Campus News and Updates: January 25

January 25, 2012

Howdy from your President!

• Early registration ends January 31 for the 12th Annual Texas A&M Assessment Conference, to be held at the College Station Hilton February 19-21. Speakers include some of the biggest names in the assessment field, including Dr. George Kuh, director of the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (and founder of the National Survey of Student Engagement) and Dr. David Paris, executive director of the New Leadership Alliance for Student Learning and Accountability. Details can be found at http://assessment.tamu.edu/conference/, with updates also given via Facebook at http://tx.ag/3ihwy9.

• University Dining is committed to meeting – and exceeding – customer expectations. Dr. Rodney P. McClendon, vice president for administration, is seeking your feedback through a customer survey being conducted by an independent third-party research firm. Responses are confidential and one participant will win an iPad2. The survey and more information can be found at http://vpa.tamu.edu/university-dining-survey.aspx.

• A web-based catalogue of our Mexican Colonial Collection (http://tx.ag/4eve52) – more than 3,000 items covering aspects of life in Mexico (New Spain) from the mid-16th to the mid-19th centuries – will be completed over the next two years, thanks to an $84,500 grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources. The collection is housed in Cushing Memorial Library and Archives (http://cushing.library.tamu.edu/).

• Our Reed Rowdies are in the running for the 2012 Naismith Student Section of the Year award, part of ‘I Love College Hoops,’ a nationwide effort to celebrate 100 years of college basketball. The first round of voting ends February 12, and the winner will be announced during the NCAA March Madness tournament. The athletics department of the winning institution will receive $5,000. To vote, go to http://tx.ag/jebnu9.

• Dr. Mark Lemmon, a professor of atmospheric sciences, helped develop the Opportunity rover now on Mars and participates in its day-to-day operations (and also has a role with the Curiosity rover, expected to touch down on the planet in August). Now, with the Mars Images app, you can get images from the Opportunity as soon as they’re available. The app is free and available for both iPhone/iPad and Android phones. Details are at http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/01/mars-photos-app/.

• And, finally, a big Aggie welcome to Dr. M. Katherine Banks, who has begun her tenure as vice chancellor for engineering for The Texas A&M University System and dean of the Dwight Look College of Engineering at Texas A&M. She came to us from Purdue University and is a graduate of the University of Florida, the University of North Carolina and Duke University.

Until next week, Gig ’em Aggies. In the meantime, you can always reach me at president@tamu.edu.

Dr. R. Bowen Loftin ’71
President