Thanks to our founding student and alumni board members

Alumni and students have been meeting monthly to create a foundation for the new College of Design Student and Alumni Board, which provides leadership for the College of Design Alumni Society and collegiate student board. The mission is to enhance the student experience, support the transition from college to career, and build connections among students, alumni, faculty, and the design community. This group will provide leadership for mentoring and career-related tours and activities, regular communications with alumni and students, and other opportunities to connect with the college.

College of Design student and alumni board, officers for 2007-08

Student president: Mike Lee (DHA graduate student)
Alumni president: Nick Sperides (BArch '83 architecture)
Student Experience Programs Committee chair: Golnaz Yamoutpour (environmental design student)
College Liaison Committee chairs: Catherine Sandlund (architecture graduate student) and Janice Linster (BS '83 interior design)
Communications Committee chairs: Katie Kaiser (interior design student) and Cassie Neu (MLA '02 landscape architecture)
UMAA National Board Representative: John Cuningham (BArch '62)
To contact board members, learn more, or get involved, go to www.cdes.umn.edu/alumni/society, or call Lori Mollberg, 612-625-8796.

2006-07 board members

Back row (L to R): Lloyd Clausen, retail merchandising student; Rhonda McCall, BS '77 housing; Jessica Bjore, retail merchandising student; Bruce Wright, BArch '74 and MA '96 design, housing, and apparel; Golnaz Yamoutpour, environmental design student; Janice Linster, BS '83 interior design.

Middle row (L to R): Grant Eull, BS '01 graphic design; Cassie Neu, MLA '02 landscape architecture; Jennifer Anderson, BS '95 retail merchandising; Kate Maple, assistant dean, student services; Jeffrey Pauling, architecture student; Erin Stromgren, architecture student.

Front row (L to R): Alicia Paulsen, BS '01 retail merchandising; Amanda Lange, graphic design student; Mike Lee, design, housing, and apparel graduate student; Dylan Cole, architecture student; Catherine Sandlund, architecture graduate student.

Not pictured: Nick Sperides, BArch '83; Jason Galep, BS '99 graphic design; Ryan Vos, housing studies student; Dessie Hoppes, landscape architecture graduate student; Jill Hamburger, BS '80 retail merchandising; Pamela Enz, BS '89 interior design; Katie Kaiser, interior design student; Alana Zbaren, interior design student; John Cuningham, BArch '62; and Lori Mollberg, director, alumni relations and continuing education.

Continuing education survey results -- sustainability tops the list

Thank you to the 211 people who responded to our continuing education Web survey earlier this year. Most responses came from professionals working in the fields of architecture, landscape architecture, and interior design. Almost 40 percent indicated they had 16 or more years of professional design experience. More than 70 percent expressed interest in online learning, and more than 90 percent were looking for half or full day conferences and workshops.

Sustainability was identified as the hottest topic, followed by building materials and 3-D digital representation. Other topics of interest included codes and standards, construction documentation and management, cost estimating, human factors design, historic and heritage preservation, acoustics and lighting, and design process and research. We will consider this information as we develop new continuing education offerings in the coming year. Watch for a series of conferences, lectures, and activities focused on sustainable design issues in 2007¿08.

Congratulations to Rollie Marcovitch, CID, interior designer for Interium. Marcovitch won our survey drawing and will receive a copy of Else/Where: Mapping New Cartographies of Networks and Territories (Abrams and Hall, editors).

Split Rock Arts Program

Three-day and weeklong workshops
June 17-August 3, 2007

The Split Rock Arts Program is the University's summer series of workshops in creative writing, visual art, and design. Held on the Twin Cities campus and at the University's Cloquet Forestry Center in northern Minnesota, the 24-year-old program is a popular destination because of its promise of intensive study with outstanding artists and writers from around the world.

The 2007 program boasts more than 35 workshops and retreats that serve artists with a variety of interests, backgrounds, and skill levels. All workshops allow for significant one-to-one contact between participant and instructor.

Workshop topics include children's book illustration, visual journals, and artists' books; drawing, painting, photography, and mixed media; art quilting, sculptural knitting, and fashion, textile, and surface design; poetry, spoken-word poetry, fiction, autobiography, memoir, essay, travel writing¿and more!

Select instructors include Julie Baugnet, Craig Blacklock, James Boyd-Brent, Susan Brandeis, Sally Brown, Derrick Buisch, Irene Chan, Cheng-Khee Chee, Katharine Cobey, Gaela Erwin, David Feinberg, Jorie Johnson, Michael Kareken, Clive King, Harry Mattison, Jan Myers-Newbury, Michael Olszewski, Erica Spitzer Rasmussen, Marilou Schultz, Lauren Stringer, Scott Stulen, Heather Ujiie, Hitoshi Ujiie, and Yoshiko Wada.

Registration is ongoing. No prerequisites. Graduate/undergraduate credit, scholarships, and on-campus housing are available. University faculty and staff may take Split Rock workshops at reduced tuition rates through the Regents Scholarship and Academic Tuition Waiver.

For a catalog, call 612-625-8100; e-mail srap@cce.umn.edu; or visit www.cce.umn.edu/splitrockarts.

Architecture alumni reunion November 2007

Mark your calendar and tell your friends -- the School of Architecture will host an alumni reunion during the 73rd Annual AIA Minnesota Convention, which will be November 13¿16, 2007, at the Minneapolis Convention Center. Save these dates and watch for details arriving in your mailbox in the fall, or call Lori Mollberg for details, 612-625-8796. For convention information go to www.aia-mn.org/convention.cfm.

Alumni e-newsletter coming soon

Do we have your current e-mail address? This summer, the College of Design and Design Alumni Society will publish the first of periodic e-newsletters to help alumni and friends stay connected and informed about happenings and opportunities at CDes. Make sure you're on the list. To subscribe, send your name and preferred e-mail address to schultz@umn.edu, or call 612-626-9068 and ask to be added to the alumni newsletter list.

Now recruiting mentors for fall 2007

CDes facilitates an annual program that helps motivated students grow professionally by matching them with a mentor in their field of study. Within an informal, nonacademic relationship, mentoring pairs create individualized action plans that foster career exploration, experiential learning, networking, and skill building to support strategic career planning and professional development by students. Time commitment is approximately two hours per month or more, as determined by the mentor and student during initial meetings.

The first step to becoming a mentor includes a short online application, available after May 15. Go to www.cdes.umn.edu/mentor and click on Mentor Application.