December 18, 2008
Vol. 19, No. 23
In this issue:
A Message From the President and Provost
The following memo was sent to the Heinz College community on Thursday, Dec. 18, from Carnegie Mellon President Jared L. Cohon and Provost and Senior Vice President Mark Kamlet.
Dear Faculty, Students, Staff and Alumni of the Heinz College,
In late August, we appointed a committee to review the allegation that a 2004 master’s degree was awarded to a Heinz School student outside of the school’s standard academic practices. Membership on this committee was comprised of distinguished academic leaders from the Heinz School and the university as well as a Heinz School alumnus.
The committee has completed its work and developed a report on its findings and recommendations. As set forth in the charge to the committee, the report was submitted to the acting dean of the Heinz College, Ramayya Krishnan. After thorough review of the report, Dean Krishnan presented to us the report, along with his comments. We concurred with the committee’s findings and recommendations, and reviewed them with the board of trustees earlier this week. The trustees voted to accept the report, including the rescission of the degree.
The committee prepared an executive summary of its report which is attached. Please be reminded that due to the confidentiality protections provided by federal privacy policies, we will not reveal the identity of the student nor any information which may lead to his/her identification.
We thank the committee for its thoughtful and professional work on this issue. Based on their recommendations, we will determine and implement additional policies and procedures necessary to protect more strongly against the occurrence of a similar incident in the future.
Sincerely,
Jared L. Cohon
President
Mark Scott Kamlet
Provost and Senior Vice President
To access the executive summary of the report, click here.
Carnegie Mellon Cafe Earns Gold LEED Certification
The Carnegie Mellon Café, a dining facility in Resnik House, has received a Gold Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certificate from the U.S. Green Building Council for its energy efficiency, sustainability and use of green design principles.
Formerly known as the Highlander Cafeteria, renovations to the 9,400-square-foot café began in fall 2005 and were completed in summer 2006. The renovations utilized a variety of green design strategies, including the use of sustainable materials, improving the interior air quality, making energy efficiency enhancements, providing greater access to daylight and views, and upgrading the building's overall systems.
The Carnegie Mellon Café is the seventh university structure to be certified by the U.S. Green Building Council and the second to receive a Gold rating.
For more:
http://www.cmu.edu/news/archive/2008/December/dec10_cafeleedgold.shtml
2009 Benefit Enrollment Reopened for Faculty and Staff
In light of the salary freeze for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2009, U.S.-based employees of Carnegie Mellon are being given the opportunity to revisit their benefit selections made during the recent Open Enrollment in November to make any changes they deem appropriate. All changes must be made and saved in HR Connection's Open Enrollment module (
http://www.cmu.edu/hr/benefits/OE/hr_connection.html) no later than midnight, Dec. 31, 2008. Note that if you make changes, your new benefit elections will be effective Jan. 1, 2009, but there will be a delay in getting your new ID cards issued. To review your 2009 benefits or make changes, go to the Human Resources Web site at
http://www.cmu.edu/hr/benefits/OE/. The Benefits Office is available to answer any questions at
HRhelp@andrew.cmu.edu or 412-268-2047.
Mellon Foundation Honors Panda3D, Alice Software
Carnegie Mellon has received a $50,000 Mellon Award for Technology Collaboration (MATC) for its role in developing Panda3D and Alice, two open-source software tools that provide significant benefits to higher education and, in particular, to the arts and humanities.
Mike Christel (pictured at right), senior systems scientist in the Computer Science Department, accepted the award from
Vint Cert, vice president and Chief Internet Evangelist at Google Inc., at a Washington, D.C., ceremony on Dec. 8.
Panda3D is a game engine originally developed by the Disney VR Studio to create virtual reality rides at Disney theme parks, such as Aladdin's Magic Carpet. Carnegie Mellon's Entertainment Technology Center worked with Disney to create documentation, add features and generally make Panda3D more suitable for use by the public.
Alice is a software environment that enables computer novices to create 3D animations using a drag-and-drop interface and, in the process, provides an introduction to computer programming principles. The software, which Carnegie Mellon makes available as a free download, is used in about 15 percent of U.S. colleges and universities. Originally spearheaded by the late
Randy Pausch, the Alice Project is now directed by
Wanda Dann, associate teaching professor.
For more:
http://www.cmu.edu/news/blog/2008/Fall/panda3d,-alice-honored.shtml
Yang Cai Converts Security Tools Into Health-Monitoring Equipment
Carnegie Mellon's
Yang Cai, a senior systems scientist and director of the Ambient Intelligence Lab at Carnegie Mellon CyLab, is working with a team of researchers to develop health-monitoring systems from security tools. "We have developed a prototype that can convert the data from a 3D microwave imaging system used for airport security to biometrics such as body mass and gait for early health diagnoses," said Cai.
Sponsored by the Army Research Office and the National Science Foundation, the dual-use security tools are designed to help cut health care costs and provide important data for health issues ranging from obesity to arthritis.
Cai and research assistants
Ye Li,
Stefan Kremser,
Li Wan and
Ping Ni use a 3D anthropology database of more than 100 men and women to cull information for correlations between volume, weight, height and girth of adults. The team aims to develop an affordable tool that consumers can use to monitor excess weight and other health issues involving everything from arthritic wrists and hands to a sore foot.
For more:
http://www.cmu.edu/news/archive/2008/December/dec12_securitytoolsforhealth.shtml
News Briefs
- Nominations for the second annual Smiley Award are due by Jan. 31, 2009. The Smiley Award, named in honor of the Smiley emoticon, : - ), created by Professor Scott Fahlman in 1982, honors innovation in technology-assisted person-to-person communication. The competition is open to graduate or undergraduate students, or small teams of students from any part of Carnegie Mellon. The winning entry will receive a $500 cash prize, provided by corporate sponsor Yahoo! Incorporated, and the names of the winners will be engraved on a plaque on permanent display in the Computer Science Department in the new School of Computer Science Complex. For more information, including criteria and the nomination process, see http://www.cs.cmu.edu/smiley/sa.html.
- The Pittsburgh Creativity Project has selected 17 individuals and groups to receive awards in recognition of their contributions to the creative vitality of the Pittsburgh region and has profiled them at http://www.pittsburghcreativityproject.org. Recipients received cash awards from $1,000 to $3,000 and were selected by project staff in consultation with advisors and nominators using criteria developed by Director Teresa Foley.
- Yoga classes for faculty and staff — scheduled on Mondays in Whitfield Hall — will not be held from Dec. 22 through Jan. 5. They will resume on Jan. 12.
Personal Mention
- The Pittsburgh chapter of the American Marketing Association (AMA) has named Carnegie Mellon's Marketing Communications team the Grand Marketer of the Year. The award is given to the brand that demonstrates the highest level of integrated marketing strategy and can demonstrate success with very clear return on investment against goals and objectives. The Pittsburgh AMA also named the Tepper School's John Mather, executive director of the Masters Programs and teaching professor of marketing, the 2008 Distinguished Educator of the Year.
- The Steinbrenner Institute's brochure, "Transitioning to an Environmentally Sustainable Society,” won first place in the educational/media category of the 2008 Marcom Awards contest. The winning team included Sherry Stokes, senior publications manager for the College of Engineering (CIT), Chriss Swaney, CIT media relations director, and the university's Communication Design team. More than 300 entries were judged in the competition, based in Arlington, Texas.
- Associate Professor of Biology Alison Barth was recently awarded both the Research Award for Innovation in Neuroscience (RAIN) and the Career Development Award from the Society of Neuroscience (SfN). As a recipient of the annual RAIN award, Barth will receive $25,000 in unrestricted funds for her laboratory. For more on Barth's research, visit http://www.cmu.edu/bio/news/2008/barth.html.
- Charles Kreibel, an emeritus professor at the Tepper School, has died at the age of 75. He was a noted expert in the management of information technology and retired after 30 years of distinguished service. For the Post Gazette's obituary, see http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08348/935012-122.stm.
- The College of Fine Arts has appointed Peter Cooke as the new head of its School of Drama. Cooke, a renowned theater designer with a Ph.D. from the University of New South Wales in Australia, will begin his appointment Jan. 1, 2009. He succeeds Dick Block, who will return to the school's faculty after serving as interim head. For more: http://www.cmu.edu/news/archive/2008/December/dec11_dramacooke.shtml
- Lisa Krieg will assume the new position of director of Enrollment Services on Monday, Jan. 5. Enrollment Services includes five core areas: university registrar, student financial aid services, student accounts, the HUB and the card office. Krieg has been director of the Office of International Education since 2001. She is a Fulbright International Administrators Grantee and a recipient of a 2007 Carnegie Mellon Andy Award for University Citizenship. Linda Gentile will serve as interim director of the Office of International Education, with a national search to be conducted this coming semester.
- The late Randy Pausch has been named Pittsburgher of the Year by Pittsburgh Magazine. For the complete story, see http://www.wqed.org/mag/features/0109/pausch1.php.
Calendar Highlights
- Thursday, Dec. 18: "'Twas the Night Before Christmas Exhibit." 10 a.m.-3 p.m., Fine and Rare Book Room, Hunt Library, 4th floor. The exhibit features illustrated editions of Clement C. Moore's beloved poem.
- Saturday, Dec. 20: "Hip-Hop, Balance, and Responsibility." 2 p.m., College of Fine Arts, room 206A. Hosted by the Arts Greenhouse, the talk will be led by Luqman Abdus-salaam, long-standing member of the Pittsburgh hip-hop community, with special guest Dr. Goddess, artist, scholar, activist and outspoken champion of Pittsburgh's historic Hill District. For more information, contact Amos Levy at 412-268-5279 or amoslevy@cmu.edu.
- For more events, visit http://my.cmu.edu/site/events.
