The study abroad committee will award $25,000 in grant funds to assist in developing faculty-led short-term study abroad programs. Eleven proposals were submitted to the committee for consideration and eight faculty members were selected to receive funding. The funds may be used for travel or other costs associated with developing a faculty-led study abroad program. Below are the selected faculty members, along with their proposed courses and locations.

Leach Theatre is looking to cast a 3- to 4-year old African American male for a non-speaking walk-on role in the final dramatic moments of “Ragtime.” Ragtime is a Broadway musical and part of the Campus Performing Arts Series that will be held 7:30-10 p.m. Monday, Feb. 8, at Leach Theatre. It is a one night only performance.

Dr. Joel Burken, Curators’ Professor of civil, architectural and environmental engineering, has been named interim chair of that department effective Dec. 21. Dr. Douglas R. Carroll, who has served as acting chair of the department since September, will return to his full-time duties as director of the Cooperative Engineering Program between Missouri S&T and Missouri State University in Springfield.

Because of the Christmas holiday, several campus buildings will be closed or have limited hours this coming weekend.

The Trap and Skeet Club along with the mining and nuclear engineering department will host a visitation this Thursday, Dec. 17, for Curt Marzolf, a senior in mining engineering who died Saturday, Dec. 12. Mr. Marzolf’s family will be present and have invited the campus community to attend.

Commencement will be split into two ceremonies this Saturday, Dec. 19, in the Gale Bullman Building. The first ceremony, for all graduate candidates and undergraduate candidates in arts, business and science programs, will be held at 10 a.m. The second ceremony, for all undergraduate engineering candidates, will be held at 4 p.m. NASA astronaut Dr. Janet Kavandi will be the commencement speaker. Watch both ceremonies via a livestream broadcast.

Today is your last chance to get the inside scoop on Missouri S&T’s brand identity evolution — Miners Dig Deeper — before it launches in 2016. The final branding open forum and presentation will be held at 1:30-2:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 17, in the Missouri-Ozark Room of the Havener Center. For those who’ve attended earlier orientation sessions, this event will give you a sneak peek into some of the visual and virtual elements of Missouri S&T’s refreshed brand identity. For more information about the forums or the brand identity evolution, contact the S&T marketing and communications department at marketing@mst.edu.

The faculty and staff eConnection will move to its winter break schedule starting Wednesday, Dec. 23. During this period, the eConnection will be sent once a week, on Wednesdays. The eConnection will return to its regular biweekly schedule on Monday, Jan. 11. Continue to submit entries to the eConnection and remember to add your event notices to the campus calendar.

The Missouri S&T United Way campaign began in late October. Contributions have been good, but the campaign is still $3,200 behind last year’s total. The non-profit partners, including CASA, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, 4-H, Special Olympics, Habitat for Humanity and nine others, need Missouri S&T’s help. Pledge cards and brochures are available from Joyce Abbott, Room 204 Parker Hall, 341-4122. Donations can be directed to a specific organization and paid through payroll deduction.

The information technology (IT) Help Desk will be closed Thursday, Dec. 24; Friday, Dec. 25; Thursday, Dec. 31; and Friday, Jan. 1. The Help Desk walk-in location in the Curtis Laws Wilson Library, will reduce hours to 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. from Monday, Jan. 4, through Friday, Jan. 15. If you experience issues during the closure, leave a voice message with the IT Help Desk by calling 341-HELP (4357) or submit a ticket online.