A farewell reception has been scheduled for vice president for fiscal affairs and administration Jeff Wolf this afternoon from 2:00-3:30 p.m. in Dunigan Hall in the Schroeder Family School of Business Administration Building. Jeff accepted the presidency at Educational and Institutional Insurance Administrators in Chicago, and his last day at the University is tomorrow - Friday, December 9.

TODAY from 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m., Wesselman Woods Nature Preserve is offering a free UE Day to anyone with a valid UE ID. The preserve is the oldest old growth forest in Indiana. It is located at 551 North Boeke Road in Evansville. 

This event is being held in conjunction with a marketing campaign through the Marketing 325 class taught by professor of marketing Rob Montgomery.

As a way to increase awareness for this organization, we invite you to share your location during your visit to Wesselman Woods Nature Preserve with a photo on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and/or Snapchat! There will be a snapchat geofilter at the preserve on Wednesday as well. 

More information can be found online at Wesselman Nature Society's website.

Thank you for your help promoting this wonderful organization and their continued success.

Come out and enjoy the outdoors!

Come celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception tonight! Mass will begin at 9:30 p.m. in Neu Chapel. Father Godfrey Mullen will be our celebrant. Hope to see you there. More information can be found on this flyer, or by contacting Olivia Voegerl at ov4@evansville.edu.

Finals have you stressed? Come learn some ways to de-stress and relax before final exams start. The Relaxation Station will offer relaxing music, coloring, and other techniques that encourage stress management and relaxation. Join us on Reading Study Day from 1:00-4:00 p.m. in Eykamp Hall, Rooms 253-255, Ridgway University Center.

Enjoy pancakes with some of your favorite Aces at the Pancake Study Break tonight - Wednesday, December 7 - from 9:00-11:00 p.m. in the dining hall in Ridgway University Center. There will also be door prizes, music, and fun! This event is free of charge to UE students. A UE ID is required.

Students in Marketing Class 325 will be offering FREE coupons for Spice Café at a table in Ridgway University Center lobby TODAY - December 8 - from 11:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. With the coupon, you can buy one meal at the Spice Café and get one free!  

The TIAA-CREF representative will be on the UE campus for individual counseling sessions in the coming months. To schedule an appointment, call TIAA-CREF at 1-800-732-8353 or 317-706-6200. The sessions are held in Room 208 in the University Libraries.

Sessions are planned for:

• January 10
• February 15 and 16
• March 21
• April 12 and 13
• May 16
• June 14 and 15
• July 11
• August 16 and 17
• September 12
• October 11 and 12
• November 14
• December 13 and 14

The School of Public Health has changed its name to the School of Health Sciences. The programs in the unit include athletic training, clinical laboratory science, exercise science, health services administration, and public health.

New hours for the Fitness Center will start on Wednesday, December 7. The schedule will be:

• December 7-9: 8:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m.
• December 10-11: 11:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m.
• December 12-14: 8:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m.
• December 15-16: 8:-- a.m.-6:00 p.m.
• December 17-18 – Closed
• December 19-21: 8:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m.
• December 22: 8:00 a.m.-noon

Open swim pending guard availability.

We will not be having the free shred day with Piranha planned for this semester. Piranha had a fire at its facility in late October and is still in the process of getting back up and running. We plan on having the free paper shredding day in the spring semester.

If you are in need of a general education course that satisfies Outcome 5 and a Writing across the Curriculum overlay (E), be aware that the Department of Creative Writing has opened an additional section of WRTG 205, Introduction to Creative Writing (section 03) for spring 2017. This course will give students a chance to write and revise poetry, fiction, and nonfiction in a class of 15 participants. First come, first served!

If you have any questions, please contact Paul Bone, associate professor of creative writing, at pb28@evansville.edu.
 

As employees will not return from the Christmas holiday break until after the normal time card entry deadline of Saturday, December 24, for the December 30, bi-weekly payroll, the Office of Accounting/Payroll is asking all staff to enter their time on WebAdvisor for the pay period December 11-24 by Wednesday, December 14. Supervisors are asked to approve timecards by Thursday, December 15.

If you have any questions, please contact Gloria Spencer at ext. 2159.
 

In August 2015, the University went tobacco-free In support of the health and well-being of the campus community.

The use of all tobacco products and electronic smoking devices (e-cigarettes) are prohibited in the following areas:

• All University buildings including academic, administrative, and residential properties

• All University grounds, athletic facilities, and parking lots

• In all University-owned or leased vehicles as well as privately owned vehicles on University grounds

• At all school sanctioned and/or sponsored activities or functions on campus

Ways to address the violation of this policy:

• Members of the campus community who see individuals using tobacco on the UE campus are asked to politely inform these individuals that UE policy prohibits tobacco use anywhere on campus grounds. Here are some sample approaches. Communication should be polite, brief, educational, and non-confrontational.

• Courtesy cards with UE’s tobacco-free campus messaging are available to hand out to anyone observed using tobacco products on the campus. Cards are available in the Office of Human Resources, the Crayton E. and Ellen Mann Health Center, and the Health Education Office on the second floor of Ridgway University Center.

• Community members who do not feel comfortable approaching someone violating the policy should contact the administrator in charge of the nearest building or a security officer. This should also be done in the case of non-compliance.

• Community members who wish to report abuse of this policy in an online format or in a confidential, anonymous manner can use the Report a Concern Form on the safety and security website.

A full description on this policy and available resources can be found on our tobacco-free Web pages.

Resources for community members who would like assistance in stopping their use of tobacco products are available on our resources page.
 

COMM 380 (Intercultural Communication) will be taught online during the winter intersession over Christmas break. The course meets criteria for General Education Outcome 9 (Understanding of Core Concepts of Society, Human Behavior, and Civic Knowledge) and Overlay Component A (Global Diversity: International Components). For any questions, e-mail dt4@evansville.edu.

Effective January 1, the University is requiring any faculty, students, or faculty sponsors planning on submitting IRB proposals to complete CITI programs in research education prior to submission.

The online modules provide training in ethical and professional conduct within research, and researchers will receive both a certificate and a CITI number upon completion.

Researchers will be required to submit their number and certificate when submitting their IRB proposals. Once completed, the training requirement remains good for four years. Those who may have already completed CITI training at another university can visit CITI’s webpage to re-affiliate with UE.

For information on registering for CITI training, please visit UE’s IRB page.

If you have any questions, contact Johnna Denning-Smith at jd184@evansville.edu or 812-488-2551. 

Just a friendly reminder as the holiday shopping season is upon us - distribution services does not accept personal packages or mail for employees from carriers. For liability reasons, employees should have personal mail and packages delivered to their home addresses.

The residence halls will be closed for winter break from noon on December 15 to 3:00 p.m. on January 6. Students participating in official University functions or other approved activities have the opportunity to apply for winter housing. Simply submit an online winter request form by noon on Reading Study Day to be considered. For more information about winter housing, contact the Office of Residence Life or see the winter housing website.

Congratulations to Greg Rawski, School of Business dean, and his wife Lindsay on the birth of their son Luke Gregory Rawski. Luke was born Monday, December 5, and was seven pounds, six ounces. His two big sisters Izzy and Kate, along with big brother Jackson, welcome him home.

The results from the study abroad photo contest are in! Monica Morales is the winner of the Artistic Eye category. She took her picture in the Scottish Highlands during the spring of 2016.

"This was a spontaneous weekend trip to Scotland that completely blew me away,” explained Morales. “I had never seen such beauty as the Highlands of Scotland. There is such a serene, peaceful and joyful feel to the environment. It is a place where you can become one with nature; there are no other people around, just you and the great outdoors.”

Morales’s winning photograph was taken while she was on a tour along the valley of mountains.

“I am grateful that this picture really captures the essence and outstanding beauty of the place. I connected with what Henry David Thoreau once stated – ‘we need the tonic of wildness’ - to become more human."

To view Morales’s photo, go to the UE study abroad Facebook page.

The results from the study abroad photo contest, Your University, are in! The winner is Holly Sanders. She studied at the University of Salamanca, Spain, during the spring of 2015.

"One weekend, my program director arranged for a local professor to give my cohort a guided tour of the historical buildings of the University of Salamanca, which was established in 1218,’ said Sanders. “It is the oldest university in Spain and the third oldest university in Europe.”

She noted that on the tour “we walked the same halls as important historical figures such as Christopher Columbus and Miguel de Cervantes.

“The Historical Library is usually viewed through a locked glass door,” Sanders said, “as it contains many important documents that date back as far as the 15th century, and proper preservation is essential. The professor who was guiding our tour was able to get access to the library, and my cohort got to go inside. Standing in a room full of history and looking at a hand-written document that had been preserved from the late 1400s was an incredible experience and very humbling.”

“Coming from a young country like the US, it's hard to fathom the rich history of the world until you see it for yourself."

You can see Sanders's winning photo on the UE study abroad Facebook page.

Jaylon Brown was 14-of-15 from the free throw line and finished with 29 points to lead the University of Evansville Men's Basketball team to a 69-66 victory over Bowling Green on Tuesday at the Ford Center.

"Bowling Green was really competitive and we had a lot of difficulty matching up against them, we definitely have some areas we have to improve in defensively," Aces head coach Marty Simmons said. "I am really proud of our guys for battling. We got into some foul trouble, but were able to overcome that. I am especially proud of Ryan (Taylor). He fought all night long and his block was a game changer."

Brown hit seven shots to go along with his 14 free throws on his way to the 29-point effort to lead the Purple Aces (5-4). He also grabbed seven rebounds. Willie Wiley was efficient once again as he knocked down four out of six field goals to tally nine points. He tied Brown's team-best tally of seven boards.

"We did just enough to win, we were able to execute just enough," Brown said. "Our guys made some great plays on defense that translated into offense and we were able to hang on."

Bowling Green (3-6) opened the night up scoring six of the first eight points in the first two minutes of play. Willie Wiley got the Aces going with a dunk before a Brown trey gave UE its first lead at 7-6. With the score knotted up at 11-11, UE made its first big run of the game, scoring eight in a row to take a 19-11 advantage at the 11:40 mark. Brown had four of those tallies.

The Falcons cut the deficit to a possession at 24-21 with 6:08 remaining before UE responded. Two more Brown free throws in the final two minutes gave the Aces their largest lead at 36-25 before they took a 38-29 lead into the half. Brown scored 19 points in the opening frame while hitting all eight free throw attempts.

An 11-2 run out of the locker room got the Falcons right back into it. They knocked down four buckets in six attempts during the run. Christian Benzon hit a shot for Evansville as they were able to regain control. His shot helped UE to a 52-45 edge at the midway point of the stanza, but just as they had all game, the Falcons did not give up. A 6-0 run got them within one at 52-51.

Evansville retook a 2-possession lead as Jaylon Brown connected on two free throws with 3:35 left on the clock. That made the score 58-54, but on the next BGSU possession, Antwon Lillard hit a triple making it a 1-point game before Ismail Ali tied it up with a free throw with under three minutes left.

The sixth bucket of the night for Brown proved to be a big one. A breakaway layup and foul saw Brown put UE back up three at 61-58 seconds later. Another huge play came on the next trip down the floor. With BGSU headed in for an open layup, Ryan Taylor hustled in with a block that put the ball back in the Aces' hands. Duane Gibson hit a free throw on the other end to make it a 4-point tilt. Brown added to more from the charity stripe to put Evansville up 64-58 with 59 ticks left.

Just when things looked comfortable for the Aces, Bowling Green responded with a triple. Rodrick Caldwell was the shooter this time, hitting his second long ball of the night as the UE lead was back within three once again. After a Brown free throw put the Aces up 69-66, a final triple by the Falcons fell short as UE came away with its fifth win of the season.

Pacing the Falcons was Demajeo Wiggins. He registered 18 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. He was one of three BGSU players to record double figures.

Evansville did a nice job of taking care of the ball, turning it over just nine times. It marked the second times in three games that the Aces had fewer than 10 turnovers.

Two more games remain in the home stand, beginning on Saturday when UE welcomes Murray State to the Ford Center for a 1:00 p.m. game. Next Wednesday, Norfolk State comes to town for a 7:00 p.m. matchup.