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UM-Flint Campus News from the Desk of Chancellor
Ruth J.
Person
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I am always surprised when people
ask me if we at the university work during the summer. My
experience over my many years in higher education is that
summer is actually a very productive time. Typically, lots of
construction projects, year-end reports, and reorganizing
efforts take place. One of our most important endeavors is
always the planning for the next academic year's activities
and events. This summer is no exception, and we are busily at
work developing specific plans for the many activities of the
upcoming year.
Three things are at the top of the
list for summer planning - preparation for our HLC team visit
in October, initial planning for our very important Provost
search, and the identification of a new strategic planning
committee. All of these are time-consuming tasks, but all will
have positive results!
Ruth
J. Person
Chancellor
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*COMPETE*
On July 27, our
campus hosted a meeting of the mayor's auto task force. Also
invited were over 400 elected officials from the region. The
topic? How to make Michigan prosperous and competitive in the new
economy. Dan Gilmartin, director of the Michigan Municipal
League, and Lou Glazer, president of Michigan Future, Inc.
were our speakers. Stay tuned for more information about this
topic.
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*CONVENE*
One of the
very important functions of a public university is to convenve stakeholders around
important issues. UM-Flint's Critical Issues Forum does just
that, and has been doing so for over 20 years. Although the
events of the Forum don't typically take place until the
spring, the planning process must begin in the previous
summer. Under the capable leadership of Jennifer Hogan,
Executive Director of University Relations, we will begin
planning for the 2010 Forum in August. That process will
include meetings with the supporters of the Forum, identifying
new members for the planning committee, and researching some
of the potential speakers suggested by this year's attendees.
Suggestions regarding the Forum should go to University
Relations at alainag@umflint.edu. I look forward to hearing
from some exciting and thought-provoking speakers in
2010.
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*CONNECT*
On June 27, the
Ross House garden was host to over 250 visitors as part of the
Genessee County Master Gardeners annual garden tour. I spent
the day (great weather!) greeting guests and interacting with
the volunteers and staff for the event. One of our volunteers
happened to be the purchasing manager for Garden Fresh
Gourmet™ a salsa company located right in Southeast Michigan
(who would have thought!) Many of you know that I've never met
a hot pepper I didn't like, so we had a great conversation
about this homegrown Michigan business and its success. In
spite of our troubled Michigan economy, there really are some
good news stores out there, and this is one of them. The
entrepreneurial spirit lives on!
I
received many compliments on the garden's recent improvements.
It was wonderful to be able to connect our university with
the general public in such a positive way. Kudos to our
grounds crew for their hard work on the
garden!
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Thank you
for reading "BlueNotes!"
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