Around Campus

Community Giving Campaign ends Dec. 31

The 2001 Vanderbilt Community Giving Campaign, the University's annual fund raiser for several local nonprofit organizations, will end Dec. 31. As of press time, the campaign has reached 95 percent of its goal of $800,000. "Our three partner federations, Community Shares, United Way of Metropolitan Nashville and Community Health Charities of Tennessee, and the hundreds of agencies and organizations they represent, need our help now more than ever," said Gigi Shafer, director of internal campaigns for institutional planning and advancement. "These organizations depend on gifts from campaigns like ours to help fund the important work they do." For more information or to request a pledge form, contact the campaign office at 343-8759 or e-mail community.giving@vanderbilt.edu.

Office of Online Services creates University Web site guidelines

The Office of Online Services has created a set of guidelines for University Web sites. The guidelines are posted at www.vanderbilt.edu/publicaffairs/online/guidelines/. The guidelines cover topics such as content and design quality, use of University marks and branding, navigation, contact information, security, site ownership and site maintenance. Design templates are available for downloading as well as information about format standards, training opportunities, software and server compatibility. The office provides maintenance and development of the first and second tiers of www.vanderbilt.edu, as well as recommendations on lower-level sites in accordance with the Web design style guide. The office also oversees and provides guidance for all departments and individuals with www.vanderbilt.edu Web address pages to promote an appropriate University presence on the Internet. In an ongoing effort to maintain a leading presence on the Internet, Online Services provides training outreach opportunities and implements communication strategies within the University community. For more information, e-mail www@vanderbilt.edu or call Jim Parker at 343-8557.

Staff Advisory Council meets Dec. 11

The University Staff Advisory Council will meet Dec. 11 at 8:30 a.m. in Room 189 at the Sarratt Student Center, with refreshments to be served before the meeting. The USAC is composed of 75 elected individuals who represent more than 3,000 full- and part-time exempt and non-exempt University staff members. As established in its bylaws, the purposes of the USAC are to serve as an advisory group to administration and staff on various problems and policies that affect the University, and to maintain communication between University staff and administration. The council meets on the second Tuesday of each month, and is open to all Vanderbilt staff.

Faculty Senate meets Dec. 13

The Faculty Senate will meet Dec. 13 at 4:10 p.m. in Room 144 of the Law School. The Faculty Senate is the representative, deliberative, legislative body of Vanderbilt faculty. James F. Blumstein, Centennial Professor of Law, is the chair of the Faculty Senate. The following meeting is scheduled for Feb. 14.

ITS warns e-password users of upcoming 'E-day'

Those in the Vanderbilt community who possess a VUnet e-password -- an enhanced security authentication service that allows users to access information through the E-business Web page, as well as other items -- will be affected by "E-day," slated for early 2002. Those without an e-password will not be affected. When E-day occurs, those who already have an e-password must use it to log in almost anywhere a VUnet ID is required. Affected VUnet services include secure Web pages, VUMail, VUspace, the VUaccess dial-up modem pool, the MIS firewall and ITS software downloads. E-password holders must begin using a secure e-mail client with VUMail at work and home as of E-day. E-mail clients that cannot be made secure and must be replaced before E-day include: Simeon, Eudora versions before 5.1, Netscape versions before 4.0 and Outlook versions before 97. Each department's technical support representative should be contacted to determine if existing e-mail clients need to be secured or replaced. E-password users will be e-mailed detailed information and confirmation of when E-day will occur as the date nears. Contact information for support service providers may be found at www.vanderbilt.edu/itsupport/.

Seminar to discuss investment strategies Dec. 12

A retirement-planning financial seminar titled "Developing an Investment Strategy: Sticking to Your Strategy Even In Today's Volatile Market" will be held Dec. 12. The seminar is sponsored by the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA-CREF) and is in conjunction with Human Resource Services. The goal of the presentation is to give information regarding key issues to consider when developing an investment strategy. Participants will learn the skills needed to develop their own strategy, using tools such as the risk tolerance/asset allocation questionnaire. The seminar will be held from noon to 2 p.m. in Room C2209-MCN. (Medical Center North Corridor C Lecture Room 2209). For more information, call 322-8330.

IT workshop to host R&D experts from around the globe

The National Coordination Office for Information Technology Research and Development will hold an invitation-only workshop at Vanderbilt Dec. 14. The workshop, "New Visions for Software Design and Productivity," will bring to campus 100 key representatives from government agencies, major information technology companies and top academic programs in the United States and overseas. Federal agency representatives range from the Department of Energy to National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The focus of this workshop is to document Software Design and Productivity (SDP) research needs, with the goal of using that documentation to propose increased SDP research and development funding. Janos Sztipanovits, E. Bronson Ingram Distinguished Professor of Engineering, professor of engineering, professor of electrical engineering and professor of computer engineering, is the principal investigator responsible for holding the workshop.

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