This Month's Top Stories . . .

• UVM Welcomes a Record Class
• UVM Among the "Hottest" and "Fittest" Schools
• Starting Anew: Convocation 2005-2006
• Entering Student Among Top in Nation
• UVM a Model for Sustainable Campuses
• $16 Million to Establish National University Transportation Center at UVM
• New Green Building Policy Official
• Construction Updates
• Catamounts Take America East Academic Cup
• Campus Kudos
• In Memoriam: Dr. James B. Petersen
• Contact Dateline UVM

UVM Welcomes a Record Class (up^)

The University of Vermont welcomed an estimated 2,394 first-year students — a 22 percent increase from last year — for the start of its 204th academic year. A total of 8,784 undergraduates (including 392 transfer students), 1,332 graduate and certificate students and 406 medical students are attending the university this year. The Honors College, now in its second year, has begun accepting sophomores into the program and has reached an enrollment of 290 students. Entering undergraduate ALANA students have increased in number by nearly 12 percent this year. Undergraduate enrollment is targeted to reach approximately 9,400 by 2013, according to the university's 10-year Strategic Financial Plan.

UVM Among the "Hottest" and "Fittest" Schools (up^)

The University of Vermont is one of 25 "hot schools" profiled in the new, 2006 edition of the Kaplan/Newsweek College Guide and was named the fourth fittest college in America by Men's Fitness magazine and the Princeton Review. "All 25 colleges on the "hot" list have one attribute in common, the guide reads. "They're creating buzz among students, school officials and longtime observers of the admissions process." UVM is profiled under the category, "Hottest for Cold Weather." The profile makes note of the 80 new tenure-track faculty the school is in the process of hiring, the $300 million in capital investments UVM is making, and the 65 percent increase in applications the university has seen since 2000. The "fittest" list is based on a survey of approximately 10,000 students from more than 660 U.S. colleges and universities to determine which schools care about the health and fitness of their students. Rankings were based on eighteen survey questions, grouped into five categories—student bodies, exercise, bad habits, other lifestyle choices and campus culture of fitness—that ranged from how much weight students have lost or gained since starting college to how students would rank their colleges' fitness centers. The Newsweek/Kaplan list and full UVM profile can be viewed online at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8987172/site/newsweek/.

Starting Anew: Convocation 2005-2006 (up^)

The University of Vermont formally observed the beginning of a new academic year during its annual Convocation on Thursday, September 1, in the Ira Allen Chapel. Drawing on the inspirational words of her immigrant mother, speaker Madeleine M. Kunin told the largest incoming class in the 214-year history of the University that she still believes anything is possible in America as long as students aren't afraid to take chances in pursuit of their dreams. Governor Jim Douglas urged students to get involved in as many aspects of college life as possible and challenged students to be "involved and dynamic citizens." President Daniel Mark Fogel spoke of UVM as "especially distinguished by the fierce and sustained determination of generations of UVMers to make a difference in the world" and of "our unusual institutional commitment to social justice and equity and to environmental and community leadership." Full story at http://www.uvm.edu/news/?Page=News&storyID=6609

Entering UVM Student Among Top in Nation (up^)

Matthew Brown, a first-year UVM student from Richmond, Vermont, has been singled out by the College Board as one of the nation's five most outstanding students for his high scores on the SATs and his impressive high school career. Brown was flown to Washington, D.C., August 30 to attend The College Board's annual College-Bound Seniors press conference. Brown graduated from the Vermont Commons School, a small private school in South Burlington, where he received the school's first Naturalist Certification. Passionate about the environment, Brown plans to major in biology. "What really convinced me to attend UVM," Brown says, "was being invited to join the Honors College," a program, now in its second year, that provides an intensely focused, academically challenging environment for some of the university's most outstanding undergraduate students. Full story at http://www.uvm.edu/news/?Page=News&storyID=6596.

UVM a Model for Sustainable Campuses (up^)

UVM is among the nation's top five institutions as a leader in the field of environmental sustainability, according to a Cornell University survey of 28 leading institutions, including all Ivy League schools, Stanford and Duke. A group largely composed of directors of green campus programs placed UVM second only to Harvard in response to the question, "what institutions do you look to as leaders in the environmental field?"

The survey was conducted in the summer of 2004. Full story at http://www.uvm.edu/news/?Page=News&storyID=6665.

$16 Million to Establish National University Transportation Center at UVM (up^)

U.S. Senator Jim Jeffords, I- Vt., announced that the University of Vermont will receive $16 million in federal funding for transportation research and development. Jeffords secured the funding as part of the federal highway bill recently signed into law by President Bush. As the ranking member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Jeffords worked more than three years to pass the highway legislation, which will bring over $1 billion to Vermont through 2009. The legislation provides funding to UVM to establish one of ten National University Transportation Centers to study transportation issues, particularly those affecting northern and rural areas, in an effort to promote and develop more efficient transportation policies. The Center will also explore environmental issues as they relate to transportation policy. Full story at http://www.uvm.edu/news/?Page=News&storyID=6556.

New Green Building Policy Official (up^)

The University of Vermont's status as a major environmental university took another step forward with a signing ceremony giving the official imprimatur to the institution's new green building policy, which went into effect this summer. UVM president Daniel Mark Fogel signed the two-page document during the university's annual convocation ceremonies, committing the university to develop environmental objectives for every new building and every major renovation. The policy states that the objectives must, at a minimum, be equivalent to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED certification, the rating system developed by the U.S. Green Building Council and widely used as a measure of a building's environmental quality. The LEED standard ties together many of UVM's existing best practices in environmentally responsible building and operations, including energy efficiency programs, recycling systems, stormwater management, transportation, and purchasing. While the policy is aimed at UVM's future buildings, four of the university's major current construction projects are in compliance, including the Dudley H. Davis Center, the University Heights Student Residential Learning Complex, the Marsh Life Sciences addition, and the Wing/Davis/Wilks residence hall renovation. UVM students have long taken the initiative in promoting environmentally friendly building practices at the university. Full story at http://www.uvm.edu/news/?Page=News&storyID=6606.

Construction Updates (up^)

To accommodate the increasing size of the student body, multiple construction projects are now under way at UVM, including the Dudley H. Davis Center, a $70 million student center which broke ground over the summer. University Heights North Residence Hall will be ready for students in January 2006, providing an additional 400 beds for on-campus students. An estimated 4,498 students will live on campus this year. The University Heights South Residence Hall will open in August, 2006. The Medical Education Center, which physically links the College of Medicine with Fletcher Allen Health Care, opened in August for the arrival of the first year medical students. The building is home to the Dana Medical Library and Medical Education Pavilion containing 17 state-of-the-art classrooms. A public open house was held September 17 for the Medical Education Center and the new Ambulatory Care Center, opening to patients this fall. The Gutterson Garage, a new parking garage east of the Athletic Complex, opened August 24, as did New University Heights Road, which connects Main Street to the existing shuttle road between Patrick Gymnasium and Redstone Campus. Additions and renovations are underway elsewhere on campus, including Marsh Life Sciences, Wing/Davis/Wilks, and the Living/Learning Center, among other locations. For more information about construction on campus and for updates on current construction projects at UVM, visit the campus construction updates website at http://www.uvm.edu/~arch/?Page=construction.html.

Catamounts Take America East Academic Cup (up^)

The University of Vermont is the recipient of the America East Academic Cup for the 2004-05 season. Vermont student-athletes posted a 3.14 grade-point average, the highest GPA in the ten-year history of the award, breaking the mark of 3.12 set by the University of Maine in 2003-04. The America East Academic Cup is presented to the institution whose student-athletes post the highest grade-point averages during that academic year. The grade-point averages of all student-athletes who compete in the 22 championship sports sponsored by America East are averaged to determine the winner. The award "reflects both the commitment of our student-athletes to their academic responsibilities and the support and encouragement which they receive from our faculty and staff," said Dr. Robert Corran, director of athletics. Read more at http://www.uvm.edu/~sportspr/?Page=News&storyID=6500.

Campus Kudos (up^)

Connell Gallagher, director of special collections at Bailey/Howe Library, was named a fellow of the Society of American Archivists during SAA's annual meeting in August in New Orleans. The distinction of fellow is the highest honor bestowed on individuals by SAA and is awarded for outstanding contributions to the archival profession.

Richard "Rik" Musty, professor of psychology, received a special award from the International Association for Cannabis as Medicine at the association's annual meeting in Leiden, Netherlands, held in September. He was cited for ground-breaking work on cannabidiol as a potential therapeutic agent in anxiety and other disorders, such as multiple sclerosis.

Gale Burford, professor of social work, had a book chapter published, "Family Group Conferences in the Youth Justice and Child Welfare Systems," in Widening the Circle: The Practice and Evaluation of Family Group Conferencing with Children, Youths and their Families edited by J. Pennell and G. Anderson.

Dr. Donald Weaver, associate professor of pathology, is listed in the 2005-06 edition of Guide to America's Top Physicians, a directory published by the Consumers' Research Council of America.

Dr. Edward Krawitt, professor of medicine, is lead author of an article, "Peginterferon alfa-2b and ribavirin for treatment-refractory chronic hepatitis C," in the August Journal of Hepatology. Co-authors on the study include Takamura Ashikaga, director of medical biostatistics and biometry; Dr. Nicholas Ferrentino, associate professor of medicine; and Mary Ann Ray, clinical liver research coordinator at the College of Medicine.

Janet Sobieski and Professor Wolfgang Mieder from the Department of German and Russian are the editors of So Many Heads, So Many Wits: An Anthology of English Proverb Poetry. Mieder and Professor George Bryan of the Department of Theatre are the authors of A Dictionary of Anglo-American Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases Found in Literary Sources of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. Although Bryan died nine years ago, Mieder continued work on the now 871-page volume as a sign of his deep friendship for his colleague.

Robert Manning, professor in the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, contributed an article, "Research to Support Management of Visitor Carrying Capacity of Boston Harbor Islands," to a special issue of Northeastern Naturalist devoted to the islands and published this summer.

Thomas McEvoy, forest resources specialist, won a second national award for his 2004 book, Positive Impact Forestry: A Sustainable Approach to Managing Woodlands. The volume was recognized by Choice, a publication of the Association of College & Research Libraries, as the year's outstanding academic title in biology/botany.

Chris Hodgdon, assistant professor of business administration, received the Outstanding International Accounting Dissertation Award, International Accounting Section, at the American Accounting Association 2005 Annual Meeting in August in San Francisco.

Declan Connolly, associate professor of physical education, was appointed physiology section editor for the journal Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, a 75-year-old publication considered one of the most influential journals in the field.

Dr. Lewis First, professor and chair of pediatrics and senior associate dean for medical education in the College of Medicine, was elected to a two-year term as a member-at-large of the executive board of the National Board of Medical Examiners.

Jane Kolodinsky, professor and chair of community development and applied economics, with Jeanne Hogarth and Marianne Hilgert of the Federal Reserve Board Division of Consumer and Community Affairs, were awarded one of three "highly commended" awards from the Emerald Publishing Group for their article, "Consumers' Resolution of Credit Card Problems and Exit Behaviors," published in the Journal of Services Marketing.

Dr. Richard Pinckney, assistant professor of medicine, was presented with the Leonard Tow 2005 Humanism in Medicine Award from the Arnold P. Gold Foundation.

Gale Burford, professor of social work, published an article, "Families: Their role as Architects of Civil Society and Social Inclusion," in the June issue of Practice: A Journal of the British Association of Social Workers. Burford also co-authored a paper accepted for presentation at the conference "Interprofessional Education: Grounding Theory in Action" held at the University of Toronto Conference Center in May. The paper, "An Interprofessional HIV/AIDS Teaching Module for Pharmacy, Nursing, Medicine and Social Work Students," grew out of work the authors did together at Memorial University of Newfoundland.

Barbara McIntosh, professor of business administration, Mary Val Palumbo, research associate of nursing, Betty Rambur, dean of the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Jane Kolodinsky, Takamaru Ashikaga, director of medical biostatistics, and Laurie Hurowitz, research faculty and Freeman Program administrator for the College of Medicine's Area Health Education Centers program, co-authored a paper, "Measuring the Nursing Workforce: Definitions and Pilot Survey Results," accepted for publication in Medical Care Research and Review.

Dr. Alan Rubin, assistant professor of medicine, Dr. Benjamin Littenberg, Henry and Carleen Tufo professor of medicine, Robert Ross, research assistant professor of biomedical technologies, Dr. Susan Wehry, clinical associate professor of psychiatry, and Marilee Jones, research coordinator in medicine, co-authored a study titled "Effects on Processes and Costs of Care Associated With the Addition of an Internist to an Inpatient Psychiatry Team" in the journal Psychiatric Services.

In Memoriam (up^)

The UVM community gathered in Ira Allen Chapel on Friday, September 23, to honor the life and work of Dr. James B. Petersen, associate professor and chair of the Department of Anthropology, whose influential work on the development of ancient, sophisticated societies in the Amazon revealed previously untold truths about the history of the indigenous people of the region. Dr. Petersen was shot and killed August 13 during a robbery while on a research trip with colleagues in Brazil.