Deans Notes - April 27, 2023

Millions of Americans lost their jobs and experienced financial difficulties due to unemployment during the pandemic. Now, for many employers, the shoe is on the other foot. Lots of businesses are struggling to hire enough workers while the labor force participation rate is still below pre-pandemic levels and is at one of the lowest points in decades. Within the US, workers are easier to find in some states than others. Associate Professor CT of Economics, Ernest Boffy-Ramirez, was asked about this, and he responded that worker shortages are likely to remain in many industries beyond 2023.

States Where Employers Are Struggling the Most in Hiring
WalletHub, April 19

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has NOT announced that lethal batches of COVID-19 vaccinations were distributed to states with conservative-leaning populations. Social media posts spreading erroneous information are relying on a flawed analysis published by a website known to spread false information. Sociology Professor Jennifer Reich noted that there have been relatively few reported vaccine-related deaths, making it difficult to draw firm conclusions, including about any possible regional patterns.

CDC didn’t say it gave out deadly COVID-19 shots in red states
Associated Press, April 20

Many American mobile home parks were built in the 1970s and ’80s — meaning their infrastructure is crumbling. “This is a systemic issue,” said Esther Sullivan, Associate Professor of Sociology who has spent years researching mobile home parks across the country. “It’s not one or two communities — it’s an issue across an entire housing type.”

Rust-colored liquid, rotten-egg smells: Water quality in Colorado’s mobile home parks has been a problem for decades
The Denver Post, April 13

Assistant Professors Chloe East and Barton Willage, from the Department of Economics, have been appointed Faculty Research Fellows at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). East was selected for the Program on Children group, and Willage for the Health Economics group. The NBER is the leading nonprofit economic research organization in the US. NBER affiliates are selected through a rigorous and highly competitive nominating process. East and Willage join a distinguished group of researchers, including 38 Nobel Prize winners and 14 chairs of the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA).

Diane Fritz, Geospatial Data Scientist at the Auraria Library and instructor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences, has worked for many years with Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial Applications (FOSS4G) applied to diverse physical and human geography topics. She has been on the OSM US advisory board since 2021, helping guide this chapter of the global OSM Foundation (OSMF).  Fritz was recently re-elected and appointed President of the Board. She'll be serving a two-year term during which she'll be assisting with many OSM projects in the US and around the world. Fritz has been deeply involved since 2017 with the OpenStreetMap (OSM; a widely used FOSS4G) community, in particular with the group working on trails (see Trails Stewardship Initiative). This work has been recently featured in the  USGS National Digital Trails post. Fritz also contributes to TeachOSM, a charter project of OSM...

Xiaofei Gao, an Assistant Profession in History, was on the panel, "Labor and Knowledge Production in Modern Northeast Asia," which won the Hilary Conroy Award at the Association of Asian Studies (AAS) annual conference in Boston, March 16-19, 2023. This award recognizes academic excellence in AAS Annual Conference panels with subject areas that are grounded in Northeast Asia but that are genuinely transnational and extend beyond one nation. Gao received this prize with co-panelists Jacob Eyferth (University of Chicago), Yuting Dong (University of Chicago), and Jongsik C. Yi (Pohang University of Science and Technology, Korea). 

On March 22nd, American Forests hosted the screening of the video, Hope and Restoration, at the National Press Club in Washington DC, followed by a panel discussion. The purpose was to showcase the video on restoring whitebark pine, now a Threatened Species under the Endangered Species Act, which was entered into the Washington DC Environmental Film Festival. The moderator was President and CEO of American Forest, Jad Daley. Featured speakers from the US Forest Service leadership included Rick Cooksey (Director, Forest Health Protection), and Tracy Stone-Manning, (Director of Bureau of Land Management). Following the Hope and Restoration video, panelists participated in a Q&A on whitebark pine. Participants on the panel included Doug Smith (noted Yellowstone senior wildlife biologist, now retired-wolf reintroduction, ShiNaasha Pete, (whitebark restoration, Salish Kootenai Reservation), Walter Wehtje (Director of Ricketts Conservation Foundation), Conrad Anker (North Face climbing team leader-well known in the outdoor community), and Integrated...

The CU Denver Open Educational Resources (OER) Committee invites you to take a quick (5-10 minutes) anonymous survey on your awareness and/or usage of Open Educational Resources (OER). Although this survey is anonymous, your responses to some questions may be self-identifying. It’s likely that we will use data collected from this survey in aggregate (except for any written responses), for internal advocacy, funding, and programming efforts from the OER Committee. None of the questions are required, but we appreciate as much information as you can share.

The survey will close on Friday, May 5, 2023. By taking the survey you can also choose to be entered into a drawing for one of several CU Denver Goody Bags! The drawing and swag pick up will take place the week of May 8^th.  

Open Educational Resources (OER) are free and openly licensed educational materials (e.g., texts, videos, tests, software). The committee hopes to identify ways to recognize and support OER adoption and use at...

Lauren Studdard, a junior studying Political Science, is analyzing the intersection of views on free speech and political affiliation for her capstone project. In order to accurately study these intersections she created a faculty survey focused on the CU Denver campus community. She says, “This is something I have been interested in for quite a while. Responses… are voluntary and anonymous, but participation would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your consideration.”

2:00 – 5:00 pm

The Golden End of Year Celebration will be held on the field in front of St. Elizabeth  Hungary Church, located between Speer  and 11th Street and south of the Auraria Science Building. Students, faculty, and staff are invited to enjoy a festive environment with food trucks*, music, inflatables, and giveaways! Graduates are welcome to invite their families and guests and are encouraged to bring their caps to decorate prior to the Commencement ceremony - some supplies will be provided. Join us as we celebrate the end of the academic year!

9:00 am
Tivoli Quad

Commencement honors the achievement of one's academic goals and the beginning of the next vocational commitment. Tickets are not required for either commencement ceremony. Please note that seating is first-come, first-served. Celebrate our graduates and their accomplishments by volunteering at spring commencement. Review additional celebration details at ucdenver.edu/commencement.