College of Medicine receives $5 million gift
FIU’s College of Medicine has received a $5 million gift from North Dade Medical Foundation. The gift is eligible for state matching funds, making its total impact a $10 million endowment to fund scholarships for medical students and the first endowed chairs of the College of Medicine.

“We are delighted to announce this generous gift because it addresses our top priorities in the College of Medicine: to recruit the very best faculty and attract talented students,” FIU President Modesto A. Maidique said. “This endowment provides an avenue to attract the best students from South Florida to our College of Medicine.”

The North Dade Medical Foundation FIU College of Medicine Endowment Fund will provide merit-based scholarships for medical students who are Miami-Dade or Broward County residents. Scholarships from this fund will be available in perpetuity, starting in 2009, when the College of Medicine is expected to admit its inaugural class.

The $5 million in matching funds will be used to establish chairs in the College of Medicine. Endowed chairs help attract star faculty to the program.

“For us it is very rewarding to know that our gift will make a difference in medical education for generations to come,” said North Dade Medical Foundation Chair Dr. George Daviglus. “It is our hope that these scholarships will provide opportunities for excellent doctors and that the professors who hold these chairs will be devoted to their profession and dedicated to educating outstanding doctors for our community.”

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Become involved in the Women’s Center Mentoring Program
The Women's Center and the Office of Alumni Relations invite students, faculty/staff, alumnae and community members to become involved in the Women’s Center Mentoring Partnerships Program this month.

The Program is a formal mentoring program with a structured set of activities designed to develop mentoring relationships between female students and faculty/staff, alumnae and community mentors. It includes a matching process, training program, workshops and recognition for program participants to create a nurturing, personalized environment for female students at FIU.

By providing female students mentoring relationships that build institutional connections, foster a sense of belonging and develop professional networks and skills to transition to the workplace or graduate studies, the Program will help ensure their future success.

To obtain an involvement form, click here and submit it to Suzanne Onorato, associate director of the Women's Center, at GC 2200 at UP. The deadline is Friday, Sept. 14, at 4 p.m. For more information, call 305-348-1506.

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The Wolfsonian-FIU to host 2008 WebWise Conference
The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) has awarded $499,702 to The Wolfsonian-FIU to plan and co-host the 2008 and 2009 WebWise Conferences on Libraries and Museums in the Digital World.

“WebWise is a signature initiative of the Institute of Museum and Library Services,” said IMLS director Anne-Imelda M. Radice. “This year, it will be better than ever. The partnership with The Wolfsonian-FIU will allow us to offer it in the South for the first time. We look forward to working with the Florida team.”

Each year the WebWise Conference brings together approximately 350 representatives of museums, libraries, archives, information and systems science and other fields interested in the future of high-quality online content for inquiry and education. The annual conference shares new research and innovations in digital technology with technical experts and thought leaders from the library, archives and museum fields in order to enhance technology transfer among cultural heritage institutions nationwide and to promote institutional collaboration.

The 2008 WebWise Conference will be held in Miami Beach, tentatively on March 5-7. For more information, visit www.imls.gov.

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Secure wireless network is now live
FIU's new Clean Access network provides users all the benefits of Internet access, without the common risks of catching unwanted viruses and bugs. This new wireless network is able to accomplish this via a security program or "agent" that ensures your machine is up to date with the latest antivirus definitions and operating system patches.

Connecting to the new wireless network is simple. First, ensure that your wireless card is functional and can detect the “FIUAIR” wireless network. Once connected, open your Web browser; you will see a Clean Access screen with instructions for installing the application and logging in.

In order to use the secure wireless network, you will need an FIU e-mail account. The username and password used to log in is identical to that used for the FIU Webmail system.

Users on Lotus Notes should use the same username and password that they would use for the Junk Mail Manager system. Once you log in and have your system scanned, you will be connected to the Internet.

For detailed instructions on Clean Access or to get more information, visit http://cleanaccess.fiu.edu or call 305-348-2284.

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Make your event parking arrangements early
The Department of Parking and Transportation would like to remind the university community that parking is an essential element in planning for event visitors, meetings, etc. – and that parking arrangements should be made at the earliest available date.

The Department can assist faculty/staff and students by providing a variety of services, including reserved spaces or portions of parking lots. It also can provide attendants to work the event and greet your guests when they park.

All visitors should be directed to the visitor spaces on the first floors of the parking garages or to the other metered areas unless arrangements are made through the Department.

For more information, Lazaro Rodriguez at 305-348-6934 or rodrigul@fiu.edu.

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Baseball: Head coach “Turtle” Thomas has named Felipe Suarez, a former Broward Community College pitching coach, and Sean Allen, a former University of Houston assistant, as his assistants.

Suarez will coach the pitching staff and Allen will serve as the Golden Panthers full-time recruiting coordinator and infield coach and will assist with hitting.

“I am very pleased to have Felipe Suarez and Sean Allen on my coaching staff,” Thomas said. “Felipe brings a lot of professional and college experience to our team. The common thread among the people I talked to about him was that he is able to take whoever he works with to the next level.

“Sean has a great background as collegiate player and moved into the coaching ranks right out of school because of his great ability as an instructor.”

For more information about Suarez and Allen, click here.

Football: The Golden Panthers will take on Maryland in their first home game of the season on Friday, Sept. 8, at 7 p.m., in the Orange Bowl.

FIU will be playing all home games in 2007 in the Orange Bowl while the on-campus stadium undergoes a $50 million renovation. The new FIU stadium will be finished in time for the 2008 season.

For tickets and information, call the FIU Ticket Office toll free at 1-866-FIU-GAME or 305-348-4263 in Miami-Dade County.

Volleyball: FIU ran into a brick wall against 12th-ranked California as the Golden Bears won the Cal Molten Classic with a 3-0 (30-23, 30-16, 30-21) win over the Golden Panthers on Aug. 25 at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley, Calif.

Sophomore All-American Yarimar Rosa led FIU (2-1) with 11 kills and was named to the all-tournament team. Sophomore Olga Vergun also represented FIU on the all-tournament team after she averaged 4.67 kills per game for the weekend while posting a career-high 28 kills in Friday’s win over Northeastern.

The loss followed a 3-1 (30-22, 30-15, 22-30, 30-21) win over Idaho in the teams’ earlier match of the day.

FIU was pushed to the limit against Northeastern in Aug. 24’s season opener, though, when the Golden Panthers came away with the come-from-behind victory, taking a 3-2 (21-30, 30-22, 25-30, 30-21, 15-11) decision over the Huskies in the first match of the tournament.

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ARTS/CULTURE:

Through Sept. 16 – Cintas Foundation 2007 Fellows Exhibition: The Frost Art Museum presents this exhibition, featuring the work of Gean Moreno ’97, winner of the 2007 Emilio Sanchez Award in the Visual Arts presented by The Cintas Foundation, and that of finalists Alexandre Arrechea, María Martínez-Cañas, Wilfredo Prieto and Leyden Rodriguez-Casanova. For more information, call 305-348-2890 or visit www.frostartmuseum.org. In PC 110 at UP.

ATHLETICS/RECREATION:

Sat., Sept. 8, 7 p.m. – Football: The Golden Panthers kick off their home season against Maryland. For tickets and information, call the FIU Ticket Office toll free at 1-866-FIU-GAME or 305-348-4263 in Miami-Dade County. At the UP soccer field.

Thurs., Sept. 13, 7 p.m. – Women’s Soccer: The Golden Panthers host Binghamton. At the UP soccer field.

Fri., Sept. 14, 7 p.m. – Volleyball: The Golden Panthers play an alumni match. At the Pharmed Arena at UP.

Sat., Sept. 15, 3:30 p.m. – Football: The FIU Golden Panthers face off against the UM Hurricanes. At the Orange Bowl in Miami.

EMPLOYEE TRAINING/WORKSHOPS:

Wed., Sept. 12, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. – Temporary Employee Insurance Information Session: The Division of Human Resources presents these information sessions wherein Vista Health Plans, Preferred Medical Plan and Care Access Health Plan will answer questions regarding their respective health plans and will assist temporary employees, vendors and their dependents in the enrollment process. You will be able to enroll in the plan of their choice, review the premium rates to be paid directly to the insurance company and select a primary care physician and other health care providers. For more information, visit www.fiu.edu/hr/HealthPlan.html. In GC 241 at UP and WUC 245 at BBC.

Wed., Sept. 12, 1-2:30 p.m. – “15 Survival Strategies for New Instructors”: The Academy for the Art of Teaching presents this webcast, which will cover 15 strategies that all new higher education instructors – whether new tenure-track faculty, part-time instructors or graduate teaching assistants – should know. For more information, e-mail academy@fiu.edu. In GL 154 at UP.

LECTURES/FORUMS:

Wed., Sept. 5, 5:30-8 p.m. – South Florida CEO Speaker Series: The Business Alumni Chapter and South Florida CEO magazine present this lecture series. This event features Angel Medina, Jr. BBA ’92, president of Regions Bank Miami-Dade. Admission is free for members, $10 for non-members. For more information or to RSVP, call 305-348-0397 or click here. At Regions Bank - Coral Gables (2800 Ponce de Leon Boulevard, 15th floor, Coral Gables).

Fri., Sept. 7, 10:30 a.m.-noon – “Entrepreneurs: Jacks of all Trades or Hobos?”: The Eugenio Pino and Family Global Entrepreneurship Center presents this lecture, featuring Associate Professor Peter Thompson, who will present his latest publication, Entrepreneurs: Jacks of all Trades or Hobos?, as part of the Spectrum Series. Admission is free. To RSVP or for more information, call 305-348-7156. In GL 220 at UP.

Sun., Sept. 9, 2-3:30 p.m. – “Empowering Women: A Key to Iraq’s Democratization?”: The Middle East Society presents this lecture, featuring Eleana Gordon, U.S. director for the Center for Liberty in the Middle East. For more information, call 305-919-4839 or visit www.fiu.edu/~mes. In AC I 194 at BBC.

Mon., Sept. 10, 2 p.m. – “Women in Japanese Literature”: The Institute for Asian Studies presents this lecture, featuring Keiko Matsui Gibson. For more information, call 305-348-1914 or e-mail asian@fiu.edu. In GC 278A at UP.

Wed., Sept. 12, noon-1:30 p.m. – “Becoming Party Politicians: Eastern German State Legislators in the Decade Following Democratization”: The European Union Center of Excellence presents this lecture, featuring Louise Davidson-Schmich, associate professor of political science at the University of Miami. For more information, call 305-348-5949 or e-mail christine.caly@fiu.edu. In GL 220 at UP.

Fri., Sept. 14, 8 p.m. – “Cosmology and the Human Understanding of the Universe”: The Department of Physics presents this lecture, featuring Professor James Webb, to be followed by star observing, weather permitting. Admission is free and open to the public. For more information, call 305-348-3964 or e-mail webbj@fiu.edu. In CP 145 at UP.

MISCL:

Mon., Sept. 1 – Holiday Closure: The university will be closed on Labor Day.

Thurs., Sept. 13, 7-8:30 p.m. – Wine Tasting: Intro/California Wines: The Graham Center at UP presents this event, featuring School of Hospitality and Tourism Management alumna Fernanda Rivera ‘98, who will discuss and teach participants the fine art of wine appreciation. Admission is $10 (you must be 21 years old to participate in this class). To pre-register for this tasting, contact Angie Shuck at 305-348-3919 or angie.shuck@fiu.edu. In the GC Panther Suite at UP.

For more events listings, visit the FIU Events Calendar.

For previous issues of ThisWeek@FIU, vist our newsletter archive.

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