Eastern Michigan University President Susan Martin falls short of multiple goals in review

In a fiscal 2011-12 performance review, EMU regents said president Susan Martin fell short of enrollment goals, failed to develop a strategic vision for the school and inconsistently consulted regents prior to making decisions.

"All regents should feel informed and updated on all matters requiring board engagement to their particular level of interest and satisfaction," the October 19, 2012, review states. "Performance in this regard has been inconsistent. Board input on significant policy direction merits more serious attention."

The review was obtained by AnnArbor.com through a Freedom of Information Act request. It was signed by former regent Roy Wilbanks and current regents Francine Parker, Mike Morris and Mike Hawks, who asserted that regents were "sometimes not alerted to major issues affecting the campus" and cited Martin's decision to close satellite campuses without informing regents.

Eastern Michigan regent Francine Parker during a regents meeting.

Melanie Maxwell I AnnArbor.com

Also in the review, the board praised Martin for exceeding fundraising goals and increasing on-campus housing.

The October review came five months after the board's executive committee formally reprimanded Martin in May for getting into an argument with an alumnus and behaving "in a way inappropriate for your position" which "reflected poorly" on EMU. Martin was drinking alcohol prior to the April argument, according to the letter and Martin's admissions afterward. The board threatened to fire Martin if a similar incident ever happened again.

In the October review, the board said Martin is "without question a visible and active president" but stated that with "visibility comes responsibility to represent the university at all times in the best possible light."

Martin's five-year employment contract expires on July 7, 2013, and is up for renewal in the coming months. She is also eligible for a $10,000 performance bonus in July, to be awarded at the discretion of the board.

Eastern Michigan University President Dr. Susan Martin address the graduates during EMU's 2012 winter commencement.

Courtney Sacco I AnnArbor.com

Per her contract, Martin's salary is nearly $310,000.

Martin and board members declined to talk about the review. They issued the following statement:

"One of the principal functions of a governing board is to provide annual feedback that ensures goals and objectives are monitored and measured. It is a matter of good governance that should be encouraged at every level and at every institution. As a matter of record, we do not publicly discuss details of job performance evaluations for any employees."

In the review regents asserted that "some goals were met, others not, and in some cases improvement is required."

The board praised Martin for increasing on-campus housing levels, exceeding fundraising goals, reviewing academic programs and reorganizing the way EMU manages student enrollment.

Susan Martin's to-do list

Fiscal 2012-13 goals developed by regents.

• Increase credit hour enrollment by 1 percent
• Increase graduate enrollment, which is declining
• Improve probation, graduation, retention rates
• Achieve positive accreditation for Physician Assistant program
• Integrate College of Education with charter schools
• Complete strategic plan
• Achieve a balanced budget
• Seek "cost saving opportunities in benefits," including employee retirement.
• Plan for next fundraising campaign
• Grow endowment
• Engage external consultant to improve human resources
• "Support a climate and workplace where employees can thrive and support our students"
• Improve student services
• Evaluate the impact of administrative changes
• Increase alumni, faculty and staff participation rates in university advancement
• Develop a five-year plan to decrease energy reliance
• Improve board relations and communications
Source: Susan Martin FY13 goals.pdf

EMU last year raised $11.5 million in gifts, an increase of $6.4 million from the year before and $2 million above the school's fiscal 2011-12 goal. On-campus housing increased by 10 percent this year, to 3,315 students.

This summer and fall Martin also assisted in reaching a contract deal with three of EMU's labor unions, an accomplishment the board deemed "notable" in the review.

"The planning process, new bargaining team and work done prior to the successful ratification were evident," the review stated.

The review also cited a decline in enrollment, which in part caused EMU to dip into its reserves by $2 million. From fall 2010 to fall 2011, credit hour enrollment decreased 1.4 percent. "We expect that a strategy to address this matter is forthcoming," the review states.

The shortfall was the first budget deficit of Martin's tenure, the review states. According to a December financial report, the school's budget is balanced this year. Enrollment is up by 4,650 credit hours.

The review said that while EMU increased its six-year graduation rate last year, four-year rates have been stagnant. EMU's current six-year and four-year graduation rates are 37.2 percent and 12.9 percent, respectively.

The review said Martin hadn't presented a strategic plan for the school, which she was supposed to have completed by June 2009. "This goal remains unmet," the review states. "This should remain an area of focus for you and the institution as a whole."

The regents wanted Martin to evaluate services provided to students and staff, such as the ombudsman and human services offices, but said in the review that Martin failed to complete those tasks. Regents also told Martin she did not properly handle layoffs and payroll issues.

Evaluations were also an area where Martin didn't meet goals. Regents want Martin to evaluate her leadership team, offer professional development and develop a chain of succession.

"You have made a number of leadership changes. It is important that those leaders are evaluated," the review states, explaining that Martin did not complete fiscal 2010-11 evaluations and, as of October, was late in completing 2011-12 evaluations.

Eastern Michigan regent Mike Morris during a September 2011 regents meeting.

Melanie Maxwell I AnnArbor.com

The review continued: "Developing a collegial environment within your executive council will be important. All members of the team should feel encouraged and supported."

On September 18, 2012, regent Beth Fitzsimmons said in an interview that she thought Martin's contract would likely be renewed this year.

"I don't know of anything other than that," Fitzsimmons said, adding that in an informal June conversation board members "all said we supported her."

Also in a September 18 interview, regent Thomas Sidlik said "things couldn't be better" at EMU, and noted the uptick in enrollment EMU experienced this fall. Sidlik has since retired from the board. He asserted that the May letter reprimanding Martin was "a bump in the road."

The review, authored a month later, paints a different picture.

"Some goals were met, others not, and in some cases improvement is required. A clear focus should remain on goals that are important and unmet as well as a commitment to devote attention to areas that require your improvement," the review states. When listing goals assigned but not completed, regents included "board relations and communications."

"Board members not equally consulted on matters," the list states. "Lack of follow through on key issues. Represent university in a positive manner at all times."

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/michigan-news/~3/HYUNN3eADJA/

katy perry part of me video photoshop cs6 beta cate blanchett nfl news tebow tebow jets romney etch a sketch

How to Use Introversion for Career and Personal Success

Introversion isn't a flaw. In fact, introverts are powerful players in work and home life. Here, psychologist Alice Boyes shares how to use your natural personality traits towards success.

Develop a Positive Overall View of Your Temperament and Personality

Until I read Susan Cain's book Quiet I never consciously realized I was ashamed of being an introvert. It was one of life's "aha" moments. I personally don't need to believe introversion is a virtue but no longer seeing it as a flaw has been extremely helpful. Learn to acknowledge things you find difficult without piling on the self-criticism.

Be Prepared to Pitch

Some of my biggest professional successes have come from pitching something I have to offer.
I feel most comfortable pitching when I'm offering something win-win, and when the other party will benefit from accepting the offer more than I will. The more experiences I've had of successfully pitching, the more comfortable I've become with it. Once you accumulate some experiences of pitching and achieving good results from it, it'll get easier.

Understand Your Variety of Introversion

Introverts come in different stripes. The most fundamental aspect of introversion is being recharged by alone time (or sometimes one-on-one time with someone you're very close to). Another fundamental aspect is often that your natural tendency is to want to digest information before responding back. For example, an extrovert might read a blog article and want to leave a comment straight away, whereas an introvert likely wants to go away and ponder. Since every introvert is different, you can cherry pick advice you find helpful and ignore anything you don't relate to.

Distinguish Between Introversion and Lack of Confidence

Confident people are confident in both:

1. their abilities

and

2. that they will generally be liked by others

If you're missing one of these types of confidence, you might benefit from working on it.

Understand What Particularly Overstimulates You

Examples: being interrupted and asked to make decisions while you're concentrating, noisy environments, turning on and off from being in social mode, group socializing or group meetings, and replying to people on social media. Minimize and find workarounds for whatever particularly overstimulates you.

If you have a sense of being very easily overstimulated, you might benefit from reading Elaine Aron's book The Highly Sensitive Person. Learn physiological self-regulation strategies that will help you recover quickly after you've been overestimulated.

Adopt a "Growth Mindset"

A "growth mindset" is a belief you can get better at stuff rather than abilities being fixed. For example, the belief "I can get better at networking." There is lots of research showing that people with a growth mindset experience more success.

Recognize that you often don't need to be outstanding at everything. Improving can still be very beneficial. Perfection is typically not required.

Find Ways of Interacting with the World That Don't Feel Like "Acting Extroverted"

Find ways to collaborate with others that don't overstimulate you. Take time to digest and reflect, and understand your tendency to mull things over for a long time before taking action.Develop self-awareness of when it's good to go with your natural tendency vs. when you need to override it. For example, when it's advantageous to push the button on something you've been thinking about for awhile, rather than do more thinking.

Learn to autocorrect for any tendencies you have to overfocus on potential negative outcomes of taking action and underfocus on potential positive outcomes. Get to know your Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS). Notice if you feel nervous about professional success not just because it brings performance pressure, but also because it tends to bring increased social demands and requests for your time. Self-awareness is key to understanding these types of things without them negatively impacting you.

7 Success Tips for Introverts | Psychology Today

---

Dr. Alice Boyes' PhD research was published in the world's most prestigious social psychology journal?Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. She is originally from New Zealand but is now a digital nomad. She writes about social, clinical, positive, and relationships psychology topics for various outlets including Psychology Today, Women's Health, and on her own blog. Follow her on Twitter @DrAliceBoyes and at Google+ here.

Image remixed from ollyy (Shutterstock).

Want to see your work on Lifehacker? Email Tessa.

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/ZVuj4QgmJwQ/how-to-use-introversion-for-career-and-personal-success

winning numbers mega millions megamillions drawing olbermann mega millions march 30 lucky numbers odds of winning mega millions mary mary

Green tea and red wine extracts interrupt Alzheimer's disease pathway in cells

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Natural chemicals found in green tea and red wine may disrupt a key step of the Alzheimer's disease pathway, according to new research from the University of Leeds.

In early-stage laboratory experiments, the researchers identified the process which allows harmful clumps of protein to latch on to brain cells, causing them to die. They were able to interrupt this pathway using the purified extracts of EGCG from green tea and resveratrol from red wine.

The findings, published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, offer potential new targets for developing drugs to treat Alzheimer's disease, which affects some 800,000 people in the UK alone, and for which there is currently no cure.

"This is an important step in increasing our understanding of the cause and progression of Alzheimer's disease," says lead researcher Professor Nigel Hooper of the University's Faculty of Biological Sciences. "It's a misconception that Alzheimer's is a natural part of ageing; it's a disease that we believe can ultimately be cured through finding new opportunities for drug targets like this."

Alzheimer's disease is characterised by a distinct build-up of amyloid protein in the brain, which clumps together to form toxic, sticky balls of varying shapes. These amyloid balls latch on to the surface of nerve cells in the brain by attaching to proteins on the cell surface called prions, causing the nerve cells to malfunction and eventually die.

"We wanted to investigate whether the precise shape of the amyloid balls is essential for them to attach to the prion receptors, like the way a baseball fits snugly into its glove," says co-author Dr Jo Rushworth. "And if so, we wanted to see if we could prevent the amyloid balls binding to prion by altering their shape, as this would stop the cells from dying."

The team formed amyloid balls in a test tube and added them to human and animal brain cells. Professor Hooper said: "When we added the extracts from red wine and green tea, which recent research has shown to re-shape amyloid proteins, the amyloid balls no longer harmed the nerve cells. We saw that this was because their shape was distorted, so they could no longer bind to prion and disrupt cell function.

"We also showed, for the first time, that when amyloid balls stick to prion, it triggers the production of even more amyloid, in a deadly vicious cycle," he added.

Professor Hooper says that the team's next steps are to understand exactly how the amyloid-prion interaction kills off neurons.

"I'm certain that this will increase our understanding of Alzheimer's disease even further, with the potential to reveal yet more drug targets," he said.

Dr Simon Ridley, Head of Research at Alzheimer's Research UK, the UK's leading dementia research charity, which part-funded the study, said: "Understanding the causes of Alzheimer's is vital if we are to find a way of stopping the disease in its tracks. While these early-stage results should not be a signal for people to stock up on green tea and red wine, they could provide an important new lead in the search for new and effective treatments. With half a million people affected by Alzheimer's in the UK, we urgently need treatments that can halt the disease ? that means it's crucial to invest in research to take results like these from the lab bench to the clinic."

###

The Full Paper: Jo V. Rushworth, Heledd H. Griffiths, Nicole T. Watt and Nigel M. Hooper, 'Prion protein-mediated neurotoxity of amyloid-? oligomers requires lipid rafts and the transmembrane LRP1,' Journal of Biological Chemistry [DOI:10.1074/jbc.M112.400358] is available at http://www.jbc.org/content/early/2013/02/06/jbc.M112.400358.full.pdf+html

University of Leeds: http://www.leeds.ac.uk

Thanks to University of Leeds for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

This press release has been viewed 722 time(s).

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/126660/Green_tea_and_red_wine_extracts_interrupt_Alzheimer_s_disease_pathway_in_cells

mena suvari beyonce irs Kaepernick Fall Out Boy Beyonce Superbowl