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City and University Support New Site for State Historical Society

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March 30, 2009 COLUMBIA, Mo. — University of Missouri Chancellor Brady Deaton and Columbia City Manager Bill Watkins today announced that MU and the City of Columbia will work together to provide an appropriate site for the future location of the State Historical Society of Missouri that would be beneficial to all three parties, to those they serve and to the community in general. The society currently is located in cramped quarters in MU’s Ellis Library.

In accordance with the university’s master plan vision to enhance the northern boundary of the campus, and the city’s cooperation in that effort that includes consultation services from Sasaki Associates, MU has offered to make a site available for construction of the proposed State Historical Society building. The Sasaki study identified a range of opportunity sites along Elm Street suitable for cultural, residential, commercial and other improvements.

The site is a square block between Sixth and Seventh Streets, bounded by Elm Street on the south and Locust Street on the north. It currently serves as employee/visitor parking for the Heinkel Building, which houses several university administrative functions; MU would retain ownership of the property.

The city would support this arrangement by making a piece of its property available to the university in an adjacent area located on the east side of Fifth Street between Locust and Cherry Streets. This area currently serves as a parking lot and would be available to employees displaced from parking around the Heinkel Building.

“We strongly believe that the State Historical Society is an enormous asset for Columbia and the university,” Deaton said. “We have been working for some time with the city to leverage our mutual resources into a new model for town/gown relationships and to identify short-term and long-term opportunities that would benefit our long-standing partnership. Working together to make a site available to the society for a facility that will adequately serve its needs benefits all involved.”

Watkins said that the proposal is a very workable option for the society’s planned expansion. “The society had seriously considered the block immediately to the west of this alternative site because, once the existing property was acquired, there would be enough space to build the type of facility it visualized,” he said. “But this truly generous offer from the university will let the Historical Society go forward with an adjusted plan. I am excited about this project.”

The City Council will discuss this topic during its open, public dinner session at 5:45 p.m. today in the Fourth Floor Conference Room, Daniel Boone Building, 701 E. Broadway.

The State Historical Society of Missouri was founded in 1898 by the Missouri Press Association and has been a trustee of the state since 1899. It describes its role as “the preeminent research facility for the study of the Show Me State’s heritage and a leader in programming designed to share that heritage with the public.”

Contact: Mary Jo Banken Director, MU News Bureau (573) 882-6212 BankenM@missouri.edu

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MU Policy – HR 411 Voting

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With the April 2009 elections date just around the corner, it seems like a good time to review HR 411, the University’s policy on voting and related requests for time off. To highlight the main points:

MU Policy – HR 411 Voting
The main points:
• Employees may be excused from work for time necessary to allow them to vote (this includes time away for absentee voting, if necessary).
• This time may be up to, but not exceed, three (3) successive hours for the purpose of voting.
• Such period of time includes any off-duty time between the opening and closing of the polls (e.g., lunch).
• Employees shall be paid for any time requiring absence from duty to allow up to three (3) successive hours; provided, however, that such absence is requested prior to the election. Such time must be recorded on a time sheet or a monthly absence form.
• Supervisors have the right to specify the time an employee may be absent for voting (e.g. for coverage issues).
• Employees whose work hours permit three (3) successive hours between the opening and closing of the polls when not on duty, will not be eligible for any paid time off for the purpose of voting.

Feel free to contact Leo at 882-9166 or agnewl@missouri.edu if additional information is needed.

Reminder: Survey from Diversity Action Committee

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A reminder from the MU Libraries’ Diversity Action Committee regarding the recent survey invitation re: diversity/cultural competency. Survey results will be used to help continue the discussion of how the collective knowledge, skills, and experiences of individuals influence the organization’s response to diversity-related activities.

The survey is designed to be completed in a short amount of time. Total estimated time needed to take the survey is 3 to 5 minutes. There are 11-questions; the majority have Yes/No response options; one question asks for a written response.

To access the survey, go to the DAC website and click on ‘Survey’ (http://mulibraries.missouri.edu/staff/committees/affirmativeaction/default.htm). Thanks.

Leo

Tech Tip

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Make a Note and e-mail it to someone.

  • Click on the sticky note icon at the bottom left of the Outlook screen.
  • Click on New at the upper left of the screen under File.
  • Key the note you want to make and close the note by clicking the x in the upper right corner. It will be saved automatically.
  • Right click on the icon for the note you just created, it should be visible on your Outlook screen.
  • Click Forward. On the To line, enter the e-mail address to send the note to.
  • You can add extra explanation in the body of the e-mail, if you wish.
  • Click Send.

Tip from Terri Hall.

Noted British Scholars Tour the MU Libraries Darwin Exhibit

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Preceding the opening of the 5th Annual MU Life Sciences & Society Symposium [Darwin’s Ongoing Revolution: Evolutionary Thought in Emerging Fields] on March 13th the MU Libraries received a request from two of the distinguished presenters at the symposium to have a tour of the exhibit entitled “150 Years of the Origin of Species – The Historical Journey from Specimens to Species to Genes” located in the Ellis Library Colonnade. The library exhibit was developed and installed by the Special Collections, Archives & Rare Books Division of the MU Libraries. The guests were received by Jim Cogswell, Director of Libraries, and Alla Barabtarlo and Michael Holland from the Special Collections, Archives & Rare Books Division.

Among the two distinguished guests visiting the exhibit were Dame Gillian Beer a revered literary scholar in Victorian studies who is the King Edward VII Emeritus Professor of English Literature at Cambridge University and in 1998 was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (the second highest level of the OBE) for her services to English Literature. She is a Fellow of the British Academy and of the Royal Society of Literature and is a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Dame Gillian came to the University of Missouri to participate in the Darwin Symposium largely because of her critically acclaimed book, Darwin Plots, now in the 3rd edition, which relates the form and language of Victorian novels to Darwinist thinking.

The other scholarly visitor to the Ellis Library exhibit, on the 13th of March was also a British citizen. Professor Michael Ruse is a philosopher of science specializing in the philosophy of biology, and is most widely known for his work on the relationship between evolutionary biology and religion. After a 35 year teaching career at the University of Guelph in Canada, Professor Ruse was named the Lucyle T. Werkmeister Professor of Philosophy and the Director of the Program in History and Philosophy of Science at Florida State University in 2000. He is the author of many books, including The Darwinian Revolution: Science Red in Tooth and Claw, Monad to Man: the Concept of Progress in Evolutionary Biology, and Can a Darwinian be a Christian? In 1986, he was elected as a Fellow of both the Royal Society of Canada and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

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