Posts tagged campus
2012 CU Diversity and Inclusion Summit invites participants to ‘Amp it up’
Nov 5th
The University of Colorado Boulder’s annual Diversity and Inclusion Summit will feature a variety of sessions for students, faculty, staff and community members from Nov. 13-15. All events are free, open to the public and on the Boulder campus.
The organizing theme for this year’s summit is “AMP it up! Awareness, Movement and Practice.” Along with sessions on awareness, inclusiveness and classroom and campus diversity practice, a selection of events will focus on the physical embodiment of diversity. These sessions will include dance, martial arts, yoga and theater as physical opportunities to discuss and engage with diversity. Sessions with a focus on pedagogical best practices for inclusive classrooms are another highlight of this year’s summit.
“The planning committee has been a model of the kind of cooperation that Chancellor DiStefano recently called for in his State of the Campus address,” said Alphonse Keasley, CU-Boulder’s assistant vice chancellor for campus climate and community engagement. “The members have worked tirelessly to organize a summit that speaks to this year’s theme, ‘AMP it up! Awareness, Movement and Practice.’ We sincerely hope and expect that participants will gain much from the sessions for truly amping it up for diversity, inclusion and social justice.”
Peggy McIntosh, associate director of the Wellesley College Center for Research on Women, returns to the summit and will share her new research in the keynote address “Using Privilege as a Catalyst for Change” on Tuesday, Nov. 13, at 9:15 a.m. in the University Memorial Center’s Glenn Miller Ballroom. McIntosh is best known for her essay “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack,” and last spoke in association with the summit in 2009, and on the Boulder campus in 2001.
Highlighted sessions during this year’s summit include:
— Tuesday, Nov. 13, 12:30 p.m., UMC Glenn Miller Ballroom.
“When Green Means Money: Economic Diversity in Boulder,” presented by Boulder City Manager Jane Brautigam.
— Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2 p.m., UMC Glenn Miller Ballroom.
Plenary: “Efficiency vs. Effectiveness: Recognizing the Difference for Low Income and First Generation Students” presented by Valerie Embry, director of the Academic Excellence Student Support Services Program.
— Wednesday, Nov. 14, 9 a.m., UMC Glenn Miller Ballroom.
Plenary: “Class, Race and Immigration in Higher Education” presented by CU-Boulder professors Melissa Hart and Ming Chen.
The educational and exploratory sessions highlight the research, talents and insights of faculty, students and staff and offer a view of diversity beyond the most common definitions. The event is hosted by the CU-Boulder Office of Diversity, Equity and Community Engagement, the Chancellor’s Advisory Committees and the city of Boulder.
The Diversity and Inclusion Summit shares the most current and up-to-date best practices around matters of diversity, inclusion, equity and social justice. As a public forum, the summit provides content to inspire new members of the campus community and to sustain veteran campus members toward a greater pluralistic campus, introduce everyday skills and practices for fostering an inclusive campus and work environment, and advance the skill set of long-term practitioners of diversity, inclusion and social justice.
A complete schedule of diversity summit events is available in the CU-Boulder Events Calendar at http://tinyurl.com/CUDiversitySummit2012.
CU police: Rash of thefts plague campus
Oct 22nd
The University of Colorado Police Department has received reports of a high number of thefts during the month of October. Since Oct. 2, UCPD has recorded 15 cases of a suspect or suspects stealing laptops and wallets from common areas or unlocked offices. The thief has targeted academic building offices, as well as the University Memorial Center. The following buildings have seen thefts in recent weeks: Benson Earth Sciences, Continuing Education, Engineering Center, Environmental Design, Imig Music, Koelbel Building, Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, University Theatre, Visual Arts Complex and Woodbury Arts and Sciences. For a Google Map with dates, locations and stolen items, see http://bit.ly/Oct2012CUthefts.
From Oct. 1-18 this year, UCPD has recorded 86 stolen pieces of property. During that same period last year, 68 items were stolen. CU Police have also seen a higher number of bike thefts in recent weeks. In nearly all cases, thieves have cut cable locks.
“Officers will be increasing their presence around bike racks and academic buildings, but we need the public’s help, too,” said CU Police spokesman Ryan Huff. “These are crimes of opportunity. Leaving your valuable items unattended or unprotected makes you a target for theft.”
The Police Department offers the following safety tips:
- Always keep your office locked when unattended. That includes when leaving for lunch or using the restroom.
- In common areas, such as dining facilities, libraries or the University Memorial Center, never leave laptops, mobile phones or other valuable items unattended.
- Record serial numbers of bikes, desktop computers, laptops, mobile phones and other items that could be stolen. If these items are recovered, it is easier to return them to you.
- Register your bike at the CU Bike Stations – east of the UMC or west of the Engineering Center. Register your laptop at the Telecommunications Center, also east of the UMC.
- For more crime prevention tips, see http://police.colorado.edu/crime-prevention-and-safety
CU’s biotechnology building earns LEED platinum rating
Oct 1st
Oct. 1, 2012
The University of Colorado Boulder’s Jennie Smoly Caruthers Biotechnology building has received a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, platinum rating — the highest possible evaluation — from the United States Green Building Council.
The 336,800-square-foot research and teaching facility opened in April on the university’s east campus. More than 60 faculty and 500 researchers, staff and students work inside, tackling a wide swath of challenges from cancer and heart disease to the development of new biofuels. LEED certification is a national benchmark for sustainable design, construction, operation and maintenance.
The building posed intense energy and water needs as well as complex safety requirements. “Earning a LEED platinum rating for such a large research building highlights the engineering challenges of providing safe and practical research space while ensuring the highest level of sustainability,” said Moe Tabrizi, director of campus sustainability.
The result is a building that is 30 percent more energy and water efficient than recently built buildings with a similar function. One tactic used by designers was to group labs with similar functions near each other in the building to centralize common lab equipment and maximize the efficiency of energy use, ventilation and heat recovery. The building’s mechanical and electrical systems incorporate significant energy savings and resource recovery.
The facility will have an array of large-scale, ground-mounted solar panels to help fulfill its energy needs. It also features evaporative cooling, which is the most energy-efficient cooling method in Colorado’s dry climate; daylight harvesting, lighting controls and LED technology; energy-efficient freezer compressors and lab exhaust fume hoods; low-flow plumbing and additional features.
The new building, which is prominent when accessing campus from Colorado Avenue and Foothills Parkway, also matches CU-Boulder’s distinct architectural look.
“This project demonstrates that we can achieve a high-performing, technically complex facility that blends our Tuscan Vernacular — or rural Italian — style with the demands of cutting-edge, 21st century world-class research,” said Paul Leef, campus architect.
The design team and campus engineers undertook a meticulous engineering process that combined best practices in green building, LEED requirements, and recommendations from Labs21, a program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Energy that is dedicated to improving the environmental performance of laboratories.
CU-Boulder is a sustainability leader in higher education. The campus currently has five LEED platinum rated buildings, eight gold rated buildings and one silver. The university is committed to earning gold ratings or higher for all new construction and renovations on campus.
