A “watercooler talk” called “Conversations@Work: A Faculty Workshop” will feature three faculty members who are piloting innovative tools in their teaching at noon-1 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 11, in St. Pat’s B of the Havener Center. The faculty members and their topics are:

St. Pat’s Catholic Church will host its annual Octoberfest on Sunday, Oct. 1. A portion of Vichy Road, from Highway 63 to St. Patrick’s Lane, will be closed 8 a.m.-7 p.m. Missouri S&T’s parking lots M-36, L-5, L-8 and L-35 will be used for overflow parking.

Due to weather conditions, the Visitors’ Night event planned tonight (Wednesday, Sept. 27) at Missouri S&T’s observatory has been cancelled. To receive email notifications of future events and weather cancellations, please contact Ken Goss, graduate student in computer science, at ken.goss@mst.edu.

A contractor for the City of Rolla is working in several areas beginning today (Monday, Sept. 25). Drivers are asked to take alternate routes and watch for signs, workers and equipment. The areas and streets affected include:

• A section of Old St. James Road, from McCutchen Drive to 18th Street, will be restricted to one lane beginning today and through Wednesday, Sept. 27.
• A section of 10th Street, from Rolla Street to Highway 63, is currently closed for street resurfacing. It is scheduled to reopen at 3 p.m. today.
• Buehler Park is closed today while the parking lot is paved. It will reopen Tuesday, Sept. 26.

The 60th annual Asphalt Conference will be held Nov. 28-29 at S&T. Registration costs $135 per person and is available at asphalt.mst.edu. The conference is designed for contractors, public agencies, consulting engineers, testing labs, aggregate producers, asphalt binder suppliers and technical equipment representatives. Conference participants will receive professional development hours credit.
Speakers will address topics for professionals involved in pavement construction, maintenance and rehabilitation, design and specification, and materials.

Because Missouri S&T is a silver-level sponsor for the Focus on Teaching and Technology Conference on Thursday and Friday, Sept. 28-29, the academic community can view both keynote addresses online from any computer or device. Watch the presentations at umsl.edu/services/ctl/fttc/keynotes.html. The presentations and speakers will be:

• “Helping Students Learn in an Age of Digital Distraction, Keynote Address,” by Dr. Katie Linder, director of eCampus research at Oregon State University, 10-11:30 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 28
• “Late Nights and Big Questions: The Joys and Challenges of Teaching Outside Your Comfort Zone,” by Dr. Therese Huston, cognitive scientist and faculty development consultant at the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at Seattle University, 10:30 a.m.-noon Friday, Sept. 29

The facilities services staff now oversees plastic bottle recycling efforts in campus areas that are not part of residential life. The residential life staff continues to coordinate recycling for S&T’s housing areas. For more information, please contact Ted Ruth, assistant vice chancellor for facilities operations, at 341-7619 or truth@mst.edu.