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Photo: cadets

Saluting our first class of cadets

At graduation this week for the Police Department's first class of student cadets, Chief Matt Carmichael had a change of heart. He'd planned to give police academy scholarships to the top three cadets, and a job offer to one. Instead, he presented five scholarships and three job offers. [ More, with slide show… ]

NEWS SUMMARY

More stories at Dateline UC Davis and UC Davis News and Information

Commencements begin today, run through June 16

The School of Law goes first, with House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi as the guest speaker. Look here for details on all the commencements. … Graduate Studies Honors and Awards: Recognition goes to 32 for excellence in graduate student teaching, dissertations and postdoctoral research. [ More… ]

Honoring Aggie war casualties at building named for them: the MU

Military veterans who attend UC Davis will read 135 names aloud next week in an early Memorial Day observance — remembering the Aggies who did not make it back from war, from World War I through the Iraq War. The ceremony, open to the public, is planned for Thursday (May 23) on the north patio of the Memorial Union, dedicated upon its opening 58 years ago to the memory of Aggies who made the ultimate sacrifice. [ More… ]

TOWN HALLS: Staff Assembly on staff engagement and UCOP on Robinson-Edley

Staff Assembly and the UC Office of the President are holding town halls next Thursday (May 23): Staff Assembly to present and discuss the results of last spring's Staff Engagement Survey, and UCOP to discuss progress on meeting the recommendations of the Robinson-Edley report, officially titled "Response to Protests on UC Campuses." [ More… ]

Regents address student success, university finances

UC's academic performance indicators show significant improvement in graduation rates, and a reduction in time to degree among students who enter as freshmen or transfers. … President Mark G. Yudof says funding of public higher education has fallen victim to a shift in "fiscal and societal ground," and is unlikely to return to the heyday of earlier years. … On the positive side, as UCOP noted in a statement this week, Gov. Brown's revised budget maintains his multiyear commitment to restore some of what UC has lost in recent years. [ More… ]

Up for discussion: academic organization, library's strategic plan

Spurred by a Mathematical and Physical Sciences faculty recommendation to turn their division into a college, the provost's office and the Academic Senate announced this week that they are forming a joint task force on the university's academic organization. Also this week, the university librarian unveiled a draft of the library's new three-year strategic plan and welcomed feedback from faculty, researchers, students, staff and all other members of the community. [ More… ]

New approach to heart valve replacement wins Big Bang!

A new approach to tissue preparation that makes heart valve replacements less likely to be rejected by the body's immune system — potentially giving transplant patients longer, healthier lives — was the clear favorite in this year's Big Bang! Business Plan Competition — sweeping both the first prize and the People's Choice award. [ More… ]

Undergraduates declare: 'I feel I belong at this campus'

UC Davis undergraduates responding to the 2012 UC Undergraduate Experience Survey gave their campus especially high ratings as friendly and caring. The survey results, released this week, indicate UC Davis students are about on par with the highest-rated UC campuses in agreeing with the statements, "I feel I belong at this campus" and "Knowing what I know now, I would still enroll at this campus." And, when asked if they are valued as individuals and that their opinions are valued, UC Davis students answered affirmatively at higher rates than students at the lowest-rated campuses. [ More… ]

LECTURE TOPICS: Mars and Curiosity; war and peace

Two UC Davis figures in the Curiosity mission to Mars are set to give campus talks, while a Stanford professor will give the history department's annual Eugene Lunn Memorial history lecture, this year on how people are safer today than ever before — surprisingly because of violence itself. [ More… ]

NEWS BRIEFS: $2 more for most monthly parking permits

TAPS announces an increase in most monthly parking rates, effective July 1. … Voyager Fleet Cards in university-owned vehicles expire on May 31 and need to be replaced. … The next OE-Shared Services Center brown bag is set for May 22. … UC Davis' Web CMS unit will hold an open house next week. … The UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center will conduct a free screening for hepatitis B in Asian Americans and adult children of foreign-born Asian Americans. … The Campus Council on Community and Diversity has selected "disability issues" as the topic for the 2014-15 Campus Community Book Project. .. Plus, TGFS photos and a new Undergraduate Education website. [ More… ]

DIRECTIVES and ANNOUNCEMENTS

No directives or announcements were issued this week.

EVENTS

UC Walks: Live Well, Walk More

Wednesday May 22, five meeting places for group walks

Show up at 11:45 a.m. for free T-shirts, lip balm and sunscreen (while supplies last). Thirty-minute walks begin at 12:15 from the Quad (east side), Mrak Hall (north side), 260 Cousteau Place (in the cul-de-sac), Health Sciences District (in front of Scrubs café), and UC Davis Extension and Accounting and Financial Services (between the buildings on Research Park Drive). [ More… ]

CHANCELLOR'S COLLOQUIUM: 'Liberty and Learning'

Wednesday, May 22, 4 p.m., Activities and Recreation Center Ballroom

The speaker, Leslie Berlowitz, is president of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and previously served as a vice president of New York University. RSVP. [ More… ]

THE ARTS: UC Davis Film Festival

Wednesday-Thursday, May 22-23, 8:30 p.m., Varsity Theatre, Davis

Comedies, drama, documentaries, animation and political satire — different programs each night — by undergraduates and graduate students. … Also, concerts by the Early Music Ensemble (Saturday night) and the Empyrean Ensemble (Sunday night). … And music and dance in two free Corin Courtyard programs, Saturday and Sunday, at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts. [ More… ]

More calendar listings…