People

Regent Merchant to keynote engineering conference at UC Denver

Merchant

Regent Monisha Merchant, D-Lakewood, will be the keynote speaker at "Tu Futuro en Ingenieria," the third annual high school engineering conference sponsored by the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers at the University of Colorado Denver.

The event is slated for Feb. 5 on the UC Denver campus. The day of workshops is aimed at exposing high school students to careers in civil, mechanical, electrical and computer science engineering, all of which are taught at UC Denver.

Merchant's roots in engineering date back to her days as a student at Bear Creek High School, when she attended CU-Boulder's Engineering Days. She went on to earn electrical engineering and political science degrees at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and now works as an engineer and product manager at Broomfield-based Level 3 Communications.

For details on the event, contact Gabriel Ledezma, external president of the UC Denver chapter of the Society of Professional Engineers, 303-669-7566.

Veteran administrator takes post at UCCS

Wesley

A college administrator with more than 30 years of experience will become vice chancellor for student success and enrollment management at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.

Homer "Bucky" Wesley, Ph.D., current vice president for student services at Mississippi University for Women in Columbus, Miss., was selected as vice chancellor following a national search.

"Dr. Wesley brings a depth and variety of experiences focused on improving the college student experience," said Pam Shockley-Zalabak, UCCS chancellor. "He is dedicated to improving access to the benefits of a university education and to serving the needs of students."

Since 2003, Wesley has served as vice president at Mississippi University for Women, a co-educational state university with 2,500 students. He provided direction for student activities, judicial affairs, career services and other functions. For more than 16 years, he held student affairs positions at the University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, Miss. His professional career began at Auburn University, Auburn, Ala., in high school and junior college relations and pre-college counseling.

He earned a doctorate in educational administration from the University of Southern Mississippi and bachelor's and master's degrees from Auburn.

"I am impressed by the strength and standing of the academic programs at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, the quality of life that Colorado Springs offers and the warmth of the people I met on my visit to the campus," Wesley said. "This position is an excellent fit both personally and professionally."

As vice chancellor for student success, Wesley will have oversight for enrollment services, financial aid, student retention, academic advising, counseling, student health and student life. He will serve as a member of the chancellor's leadership team and as an officer of the university. Wesley will begin at UCCS on July 1.

Linhart returns to public safety at UCCS

Steve Linhart, executive director of student support and judicial affairs, Office of the Dean of Students at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, has been reassigned to the Department of Public Safety.

UCCS Police Chief Jim Spice, also of the Department of Public Safety, announced Linhart would return to the department as director of emergency management and student judicial affairs. Linhart was a member of the department from 2000 to 2008, serving as police officer, police sergeant and deputy chief of police. He was assigned to the Office of the Dean of Students beginning with the fall 2008 semester.

"I am pleased that Steve has agreed to fill the important roles of directing our emergency management efforts as well as student judicial matters," Spice said. "Steve has proven himself over many years as someone who is able to balance multiple tasks and to work effectively across the campus."

Linhart will replace Brian Foltz, who previously served as emergency manager within the Department of Public Safety, and who recently left the university. Linhart will retain his current duties as student conduct officer. For that portion of his position, he will report to the vice chancellor for student success.

Linhart's previous supervisory duties of the directors of the Student Health Center, Counseling Center and Disability Services and University Testing Center will be transferred to Sue Mitchell, director of the Student Success Center.

Linhart's position in the Office of the Dean of Students will be eliminated.

Schedule for visits by four engineering dean candidates announced

Four candidates identified as finalists by the University of Colorado Denver's engineering dean search committee will visit the downtown campus for interviews this month.

Anyone is welcome to attend any or all of the four "presentation" meetings scheduled for 10:30 a.m. to noon on the first day of each candidate's visit. The visit dates and links to vitas and schedules:

• Feb. 3-4, Debra Larson, Ph.D., associate dean, College of Engineering, Forestry, and Natural Sciences, Northern Arizona University. Click here for visit schedule.
• Feb. 8-9, Neal Gallagher, Ph.D., vice president for research, Savant-garde LLC; former dean, College of Engineering and Computer Science, University of Central Florida. Click here for visit schedule.
• Feb. 15-16, Marc Ingber, Ph.D., program director, Chemical, Biological, Environmental, and Transport Systems Division, National Science Foundation and professor of mechanical engineering, University of New Mexico. Click here for visit schedule.
• Feb. 17-18, Karlene Hoo, Ph.D., visiting professor, division of biomedical sciences, University of California, Riverside, and former associate vice president for research, Texas Tech University. Click here for visit schedule.

Want to suggest a colleague -- or yourself -- for People? Please e-mail information to Jay.Dedrick@cu.edu