6.2 million
Number of all teachers in the U.S.

71%
The percentage of teachers who are women

8.4%
Proportion of teachers who are non-Hispanic black. 5.5% are Hispanic, 2.9% are non-Hispanic Asian and 0.5% are non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaska native.

$54,300
Average annual salary paid to public elementary and secondary school teachers in California – highest of any state in the nation. Teachers in South Dakota earned the lowest pay, $31,300. The national average was $44,700.

$101,200
Average annual salary paid to private college professors. Their public college counterparts earned an average of $84,100 per year.

Source: www.census.gov

Vince Connors, biology, presented a paper with his student, Rene’ Eslick, at the 2006 Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Society of Parasitologists held in conjunction with the Southeastern Society of Biologists in Gatlinburg, Tenn. from March 29-31. The paper’s title was: “Production of the reactive oxygen species, superoxide, by cells from the Biomphalaria glabrata (Pulmonata) embryonic cell line.”

June C. D. Carter , Spanish, presented a paper titled "Latin American Film:  Representing and Narrativizing Race" at the 66th Annual Convention of The College Language Association at the University of Alabama Birmingham, April 5-8.

Nick Catto , web developer and USC Upstate ’05 graduate, received the Outstanding Undergraduate Student in IMS Award on Sunday, April 23 at the Scholars’ Day Program.

Retirement Reception for Roger Lawson
Wednesday, May 3 … 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. … CLC 309
The Information Technology & Services department will honor Roger Lawson, a USC Upstate employee since 1997, with a retirement reception. You may remember that Roger was injured in a car accident in December on his way to work. Due to the extent of his injuries, he had to retire earlier than he had planned. His last day of employment was February 28, but the department was waiting on him to recover from his injuries before they planned the reception.

Off Campus Network Access Demonstration (2 sessions)
Thursday, May 4 … 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. … Media 124
You can now access your home directory (or H: drive) from off campus using Internet Explorer on a Windows computer with Internet access. This feature does not work with other web browsers and is not yet available on Macintosh computers.  Login to your email account using Internet Explorer on a Windows computer and click the Fileway link on the lower left side of the window under your email folders. You will be prompted to login again and then you will see a window with your home directory and the other network drives. Double click the one you wish to open. You can do this from on campus as well using Internet Explorer on a Windows machine. Once you have opened a folder you can use the Fileway toolbar for a variety of options. Click a file or folder in your window once to highlight or select it for some action. Double click it to open it. You can upload and download files. When you move your mouse over the icons on the Fileway toolbar a popup box will tell you what they do. Contact the ITS help desk at ext. 5257 or send an e-mail to helpdesk@uscupstate.edu  if you have questions or need help.

USC Upstate Annual May Day Picnic
Thursday, May 4 … 12:00 – 1:30 p.m. … Quad
The annual May Day picnic honoring retirees and state service award recipients is coming up! Lunch will be served from 12:00 to 1:30 p.m. The recognition ceremony will start at 1:00 p.m. Please make plans to join your colleagues to celebrate the academic year’s end and to honor the USC Upstate retirees and state service award recipients.

Conflict Resolution Workshop
Tuesday, May 9 … 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. … Rampey Center
Planning and Organizational Development is offering a workshop on c onflict resolution which will cover:

• What is conflict and what causes it?
• Five styles of dealing with conflict;
• Process for confronting and resolving conflict; and
• Conflict resolution exercise.

Please call Jeanette Reeves at ext. 5990 to reserve a seat.

Blackboard Academy
Monday – Thursday, May 8 - 11 … 10:00 - 11:30 a.m.
and repeated 1:00 - 2:30 p.m. … Media 124
The Information Technology and Services Division announces the first annual Blackboard Academy for faculty who want to learn to use Blackboard, explore new features or just improve their Blackboard skills. Sessions will be held in the mornings and then repeated in the afternoons. Faculty may attend all or as many of the sessions as they wish. We are not planning to offer a similar WebCT workshop because they recently merged with Blackboard and indications are that the two will be combined in the next couple of years.

• Introduction to Blackboard … Monday, May 8
  Learn the basics of using this course management system to support or deliver a course online. Topics will include options for personalizing your course, posting documents, sending messages to the class, posting grades and anything else the participants want to cover.
• Managing Content … Tuesday, May 9
  Files of various types and formats can be posted on Blackboard and there is a new content management system which lets users upload entire folders of material at one time and then share them among courses and with other instructors. There will also be a demonstration of the new Breeze for PowerPoint program that lets you add narration to a PowerPoint presentation and convert it into a flash file that plays easily over the Internet.
• Using the Communication Tools … Wednesday, May 10
  Blackboard offers a variety of tools for communication, to include e-mail, messaging, chat, discussion boards and journals. This session will give you a chance to experience each and consider how they might be used in your course.
• Assignments and Assessment Tools … Thursday, May 11
  You can use the gradebook to post course grades even if you do not use Blackboard to administer tests. You can also use the testing features for surveys, practice tests and actual assessments. There are several options for submitting assignments, including the Safe Assignment feature which checks written work for plagiarism.

E-mail Tom Davis or call ext. 5502 if you have questions or wish to register. If you are interested, but unable to attend, he will arrange to meet with you at your convenience.

Maggie’s Drawers and A Near Miss Awards Ceremony
Tuesday, May 9 … 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. … HPAC Theater
Maggie's Drawers is dedicated to presenting the work of young writers and artists from area middle schools and junior high schools throughout the upstate area. Our high school publication, A Near Miss , is dedicated entirely to the work of young writers and artists in area high schools. Maggie's Drawers and A Near Miss is edited and published by the Department of Languages, Literature and Composition and is made possible by the generosity of the Carolina Piedmont Foundation. There will be light refreshments served. Contact Marilyn Knight ext. 5836 for additional information.

Soccer Vision Academy/NSCAA Coaching Course
June 5 – 11 … 8:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. … Soccer Fields
There will be various levels of coaching courses for soccer coaching certification. The event is offered by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. Contact Kendall Reyes ext. 5130 for more information.

Children's Theatre Summer Camp
July 17-21 and July 24-28
Rich Robinson, assistant professor of theatre at the University of South Carolina Upstate, will teach two weeklong Children’s Theatre Summer Camps for ages second grade through high school at the Arts Center in Spartanburg. Children ages second through fifth grade attend camp from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. and children ages sixth through twelfth grade attend camp from 3:00 to 5:30 p.m. This marks the fourth year that Robinson has taught Children’s Theatre Summer Camp. The cost is $100.00 for one week or $180.00 for two weeks for the younger grades and $150.00 for one week and $250.00 for two weeks for the older grades. To register for the camp, call (864) 583-4891. For more information, call (864) 503-5621 or 680-1254.

Tune In to Upstate TV
The health care industry and its effects and contributions to the economy will be the topic on the next installment of Upstate TV hosted by broadcast veteran Julie Phillips. Her guest will be Ingo Angermeier, president and CEO of Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System. The show will air four times on cable TV. Here’s your TV guide:

Channel 14

• Tuesday, May 2 at 12:30 p.m.
• Thursday, May 4 at 7:30 p.m.
• Sunday, May 7 at 7:00 p.m.

Channel 10

• Tuesday, May 16 at 10:00 p.m.

Compensatory Hours, Non-Exempt Employees
Compensatory hours may not be carried over from one fiscal year to the next.  Please be mindful of the fact that if these hours are not taken between now and June 10, 2006, the payroll department will have to calculate overtime pay for hours not taken, which will be charged against the appropriate departmental funds on the June 30, 2006, payroll. The above action is dictated by University Policy HR 1.84 Minimum Wage and Overtime Compensation.