|•| calendar
|•| announcements
|•| in print
|•| presentations
|•| deans' travel

Kirsten Grønbjerg, IUB, has been appointed program chair for the Public and Nonprofit (PNP) Division of the 2005 Academy of Management Annual Meeting to be held in Honolulu on August 5-10. This year’s conference theme is “A New Vision of Management in the 21st Century.”

Dean Astrid M. Merget and John Krauss, IUPUI, director of SPEA's Center for Urban Policy and the Environment, recently announced that Lilly Endowment Inc. is awarding a $2 million grant to the Center. Located at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, much of the center's work involves social and economic issues that affect quality of life. In addition to its ongoing research, the center has worked with more than 150 clients and partners from government, business, and nonprofits, exploring topics such as neighborhood empowerment, community safety, riverboat gambling, tax structures, land use, the economic impact of the arts and sports and drinking water and sewer infrastructures. For more information about the Center for Urban Policy and the Environment, visit its Web site at www.urbancenter.iupui.edu.

John Mikesell and Kurt Zorn, both IUB, will travel to Russia, March 12-26, 2005, to work on the first phase of their project entitled "Land Value Taxation to Support Local Government in Russia: A Case Study of Saratov Oblast."

The Graduate Program Office, IUB, is pleased to announce that SPEA is now an official member of the Peace Corps Fellow Program roster. Fellows/USA works with more than 30 universities that offer financial assistance to returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs) who pursue graduate studies in a variety of subject areas. Through internships, RPCVs help meet the needs of underserved U.S. communities. This collaboration of universities, public school systems, community organizations, funders, and the Peace Corps, helps returned Volunteers use the knowledge and skills they developed during their overseas service to improve people's lives here at home. The School’s new status affords SPEA students coming through the Peace Corps a new funding opportunity.