DATE: March 20, 2001

TO: Board of Regents

FROM: W. Franklin Gilmore, Chancellor, Montana Tech of The University of Montana

RE: Campus Report for the March 22-23, 2001 Board of Regents' Meeting

  • Kumar Ganesan of Montana Tech and Mike Telling of Butte High School received an M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust grant for the Partners in Science Program for a research project on Fate and Transport of Mercury in Abandoned Mine Tailings.
  • Researchers at Montana Tech have submitted grant applications totaling over $10 million during the first seven months of this fiscal year. Awards received to date are in excess of $1,300,000 with a current success rate of 50%.
  • The campus has been notified by the U.S. Department of State that a third award for its International Exchange Program has been approved, bringing the total to $300,000. Montana Tech academic departments now have 19 active research and graduate exchange programs underway with 19 university partners in 14 countries.
  • Professor of PTC, Pat Munday, is publishing Montana's Last Best River: The Big Hole and Its People with Lyons Press. Profits from the first 2,500 copies will go to the Big Hole Foundation to support other activities.
  • The PTC Department has completed the Upper Clark Fork Basin Multimedia Project. The presentations will be used in schools located in the Upper Clark Fork Basin. The project was funded by the Natural Resource Damage Program.
  • Montana Tech received a $25,000 grant from Burlington Resources Co. to fund scholarships and update laboratory equipment within the Petroleum Engineering Department. The Petroleum Engineering Department at Tech is one of the largest energy programs in the nation with over 168 undergraduate students.
  • Annie Niemi, a sophomore in Mining Engineering, was one of four students nationwide to receive one of the prestigious Copper Club, Inc. Scholarships. These prized $10,000 scholarships are presented annually by the mining and extractive metals industries.
  • A group of local people and businesses have banded together to form a partnership with Montana Tech to help the college recruit new students. Folks Advancing Butte (FAB) feels that growth of the college can serve as a springboard for Butte's future economic expansion, strength, and business diversity.
  • Dr. Susan Patton, Professor of Mining Engineering, was named the Professor of the Year by the National Stone Association.