Vouchers for software training have been flying into the hands of classified and other employees at the speed of an e-mail message zipping around the world since Human Resources unveiled its popular pilot program last summer.

The classes, offered through New Horizons Computer Learning Centers, are available to all employees who purchase vouchers through their departments. The vouchers are worth $195, but bulk rate purchases allow the university to offer them to departments for $30 each for classified employees and $90 each for faculty including officers of administration.

Cris Cullinan, Human Resources training administrator, says classified staff are utilizing the training more frequently than other employees. Classified staff have used all 110 of the $30 vouchers reserved for them, and departments have purchased 41 of the $90 vouchers, usually earmarked for faculty, to be used by their classified staff.

Here are the details:

• 88 classified employees have taken classes; 20 percent of these have taken more than one class (some classes require two vouchers)
• 151 of 220 vouchers have been used for classified staff
• 20 officers of administration or faculty have attended classes; they have used 33 vouchers
• 47 departments have used the program

"This pilot program is the result of the work of many people on campus, including Vice President Dan Williams and Linda King, Human Resources director. They have worked for years to try to put more resources toward employee training in this critical area," Cullinan says. In addition, Williams increased the university's financial backing by doubling the number of vouchers originally available through the pilot program to 220.

Another important voice in bringing this issue to the attention of Human Resources was the Classified Staff Training and Development Advisory Committee (CSTDAC), which compiled a survey and a report detailing the training needs of classified staff.

"We greatly appreciate Human Resources' role in providing the needed training," CSTDAC member Kathy Dickison, Lundquist Technology Lab, says. "We will continue to keep them aware of classified staff needs for future training programs."

Kayla Hinds, administrative assistant to Cullinan, reports that feedback has been positive and that several employees have taken advantage of the opportunity to retake classes for free within six months of the original class. The program also provides a 24-hour helpline for participants.

"People have been overwhelmingly appreciative of the quality and value of the hands-on training offered by this program," Hinds says.

A few $90 vouchers remain from the first allotments, but Cullinan reports that Human Resources plans to purchase more, including $30 vouchers, in the near future. For information, call Cris Cullinan, 6-2961.

--Leigh Freeman, COMMUNICATIONS INTERN

The State of Oregon budget for 1999-2001 released Dec. 1 by Gov. John Kitzhaber includes a proposed $73 million increase in funding for state colleges and universities. UO President Dave Frohnmayer had this to say: "This is certainly a hopeful and welcome turn in the right direction. I am very pleased that the governor chose to fund the new budget model and that he and the Senate leadership are showing strong support for higher education. I do have concerns about the level of increased funding indicated at this early stage, which is considerably below what the state system requested and will affect how significantly we redress critical issues including student access and faculty salaries. Nevertheless, I am more optimistic for the prospects of higher education going into this legislative session than I have been in a decade."

Q: What is the Process for Change anyway?

A: It is a campus-wide, interactive process of study and discussion, now in its second year, that involves the University community in thinking about ways to bring about important changes as we enter the twenty-first century.

Q: How can I find out about it?

CLARIFICATION: The dates listed in the Nov. 20 issue of News & Views for local viewing of "UO Today" were Mondays rather than the Wednesdays that they should have been. The final Fall Term program, on the University Theatre production of "Guys and Dolls," will air on Wednesday, Dec. 16, at 9 p.m. on TCI cable channel 12 and at 9:30 p.m. on cable channel 11.

The Lane Transit District (LTD) is gearing up to begin a pilot corridor study for a bus rapid transit system (BRT) along Franklin Boulevard. Congress has earmarked $9.8 million for study and implementation of the system, which could be operational as early as fall 2002.

"Better transit service will give our students and employees more housing options because west Eugene and east Springfield will become closer than they are," Fred Tepfer, University Planning, says. "BRT also has the potential to reduce parking demand and make it easier to find parking here."

The pilot project will build stations at Franklin Boulevard and Agate Street, and at the Dad's Gates on East 11th Avenue. These stations could create real gateways into our campus, Tepfer says.

Three alternatives are in the running for the bus rapid transit system, all of them using guided bus tracks in the middle of the existing streets, Graham Carey of LTD says. Because this system costs just 4 percent to 10 percent of the cost of light rail, it's an attractive option for communities like Eugene.

"As congestion is projected to increase substantially along the Franklin corridor, we need to begin planning for a future transit system now, before it becomes increasingly difficult to retrofit a system when we are at gridlock," Carey says. "BRT is an incremental project that can be upgraded to meet the community's transportation needs."

While the construction will stall traffic on Franklin Boulevard for a time, very little vegetation will be affected, and the median even may contain more green space than before the project began, Carey says. LTD is working with an arborist to "plant trees that will provide a proper canopy and shed" for bus-goers.

In spite of the terrific generosity of many UO employees, the university's Charitable Fund Drive (CFD) coordinator Nancie Fadeley reports the contribution totals are lagging behind last year's record-breaking pace.

As we go to press, campus donations total about $150,000, she says, nearly $7,400 less than the $157,396.40 collected last year.

"Yogi Berra told us 'It ain't over till it's over.' I sure hope he was right because if we are going to make our goal, we need a bunch of late pledges and donations," Fadeley says. "Tend to that pledge form which may be buried under a pile of papers, or request a new form if you can't find the old one."

She encourages everyone to contribute by the end of fall term when the campus campaign will officially end. A Lane County CFD celebration is scheduled Dec. 14, and payroll deduction requests must be in place before the end of the year.

For information, call 6-3013.

Thanks to the advanced technology of computerized ticketing, the EMU Ticket Office sells a wide variety of tickets for local and regional shows in a centralized location, providing a handy and valuable service for everyone on campus.

"As an outlet for the Hult Center, we offer the same seats for the same shows as they would at the Hult Center," Mary Barrios, EMU Ticket Office manager, says. "The same goes for any event on sale through Fastixx."

The Ticket Office also sells tickets for WOW Hall shows, University Theatre, Lane Community College Theatre and other area venues, as well as for shows produced by the Cultural Forum and ASUO student shows. They distribute and sell football and men's basketball tickets for students, but not for faculty and staff who have to get their tickets through the Casanova Center.

There is a $1 handling charge for most venues, but the prices are comparable to those available at other outlets.

The EMU has renamed Cedar Rooms A-F for Oregon rivers, helping to eliminate confusion with Century Rooms A-F.

The rooms are named in alphabetical order, beginning at the travel center. The new names are Alsea, Coquille, Metolius, Owyhee, Rogue and Umpqua.

The rooms will continue to be used for meetings, conferences and lunches.

In the spotlight

Newly elected members of the Faculty Personnel Committee, who will serve through June 2000, are Ed Kameenui, Education; Leslie Steeves, Journalism and Communication; Pat Bartlein, Geography; Steve Durrant, East Asian Languages and Literatures; Ray Frey, Physics; and Kent Stevens, Computer and Information Science.

Denise Matthews and Carl Bybee, Journalism and Communications, and Mike Majdic, Knight Library Media Services, oversaw the production of "Dr. Shipsey and the Cows," the master's project documentary by spring 1998 graduate Andy Opel which recently took first place and a $1,000 prize in the student competition at the Marco Island Film Festival in Florida.

Andrew Goble, History, served on Nov. 12 as the invited external examiner for a doctoral defense in medieval Japanese history at Oxford.

Ray Frey, Physics, has been elected chair of the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) Users Organization.

Sharon Gizara, Career Center, is the 1998 winner of the Barbara A. Kirk Award for Outstanding Research from the Counseling Psychology Division of the American Psychological Association. Her work also was spotlighted recently in a colloquium series sponsored by the Spencer Research Training Grant Program as exemplary of research that "makes a difference" in the field of education.

On the move

Laura Blake Jones, Student Life, Ceci LaFayette, Early Childhood CARES, and Mark Turner, Political Science, were elected to two-year terms on the Officer of Administration Association Council.

Executive support specialist Kathy Campbell, fiscal coordinator Sonia Syluberget and administrative program specialist Carmen Hall recently joined Academic Affairs.

Jon Davis, Campus Recycling, left as paper recycling coordinator on Nov. 30 to pursue several home-based business opportunities. In a letter to the campus community, Davis says he has appreciated not only the widespread support of people across campus but also the opportunity to work with such people as Vice President Dan Williams; George Hecht, Facilities Services; and J.R. Gaddis, Printing Services. "The university's waste reduction program enjoys a high-profile, nationwide status in large part due to their active support," Davis writes.

Peg Gearheart will substitute for Terry Duffy, University Publications, during an 11-month leave.

In Print/On Display

Jon Erlandson is the author of "The Making of Chumash Tradition" in the latest issue of Current Anthropology.

William Toll, History adjunct, wrote "Pioneering: Jewish Men and Women of the American West" for the museum catalogue Creating American Jews, Historical Conversations About Identity (University Press of New England, Hanover, N.H., 1998). He also is author of "Black Families and Migration to a Multiracial Society: Portland, Oregon, 1900-1924" in the Journal of American Ethnic History, vol. 17, no. 3 (Spring 1998), 38-70.

On the podium/stage

Madonna Moss, Anthropology, presented "Mid-Holocene Cultural Dynamics on the Northwest Coast of North America" in October at the University of Maine.

In memoriam

Glenn Starlin, Theater Arts emeritus, died Dec. 1 in Eugene. A former vice provost for academic affairs and a former acting dean of Liberal Arts (now Arts and Sciences), Starlin, 86, was a graduate of the universities of Idaho and Iowa and had been a UO faculty member since 1947. He served in the Faculty Senate and on the Library Advancement Council and various university committees. In 1985, he chaired the Villard Hall Centennial, and in 1990, the Museum of Natural History Courtyard was dedicated in his name as a tribute to his long-standing support. A memorial meeting for family and friends will be held at 2 p.m. Dec. 13 at Robinson Theatre. Memorial contributions may be made to University Theatre, the Glenn Starlin Courtyard at the Museum of Natural History, the Starlin Scholarship in Theater Arts or the Museum of Art.