Tinglewood Festival in Need of Volunteers

Volunteers are needed for the inaugural Tinglewood Festival! The event will be held in Orr Park on Saturday, Sept. 8, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tinglewood Festival will include live chainsaw carving, artist and food vendors, a whittling contest, children’s activities, a classic car show and four hours of live music by three great bands! Volunteers are needed for drink sales, counting attendance, artist assistance, selling merchandise and parking. Sign up to volunteer.
 

Call for Special Topics Class Proposals

Interested in teaching a special topics class to academically motivated students in the Honors Program? Now is the time to request Honors courses for spring 2019 and summer 2019! Please complete the brief online course proposal to request a non-general education Honors class. The deadline for proposals is Wednesday, Sept. 12. Contact Dr. Cathlena Martin with questions.
 

Lunch & Learn Questions

The September Lunch & Learn will be held Wednesday, Sept. 12, from 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. in Wills 200. This month’s topic is “Beyond the Basics: Tips and Tricks for Microsoft Word and Outlook,” presented by Ashley Dancy with IS&T. If you have specific questions you want answered or Microsoft features you would like to understand better, please email adancy@montevallo.edu. Please RSVP.
 

Travel Reimbursement Changes

Governor Kay Ivey recently issued changes to travel reimbursement procedures that became effective for all state departments and institutions July 1, 2018. These changes are intended to streamline the approval and reimbursement processes and to bring enhanced efficiency and transparency to the travel reimbursement process by reducing the record keeping requirements for meals and incidental expenses and by giving agency directors more responsibility for approving official travel.

UM Business Affairs has updated Travel Procedures and Forms to incorporate these changes. While there are several changes to UM travel policies/procedures, some notable changes are:

• For in-state travel, the current $75 per diem reimbursement rate, which has remained the same since it was originally set in September 2005, will be raised to $85 per day for travel that requires one overnight stay and to $100 per day for travel that requires a stay of two or more nights.
• Travel arrival and departure will now be allowed the day prior and day after the event, regardless of start or end time.
• Out-of-state meals will be reimbursed at the federal daily rate (CONUS), and receipts will no longer be required.

These changes apply to those seeking reimbursement of actual expenses for out-of-state travel, in-state travel under limited circumstances and in-state per diem. If you need assistance with travel at any time, please email Alicia Smith or call 205-665-6064.

Faculty/Staff Highlights

Dr. Scott Meyer, professor of art, will exhibit his ceramic sculpture as part of two group shows this fall. “Process, Product and the Iconic: Ceramic Sculpture by Kenneth Baskin and Scott Meyer” is on exhibit now through Sept. 14 at Springhill College’s Echoeld Gallery. The closing reception will be held Sept. 13. Then, McNeese State University’s Museum of Art, “The Crucible Project,” on Sept. 6-20, features Meyer with a team of ceramic and glass artists working collaboratively.

Dr. Lee Rozelle, professor of English, presented an academic paper titled “Prognostic of Death: Poe and the Southern Ecogothic” at the International Poe and Hawthorne Conference in Kyoto, Japan, held in June.

Student Highlights

Music education majors Taylor Holley, Maria Pearce, Maggie Tippett, John Wilson and Avery Zeigler participated in the fourth annual East Alabama General Music Workshop on Saturday, Aug. 25, in Auburn. UM was the only college music teacher education program in the state to have students in attendance.