Colleagues,

Earlier this week, I indicated that I would be recording a message providing more details about our situation and suggesting some ways we can improve ourselves financially. I promise that this presentation is much more manageable than my previous recording which was, admittedly, a bit long-winded.

There are three sections to this presentation, enabling you to watch as time allows:

Financial and Personnel Reductions (runtime 12:09)
Impact of Reductions (runtime 10:28)
Call to Action (runtime 23:01)

The deans and I really do need your feedback and suggestions as we work to move ahead. These conversations will continue into the fall, but in the meantime your thoughts can be directed to our shared email account.

Have a great July 4 weekend.

Tom

Posted by Michael Fraase at 4:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Heba Amin (MFA Interactive Design, 2009) has received a Rhizome commission grant. Amin was one of 10 recipients out of 800 applicants.

Posted by Michael Fraase at 4:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) has recognized William Angell (Housing Studies; Midwest Universities Radon Consortium) with its 2009 Excellence in Extension Award for the North Central Region. The award, for Angell's work in radon mitigation will be presented at the association's annual meeting on Sunday, November 15, 2009 in Washington, DC.

"On behalf of Extension, the department and the colleges, I am grateful for the support I have been given to translate research in the field to reducing the loss of life due to elevated radon in buildings," Angell said in response to an e-mail query. "This award is as much a recognition of the support extended to me as it is to the opportunity I have been given. I am totally committed to the challenge of design, construction, and maintenance of healthy buildings; a commitment shared many in this department and college and in Extension."

Posted by Michael Fraase at 1:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sandra Rolph (MLA 2007), Sean Jergens (BED 2002, MLA 2005), and Jenny Salita (MLA 2008) created artwork for the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum's latest exhibit, "Waterosity: Go Green with a Splash." Their piece, "Global Spydrology," explores the connection between people, plants, and water. ("Spydrology" is a combination of "spiral" and "hydrology".)

Continue reading "Three MLA grads create artwork for Arboretum exhibit" »

Posted by epringle at 3:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Center for Sustainable Building Research (CSBR) staff and fellows Kerry Haglund, Dan Handeen, Rolf Jacobson, Garrett Mosiman, Rachel O'Malley, and Patrick Smith have all received LEED accreditation.

Posted by Michael Fraase at 3:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Intersections: Where Art and Fashion Meet opens at the Goldstein Museum of Design on July 11, 2009 and runs through November 1, 2009. The exhibition, inspired by journalist and Friends of the Goldstein founder Margot Siegel, celebrates the fluid relationship between fashion and art while celebrating the exuberance of art, fashion, and popular culture. Intersections is co-curated by Barbara Heinemann and Mark Schultz with consultation by Margot Siegel.

An opening reception will be held at the museum on July 10, 2009, 6-8 p.m. Siegel will give brief remarks and the curators will give a gallery tour. In keeping with the Pop Art theme, "food that pops" (pop corn, tootsie pops) and cheese will be served. "Margotinis" will also be served, and the Goldstein asks that everyone bring a canned good for the MN food shelf.

Image credit: "Roy Lichtenstein" Suit, Cheap and Chic by Moschino. Gift of Shari Applebaum.

Posted by Michael Fraase at 2:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

College of Design students are participating in the Solar Decathlon, a US Department of Energy competition between 19 universities to design and construct a solar-powered house. The effort was profiled by Tim Post for Minnesota Public Radio today. Solar panels built into the roof of the student-designed solar house generates more power than it uses, adding power to the grid during the day and taking power from the grid when the sun goes down. "We're still working on getting the materials to frame out the roof, so what you see is the lower half of the house," Architecture graduate student Shengyin Xu told Post.

Posted by Michael Fraase at 2:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Dear Colleagues,

By now you have likely heard that the Board of Regents approved cutting 1,240 faculty and staff positions, a little less than seven percent of the 18,000 employees at the University. Layoffs represented 370 jobs or 30 percent of the cut, according to Richard Pfutzenreuter, the University's chief financial officer. Other reductions came from positions eliminated in conjunction with the retirement incentive option (18 percent) and from not filling open faculty positions (17 percent), open staff positions (23 percent), and open student positions (12 percent).

The College of Design has done everything we can to minimize layoffs as well. Out of a full-time faculty and staff of 210, we have eliminated seven positions and reduced two positions to nine-month appointments. Another 21 administrative staff members have reduced appointments in place, equivalent to the reduction of 2.70 full-time positions.

These reductions should remind us that, as a community, we have a lot of work to do this coming academic year to focus on core priorities and develop short- and long-term strategies to build revenue to meet the FY11 reductions and begin replacing the $2.2 million FY10 shortfall.

I'll be recording a message later this week, providing more details about our situation and suggesting some ways we can improve our financial situation. Watch for an e-mail with the link!

Tom

Posted by Michael Fraase at 2:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Adam Overland, writing for the University's Web site, has published a feature on Dean Tom Fisher's (Architecture) new book, Architectural Design and Ethics: Tools for Survival. Overland's feature, entitled "Design for the other 100 percent," examines Fisher's take on various "fracture critical" systems that have recently collapsed, including the I-35W bridge, the US auto industry, and the US banking system. "I look at ethics as a survival tool, not as something to moralize about," Fisher tells Overland. "We have to enter into anything that we depend on for our very survival with the idea that there is a high likelihood that something will go wrong... we need to build resiliency back into the systems."

Posted by Michael Fraase at 11:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dean Tom Fisher (Architecture) served as an advisor to the Minnesota Orchestral Association's search for an architect to design a rennovation of Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis. The Orchestra selected Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects (KPMB) for the project. "KPMB has a gerat deal of experience in performing arts facilities, especially in adding to and renovating existing buildings," Fisher told the Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal.

Posted by Michael Fraase at 4:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Steven McCarthy's (Graphic Design) artist's book, entitled House Echo Home, has been selected for HOME: Origins, Places and Connections, a national juried exhibit at the Attleboro Arts Museum in Attleboro, Pennsylvania.

McCarthy has published a series of Artist's books.

Posted by Michael Fraase at 4:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dear Colleagues,

Last week I shared general numbers regarding the impact of the budget cuts on college personnel. This week, I wanted to convey some of the effects these cuts will have on the delivery of services in the college.
Because of reductions in their number and appointments, our staff will likely require longer lead times and have slower response times to requests for everything from marketing materials to financial information to course advising. A smaller staff will also have less capacity to accommodate unanticipated needs, whether they involve seeking money, staging events, or loading software. Meanwhile, constrained budgets will mean cut backs in scheduled activities such as the frequency of lectures, the number of printed publications, or the upgrading of technology.

These reductions, in other words, will affect everyone in the college, and I deeply regret the negative impact they will have. I also remain ever grateful to our staff, whether on reduced appointments or not, for taking on more work because of unfilled positions or the reassignment of responsibilities. This coming year, things may take longer or happen less often then they did before, but the more supportive and patient we are with each other, the better off we all will be.

Tom

Posted by Michael Fraase at 9:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Gina Czupka, writing for examiner.com, calls the Goldstein Museum of Design a "hidden gem." Referring to the current exhibition, "Expressions of Stability and Change: Ethnic Dress and Folk Costume," Czupka writes, "seeing these clothes and the intricate workmanship and symbolism that imbue them with meaning is a great inspiration for travel."

Posted by Michael Fraase at 1:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Univeristy's comedy team recently won Rooftop Comedy's 2009 National College Competition. Andy Erikson (BS Graphic Design, 2009) was named the team's MVP. In 2008, Erikson won Rooftop Comedy's Rusty Nail Award. Erikson tells the Pioneer Press she'll spend most of July in San Francisco at a Rooftop Comedy internship.

Posted by Michael Fraase at 10:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

[Ed note: What follows is a mostly unedited trip report from Bill Moran (Design Minor) and a faculty member at the University of Wisconsin-Stout, who leads 2009's M-term travels in typography.]

Hola/Halo/Ciao, because of various internet access challenges you will be receiving trip updates after the fact. My apologies but please read along and enjoy.

Travels in typography is underway again and we're having a fantastic time. The flight and ensuing jetlag have been no trouble and we've embarked on another typographic adventure! Our first stop was Madrid. The city's culture and history are making for a typographic palette that showcases Spanish printing and letterforms at their finest. Our first visit was to the historic city of Toledo. This walled city dates from the third century BC and hosts a rare book library collected by the Cardinals of the Catholic Church (Biblioteca Regional de Castilla la Mancha). We were shown books and manuscripts that dated from the 11th to 16th century including these little gems....

Continue reading "European travels in typography 2009" »

Posted by Michael Fraase at 3:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)