Is it hot enough for you yet?

The American Red Cross has posted some tips on how to stay safe in the heat. Additionally, there is information on how to recognize the signs, symptoms and stages of heat-related illnesses, and how to provide general care for someone affected by a heat-related illness.

When the temperature climbs past 90 degrees for more than three days, experts recommend remaining indoors. Even short exposure to extreme heat may have harmful effects—causing dehydration, heat exhaustion, heat stroke or worse. The very young and very old are particularly vulnerable, so check on elderly neighbors and make sure everyone in your family stays cool and drinks plenty of water, including toddlers and pets.

Since it is so hot, many of us are spending time in pools. Again, the Red Cross recommends and reminds families to practice water safety and to be prepared should an accident occur in and around water. Source: www.redcross.org

SunCom Spartan of the Week: Anna Novo - Women's Tennis
Women's tennis player Anna Novo has been named the SunCom Spartan of the Week after being named the Mid-Atlantic Region Rookie of the Year and finishing the season ranked No. 13 in the nation in singles.

Novo, from Caracas, Venezuela, played the No. 1 singles position for USC Upstate the entire year.  She finished with an 11-7 record, having defeated three players ranked in the top 30 in the nation and with all of her losses coming to players ranked above her (all but one is ranked in the top 10).  She also had a 9-11 doubles record playing primarily at the No. 1 slot.

Novo, featured in the "Faces in the Crowd" section of the current Latin issue of Sports Illustrated, was the Peach Belt Conference Freshman of the Year after leading USC Upstate to a 10-4 record in the regular season, including a 7-2 mark in the Peach Belt.

Student Attends Palmetto Girls State Program

Ashley Barnes , a junior majoring in education at USC Upstate, is in her fourth year as a counselor for the Palmetto Girls State program, a one-week leadership and citizenship training program, created to further educate outstanding high-school students about state and local government. She first attended the program in 2002 as a delegate representing Holly Hill Roberts High School.

"It is a great and memorable experience that affects over 400 juniors in the state of South Carolina each summer," says Barnes, who is a Teaching Fellow and member of the Orientation Staff at USC Upstate. "I enjoy returning each year to witness the life changing experience that the delegates undergo. Palmetto Girls State has definitely had an effect on the way I view the government and life in general.” For the full story …

New Mileage Reimbursement Rate Effective July 1, 2006

For individuals at USC Upstate who travel on University business using a personal vehicle, the new reimbursement rate will be 44.5 cents per mile.  This is an increase from the previous rate of 34.5 cents per mile.  Please use this new rate when preparing Travel Authorizations (TAs) and Travel Reimbursement Vouchers (TRVs) for travel that will occur on or after July 1, 2006.

If you have any questions about the mileage reimbursement rate or other related questions concerning University travel, please call Annette Jordan or Kim Griffin on the Columbia campus at 62-7-2602.

On Tuesday, June 20 the Chancellor had a visitor who arrived by helicopter and parked on the front lawn/helipad. Photo courtesy of Mike Bruce.

Students from Art History 105, taught by Father Aaron Cass, visited the Greek Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas on June 21 as part of their study of the art of the Byzantine Empire. In this picture, the class stands before the i conostasis of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, Spartanburg.
Photo courtesy of Father Aaron Cass.

Upstate TV Looks at Recreation in the Upstate
Looking for something to do in Greenville County? Like to get outside and have fun? If so, find your remote and tune in to Upstate TV for a show about recreational opportunities in the Upstate. Host Julie Philips will interview Ray Dunham, facilities division director for Greenville County. Also please note that the show is showing on an additional channel!

Pandemic Summit to be held in Spartanburg
Wednesday, June 28 … 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. …
Tracy Gaines Auditorium at Spartanburg Technical College
We have the opportunity to become the first generation in history to prepare for a pandemic. A summit is planned to help facilitate community-wide preparedness among leaders of local government, businesses, faith organizations, healthcare providers and schools. Local stakeholders are encouraged to attend and participate in the planning process. For more information about the summit…

Red, White & Boom : Denim & Diamonds Evening
Wednesday, June 28 … 4:30 p.m. till
Zimmerli Ampitheater – Barnet Park
Gates open at 4:30 p.m., followed by Jaden LaRoe at 5:30, the Spartanburg Community Band at 6:30, Miranda Lambert in concert at 8:00 and ending with the Carolina’s largest fireworks finale! It’s all brought to you by the Spartanburg Technical College Foundation. General admission tickets include lawn seating and are $5 per person available at the gate or by reservation. Call (864) 592-4624 for details. Rain date for the fireworks is Thursday, June 29.

Ice Cream Sundays
Sundays in June thru July 2 … 7:00 p.m. … Rose Terrace
Want to listen to fabulous music performed by the Spartanburg Community Band on Sunday evenings, and enjoy ice cream, al fresco? If so, make plans to park your lawn chair by the Rose Terrace on the quad outside the Administration Building on Sunday evenings starting at 7 p.m. Concerts last just over an hour and there will be an ice cream truck on-site. The last concert of the season will be on …

July 2… Jazz Band

Blackboard Academy
Monday thru Thursday, June 26-29 … 1:30 – 3:00 p.m. … Media 124
The Information Technology and Services Division announces another Blackboard Academy for faculty who want to learn to use Blackboard, explore new features or just improve their Blackboard skills.

Blackboard is a course management system which enables faculty to use the Internet to make material available to their students or to offer a course entirely online. Workshop sessions will be held Monday through Thursday, June 26 – 29 in Media 124 from 1:30 – 3:00 p.m.

Faculty may attend all or just one of the sessions they wish by contacting Dr. Tom Davis to register. Those who are interested, but unable to attend at these times, should contact him to arrange to meet with him individually at their convenience.

Introduction to Blackboard
Monday, June 26
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, June 27
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 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, June 28
Blackboard offers a variety of tools for communication, to include email, 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, June 29
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.

Improving Online Courses Workshop
Free seats are still available in the online workshop entitled “Using the Quality Matters Rubric to Improve Your Online Course(s.)” In this workshop faculty and administrators will l earn how to use the rubric tool developed by the IPSE-funded Quality Matters (QM) project for assessing and assuring the quality of online courses. For more information visit the workshop web site at http://www.sloan-c.org/workshop/quality.asp Contact Dr. Tom Davis if you would like to register and participate.