Videos are featured on YouTube and InsideTheGatorNation.com. Participants may upload their story directly to the site, InsideTheGatorNation.com, or watch for the mobile video booth for assistance with the filming process.

The contest will begin Nov. 1. On Nov. 23, five finalists will be chosen on the merits of originality, story content and representation of The Gator Nation. All finalists will receive prizes.

The grand-prize winner will be determined by public e-mail votes for the five finalists videos. The winner will be announced on Nov. 30. For more details, visit InsideTheGatorNation.com.

To vote, visit http://promo.espn.go.com/espn/contests/theheismanvote/2009/.

STARS is a two day astronomy outreach program at UF, which is sponsored by NASA’s Space Telescope Science Institute. STARS allows students the opportunity to visit UF’s astronomy and physics departments, where they will interact with professors and current UF astronomy students.

Students will be introduced to the practice of modern astronomy through a series of lectures, laboratory exercises, group activities and telescope observing. Students will tour state-of-the-art facilities used to conduct astrophysical research and perform a group research project based upon their interests with the help of faculty members.

The deadline to apply is 5 p.m. on Oct. 26. High school juniors and seniors, and first-year college students interested in science should apply.

For more information, visit http://www.astro.ufl.edu/stars/

The parking fee is increasing from $3 a day to $4 a day in the garage fronting Newell Drive and in the two garages accessible from Mowry Road.

Disabled visitors have been exempt from paying parking fees on the health care campus, but they now will be required to pay the same parking fee as everyone else as allowable by Florida law.

UF’s Transportation and Parking Services oversees the garages. Officials decided to raise the fees to help offset the rising costs associated with operating and maintaining the 25-year-old structures. The same rates have been in place since 1998.

Meanwhile, the cost of valet parking at Shands at UF will increase from $5 to $6 effective Nov. 2 to coincide with the UF parking fee increase.

Shands also will offer valet parking on its new south campus, which includes the Shands Cancer Hospital and Shands Critical Care Center. This service will be complimentary through the end of the year while the patient/visitor parking lot is completed.

Developed as a cooperative effort of the UF Provost’s Office, the Faculty Senate, Human Resource Services, and the Office of the Sr. Vice President for Administration and Business Ventures, the new program will provide employees the opportunity to work with peers within the university while cultivating the individual skills needed to be more effective managers and leaders.

This new program replaces the previously offered Next Level Leadership program. With two tracks—one for academic leaders and the other for professional staff—the Advanced Leadership for Academics and Professionals program is based on leadership competencies specifically identified as important for success at UF. Program participants will participate within their tracks for certain development activities; at other times, the tracks will come together. To learn more about UF’s competency model, which was developed based on best practices of AAU peers and from interviews and focus groups with successful professional and academic leaders at UF, visit http://www.hr.ufl.edu/training/leadership/competencies.asp.

Participants will be selected via a competitive application process and will be announced in mid-November. The program will begin in January 2010 and will meet six times during the course of 2010—typically 1.5 days each time. This year, fees to participate in this program have been reduced from last year’s Next Level Leadership program from $1,000 per participant to $750. All materials (including a 360-degree evaluation pre- and post-program), facilitation fees and meals are included, and no travel is necessary for those who work in Gainesville.

For more information, please contact UF Training and Organizational Development at training@ufl.edu or visit http://www.hr.ufl.edu/training/leadership/alap.asp.

This program represents an invaluable opportunity for professional development, including exposure to UF’s highest levels of administration. Given the array of challenges the university currently faces, leadership development is increasingly essential to equip UF’s current and future leaders to support the institution.

Water conservation messages are posted throughout the area, including reminders about turning off water while brushing teeth or shaving as well as reminders to report leaking faucets and shower heads and “running” toilets through iService, an online maintenance request procedure, The most challenging water conservation effort for residents is the Shower Coach Challenge: Can You Take a Five Minute Shower?

Shower Coaches are five minute shower timers on suction cups that have been placed in the 86 showers in the Yulee Area. A five minute shower uses 12.5 gallons of water. Each additional minute uses 2.5 gallons of water. Residents are being asked to take shorter, cooler showers to support both water conservation and energy conservation efforts campus-wide.

“The Shower Coach timers are a fun way to remind residents about water and energy conservation while they are actively using resources,” said Sharon Blansett, assistant director of Housing and chair of the Housing Green Team/Recycling/Sustainability Committee. “This water conservation effort is one of many resource conservation efforts supported by the committee in residence facilities.”

Residents are responding positively to the Shower Coach, but say it is difficult to take a five minute shower. Some say it helps them with time when they are running late for class.

The Yulee Area houses approximately 520 residents and is home to the Global Living Learning Community in Yulee Hall. The Global Living Learning Community is a residential learning community that explores global issues including sustainability. If the water conservation education is successful in the Yulee Area, the program will be expanded to other residence areas.

Visit the RTS Web site at www.go-rts.com for Gator Growl Shuttle details or call 352-334-2600 for general schedule information.

Contact: Bob Woods, GainesvillePIO@cityofgainesville.org

The deadline for nominations is Oct. 30.

For more information, visit http://www.hr.ufl.edu/awards/saa/.

This policy and billing cycle is effective on August 17, 2009 for the Smathers Libraries. The Health Science Center Libraries (http://www.library.health.ufl.edu/) and Legal Information Center (http://www.law.ufl.edu/lic/) are excluded. Please refer to their Web sites for specific billing policies.

• If a lost item is returned before the maximum overdue fine is assessed, there will be no replacement processing fine or replacement cost billed to the patron. The associated overdue fines will not be refunded.
• If a lost item is returned after the maximum overdue fine is assessed and before a replacement copy is ordered, there will be no replacement cost billed to the patron. The associated overdue fines and replacement processing fines will not be refunded.
• If a lost item is returned after a replacement copy has been ordered, the assessed replacement cost will not be refunded. The associated overdue fines and replacement processing fines will not be refunded.

More details are available at http://www.uflib.ufl.edu/ps/Circ/fines.html

These free workshops will help homeowners struggling with mortgage difficulties or facing foreclosure, as well as community members considering buying their first home. Workshop topics will include mortgage-crisis counseling, consumer-credit counseling, first-time home buyer counseling and more. Refreshments will be served.

The University of Florida IFAS Marion County Extension Service is co-hosting the workshops. Lynda Spence of IFAS Extension will work with individual attendees at both sessions. IFAS Extension has provided Floridians with home buyer and housing education since 1982.

For additional information or to register for the workshops, visit http://www.house.gov/stearns/, call 1-800-888-7743 or email stearnshousing@mail.house.gov.

The grand prize includes $10,000, free subs for a year and a potential opportunity for the video to air on national television. Matson, a UF College of Engineering student, said that if he wins, he wants to use the money to buy a new, eco-friendly hybrid car.

To view the ten finalist videos and vote for your favorite, visit http://promo.toastytorpedo.com/.

Designed for emerging leaders at our institution, the UF Academy is a nine-month program that provides a UF-specific approach for up to 15 recognized star achievers who are “emerging leaders” at the institution. Participants are selected via a competitive application process. Entering its seventh year, the UF Academy (formerly the Finance and Administration Academy) focuses on immersion in the university culture and exposure to its organizational structure.

To participate in the academy, an employee must be exempt and have at least two years of supervisory or decision-making responsibility at the University of Florida and meet the additional criteria described on the Web site. Employees at the assistant director level and above, as well as interested faculty members, with fewer than two years at the university also may apply. Participation in the academy will last through June 2010.

For more information, including the application, please visit: http://www.hr.ufl.edu/training/leadership/default.asp.

Contact:

The new Web site allows users to manage office supplies and equipment, browse available items and save money while furthering sustainability on campus. To browse the list of available items or add items to a department’s list, visit the Web site at https://myassets.fa.ufl.edu/os/.

To learn more about UF’s conservation efforts, contribute ideas or join the UF Green Team Network, visit http://www.sustainable.ufl.edu/greenteam/. Communicate with other interested faculty and staff at http://groups.google.com/group/uf-green-team to help implement sustainability across campus.

FDOT’s 511 system is continually updated with information on Florida’s interstates and Florida’s Turnpike allowing travelers to hear updates on travel times, road construction, lane closures and more. Travelers also may visit www.FL511.com for access to traffic information, as well as camera views and links to airport and seaport Web sites. The 511 phone system allows users to transfer to major airports and seaports at no charge.

“When drivers can avoid traffic and congestion, it helps reduce crashes. We encourage everyone to call 511 or visit FL511.com before leaving the house,” said Sgt. Kim Miller of the Florida Highway Patrol. “Just knowing about congestion and delays helps people stay calm and safe on the road.”