Newsletter -- November 2007

* Provost to Speak at Luncheon Honoring GSD Initiates, Department Reps
* Student Poster, Oral Presentations Competition Set for Feb. 25, 2008
* A Note From Gamma Sigma Delta Chapter Secretary Regarding Membership Nominations
* Spring Awards and Initiate Recognition Cerermony Scheduled for March 25, Hembree Auditorium
* Remember to Nominate Deserving Staff and Faculty for Awards
* Who’s My Department Rep?

Provost to Speak at Luncheon Honoring GSD Initiates, Department Reps

Recent initiates into Gamma Sigma Delta and departmental representatives of the Honor Society will be honored at a luncheon at noon Wednesday, Nov. 28, in the University House on Maple Street. UA Provost Bob Smith will speak to the group about the importance of honor societies and academic excellence.

The luncheon is specifically targeted at recent student and faculty initiates, but all GSD members are welcome to attend the event, which chapter president Randy Luttrell said is intended “to build our understanding and appreciation of leadership for academic excellence in the agricultural and life sciences.” Luttrell said he wanted to involve the new members in the organization as well as recognize department representatives, “the people that do the important work of recognizing potential new members and outstanding faculty.”

Those who intend to attend the luncheon should respond no later than Monday, Nov. 26 by sending an e-mail confirmation to Randy Luttrell (luttrell@uark.edu).

Student Poster, Oral Presentations Competition Set for Feb. 25, 2008

Gamma Sigma Delta will sponsor its 10th annual competition of students’ posters and oral presentations on Monday, Feb. 25, 2008 at the Arkansas Union. Undergraduates, master’s candidates and doctoral candidates will compete in their respective categories. Presentations should be based on students’ own research. A student may submit both an oral and poster presentation (research must be separate for each presentation). Complete guidelines are published in the item below.

First, second and third places will be awarded with students receiving respective awards of $100, $75 and $50 in each category for posters or oral presentations.

Posters will be available for public viewing from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. Feb. 25 at the Union Connections Lounge. Oral presentations will be delivered from 1 to 4 p.m. in rooms 512-514 of the Union.

Students may enter by sending their abstracts no later than Feb. 4 to Randy Luttrell at luttrell@uark.edu. Abstracts should be on Word documents with a maximum of 300 words (not including title and authors/affiliations) in 12-point Times New Roman type.

Guidelines for Posters and Oral Presentation in GSD Student Competition

General Guidelines

* Presentations must be based on your research.

* For students who have pursued multiple degrees at the University of Arkansas, you must compete in the category in which you were enrolled in the fall of 2007.  The research presented should have been conducted during that degree program.

* Students may submit both an oral and a poster presentation (research must be separate for each presentation).

* Abstracts should be on Word documents with a maximum of 300 words in 12-point Times New Roman type.

Oral Presentations

* Oral presentations will be scheduled for 15-minute intervals.

* Actual presentations should be between 10 and 12 minutes long.  This will leave time for questions.

* Participants are asked by their session moderator to provide PowerPoint presentations via e-mail by noon Friday, Feb. 22.  If the file is too large for e-mail transmission arrangements must be made to hand deliver a copy of the file in a form that can be downloaded onto the moderator’s laptop by noon Friday, Feb. 22.  Presentations for each session will be pre-loaded onto a single computer for use during the presentation session.  Participants are also encouraged to bring a CD with the presentation to their session as a backup. 

Participants will be judged on the following criteria (points add up to 100):

* Abstract (clearness, conciseness, correctness) -- 10 points

* Knowledge of Subject (background, design, statistics, interpretation of results, answering questions) -- 25 points

* Subject Matter (pertinence, relation of results to purpose, innovation, quality of science) -- 20 points

* Organization (introduction, logical sequence of material, summary, time allocation [10 to 12 minute talk]) -- 15 points

* Presentation and Personal Attributes (voice, eye contact, grammar, terminology, enthusiasm, motivation of audience, neatness, pleasantness, mannerisms) -- 15 points

* Visuals (appropriate number, clarity, use, variety) -- 15 points

Poster Presentations

Boards for hanging posters will be available in the Connections Lounge at 8 a.m. Feb. 25.  Posters must be hung by 8:30 a.m.

Boards will be 4 feet by 4 feet in size.

Students must provide their own push pins (tape is not recommended and Velcro will not work).

Prior to Feb. 22, participants will be given a time during which they must be present with their poster for interview by the committee.  These times will be during the morning of Feb.25.

Posters must remain hanging until 1:30 p.m.; they must be taken down by 2:30 p.m. (at which time the boards will be removed, any remaining posters would then need to be picked up from Dr. Navam Hettiarachchy in Food Science).

Participants will be judged on the following criteria (points add up to 100):

* Title (Accurate, descriptive, concise) --  5 points

* Content and organization  -- 10 points

* Importance of research to agriculture -- 15 points

* Apparent quality of research done -- 15 points

* Presentation and explanation of materials and methods -- 15 points

* Presentation and explanation of results -- 15 points

* Handling questions -- 15 points

* Conclusion and impact -- 10 points

A Note from Gamma Sigma Delta Chapter Secretary Regarding Membership Nominations

Dear Gamma Sigma Delta members,

I invite you to nominate deserving colleagues and graduate students for membership of our Chapter which has been active since 1954 and includes many internationally recognized scientists. Please take the time to participate in the nomination process as the addition of new members plays an important role in the continuing vitality of the Chapter. As in previous years, an awards ceremony will be held in spring to honor new initiates and to distribute awards for outstanding contributions to teaching, research.

Membership nomination forms may be downloaded from the Chapter Web site at http://gsd.uark.edu/nominationform.doc . Note that membership requires a payment of $20 that covers lifetime national dues. A membership nomination form along with a $20 check, made payable to Gamma Sigma Delta, should be forwarded to Andrew McKenzie, Chapter Secretary, AGRI 217.

Spring Awards and Initiate Recognition Ceremony Scheduled for March 25, Hembree Auditiorium

This year, the GSD officers have decided to hold an awards and initiate recognition ceremony late in the afternoon (3:00-5:00 pm) of Tuesday, March 25, 2008, rather than the traditional evening awards banquet.  The event will be held in Hembree Auditiorium of the AFLS Building.   Our goal is to encourage an atmosphere of academic excellence and leadership in a professional atmosphere.  Chapter Vice President Bruce Dixon is planning the event with assistance from the chapter officers and membership.

Remember to Nominate Deserving Staff and Faculty for Awards

Chapter Treasurer Mary Savin encourages the membership and department representatives to recognize deserving staff and faculty for the chapter awards.  Our University of Arkansas Chapter recognizes outstanding contributions to extension, research and teaching through annual awards.  Information on the awards process is posted on our Web site at http://gsd.uark.edu/awards.faculty.html and you will soon receive a call for nominations.   Additionally, Gamma Sigma Delta International sponsors several awards for individuals and chapters.   We anticipate nominations from our chapter this year.  If you have colleagues with exceptional international exposure and recognition, please consider nomination them.   More specific information will be forthcoming.

Who’s My Department Rep?

Here’s the list of GSD department representatives:

AEED: David Edmark (dedmark@uark.edu)

ANSC: Fred Pohlman (fpohlma@uark.edu)

BAEG: Carl Griffis (clg@uark.edu)

FDSC: Navam Hettiarachchy (nhettiar@uark.edu)

PLPA: Ken Korth (kkorth@uark.edu)

AEAB: Bruce Dixon(bdixon@uark.edu)

CSES: Chuck West (cwest@uark.edu) or Mary Savin (msavin@uark.edu)

Extension: Becky McPeake (rmcpeake@uaex.edu)

ENTO: Randy Luttrell (luttrell@uark.edu)

HESC: Peggy Whan (whan@uark.edu)

HORT: John Clark (jrclark@uark.edu)

POSC: Casey Owens (cmowens@uark.edu)