UND announces two new interdisciplinary groups UND is committing resources to two interdisciplinary projects that resulted from a process UND President Robert O. Kelley outlined in his State of the University address in November. One project focuses on digital and new media, and the other will look at the needs of active-duty and veteran military personnel and their families. Kelley had called for identifying "existing multidisciplinary groups that have potential, with added resources, to attain national prominence" and had charged Dr. John La Duke, associate dean of Arts and Sciences, with managing the process. The White Paper initiative, as it was called, resulted in nearly 40 submissions seeking a total of more than $8 million. The submissions were evaluated by Kelley, former UND Provost Greg Weisenstein, ranked by the deans within their college, evaluated by one outside faculty member and La Duke. The funds will be administered through the Office of Research and Research Development and Compliance. Specifically, Kelley had invited individuals, in consultation with their unit leadership, to develop White Papers that requested resources to develop ideas under one of the following directives: 1. Existing Groups, demonstrating that the addition of individuals and/or resources to an existing working group would bring that group to a national prominence that is not quite attainable with the current resources. 2. New Groups, which ideally would bring together individuals from more than one department/unit to form a new group of faculty that would reach a level of collaboration, expertise, and synergy not before realized; is limited by missing key members or resources, and would bring national prominence to that group with the addition of resources. Two projects were selected from the nearly 40 submissions: * Working Group in Digital and New Media: Joel Jonientz, Art; Michael Wittgraf, Music; Sheryl O'Donnell, Kathy Coudle King, and Crystal Alberts, English; Tom Stokke, Computer Science; William Caraher, History; Wilbur Stolt, Chester Fritz Library. Digital and new media technologies are revolutionizing contemporary art, humanistic inquiry, education, and society. With the establishment of the Working Group in Digital and New Media, UND will become the first institution in the region to offer a concentration in new media studies (Digital Video, Digital Narrative, Sound Art, Computer Animation, Design Computing, Robotronics). UND will also become one of the few universities in the country capable of sophisticated full e-text analyses and queries. The Working Group will not only offer unique educational opportunities to students by providing them with the resources to produce their own new media projects, but also provide exciting collaborative research possibilities to faculty. It will also bring students and faculty together to bridge the gap between the narrative arts, visual arts, and technology. It will make UND's research and teaching available to a broader audience, as well as forge new local and global communities committed to the intellectual and academic mission of the university. The UND Working Group in Digital and New Media builds upon the digital collections created by the Chester Fritz Library staff, as well as the interests, skills, creativity, and scholarship of faculty members from Aerospace/Computer Science (Tom Stokke), Art & Design (Joel Jonientz), English (Crystal Alberts and Kathy Coudle King), History (Bill Caraher), and Music (Michael Wittgraf). The UND Working Group in Digital and New Media website will be available at http://digitalgateway.und.edu. * Deployment Research Initiative: Cindy Juntunen and Earl Bell, Counseling Psychology and Community Services; Steven LeMire, Education Foundations and Research; Thomasine Heitkamp, Social Work; Alice Hoffert, Enrollment Management; Myron Veenstra, University Counseling Center. The Deployment Research Initiative (DRI) at UND will address the needs of active-duty and veteran military personnel and their families. The number of college students transitioning to and from military duty is rising and expected to increase in the next few years. This has a significant impact on the well-being of the student, his or her family, and the surrounding community. The DRI will conduct research, develop training curriculum for university staff and students, evaluate the effectiveness of that training in assisting military personnel and families, and navigate the transitions that accompany deployment. In addition, the DRI will provide important training opportunities for students in psychology, counseling, and social work, so that they are more effectively prepared to work with clients who are managing deployment concerns. Ultimately, the DRI hopes to develop training and interventions that can be implemented nationally, with a special emphasis on high-need rural communities. The DRI is supported by the Center for Rural Education and Communities (CREC), the Department of Counseling Psychology and Community Services, the Department of Social Work, and the Department of Educational Foundations and Research (all in the College of Education and Human Development), as well as the University Counseling Center and the Office of Enrollment Management. For more information, please contact Cindy Juntunen, Director of the CREC. -- Peter Johnson, Executive Associate Vice President for University Relations, University Relations, peterjohnson@mail.und.nodak.edu, 777-4317