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Meeting notes from October 25th

Jason Mitchell from Facilities and Planning came in to talk about ergonomics. He said that ergonomics prevents injury which can lead to permanent disability. It also increases productivity by working on the following:

1). Neutral posture - body works best in neutral position. If not, it causes damage.
2). Identify repetition during the day. i.e., telephone, etc. and try and reduce it.
3). Gives employees training - change posture during day. i.e., recline - reduces fatigue.

If you decide to schedule an appointment with Jason, it will take about an hour. He will listen to your complaints, identify risk factors and ways in which you are uncomfortable. He will look at how you sit and how your workstation fits. (i.e., should be at elbow height, etc.). He will then email his report to you. If you want to schedule an appointment, please call him at X5268. For more information go to www.ehs.pdx.edu and click on office ergonomics.

Judy - Went to NAFSA. Christina was honored at NAFSA as NAFSAn of the year. PSU plays a strong role in NAFSA.

Patrice - Canada week will be November 6-9. Two lectures scheduled: Sustainability Energy for the Pacific Northwest. Thursday, November 9, 2006 1:30-5:30 pm SMSU 327-329 and Urban Planning in Canada, Wednesday, November 8, 7pm-9pm at the Multnomah Center. Dave Ramslie will also speak on Wed., Nov 8th at PSU's Urban Center room 270 at 12:00 noon.

The deadline for the International Studies (Honorary Council of Iceland) scholarships has been extended to November 3rd. There are two $2,500 scholarships for International Studies majors.

John - Jamming for Peace concert this Saturday, October 28th at 7:00 pm. There will be music from Iran, Iraq, Turkey, and beyond.

Lecture Series Speakers for the Experience Saudi Arabia week at PSU:
Tuesday, November 14, 7:30 pm in SMSU 294
Dr. Jon Mandaville "Saudi Arabia: Seeing Beyond Oil
Dr. Sebastian Maisel "Tradition and Change: Answering the Age Old Question, What To Do For the Weekend?"

Wednesday, November 15th, 7:30 pm in SMSU 294
Dr. David Long "The Role of Culture in Saudi Reform"
Dr. Selwa Al-Hazzaa "A Gateway of Opportunity"
Scott Simon from NPR will be keynote speaker at PSU Alumni Weekend. Also, on October 21st Grant Farr will speak on Afghanistan.
On November 1st there will be a Middle East Forum Series: "Hezbollah", 7:30, Smith Center. Co-sponsored with Palestine Lebanon Emergency Action group.
Blythe -CIEE Africa programs are filling up. She is looking into SIT as a program provider for PSU for Africa. She is making an introductory page cover sheet to go in front of program listing sheet.

Alyse - Welcome back event went well for the participants who went abroad last year. Education Abroad Fair also went well. Alyse showed winners of International Photo Contest. To view all submitted photos please visit http://www.intl.pdx.edu/EdAbroad/2006intlphotocontestentries.htm. Kathryn Kirkland wants to put photos in PSU's alumni magazine. The photos will be displayed in EH 101. Might make a calendar out of the photos.

Jean - Went to NAFSA. Did a workshop about the challenges of students going to the Middle East to study. Aladdin tickets still available 10/27-10/29. She is working on getting a temp to replace Abeer. November 13-17 Experience Saudi Arabia event:
Monday, November 13th, 4:00 pm reception in the PSU Multicultural Center.
Tuesday, November 14th, 10:00 Exhibit Grand Opening in Smith Center
Wednesday, November 15th, 9:00am-4:00pm Exhibit Open
Thursday, November 16th, 9:00am-4:00pm Exhibit Open
Friday, November 17th, 9:00am-Noon Exhibit Open
10:00am-Noon - Drawing for special gifts and prizes from Friends of Saudi Arabia for those who sign up during the week to become a "Friend."

Joshua - Went to NAFSA. Did two presentations.

Rachel - Enjoyed NAFSA. Working with Alyse, Blythe, and Jenny on International week and pre-departure orientation.

Andrea - went to NAFSA. There were over 250 attendees. They had a successful auction and raised over $2,200. They took photos and will put them on the website. NCSA conference is November 2-4 at PSU and will be interviewing faculty for '07-'08 year. Will be attending CIEE conference in Spain on November 7-11.

Martha K. - Didn't go to NAFSA but went to Lichtenstein instead. Let her know if you have anything to order.

Christina - Presented at NAFSA "Curry in a Hurry". Registration is finished. There are 1,300 international students.

Debra - Finished the student Fulbright interviews. Eight applications went out. Fulbright Teacher exchange interviews are December 2nd. If you would like to help interview please contact her. The Foundation website now has information about how to contribute to OIA.
Martha H. - Only two students have applied for the scholarships sponsored by the Honorary Council of Iceland.

Anne - All J1 students and scholars have arrived. She will be going to Australia for site visits next month. Kathy Godfrey organized a reception for students studying German.

Ron - NAFSA had fantastic sessions.
He met with the Ambassador of New Zealand; they would like to see more exchanges between their countries. He is working on the budget with Gil.

Jason - Would like you to send him flyers for news and events. He is updating the news and events page on the web so that you can go in and put your own events on it with a password. He is working on the Education Abroad page so that students can find easily the programs that they are interested in.

Katherine - Will be going to court for the Japanese students who were attacked recently.
Talked briefly with Kristin about PSU's new identity standards including the new logo, typefaces, design templates, and graphic standards which will help establish a comprehensive and consistent presence for the University.

Gil -

The CLAC (The Cultures and Languages Across the Curriculum) conference Oct 11-13 was a success with over 400 attending. A major goal of the conference was to begin to build alliances among educators to achieve internationalization goals. The conference was held in conjunction with the 6th International Conference on Service Learning to allow participants to learn about incorporating CLAC into service learning experiences.

The University has a unique opportunity to address, in partnership with and at the request of the Chinese government, a range of economic development and environmental protection issues. This opportunity is an outgrowth of five years offering, through the Hatfield School of Government, a series of land use training workshops for the Chinese Ministry of Land and Resources, and more recently, the Ministry of Construction. Portland State has subsidized these workshops to the tune of about $75,000 each year; beginning next year, our goal is to transform the workshops as a subsidized project into a cost neutral project and in order to do this, PSU is working closely with the business community and others to raise the necessary funds.

Met with Mark Gregory to discuss the logistics of a welcoming page on the web in various languages and the ongoing process of maintaining currency.

Met with Ron regarding budget.