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By USucceed, October 14, 2014 10:23 am

If you are an undergraduate and plan to enroll for Spring 2015 in a Writing Intensive course or any class that lists the RooWriter Writing Assessment as a prerequisite, be sure to take the assessment at least one month before your registration appointment so that you are not blocked by Pathway.

If you plan to graduate in December and have not already taken the RooWriter, you need to take the RooWriter Writing Assessment by December 1.

For complete information, see the RooWriter web site at https://www.umkc.edu/roowriter/

Everything that you need to know and do is located at the RooWriter web site, including the essay guidelines and expectations.  You can also preview the six Reading Packets to decide which one you want to write about.  The current Reading Packets address topics ranging from obesity to Kansas City’s Troost Wall to selfies.  When you choose your Reading Packet you will be assigned a prompt or question that your essay should address.  You then have 72 hours to complete your essay, which means you can work on it, return to it, and get help from the Writing Studio.

After you submit your essay, two evaluators will assess it in six areas: “Point-Purpose-Idea,” “Depth and Breadth of Analysis,” “Support-Evidence-Citations,” “Style-Audience-Interest,” “Clarity and Cohesion,” and “Grammar-Usage-Mechanics.” Evaluators will also provide comments about the strengths of your essay and any aspects of your writing that you should concentrate on in the future.  To see a sample student evaluation report, please click here.

To help you develop your writing and reading skills, you are encouraged to take the RooWriter Writing Assessment more than once during your UMKC undergraduate career.  The RooWriter is a requirement for graduation, and to fulfill that requirement, you should take the RooWriter after you have completed Discourse II or its equivalent and before you have earned 90 hours of undergraduate credit.  It also is required for Writing-Intensive classes and may be required for other classes.

Undergraduate students who already have earned a bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited institution are exempt from the RooWriter requirement.  The first time that you use the RooWriter Writing Assessment, your student account will be billed $15, but you will not be charged for subsequent assessments.  For more information, contact the Coordinator of Writing Assessment at roowriter@umkc.edu.

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By USucceed, October 14, 2014 10:22 am

The UMKC Women’s Council established the Graduate Assistance Fund (GAF) fellowships in 1971 to assist UMKC women students in post-baccalaureate approved programs. The funds are designed to assist with the completion of requirements for graduate and first professional degrees, to help facilitate studies beyond the classroom along with enriching and encouraging educational experiences.

For more information about the GAF, please see the recent article in the UNews:  http://info.umkc.edu/unews/deadline-nearing-for-application-to-gaf/

Applications and faculty recommendation letters are due November 3rd (see full time-line below).

Eligible applicants
UMKC women graduate students in a post-baccalaureate approved program of study in A&S, SBS, BSOM, Conservatory, SOE, SCE, Graduate Studies, Nursing and first professional women students in Dentistry, Law, Medicine and Pharmacy. A student may only submit one application to the Women’s Council per year. Students funded in previous years may reapply as long as a final report is on file in the Women’s Council office. Past recipients may call to confirm reports on file.

Eligible funding requests
Support for research activities, scholarly activities or projects, community service or presentations, workshops, research or master classes related to applicant’s discipline or special needs requests. A maximum of $2,000 may be requested. Please keep in mind: the average GAF award is closer to $1,000.

Ineligible funding requests
Standard textbooks, university tuition, equipment, computer software or hardware and supplies routinely provided by your department or school.

The timeline for the Graduate Assistance Fund application process is below:

• September 9, 2014:  GAF applications open online at www.umkcwc.org
• November 3, 2014:  5 p.m. Deadline for application submission and faculty recommendations
• Mid-November:  GAF Committee members start the review process
• Early December 2014:  Selections Committee meets to select recipients
• January 2015:  Recipients notified by U.S. Mail
• February 2015:  Celebration Reception will be held to honor the GAF recipients and donors.

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By USucceed, October 14, 2014 10:06 am

Identified by many titles – director, screenwriter, producer and social activist – Dustin Lance Black will provide “creative food for thought” when he visits UMKC.

Best known for his award-winning screenplay “Milk,” the biopic of the late civil rights activist Harvey Milk, Black will serve as the keynote speaker for the 7^th Annual Pride Lecture at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 21 in Pierson Auditorium, Atterbury Student Success Center.

Through his creative work and life experiences, Black is intimately familiar with his topic. He will discuss how to use your creative talents to develop content that can evolve into a tool for advocacy.

In addition to his creative endeavors, Black is a founding board member of the American Foundation for Equal Rights, which successfully led the federal case against Proposition 8 in California. In 2012, Black merged his passions with “8,” a new play based on the federal Proposition 8 trial. A performance was broadcast live, starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Kevin Bacon.

Black has served on the board of the Trevor Project, a national LGBTQ youth crisis hotline established in Harvey Milk’s old camera shop; he has been on an international equal rights speaking tour and was one of the organizers of the LGBT March on Washington in 2009.

An honors graduate of UCLA’s School of Film and Television, Black began his career as an art director and quickly moved to directing documentaries and commercials. His list of documentaries include “On the Bus” and “My Life with Count Dracula.”

The Pride Lecture, sponsored by the Division of Diversity & Inclusion, is free and open to the public. The Pride Lecture series was established to create programming celebrating UMKC’s LGBTQIA students, faculty and staff, with an inclusive vision of the community in which we reside.

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By USucceed, October 13, 2014 3:23 pm

Number One Magazine, UMKC’s oldest student literary journal, is now open for submissions of student poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction, stage and screenplays, photography, comics and art.  Submissions to the journal are open to all UMKC students (and only UMKC students) through December 1st.

There is a $50.00 first prize for writing and a $50.00 first prize for art.

Please send your best work to numberonemagazine@gmail.com.