December 11, 2006

In this Issue:

1. Spanish, Italian classes offered for adults
2. Financial Planning Courses to be on tap
3. Egypt, Vietnam, Costa Rica among J-Term destinations
4. UWRF Alumni, Career Services launches Mentor Network
5. Chiefs to receive UWRF Outstanding Service Award
6. Annual Holiday Art Scholarship sale underway to Dec. 14
7. State OKs UWRF land swap at Mann Valley Farm
8. Ground broken for new Mann Valley Farm Dairy Learning Center
9. UWRF Key Business Contacts

1. Spanish, Italian classes offered for adults
The UW-River Falls Outreach office will offer Spanish and Italian language classes for adults beginning in February 2007.
The classes will be held on six consecutive evenings beginning with Spanish I on Feb. 6, Italian on Feb. 7, and Spanish II on March 27. All courses are designed to give adults the skills to successfully communicate and enjoy travel whether for business or pleasure. All classes will take place on the UW-River Falls campus with free parking.
For more information on the classes or to request registration forms, contact Cynthia Wells-O’Malley at 715/425-3261 or by email.

2. Financial Planning Courses to be on tap
Planning for the first of five classes that comprise the UWRF’s Financial Planning Certificate is underway.
“Financial Planning Process and Insurance” covers the legal, ethical, and regulatory issues affecting financial planning and the time-value of money concepts that are the basis for successful financial planning. Insurance principals and risk management that help in identifying a client's needs are also discussed.
Classes are held in the evenings to accommodate working professionals. Contact the Outreach office at outreach@uwrf.edu to learn when dates are set.

3. Egypt, Vietnam, Costa Rica among J-Term destinations
UW-River Falls is offering a variety of courses this winter that are open to community members. Winter term begins Dec. 26 and runs through Jan. 21, 2007; however, most classes start after the first of the year.
Most credit courses in business, art, management and other topics are offered on weekdays but one management course in “Investment Analysis” is held during the weekend of Jan. 19-20.
Study tours to Egypt, Vietnam, Costa Rica and other destinations are open to the public. For trip costs, deposit information and application deadlines, visit www.uwrf.edu/international-programs.
For links to courses offered, course schedules, and registration information, visit www.uwrf.edu/jterm.

4. UWRF Alumni, Career Services launches Mentor Network
Share your expertise and advice with UW-River Falls students by registering with the Mentor Network.
The Mentor Network is an online resource to help students and alumni connect with other alumni and friends of the University while researching major choices, career options or gaining insight into various career paths and vocations.
All friends and alumni of UWRF are invited and encouraged to sign up to become a mentor. You need not be an alum to register and the registration process takes only minutes.
Mentors volunteer information related to their career path or chosen vocation when requested by a currently enrolled student or alumnus. Only UWRF students and alumni have access to contact you as a mentor.
When you register on the Mentor Network, you have the option to decide how many times students may contact you each month. Participants in this program are advised to be respectful of your time.
One of the most common forms of participant requests from Mentors is to conduct an informational interview which can be performed in person, over the phone or by e-mail. This informational interview takes 20-30 minutes to complete.
What many mentors share with students and alumni of UWRF:

• General career information (request by phone or e-mail)
• Informational interview
• Job Shadow (half or full day)
• Conduct mock interview of student
• Guest speaker at a club or meeting
• Provide a tour of current organization or business

Sign up today to be part of the UWRF Mentor Network at http://www.myinterfase.com/uwrf/mentor/.

5. Chiefs to receive UWRF Outstanding Service Award
The Kansas City Chiefs Football Club has been named as the recipient of the Outstanding Service Award from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.
Chancellor Don Betz announced the award, which will be presented to the Chiefs organization at fall commencement on Dec. 16. Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Denny Thum is expected to accept the recognition on behalf of the team.
"The Chiefs are an excellent choice for this award," Betz said of the Chiefs presence at summer training camp in River Falls.. "For the past 16 years the team has been an important member of our university family. They have helped us to achieve many of our institutional objectives, including bringing more visitors to campus, increasing our economic impact on the region and enhancing our institutional visibility. The Chiefs have also been great partners to us on campus in other ways. Their presence has enabled us to offer dozens of internships to students, who have also found the Chiefs to be accessible, remarkable mentors.
"They've helped us to generate the resources to make numerous campus improvements. The team's leaders also have been outstanding advocates on our behalf to our state government in Madison, helping us to secure state funding for remodeling projects.
"This recognition is a very public way for us to acknowledge the Chiefs' commitment to our university," Betz said.
The Outstanding Service Award was established in 1983 to recognize individuals or organizations outside of the university community who have made exemplary contributions to UW-River Falls through their support of the institution's goals and their voluntary efforts on behalf of the university.
Previous recipients of the Outstanding Service Award have included 3M; Secretary Jim Harsdorf of the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade & Consumer Protection; Andersen Corporation, and Cenex Land O'Lakes.

6. Annual Holiday Art Scholarship sale underway to Dec. 14
Art can be an investment as well as a gift that keeps on giving--consider this when you're buying for the person who has everything.
To help you find that perfect, unique gift for the person who is hard to buy for, the UWRF art department is hosting its annual Scholarship Sale in Gallery 101 of the Kleinpell Fine Arts Building through Dec. 14.
The array of works available for purchase includes intricately wrought ornaments, glassworks, ceramics, paintings, fibers, jewelry, printmaking, photography and mixed media. Participating artists range from students, faculty, alumni and local artisans, all eager to contribute to the UWRF art department scholarship fund through their art.
The sale benefits a scholarship fund for continuing students as well as the Art Society, a student organization. Participating artists retain 65 to 70 percent of the proceeds, and the balance goes to the scholarship fund. Organizers say it is great place to find holiday gifts, as every purchase supports local artists and gives back to benefit deserving students.
Gallery 101 is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. and Sunday from 2 to 4 p.m.

7. State OKs UWRF land swap at Mann Valley Farm
The Wisconsin State Building Commission recently approved a land swap involving the Mann Valley Farm operated by UW-River Falls.
The commission action is the final formal step in the trade, which was also approved by the UW System Board of Regents.
The trade involves a single parcel of 99 acres held by the University for 187 acres owned by K&S Developers, Inc., of River Falls.
UWRF will gain acreage immediately adjacent to the west and northwest of the farm, which adjoins Country Road MM northwest of River Falls. K&S will receive acreage south of the county road, directly across from the existing laboratory farm.
Proposed plans by K&S include developing the acreage for rural residential purposes, possibly including an elementary school, retail services, a fire substation, parks and a playground, according to UWRF Campus Planner Dale Braun.
The university will use the newly obtained land for the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences. According to Braun, a land assessment conducted by the college indicated it needed another 295 additional tillable acres beyond the 398 acres currently available.
The land swap will reduce the deficit by about 160 acres.
The trade is compatible with the land use planning goals of the Town of Troy, St. Croix County and the City of River Falls. The land to be acquired by K&S can be served by municipal sewer and water services. The land to be gained by the University lies within the Town of Troy and is not eligible for city services.
No money was involved in the transaction. Appraisals conducted by the state and K&S show a fiscal advantage to the University of $557,500.
The land trade is expected to be finalized by Jan. 1.

8. Ground broken for new Mann Valley Farm Dairy Learning Center
Representatives of the UW System, the UWS Board of Regents, the state of Wisconsin, the dairy industry and UWRF students, faculty and staff celebrated the groundbreaking for the new Dairy Learning Center on Oct. 20.
About 150 people attended the event, as well as a cow from the Lab Farm No. 1 milking herd. The ceremony began with a welcome from Dale Gallenberg, dean of the UWRF College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences, who introduced UWRF Chancellor Don Betz, the first speaker.
Betz acknowledged the contractors, UWRF project leaders, major donors, and others responsible for making the dairy learning center possible.
"Approximately $500,000 has been gifted by individuals, companies, and business to make this project possible," said Betz. "It's very clear to me that this initiative is part of the historic mission of this institution."
Professor Steve Kelm, chair of the UWRF department of animal and food science; spoke of the excitement that faculty and students have for the new facility. "As a faculty member and chair of the department, I'm excited that we'll be able to use this new tool, but mostly I'm excited for our students," he said. "A project like this required a lot of vision and a lot of perspective and understanding of what this institution is about."
The complex is expected to be completed by the summer of 2007 and will replace the old dairy facility, constructed in the 1950s, located at Lab Farm No. 1 near the main campus. It will include a compost bedded pack barn for approximately 100 lactating cows, a BouMatic double-6 herringbone parlor, which will increase milking speed and efficiency, as well as a special needs barn, calf barn, heifer barn, hay barn, feed shed and machine shed.
The facility will also feature a StepMetrix automated lameness detection system with sensors that will monitor weight distribution of the cow in order to identify lame animals; research bays with Calan gates, allowing the herd to be split into groups for nutrition trials, confinement and pasture-based management systems; and two 25-student classrooms attached to the milking center that can be expanded for industry-sponsored workshops and meetings.
UWRF is well known in the U.S. dairy industry as having one of the three largest dairy science undergraduate programs in the country with about 110 dairy science majors. In addition, the program has more than 450 animal science majors.

9. Key Business Contacts
Don't know where to start to find help on business matters? Try these contacts:

Area Resource Center: www.uwrf.edu/current/info/AtoZ.phtml
Career Services: www.uwrf.edu/ccs/
Center For Economic Research: 715/425-3335
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
Survey Research Center: 715/425-0701

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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