Service to connect
students with
licensed psychologist
over the phone
By KATIE PENROD
Daily Staff Reporter
As
of
Monday
night,
conversations
about
mental
health
are
now
constantly
accessible beyond the traditional
hours offered by Counseling and
Psychological Services.
Partnering with a company
called ProtoCall, CAPS will now
give students the option to call
a mental health hotline after its
office in the Michigan Union
closes at 7 p.m. The hotline will
be open whenever CAPS is not —
including weekends and school
holidays. The phone number
will be the same number as the
CAPS main line and will connect
the caller to a ProtoCall licensed
psychologist.
According to CAPS director
Todd Sevig the idea for the
program has been in the works
for a few years. He said though
the University hospital provides
a psychiatric emergency room
at all hours, this service could
help struggling students who
don’t feel they need to rush to the
hospital.
“Maybe it’s not quite an
emergency but it would be
really helpful to talk with a
counselor at that moment,” he
said. “That’s the inspiration. As
I’ve asked students these last two
or three years, across the board,
everybody has said that would be
really helpful.”
Sevig said the purpose of the
hotline is to provide a resource
for students every moment CAPS
is not open. The phone line will
not be available when CAPS is
open, he said, because students
can access the in-person services
at those times.
LSA senior Allie Williams,
a member of CAPS Student
Advisory Board, said ProtoCall
has a presence on more than 100
college campuses and has helped
more than 2 million students
Residents with
disabilities say
changes don’t go
far enough
By ISOBEL FUTTER
Daily Staff Reporter
Despite
recommendations
from the Pedestrian Safety and
Access Task Force, the Ann Arbor
City
Council
voted
Monday
to retain current regulations
stipulating the amount of snow
allowed to build up on sidewalks
— currently set at one inch.
The
council
did
vote
to
give only one warning per
season before issuing a citation
for failure to remove snow.
Previously, residents were given
a warning per snow event.
Language will also be eliminated
that provided “police discretion”
in issuing snow removal citations.
Furthermore, while previously
residents had 24 hours to remove
snow from sidewalks, there will
be an 18-hour period before
residents are issued a warning or
citation.
The council heard the task
force’s recommendations during
a work session on Sept. 14.
After the task force released
an extensive study on pedestrian
safety in the city, the authors
led the council through the
report and outlined potential
amendments
to
current
ordinances designed to make
Ann Arbor a safer city for
pedestrians.
The ordinance regarding snow
and ice removal was a particular
focus for the task force.
In addition to altering the
policy dictating citations, the
changes also clarify that property
owners
are
responsible
for
clearing snow and ice from bus
stop and crosswalk approaches.
New initiative
aims to encourage
collaboration across
departments
By JACKIE CHARNIGA
Daily Staff Reporter
The University is allocating
more than $5 million to fund a
new initiative in the humanities.
The funding will provide
University
faculty
members
working
in
the
humanities
additional
opportunities
to
collaborate
across
University
departments, the Office of the
Provost announced last week.
The
Michigan
Humanities
collaboration aims to create
new
research
opportunities
by funding projects that will
gather resources from different
departments. Projects will pull
largely from the study of human
culture and thought, including
language, literature, philosophy,
history and the arts.
Teams of faculty researchers
— led by faculty in the humanities
— will partner with librarians,
undergraduates, graduate and
postdoctoral fellows to develop
new models of research with
the hope of publishing across
multiple types of media.
Peggy McCracken, a professor
of French, women’s studies and
comparative literature, is acting
as the collaboratory coordinator.
“I knew that the project had
been proposed, and now that the
funding has come through we’re
Faculty body also
talks University
decision to release
only base salaries
By GENEVIEVE HUMMER
Daily Staff Reporter
Faculty concern over the
release of course evaluation
data continues to grow.
After last week’s meeting,
the Senate Advisory Committee
on University Affairs received
an
e-mail
invitation
from
University
Provost
Martha
Pollack to appoint a member
to a task force being formed
to evaluate the possibility of
releasing the data. Members
of student government have
also been invited to appoint a
member.
“It’s important that both
students and faculty have a
strong voice on this task force
and are not just decorative
items,” SACUA Chair Silke-
Maria Weineck, a professor of
comparative
literature,
said
in an interview following the
meeting Monday.
At
last
week’s
meeting,
SACUA
members
were
surprised to learn from James
Holloway, the vice provost
for
Global
and
Engaged
Education, that the University
was planning to release course
evaluation data as soon as this
semester.
Biology
Prof.
John
Lehman, a SACUA member,
suggested
constructing
a
second committee comprised
solely
of
students,
faculty
and survey experts. Lehman
said the student government
representatives he has spoken
to are receptive to faculty
concerns, and are willing to
create new evaluation questions
that better suit faculty and
student needs.
“There
are
no
students
who feel as passionately about
the need for those particular
questions to be public as to
the degree of passion that
was
expressed
by
some
faculty against it, and that’s
widely recognized, that’s so
Expansion builds
on University’s past
experience with
Coursera
By GENEVIEVE HUMMER
Daily Staff Reporter
The
University
is
delving
deeper into the age of digital
learning with the launch of at
least 20 new courses on edX, a
nonprofit massive open online
course provider, over the next
two years.
Finance,
learning
analytics
and data science ethics will be the
topics of three of the first courses.
In a press release, University
Provost Martha Pollack said
Monday the announcement is
evidence
of
the
University’s
commitment to digital education.
“Michigan is redefining public
residential education for the
21st century,” she wrote. “With
this new partnership we are
accelerating our experimentation
in
digital
learning
and
reaffirming our commitment to
leadership in learning analytics.
It’s wonderful to see the growth
of faculty-led initiatives that
provide new modes of learning
and rich opportunity for cutting
edge scholarship.”
EdX’s chief executive officer,
Anant
Agarwal,
expressed
similar excitement about the
University’s decision to partner
with the organization during a
recent visit to campus.
“We are honored to welcome
the University of Michigan to
edX,” Agarwal said, according
to a release. “As one of the most
prestigious
public
research
institutions in the U.S., and a
pioneer in digital learning and
learning
analytics,
Michigan
will be an important collaborator
with edX both in technology and
research contributions. We are
delighted to now offer Michigan’s
highly engaging MOOCs, in a
wide variety of subject areas, to
our 5 million edX learners around
the world.”
EdX was founded in 2012 by
scientists at Harvard University
and the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology. The nonprofit’s
courses are free and available to
anyone that has Internet access.
This is not the University’s first
brush with digital education. In
2012, the University — along with
the University of Pennsylvania,
Stanford University, Princeton
University and two Stanford
computer science professors —
co-founded Coursera, a for-profit
company that offers massive open
online courses. The University’s
partnership with Coursera will
continue.
James Hilton, the vice provost
for digital education initiatives,
said edX and Coursera will
complement each other well.
“EdX and Coursera provide
very
different
models
with
different
sweet
spots
for
experimentation,” he said in a
release. “We are thrilled that
our faculty will be able to take
advantage of both platforms
to
push
the
boundaries
of
michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Tuesday, October 6, 2015
ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY FIVE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
ACADEMICS
CAMPUS LIFE
CLAIRE ABDO/Daily
Ann Arbor resident Lloyd E. Shelton, left, founder and president of the Students with Disabilities and our Allies group, speaks about the difficulties he has had
getting around during the winter at the Ann Arbor City Council meeting at Larcom City Hall on Monday.
HALEY MCLAUGHLIN/Daily
SACUA chair Silke-Maria Weineck, a professor of comparative literature, discusses the preparation for the March
Faculty Governance Conference in the Fleming Building on Monday.
See CAPS, Page 2
See HUMANITIES, Page 3
See SACUA, Page 3
See EDX, Page 3
See CITY COUNCIL, Page 3
CAPS adds
after-hours
call line for
counseling
HEALTH
Council votes on changes
to snow removal ordinance
SACUA expresses ongoing
concerns with course data
edX set to host
several online,
open ‘U’ classes
University
allocates $5
million for
humanities
INDEX
Vol. CXXV, No. 5
©2015 The Michigan Daily
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