Wind Power to Provide 30 Percent of Columbia’s Energy
The college has entered into a two-year agreement with Community Energy, Inc. to purchase 4,410 megawatt hours of electricity—approximately 30 percent of its annual usage—as Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) in wind power. Community Energy, Inc. is a nonprofit wind turbine farm developer.
The shift from traditional sources of electrical power to wind-generated power is expected to save the college about $1 million in energy costs over the next two years, in addition to upholding the institution’s increasing commitment to sustainable practices. The purchase also qualifies Columbia for membership in the Green Power Leadership Club, a national initiative of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
For a more detailed explanation of RECs and the college’s agreement, see this week’s Columbia Chronicle.
[Photo courtesy of Community Energy, Inc.]
2007-’08 Distinguished Fellows Announced
The provost’s office has announced that the following faculty members have been selected as the Distinguished College Teacher, Distinguished College Artist, Distinguished College Scholar, and Critical Encounters Fellow for the 2007-’08 academic year.
Sara Livingston (Television) is the Distinguished College Teacher. Livingston is being recognized for the quality of her teaching and her impact on instruction within the Television department and college-wide. She received the Excellence in Teaching Award in 2000.
Garnett Kilberg-Cohen (English) is the Distinguished College Artist. In addition to teaching in both the English department and First Year Seminar program, Garnett serves as the coordinator of the department’s professional writing program and teaches poetry to teenage boys at the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center. She has recently won several awards for her short stories.
Dominque Cheenne (Audio Arts and Acoustics) is the Distinguished College Scholar. Cheenne is known for his scholarship, both traditional and nontraditional, in the field of audio arts and acoustics. He has published in professional and popular journals and has recently contributed a chapter to the Audiocyclopedia.
Stephanie Shonekan Liberal Education) is the new Critical Encounters Fellow. She will work with current Critical Encounters Fellow Amy Hawkins and the new Critical Encounters Task Force on the topic of poverty and privilege. A scholar of folklore and ethnomusicology, she is currently working on an animated film, The Lioness of Lisabi, based on the life of women’s rights activist Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti.
CIT Accepting Proposals for Summer 2007 Technology Fellowships
The Center for Instructional Technology (CIT) is accepting proposals for its summer 2007 Technology Fellows Program. The program provides opportunities for faculty and staff members to explore new and creative ways to apply their technology skills to collaborative, technology-based projects that will promote and enhance the use of technology in teaching and curriculum development.
CIT will provide grants for up to four, two-member teams who will act as Technology Fellows during the 2007 summer term. Each team member will receive a $2,500 stipend. The proposal deadline is Monday April 2, 2007. Detailed application information is available on the CIT website.
Hilton Athletic Club Offers Faculty/Staff Memberships
The Office of Human Resources announces a new partnership between Columbia College Chicago and the Hilton Chicago, which provides faculty and staff a discounted membership to the Hilton Athletic Club. To be eligible for the special rate of $120.00 per quarter, faculty and staff members may simply present a Columbia College Chicago ID when signing up. The club’s amenities include new, state-of-the-art equipment and weight-training machines, indoor pool, running track, sauna, whirlpool, and complimentary towel service. The club also offers tanning, personal training, and massages at an additional cost.
Hours are Monday through Friday from 5:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., and 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. on weekends. The Hilton Athletic Club is located on the eighth floor of the hotel at 720 South Michigan Avenue. You may call the Hilton Chicago at 312-922-4400 with questions.
Dance Center Offers Faculty/Staff Discount for Together Higher Dance Troupe this Weekend
This weekend only, Vietnam’s Together Higher Dance Troupe performs Stories of Us, an evening-length work that uses Western-influenced modern dance to examine ideas of exclusion and segregation, inspired by personal stories of people living outside the mainstream in Vietnam. Artistic Director Le Vu Long's highly trained dancers, most of whom are deaf, create a powerful silencing force in this piece, moving from military-like marching formations to moments of free improvisation and emotion. This new company has been bucking the norms of dance in Southeast Asia and is turning heads in a place where contemporary dance is a relatively new phenomenon.
Columbia College Chicago faculty and staff may receive a 20-percent discount on tickets by calling the box office at 312-344-8300. Performances run February 22, 23, and 24 at 8:00 p.m. at the Dance Center.
[Photo: Together Higher Dance Troupe, photo by Trong Chinh.]
News Briefs
This year’s fall-to-spring retention report has been released. From fall 2006 to spring 2007 semesters, 81 percent of students who entered as freshmen and 86 percent of those who entered as transfers remain enrolled.
Actress Virginia Madsen (The Astronaut Farmer), winner of the college’s 2006 Chicago Impact Award, and John Morning, a trustee of the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, have teamed up to co-chair Dr. Carter’s President’s Advisory Council, a group of friends of the college who will promote the institution through their network of contacts in the entertainment and philanthropic communities.
Ninety-five percent of the college’s classes now begin at coordinated campus-wide start times, which has significantly increased the efficient use of classroom space.
Film and Video cinematography undergrad Kevin Moss, who shot an Advanced Practicum film in 2006, has garnered an honorable mention for his work from the American Society of Cinematographers.
The Science and Mathematics department colloquium series continues
Thursday, March 1, from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. in the Ferguson Auditorium (600 S. Michigan Ave.) with a discussion by Dr. Don Wuebbles of the University of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign. Dr. Wuebbles’s talk, “Facing the Realities of Human-Induced Climate Change," is free and open to the public. It will be preceded by a brief reception in the auditorium foyer.
Noted art critic Mark Alice Durant will lecture Thursday, March 1, at 6:00 p.m. at the Museum of Contemporary Photography (600 S. Michigan Ave.) on the current exhibition "Robert Heinecken: Sex and Food, a Memorial Exhibition." Durant is co-author and editor of the book Robert Heineken: A Material History.
Faculty and Staff News
Terence Hannum (Art and Design) is this month’s featured artist in the Museum of Contemporary Art’s 12x12 space. His three-channel video installation, Evocation, features throbbing sound and footage of the experimental metal band SunnO))). It remains on view through February 25.
Composer/sound artist Howard Sandroff (Audio Arts and Acoustics) presented a discussion and demonstration on digital signal processing: music, sound, and computers, which explored contemporary methods of signal processing and their application in music and audio. His presentation was a feature at this week’s Chicago Federation of Musicians dinner.
