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January 3, 2008
In this Issue:
- Save the Date: Congressman Ron Kind's Small Business Workshop Feb. 5
- Save the date: St. Croix River Basin Conference on April 15
- Film Showing "The St. Croix: A Northwoods Journey"
- Free Community Classroom Presentations begin in February
- Low-Income Families Face Challenges in Western Wisconsin
- Shared Inquiry Master’s Program begins a new semester
- ‘Returning to the Farm’ Workshop Set for Transition Families
- Key Business Contacts
1. Save the date:
Congressman Ron Kind's Small Business Taxes Workshop Feb. 5
U.S. Rep. Ron Kind (D-La Crosse) will host a taxes workshop for small businesses on Feb. 5. It will run from noon-1:30 p.m. in the University Center at UW-River Falls.
A member of the House Ways & Means Committee, Congressman Kind is seeking input from businesses on ways that Congress can improve the taxing climate to spur small business development growth.
For more information, contact the Mark Aumann in the Congressman's office at mailto:Mark.Aumann@mail.house.gov.
2. Save the date: St. Croix River Basin Conference on April 15
With the 40th anniversary of the Federal Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968 as the coordinating theme, the 9th annual St. Croix Basin Protection Conference will focus on land use, water protection initiatives, municipal efforts, and policies that affect the St. Croix River and its watershed.
Co-sponsored by the St. Croix Basin Team and UWRF, this accessible conference provides an ideal opportunity for representatives from municipalities throughout the St. Croix Valley to catch up on watershed research, modeling, and management efforts relevant to this region.
The conference will be held in the University Center on the University of Wisconsin-River Falls campus. For more information, please contact Jim Harrison, conference organizer, by email..
3. Film Showing "The St. Croix: A Northwoods Journey"
Here's another chance to see the National Park Service's new movie about the St. Croix River. A showing has been scheduled for Monday, Jan. 14, from 6:30-8 p.m. at the Stillwater Public Library in Stillwater, Minn.
Filmed throughout the seasons, and narrated by nationally acclaimed artist Peter Thomas, the 18-minute film merges moving currents, wildlife and history with the voices of those who are inspired by the beauty and solitude of the Namekagon and St. Croix Rivers.
This event also includes brief presentations and an open discussion designed to invoke your own connections to the river. Representatives from the local community, the National Park Service and the St. Croix River Institute at UW-River Falls will be on hand to answer your questions about the Riverway, the St. Croix River Institute, and the film.
The showing is free and open to the public. Registration is not necessary. Bring a friend! For more information please send an email or call the St. Croix River Institute at 715/425-3256 or 800-228-5607 or visit the website at http://www.uwrf.edu/stcroix.
4. Free Community Classroom Presentations begin in February
"Montessori Education: 100 Years" kicks off a series of free community presentations on Tuesday, Feb 19.
Led by teacher education Associate Professor Gaye Ward and mathematics Associate Professor Kathy Tomlinson, the presentation will take a look at the philosophy and practices of Montessori education and discuss research results indicating higher mathematics scores for Montessori students. Attendees will also have the opportunity to explore materials used in Montessori classrooms.
Also, don't miss "Jerusalem: 3000 Years of Holiness" set for Monday, March 10, and "iPods, TiVo and YouTube, Oh My!" on Monday, April 14.
Outreach and Graduate Studies and the College of Arts and Sciences offer the Community Classroom series each fall and spring. University faculty share their expertise through informal presentations on a variety of topics. All lectures are free, begin at 7 p.m. and are held at the River Falls Public Library lower level on the corner of Main and Union streets.
A list of scheduled sessions is on the web or contact the Outreach office by email.
5. Low-Income Families Face Challenges in Western Wisconsin
An extensive survey of low-income families in seven western Wisconsin counties show they face significant challenges in access to health care, reliable food supplies, affordable housing and transportation, with insufficient income being the pervasive, underlying problem.
West CAP, the West Central Wisconsin Community Action Agency, Inc., based in Glenwood City, commissioned the survey through a grant from the Otto Bremer Foundation.
Some 930 households responded to the "Community Needs Survey," which was conducted by the Survey Research Center (SRC) at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. Residents responded from Barron, Chippewa, Dunn, Pepin, Piece, Polk and St. Croix counties.
Coordinating the survey were West CAP's senior planner Patrick Pesek-Herriges and social assets director Robyn Thibado.
In one of the most comprehensive surveys of challenges faced by low-income families, the SRC created a "hardship index" that measured problems in housing, transportation, legal issues, health care, child care or food and nutrition.
According to the survey results, some 74 percent of low-income households experienced difficulties in at least one of these areas in the past year, with 18 percent reporting multiple problems.
Low income households in western Wisconsin are disproportionately represented by the elderly, people with disabilities, and female-headed families. They are primarily "working poor" or retired on Social Security or pensions. Nearly one in five has not finished high school.
A copy of the Community Needs Survey Report is available on the West CAP Web site.
6. Shared Inquiry Master’s Program begins a new semester
The UWRF Master of Science in Education Professional Development begins a new semester in January. The graduate program, known as shared inquiry, is available to anyone interested in developing as an educator and leader and allows students to earn a degree while meeting one weekend a month over the course of two years.
Mary Manke, associate dean of the UWRF College of Education and Professional Studies and who also coordinates the program, says there are currently three active shared learning communities in the program: River Falls area, Wausau and Rice Lake.
The MSEPD through shared inquiry gives students the opportunity to set academic goals and explore answers to questions raised by a text or class experience with their peers within the program. As a cohort program, the students who start the program together also finish together. They customize their semester goals and design research projects to meet their own goals as educators and learners.
A culminating research project will allow students to focus in depth within an area that will directly benefit their personal teaching skills.
For more information, visit the Web site at www.uwrf.edu/sharedinquiry or
contact the UWRF Graduate Studies Office at 715-425-3843 or 800-228-5607,
or by email.
7. ‘Returning to the Farm’ Workshop Set for Transition Families
For some college students, graduation does not always mean finding a new job as some of them have the option to return to their family farm. With a new generation added into the family business, sometimes conflicts result from the transition process.
To help a farm family partnership succeed, UWRF will host a Returning to the Farm Workshop over two weekends in 2008.
Set for Jan. 25-26 and Feb. 15-16, it is designed for young adults and their families. It will focus on transition realities, work and life with multiple generation farm families, and farm and business arrangements that fit into business and personal goals.
Gregg Hadley, an assistant professor of agricultural economics and farm management specialist at UWRF, said participants will learn about financial and legal issues along with business and interpersonal communication.
Participants will receive a resource packet with worksheets, exercises and pertinent information. Workshops topics will provide family members the opportunity to discuss farm transfer issues, develop an understanding of farm succession financial and legal issues, learn estate-planning tools, and develop plans for the future.
The cost for the workshop is $300, which includes up to four participants. Additional participants are $50 each.
For more information, contact Hadley at 715/425-3188 or by email.
8. Key Business Contacts
Don't know where to start to find help on business matters?
Try these contacts:
UWRF A to Z Directory: www.uwrf.edu/atoz/
Career Services: www.uwrf.edu/ccs/
Center For Economic Research: 715/425-3335 www.uwrf.edu/cer/
Center for Economic Education: 715/425-3269
College of Business and Economics:
www.uwrf.edu/cbe/
Outreach and Graduate Studies: www.uwrf.edu/ogs/
Small Business Development Center:
715/425-0620 www.uwrf.edu/sbdc/
Survey Research Center: 715/425-0701 www.uwrf.edu/src/
UW-RF BizNews is produced by the College of Business
& Economics, Outreach and Graduate Studies, Career
and Counseling Services, and the Office of Public Affairs.
Questions, comments or suggestions about this BizNews
E-mail? Contact Mark.A.Kinders@uwrf.edu.
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