The Johns Hopkins Gazette: December 3, 2001
December 3, 2001
VOL. 31, NO. 13

  

In Brief

Johns Hopkins Gazette Online Edition

Additional half-holidays added to university calendar

President William R. Brody has approved two additional half-day holidays for regular, nonbargaining unit staff for the mornings of Monday, Dec. 24, and Monday, Dec. 31. The School of Medicine clinics will be operating during these periods, and the holiday leave policy for university staff will apply.

The revised schedule is as follows: holiday preparation, half-day during December; Christmas Eve, Monday, Dec. 24; Christmas Day, Tuesday, Dec. 25; New Year's Eve, Monday, Dec. 31; New Year's Day, Tuesday, Jan. 1.


One Peabody stop is changed on Homewood-JHMI shuttle

Because of major reconstruction work beginning today, Dec. 3, at the Peabody Institute, the Homewood-JHMI shuttle's northbound stop used after 5:30 p.m. will move from the Peabody Mews entrance.

The new location will be slightly to the south, at 603 N. Charles St., the front entrance to the Peabody Inn. This entrance is just north of the intersection of Charles and Centre streets. There is a public address system and a closed-circuit TV monitored by the Peabody security office located inside the vestibule of the entrance to the Inn.

Once the construction work is completed, the Mews entrance will be reopened, and the post-5:30 p.m. northbound shuttle stop will return there.

The northbound shuttle stop used before 5:30 p.m. remains opposite the Washington Monument along northbound Charles Street. The southbound stop at St. Paul and Centre streets also remains unchanged.


Hopkins GRO named best grad student group in nation

The Johns Hopkins Graduate Representative Organization was recently named the graduate/professional student organization of the year by the National Association of Graduate-Professional Students. GRO received the award during the recent annual NAGPS conference in Tucson, Ariz. The award is given annually to a graduate organization that has provided exemplary service to graduate and professional students during the past year.

"We have a great staff of graduate students who really care about the graduate community at Hopkins," said Mary Berk, chairwoman of GRO. "The award is a completely unexpected acknowledgment that we've actually made a difference."

GRO's 2001 accomplishments include prompting the university to change health insurance providers, making better coverage available to grad students. The group also initiated a graduate student orientation program for the first time in Hopkins history.

"The initiatives that we have developed have led to a further strengthening of the organization as well as a strengthening of our communication and working ability with the administration," said Anthony Stapon, GRO chairman from 1999 to 2001. "It's a real honor to be recognized."

Officials from the national group also applauded GRO for establishing an endowment fund that will provide health insurance subsidies and travel grants to graduate students in need.

"Our evaluation committee was very impressed with their innovations and programming, including their recent endowment to fund health care for graduate and professional students," said Kimberly Suedkamp Wells, president and executive coordinator of NAGPS. "We received several supporting letters from administrators at Johns Hopkins University, which made it clear that the leadership of the GRO provided exemplary service to their members."


IPS students to present findings on Baltimore neighborhoods

Much has been made of Baltimore's shrinking population. But contrary to conventional wisdom, population decline is not always bad.

"Population Dynamics in Baltimore Neighborhoods: The Good, the Bad and the Neutral" is the title of a study that students from the Institute for Policy Studies will present this week on the Homewood campus to City Council members, neighborhood leaders and others concerned about the city's future.

As part of a graduate course in public policy taught by IPS Director Sandra Newman, student teams fanned out across selected neighborhoods, conducted analyses of multiple sources of data and studied theories of neighborhood choice. Their findings offer insights into neighborhood dynamics and reveal where decline and loss of population can be a good barometer of a neighborhood's health. They also suggest new opportunities presented by the profound shifts in population and lifestyles that have occurred in the city over the past three decades.


'Research Guide for Search Committees' is now available

The Provost's Office has distributed to deans and directors the third edition of its "Research Guide for Search Committees." Ray Gillian, assistant provost and director of the Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action programs, said the document "provides guidance on enhancing the candidate pool and reflects the belief that excellence and diversity are complementary standards in the recruitment process."

Search committees requiring copies should contact the Provost's Office.


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