhile Russ Johnson
(biology) was playing at the Maine 2007 state championship table tennis
tournament Nov. 17, and he took second place in doubles, playing with Cory Johnson ’08.
Johnson (the student, no relation to Russ) also took second place in
the open singles competition. There were a dozen teams in the pairs
competition and about four times that many in the singles. An
interesting spin on the story -- Cory Johnson is a physics major. More online.
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SERVICE AWARDS HONOR 470 YEARS
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On December 6 President Bro Adams
will formally recognize 26 employees with a cumulative 470 years of
experience, celebrating their 10-, 20-, and 30-year anniversaries at a
luncheon. Congratulations on:
30 years: Dan Quirion, Eustis Service Center; Gen Pinnette, Health Services; Linda Vashon, Physical Plant; and Sam Atmore, Media Resources;
20 years: Rosemarie Little, Physical Plant; Mary Nelson, Human Resources; Sandy Gilbert, Physical Plant; Beth Schiller, Registrar; Nancy Morrione '65, Admissions; Cate Talbot Ashton '80, Career Services; Patty Newmen, Counseling Services; Lindsey Colby, Biology; David Jones, Admissions; Susan Lehan, Health Services; Gordon Cheesman, Physical Plant; Joe Medina, College Relations; and Doug Terp '84, Administrative VP;
10 years: Sue McDougal, Dean of Students Office; Marcella Zalot, Athletics; Pete Chenevert, Security; Tom Mayo, Physical Plant; Beth Bridger, Admissions; Meg Bernier '81, Alumni & Donor Relations; Bob Heath, Libraries; Julia Gagne, Planned Giving; and Audrey Beale, Security.
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NIKKY ON THE NEWSWIRE
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When U.S. News & World Report did a story on The Golden Temple of Amritsar in the Nov. 16 issue, they tapped Nikky Singh (religious studies) to talk about "the most sacred place in the Sikh religion." That story is online, and you can see highlights of Colby folks in the news by signing up for periodic notices at http://www.colby.edu/news_events/news_wire/.
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MUSEUM OFFERS WEEKEND PROGRAMS
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The Colby College Museum of Art now offers Saturday-morning story hours
for children and parents, guided tours on Sundays, and on some
Thursdays museum staff and Colby faculty members offer noontime art
talks. These programs -- and museum admission -- are free.
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PORK AND THE HONORABLE MULE
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A CNN story about
Congressional earmarks cites Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Calif.), who wants
$50,000 to explore the possibility of building a museum to honor the
mule. An advocate of the museum says, “There are a lot of things people
don’t know about mules,” but the reporter doesn’t share a single
example. And he doesn’t seem to know that a jackass is not a mule.
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A SMALL DEGREE OF SEPARATION
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Veronique Plesch
(art) received an e-mail from Jakarta from her niece Valerie, who
relayed news from her flight there from D.C. Valerie was excited to
find herself seated next to a former U.S. ambassador, who turned out to
be Ambassador Robert Gelbard '64. And a small-world moment when they made the Colby connection.
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RECEIVE TRAVEL GRANTS
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Sarah Abosch, Inter-University Seminar on Armed Forces and Society, Chicago... James Barrett, Ancient Philosophy Society, New York... Jared Beers, Coaching symposiums and NCAA meetings, Phoenix... Debra Campbell, American Academy of Religion, San Diego... Peter Ditmanson, 2007 Symposium on Asia in the Curriculum, New York... James Fleming, History of Science Society, Arlington, Va.... Nora Ganter, Conference on Homotopy Theory, Germany... Lynn Hannum, American Association of Immunologists, San Diego... Walter Hatch, Association for Asian Studies, Atlanta... Arne Koch, German Studies Association, San Diego... Carleen Mandolfo, Society of Biblical Literature, San Diego... Mary Beth Mills, International Conference on the Anthropology of Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City... Robert Nelson, Geological Society of America, Denver... Veronique Plesch, Centre for Medieval Studies, Bristol, England... Laura Saltz, New England American Studies Association, Providence... Mark Serdjenian, National Soccer Coaches Association of America, Baltimore... Thomas Shattuck, Varian Association NOR Training, Palo Alto... Mark Tappan, Association for Moral Education, New York... John Turner, Middle East Studies Association of North America, Montreal.
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EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES
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Art and East Asian Studies: Faculty fellow, Asian Art History. One-year replacement.
Economics: Visiting assistant professor, one-year replacement.
Administration: Director of equal employment opportunity.