David F. Muir V, a 22-year-old senior electrical engineering major, won the scholarship by submitting an application and work samples, which includes two iPad apps he created, to Apple. The scholarship covers the $1,599 cost of the conference ticket.

The five-day conference will allow him to strengthen his software development skills and network with other developers in the Apple world, Muir said.

“If there is one conference to go to as an Apple developer, this is most definitely it,” he said.
The conference provides developers an inside look at the most recent iOS and OSX software and Apple products. Attendees will get the chance to attend more than 100 sessions and hands-on labs led by Apple engineers, according to the Apple website. (https://developer.apple.com/wwdc/faq/) The conference will be held on June 11-15 at the Moscone West convention center in San Francisco.

Muir plans to work this experience into his job as a senior software developer for the Gainesville-based Touit mobile app company (http://totuit.com/), which specializes in mobile software solutions for the ground transportation industry.

Starting during the 2012-13 school year, this collaboration — which also includes the United Way, City Year, Communities in Schools, Educational Directions, Big Brothers & Big Sisters, Ready for Tomorrow and Bridge of Northeast Florida — will aim to improve teaching and learning at Jackson, an F school on intervene status. The organizations are meeting May 29 to brainstorm ideas and synthesize their plans.

“The whole purpose of this project is to increase success,” said DCPS Deputy Superintendent Patricia Willis, “and introduce more of what the UF Lastinger Center is doing in non-high schools.”

Through its award-winning Master Teacher Initiative, the Lastinger Center provides on-the-job, onsite/online professional development to educators in Jacksonville’s highest needs elementary and middle schools. The initiative’s programs include a free UF master’s degree to teachers who make a five-year commitment to their schools. It offers this opportunity at Jackson, which, like many vulnerable schools, struggles to hire and keep experienced faculty.

“We’re inviting everyone who wishes to contribute to turning around Andrew Jackson High School to join us on a multi-year journey,” Lastinger Director Don Pemberton said. “It’s not going to be easy. It’s not for the mild and meek. But it’s an opportunity to make a real difference.”

Besides providing comprehensive professional development to Jackson teachers and administrators that includes leadership and team building, Lastinger will also help boost student engagement and morale, mobilize the community to support the school, recruit UF volunteers, chronicle the transformation effort and assemble research and evaluation teams to measure the results.

“We will identify research-based strategies and share them widely with our partners,” Pemberton said.

Brain drain to magnet and private schools often harms vulnerable schools, said UF Duval County Professor-in-Residence Crystal Timmons. Many high-achieving students opt out of attending lower-performing schools such as Jackson.

Out of 1,200 area students who could attend Jackson, only 800 have elected to do so.

“The community is losing a third of its students,” said Jon Heymann, CEO of Communities in Schools and a DCPS School Board candidate. “They’re voting with their feet.”

To attract more high-achieving students, who receive opportunity scholarships to attend schools out of their zones, Jackson will offer the International Baccalaureate and leadership and entrepreneurship programs beginning this fall.

“If everyone’s truly committed,” Timmons said, “then there is no reason why this venture should not be successful and why the students should not be successful.”

As part of the turnaround effort, social workers and other professionals will also be stationed at Jackson to meet the needs of students, teachers and families, Willis noted.

“We think if we can get sustainable work in Jackson,” she said, “we can spread that work and replicate it in other struggling schools.”

An educational innovation incubator, the UF Lastinger Center harnesses the university’s intellectual resources and partners with educational organizations to design, build, field-test and disseminate new models to transform teaching and learning.

The free exhibit will be displayed through Oct. 7.

“We hope visitors gain an appreciation for what came before us and connect to the Maya society on a personal level,” said Tina Choe, Florida Museum exhibit developer.

The exhibit illustrates how the city originally looked through 3-D maps and an aerial video. Visitors will also discover how the Maya of Cerros integrated religious rituals with daily life and view 45 artifacts on display for the first time, most dating from 350 B.C. to A.D. 300.

“It is an ideal opportunity for the public to see artifacts from the only large, scientifically excavated early Maya collection now in a U.S. museum collection,” said Susan Milbrath, the curator of Latin American art and archaeology at the Florida Museum.

The artifacts displayed in the exhibit were excavated by archaeologists working at Cerros in the 1970s and donated to the Florida Museum of Natural History by the Institute of Archaeology in Belize in 2009. The donation of more than 2,800 artifacts doubled the size of the Florida Museum’s Latin American archaeology collection. Thanks to a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the artifacts will also be added to an online catalog.

The College and University Professional Association for Human Resources awarded the GatorStart Project Team, composed of nine staff members in UF’s Human Resource Services and Enterprise Systems, a national HR Innovation Award for a program that allows new employees to complete essential “paperwork” online.

“It’s exciting to start a new job, and we wanted to get the person off on the right foot,” said project leader Melissa Curry, director of recruitment and staffing.

UF is one of only two universities nationwide to offer such a streamlined program. Launched in February, GatorStart is designed to have each employee begin his or her job duties the moment he or she arrives at UF, rather than to sit through days of orientation and filling out paperwork.

Forms such as W-4s, direct deposit and intellectual property agreements can all be completed at the GatorStart website. Whether it’s a new faculty member or a student with a part-time job, employees will no longer be presented with too much information because the new system recognizes the appropriate paperwork for each new hire.

“The primary thing was to look at sustainability,” Curry said. “Payroll forms take a lot of paper, and we’ll know in the next few months how cost-effective this new online system is.”

While on the website, recruits also watch the “Go Gators” 30-second TV spot and an orientation video created to build excitement among new employees joining the UF community.

The award presentation will take place in Boston Sept. 10. In addition, the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources will give $3,000 to a UF endowment or scholarship of choice.

To learn more about GatorStart, visit http://www.hr.ufl.edu/.

Currently serving as interim vice president for student affairs, Kratzer has been part of the UF Division of Student Affairs since 1986. He recently led campus initiatives such as the expansion and renovation project of the J. Wayne Reitz Union, an exit survey for all graduating students to collect longitudinal data on job placement and career choice, and the implementation of several campus safety-related campaigns including “U Matter We Care” and the Medical Amnesty Policy.

“Dave is a dynamic leader with a clear vision of how the Division of Student Affairs can best meet the needs of UF’s 50,000 students,” Glover said. “Kratzer is measured and deliberate in his handling of academic and service matters. His vast experience and proven results make him the ideal choice as vice president.”

He had been UF’s associate vice president for student affairs for seven years and director of UF’s J. Wayne Reitz Union for 18 years.

Before coming to UF, Kratzer was director of student unions at Murray State University in Kentucky and the University of Evansville in Indiana, and had worked in student activities at Western Illinois University. He holds a master’s degree in recreation administration from the University of Illinois and a bachelor’s in recreation and park administration from Western Illinois University.

In addition to his student affairs experience, Kratzer has had significant military leadership experience. As a major general in the U.S. Army, he was responsible for theater-level logistics as the commander of the 377th Theater Support Command during Operation Iraqi Freedom-One in 2002 and 2003. As a brigadier general, he commanded all Civil Military Operations in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom in 2001 and 2002. Kratzer is a 1998 graduate of the U.S. Army War College with a concentration in strategic studies.

The UF Division of Student Affairs consists of 13 departments on campus with more than 500 full-time employees and 1,900 part time employees. UF Student Affairs departments include the Career Resource Center, the Center for Leadership and Service, the Counseling and Wellness Center, the Dean of Students Office, the Florida Opportunity Scholars Program, GatorWell Health Promotion Services, Housing and Residence Education, Off Campus Life, Student Legal Services, Recreational Sports, Multicultural and Diversity Affairs, the J. Wayne Reitz Union, and Student Activities and Involvement.

Areas within those departments include the Disability Resource Center, New Students and Family Programs, Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution, Sorority and Fraternity Affairs, and Student Government. For more information about the Division of Student Affairs, see http://www.ufsa.ufl.edu/.

Kratzer succeeds Patricia Telles-Irvin, who left UF early last year to become vice president for student affairs at Northwestern University.

A special open forum to discuss the budget with Provost Joe Glover and President Bernie Machen is being hosted by the Faculty Senate May 29. It is scheduled for 10 a.m. in McCarty Hall, Room C100.

J.O. Spengler, associate professor and researcher in the College of Health and Human Performance, will serve as one of five moderators for the event, hosted by PreventObesity.net.

Many schools and recreational facilities have playgrounds, gyms, fields and basketball courts that are closed after hours because of concerns over factors such as liability, operating costs and security. The concept of shared use seeks to alleviate these barriers by creating policies and agreements that ease access for community members. This 50-minute webinar session will explain shared-use agreements, how they can help address childhood obesity and how schools and communities can share their facilities to create more opportunities for residents to be active.

Spengler’s research focuses on policy issues relevant to community health and development through sport and physical activity. He has been funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to research existing policy on the shared use of school and park recreational facilities and has conducted funded research to measure physical activity in municipal parks in underserved communities.

Spengler serves as an American Heart Association volunteer informing state advocacy efforts and policy on shared use legislation. His research also informs national AHA Policy Guidance on shared use liability legislation and provides advice and support for AHA Obesity Fund grantees.

Other webinar moderators include Manal Aboelata, managing director at the Prevention Institute; Rebecca Frank, network analyst and coordinator for PreventObesity.net; Jamie Chriqui, director of policy surveillance and evaluation and a senior research scientist in the Health Policy Center in the Institute for Health Research and Policy at the University of Illinois at Chicago; and Genoveva Islas-Hooker, regional director of the Central California Regional Obesity Prevention Program.

The webinar is free and open to the public. For more information or to register, visit http://ht.ly/aP1MZ.

The exhibition, “Deep Roots, Bold Visions: Self-Taught Artists of Alachua County,” will include paintings, drawings, sculpture and mixed media works by Jesse Aaron, Alyne Harris, Eddy Mumma, Jerry Coker, Robert Roberg, Francis Moore and Baba Onabamiero Ogunleye. The exhibition will open on May 29 and run through Sept. 9.

These artists draw inspiration from the region, and the subjects of their works range from local scenery and imaginary landscapes inspired by Florida nature to inner visions, religious belief and spirituality. Throughout the exhibition, the Harn will draw attention to the aesthetic power and expressive intensity of the work as well as the methods and skills of these artists, who did not pursue formal academic degrees in the fine arts. The exhibition will also draw attention to local histories as portrayed by the artists and narrated by collectors.

“We are delighted to feature accomplished artists who live and work here in our own community as well as some wonderful local artists who have passed on,” said Rebecca Nagy, director of the Harn Museum of Art and co-curator of the exhibition. “The exhibition shows a wonderful, eclectic cross section of their work. It will be interesting to put their works in dialogue together and see what insights they reveal about our community. We’re also thrilled that our local collectors have stepped forward to lend to this exhibition and told us their stories about how they discovered these artists and have come to appreciate their work.”

This exhibition is organized by the Harn Museum of Art and made possible by the Harn Program Endowment, with additional support from the Harn Annual Fund.

Admission to the museum is free. For more information, call 352-392-9826 or visit www.harn.ufl.edu.

The museum is offering a number of related programs for audiences of all ages.

Tot Time, “I Spy Color,” Tuesday, May 29, 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.
Tot Time, “I Spy Color,” Friday, June 1, 11 a.m. to noon
This free, fun and educational program is for children, ages 2 – 5, and their caretakers. Tots learn about art by touring Harn galleries and exploring art materials. Enrollment is limited to the first 40 children pre-registered. Register by calling 352-392-9826, ext. 2112 or email lstevens@harn.ufl.edu. Tot Time is funded by Prudential Trend Realty.

Family Day, Saturday, June 16, 1 to 4 p.m.
Families will tour the exhibition and build sculptures with found objects and recycled materials in our creative studio. A donation of $2 per child or $5 per family is requested if participating in the art-making activity.

Gallery Talk and Book Signing, Sunday, June 24, 3 p.m.
Robert Moore, author of “Francis Read Moore, Florida Folk Artist: Primitive Paintings and Photos of a Time and Place in North Central Florida;” Kate Barnes, Francis Moore’s first art instructor; and Debbie Moore Brown, daughter of Francis Moore, will offer perspectives on the life and work of Francis Moore, whose work is represented in “Deep Roots, Bold Visions.” The book “Francis Read Moore” is available for purchase in the museum store. A book signing will take place following the lecture.

Museum Nights, Thursday, July 12, 6 to 9 p.m.
Visitors will enjoy activities, performances and presentations engaging in personal expression. This evening is a part of the UF Creative B Program, which highlights creative events across the UF campus.

Collectors’ Discussion, Saturday, July 21, 3 p.m.
Learn from local Gainesville collectors about how and why they collect the art that is on view in the exhibition. Moderated by exhibition curators Rebecca Nagy, Harn Museum of Art director and Susan Cooksey, Harn curator of African Art.

The center’s weekly Dance for Life program is designed to help people with a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease improve their quality of life through enhanced physical well-being, social interaction, creative expression, and targeted improvements in Parkinson’s symptoms including impaired balance, strength, and mobility, cognitive impairment and language dysfunction.

The award will allow the center, in partnership with the UF Center for Movement Disorders and Neurorestoration, to document the physical and psychosocial impact of dance on the disease, and ultimately help provide this cost-effective, enjoyable intervention more widely to people living with Parkinson’s.

The general hypothesis for this study is that dance, like aerobic activity, activates neuroplasticity, particularly in the frontal lobes and, thus, enhances measures of walking ability, balance, cognition and language in people who participate in the Dance for Life program. The UF Center for Movement Disorders and Neurorestoration has recently designed a study assessing aerobic exercise under this same hypothesis. With funding from the Parkinson Research Foundation, the Center for Arts in Medicine will add a dance intervention group to this broader study, which is funded by the National Institutes on Aging.

This study, the largest scale study of dance and Parkinson’s disease conducted anywhere, will determine whether dance can be effective in improving disease severity, walking ability, balance function, cognition and/or language deficits, and compare the effects of aerobic exercise, dance and a commonly recommended stretch exercise program on cognition and language. The findings from this study may substantially advance the development of treatments for Parkinson’s. Drug-free programs could reduce the potential for adverse effects on patient well-being while addressing cognitive and language impairment.

For more information on the University of Florida Center for Arts in Medicine and the Dance For Life program, visit http://www.arts.ufl.edu/cam.

This past spring, The Office of Sustainability, in partnership with the UF Clean Water Campaign, known as the CWC, piloted the new program aimed at raising awareness about litter issues on campus.

Organizations apply to adopt a zone on campus for an academic year, set cleanup dates and recruit volunteers. The Office of Sustainability and CWC sponsor all the materials and provide guidance and support. The groups provide information such as the weight of trash and recyclables collected. The program helps decentralize cleanup coordination on the ground while establishing a greater level of record-keeping. Together, this provides a better glimpse of the kind of waste that ends up in the woods and water bodies of campus, and how frequently it’s accumulating.

“The program concept was the result of identifying a problem and thinking creatively about how to best capture student interest and involvement,” said Ashley Pennington, outreach coordinator for the Office of Sustainability. “Numerous student organizations already host cleanups or adopt roads, so it seemed a logical way to leverage that energy to make a direct impact in a comprehensive yet fun way.”

Five student organizations participated in the pilot semester, allowing the office to refine the process while still ensuring care for conservation areas. Greeks Going Green, the Inter-Residence Hall Association, UF College Democrats, GreenLaw and the American Water Works Association participated, hosting cleanups from February through April.

“We got involved in the Adopt-A-“Swamp” program because it was a great way for our members to participate in community service on campus,” said Julia Slayden, a member of UF College Democrats. “After our first cleanup we held a picnic in our newly clean zone by Lake Alice, which was a great bonding experience.”

The program has four key goals: mitigate litter on campus, engage the campus community on waste, restore and protect campus biodiversity and ecosystems, and gather useable data and information to better understand, assess and develop solutions for waste patterns and accumulations in these spaces.

In 2011 as part of the spring waste campaign, REthink, the office initially vetted the concept by hosting a campuswide cleanup of nine zones on campus. After nearly 3,000 pounds of trash and recyclables were collected, and the concept was presented to volunteers, it became clear that Adopt-A-“Swamp” would create an important harmony between the needs of campus with the desires of the student community.

For more information on the program and details on when to apply for the fall, visit www.sustainability.ufl.edu/adoptaswamp.

“These stories demonstrate the critical role investigative reporting and freedom of information laws play in exposing the misconduct and at times, criminal conduct of public employees,” said Sandra F. Chance, executive director of the Brechner Center for Freedom of Information at the University of Florida.

The series was recognized with a $3,000 prize, which was presented to The News & Observer reporter Dan Kane at a ceremony on April 20 at the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications.

“The News & Observer’s strong investigative reporting revealed shocking incidents of corruption and dishonesty by public employees and elected officials,” Chance said. “This is the kind of reporting that reminds us of how important a free press is in guarding against government wrongdoing.”

Kane reported how easily abusive cops, teachers who slept with their students and clerks who stole from the public coffers could change jobs with little risk of exposure. His investigation detailed how these employees received undeserved pensions, undisclosed perks and years of inflated salaries. Following the groundbreaking series, North Carolina’s Legislature passed major reforms, opening up what had been one of the nation’s most secretive personnel laws to allow for significantly more transparency.

The annual award was established by the late Joseph L. Brechner, an Orlando broadcaster. Previous award winners include: the San Francisco Chronicle, The Washington Post, the Columbia Journalism Review, The St. Petersburg Times, The Dallas Morning News, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and the Houston Chronicle.

Florida counties surveyed on use of social media
The Brechner Center also revealed the results of a research project that focused on the use of social media and smartphones by government officials. The researchers performed an audit of Florida’s 67 counties to learn more about their policies related to capturing public records created on social media or mobile devices. A public records request for each county’s policies, as well as an optional questionnaire, was distributed to county administrators last summer.

Of the 67 counties contacted, 12 were completely unresponsive to the public records request or a subsequent follow-up. Sixteen counties provided relevant policies, which indicated that branding and consistency are major concerns related to social media. While public records are mentioned in most policies, they serve more as reminders of the law than sources of specific guidance for how to achieve compliance. Two county policies explicitly prohibited the use of social media, citing open government laws as a barrier to use.

The answers to the optional questionnaire show that social media isn’t as widely adopted as one might expect, with just a little more than half of the 53 respondents reporting county use of social media. For open government advocates, this adoption rate might mean more time to work to ensure that safeguards are in place to capture records, which is especially important in light of the only 20 of 28 counties using social media reporting retention of posts, and only 10 of the 53 respondents reporting retention of text messages.

“I was disappointed that so many counties would ignore multiple public records requests, and I think that finding is important on its own,” Christina Locke, a University of Florida doctoral student who helped conduct the audit, said. “The audit is also valuable because it shows that what counties need is practical advice on how to capture the records, and I think that a roundtable among IT professionals and county administrators would be a great step in that direction.”

The Brechner Center exists to educate and promote freedom of information laws and policies. It serves the students of UF, Florida citizens, media lawyers and journalists around the country by providing training sessions, answering queries and conducting scholarly research on First Amendment issues.

All year Master Gardener volunteers start from seed or propagate their favorite plants for this sale. A variety of herbs, annuals, perennials, natives, trees and more will be available. Master Gardeners will provide advice on selection and care of the plants.

The sale raises funds for the Alachua County Master Gardener Volunteer Program. In 2011 these volunteers gave more than 11,000 hours of service to Alachua County residents and helped about 17,000 people seeking gardening advice. There are 11 gardens in Alachua County elementary schools run by these volunteers. Students are learning how to grow fruits and vegetables and about their nutritional benefits.

Purchases may be made with cash or checks only. Admission and parking is free. The office is located at the corner of NE 39th Avenue and Waldo Road.

For more information on this event or to ask a Master Gardener volunteer for advice, call 352-955-2402.

The 2012 International K-12 Teacher of the Year Award winner is Steven Doherty from Howard Bishop Middle School. In second and third place were Dianne Amendola from Stephen Foster Elementary School and Chu-Chuan Chiu from Lincoln Middle School. Each applicant’s teaching activities promote internationalization and provide opportunities for students to become interested in international issues and to get involved in international classroom activities in the school, community, nation or world.

Doherty, the seventh-grade advanced life science teacher at Bishop, conducts a unit on international peace and human rights every year called “Profiles for Peace,” where students learn about people around the world who have invested their lives to making the world a better place. He also helps to coordinate a “7 billion” project with other teachers exploring the impacts and opportunities of a growing human population confined to finite resources.

Amendola is a fifth-grade teacher at Stephen Foster. She volunteered to teach English to Speakers of Other Languages, known as ESOL, at Sandipani Muni School in Vrndavan, India, during the summer of 2010. As a result she started “Read to Feed, with a Penny per Page,” designed to both donate money to Sandipani Muni School and to encourage students in her classroom to read more.

Chiu is the sixth-to-eighth-grade teacher of Chinese at Lincoln Elementary. Chiu invites all of her students to celebrate Chinese New Year, which helps students gain a better sense of Chinese traditions. Some of her students even perform Chinese songs they learn from class. She also coordinates “Tuesday News” in her classroom to help students connect to the Chinese world and establish a better understanding of current Chinese culture, values, history, society, or issues.

The awards were presented at the UF International Center during a luncheon reception on May 9, honoring the awardees along with their school representatives, family and friends. Each winner and school will receive a monetary award.

The course, titled simply, “The Dog,” is aimed at undergraduate students planning careers in veterinary fields. It also touches on such topics as evolution, domestication, anatomy and physiology, behavior and dog health.

Organizers expect participants from all over the country and beyond. Several students from Canada have even already signed up.

“Besides introducing them to different aspects of dogs in society, we will include topics that will enable these students to be well-rounded when they finish their veterinary studies,” said Patrick Larkin, the course’s instructor.

“Many students who are entering veterinary school have never seen a dog show, but some of their future clients will professionally show dogs,” Larkin said. “For example, professional groomers don’t like it when veterinarians shave their dogs because that means their clients can’t show them for a long time. That particular segment of the course will familiarize students with the nuances of the dog show world.”

For added value, Larkin plans to include interviews with faculty members who will share information about why they chose their particular career path and offering advice to students. “The concept is similar to a class textbook with information appended to each chapter, allowing for a deeper exploration of information in the field,” he said.

Also an adjunct professor of biology at Santa Fe college in Gainesville, Larkin received his doctorate at UF, and joined the college’s faculty in June. He has since spent most of his time organizing the new course, lining up lectures, designing the infrastructure, uploading content and obtaining all of the necessary permissions within the college and UF to move forward.

“It’s been a lot of fun for me, just interacting with different faculty members and getting them excited,” Larkin said. “Dr. (Charlie) Courtney has been supportive all along to keep things moving and it’s been fun working with a lot of different faculty.”

Courtney, the college’s associate dean of research and graduate studies, first conceived of the course and has been instrumental in its creation. Courtney’s administrative assistant, Sally O’Connell, is active in the dog show circuit and helped arrange to film a dog show in Ocala for the class.

The first course will consist of both UF students and non-UF students. Larkin quickly filled the UF slots, even without widely advertising. The advertising he has done has been through contacts with pre-veterinary clubs at different schools. Larkin and a few other UF representatives also attended a national pre-veterinary club meeting in North Carolina to help get the word out.

The registration deadline is Aug. 20. For more information about the course, visit http://sacs.vetmed.ufl.edu/programs/undergraduate/ or email Larkin at pmlarkin@ufl.edu.

Junior Fellows serve as research assistants for Carnegie Endowment projects and will have the opportunity to co-author journal articles and policy papers, participate in meetings with high-level officials, contribute to congressional testimony and organize briefings attended by scholars, journalists and government officials. Fellows are paid a salary of $3,000 per month for approximately one year, and receive a full benefits package.

Sautin was born in Ukraine, and emigrated from there to Japan to the United States where he attended middle school and high school in Gainesville. He speaks Russian and Ukrainian, and earned degrees in history, economics and political science when he graduates in May. While at UF, Sautin has been active in Student Government and Model UN, and completed a research internship with the Kennan Institute at the Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C.

Following his fellowship, Sautin plans to earn a doctorate in international relations in preparation for a career in foreign policy.