Dear Friends,

As the holiday season approaches, this year, like many others, finds us pausing to reflect upon blessings, joys and sorrows both individual and shared. However, the year 2001, unlike any other, has emphasized to all of us how fleeting our blessings can be. As the year closes, we at ACS send you the most sincere wishes for joy and peace. We hope that your holidays are happy, restful and filled with the pleasure of sharing time with family and friends.

As many of you know, we are in the midst of celebrating our 10th year anniversary. We have enjoyed working with all of you during our first decade, and we look forward to 2002 as another year of continued achievement and innovation for our institutions and the consortium. Thank you for all your efforts, and best wishes to each of you!

--The ACS Staff

CONTENTS for December 21, 2001

1. Visit Our Newly Redesigned ACS Website
2. 2002 Summer Teaching workshop for ACS Faculty
3. Phase II For The ACS Environmental Initiative
4. Orpheus Alliance (Music Program) News
5. The Tenth Annual Latin American Studies Symposium at
   Birmingham-Southern College--April 5-6, 2002
6. ACS 10th Anniversary Gift Tree Planting At Hendrix
7. Environmental Programs Upcoming Workshop
8. Spring/Summer 2002 Technology Fellows Selected

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1. VISIT OUR NEWLY REDESIGNED ACS WEBSITE

To celebrate our 10th year anniversary, we have redesigned our website for easier navigation of both ongoing and new programs and services. We welcome your suggestions on how we can improve this resource. Please visit http://www.colleges.org/ and let us know what you think!

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2. 2002 SUMMER TEACHING WORKSHOP FOR ACS FACULTY

The annual ACS Teaching and Learning workshop at Rollins College will take place June 4-9, 2002. This challenging and invigorating workshop is intended for faculty who want to strengthen their teaching performance. Each institution is invited to send two faculty members each year. Nominations from academic deans to the workshop steering committee should be made by January 15, 2002. For more information, see http://www.colleges.org/summerteach/summerteach.html or contact the Chief Academic Officer at your institution.

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3. ORPHEUS ALLIANCE NEWS

i. Music Composition Forum

ACS has established a Composers Forum to create opportunities for collaboration between performers and composers of new music at participating institutions. A student composition contest is planned for the spring, and students and faculty will come together at a music technology workshop in July, where selected works will be performed and recorded. Complete information is available at http://www.colleges.org/~music/composition.html.

ii. Modules for Music Teaching and Learning

Members of the Orpheus Alliance also are at work designing and creating self-contained teaching modules that can be used by a variety of classes. The first projected module will be about Wagner's Tristan und Isolde. Watch our main page at http://www.colleges.org/~music for details.

If you have ideas or would like more information about how to get involved in any aspect of this program, contact Patricia Gray, gray@colleges.org.

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4. PHASE II FOR THE ACS ENVIRONMENTAL INITIATIVE

The ACS Environmental Initiative moves into phase two of its funding cycle with the V. Kann Rassmussen Foundation this year. Our initiative has changed somewhat with the creation of six new alliances: Spirituality and Sustainability, headed by Laura Hobgood-Oster (Southwestern) and Jay McDaniels (Hendrix); Sustainability and the Global Community, co-directed by Barry Allen (Rollins) and George Bey (Millsaps); Student Development and Engagement, headed by Kelly Stewart (Washington & Lee); Curriculum and Faculty Development, led by Wade Worthen (Furman); Campus-Community Partnerships, directed by Russ Wigginton (Rhodes); and the Campus as a Lab for Sustainability, co-directed by Jeanne Jackson and Roald Hazelhoff (Birmingham-Southern). VKRF funds will be distributed differently in this grant cycle, with requests for funding being handled by these alliance directors.

Three of the alliances are now accepting grant proposals:

Curriculum and Faculty Development: See http://www.furman.edu/~worthen/fcd/fcdfr.htm or contact Wade Worthen, wade.worthen@furman.edu. Due dates are March 1 and June 1, 2002.

Campus as a Lab for Sustainability: Contact Jeanne Jackson, jjackson@bsc.edu or Roald Hazelhoff, rhazelho@bsc.edu.

Student Development and Engagement: Contact Kelly Stewart, kstewart@wlu.edu.

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5. THE TENTH ANNUAL LATIN AMERICAN STUDIES SYMPOSIUM, BIRMINGHAM-SOUTHERN COLLEGE--APRIL 5-6, 2002

The Latin American Studies Program at Birmingham-Southern College invites proposals for panels and individual papers from outstanding undergraduate students. Papers on any topic pertaining to Latin America will be considered. The official language of the symposium is English, but papers in Spanish and Portuguese also will be accepted. Faculty members accompanying their students are invited to serve as panel chairs and discussants. To propose a paper, please send a single-page abstract, along with a short and clearly stated title, to the symposium director. The program committee will review the proposals. Attach an information sheet with your name, institution, current mailing address, e-mail and telephone number. Deadline: Abstracts must be received no later than January 31, 2002.

Please send abstracts to Barbara Domcekova, Director, Latin American Studies Symposium, Birmingham-Southern College, 900 Arkadelphia Road, Birmingham, AL 35254, phone (205) 226-4975, fax (205) 226-3078, e-mail: bdomceko@bsc.edu. For additional information visit the website: http://www.bsc.edu/lass/

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6. ACS 10TH ANNIVERSARY GIFT TREE PLANTING AT HENDRIX

ACS is giving a gift of a tree worth $100 to each of its 16 campuses this year in honor of its 10th year as a consortium. Theatre Professor Eric Binnie, one of Hendrix College's two ACSEI Faculty Fellows (2001-2002) recently remarked, "it has been an uplifting experience to receive the gift of a saw-toothed oak tree from ACS to mark the tenth anniversary of the consortium. We had a pleasant tree-planting ceremony on the 7th of November, which was well-attended by Fellows, Interns, and Environmental Enthusiasts past and present. The tree is planted where a much-beloved sycamore had been removed, so there is new life there now. Appropriately enough, this site is just adjacent to the Arkansas Garden of Native Plants." For information on how your campus can request its tree, please contact your ACSEI Faculty Fellow.

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7. ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAMS UPCOMING WORKSHOP

At Rollins College, big plans are underway to "piggyback" a Campus as a Lab for Sustainability Clinic with a previously scheduled Joint Purchasing meeting February 18th-19th. Planned keynote speaker is "green" author Kevin Lyons. Guests of honor include our newest members of the ACSEI team, the "Facilities Fellows."

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8. SPRING/SUMMER 2002 TECHNOLOGY FELLOWS SELECTED

ACS is pleased to announce the selection of the Spring/Summer 2002 ACS Technology Fellowship recipients. Fellows receive a $2500 stipend, in return for creating technology-based teaching or research materials that can be shared with colleagues both at the home campus and across the consortium.

The new Fellows are Mario Belloni (Davidson), Larry Cain (Davidson), Wolfgang Christian (Davidson), Karen Bernd (Davidson), G. Reid Bishop (Millsaps), Dan Boye (Davidson), Marc C. Conner (Washington and Lee), Michael Harrison (University of Richmond), M. Padraig McLoughlin
(Morehouse), Alan S. McRae (Washington and Lee), Eileen Moore (Birmingham-Southern), Chuang Peng (Morehouse), Jimmie M. Purser (Millsaps), Mark E. Rush (Washington and Lee), Therese Shelton (Southwestern), John R. Swallow (Davidson)and Rachel Wagner (Hendrix).

Please visit http://www.colleges.org/techcenter/Fellowships/grants/fellows02_announce.html
to learn more about their projects.

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