From the Office of Public Affairs | http://www.news.ku.edu
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University of Kansas joins EPA Green Power Partnership
LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas recently joined the Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Power Partnership, a voluntary program that helps increase renewable power use among U.S. organizations. Through Evergy’s Renewables Direct program, KU’s energy needs are largely offset by wind energy, including 85% of the university’s 2021 electricity use.
FNSA announces KU Powwow & Indigenous Cultures Festival events
LAWRENCE – The 2022 KU Powwow & Indigenous Cultures Festival will take place from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. April 9 at the Lied Center of Kansas. The free public event will include readings by authors and lawmakers, presentations by Indigenous scholars, arts and crafts, food and entertainment. Several events are planned ahead of the festival, beginning with an Indigenous arts exhibition opening March 25.
KU Libraries announce the 2022 Textbook Heroes cohort in celebration of Open Education Week
LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas Libraries and the Shulenburger Office of Scholarly Communication & Copyright have announced the 2022 Textbook Heroes, members of the KU community who have taken extraordinary initiative to increase access to and affordability of required course. Textbook Heroes are KU Libraries OER student assistant Axel Heinichen and the Open Language Resource Center (OLRC), including Jonathan Perkins, director of the OLRC; Keah Cunningham, assistant director of the OLRC; and Katie Ashley, education program coordinator.
Full stories below.
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Contact: David Day, Office of the Provost, 785-864-0236, [email protected], @KUProvost
University of Kansas joins EPA Green Power Partnership
LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas has a long-held commitment to sustainability that aims to reduce the overall fossil fuel consumption on campus. In line with this mission, the university recently joined the Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Power Partnership in an effort to increase the development and use of green power in the American energy market.
With its expansive plains, Kansas is one of the largest producers of wind energy in the country. Through Evergy’s Renewables Direct program, KU’s energy needs are largely offset by wind energy harnessed at the Soldier Creek Wind Energy Center in Nemaha County and the Ponderosa Wind Farm in Balko, Oklahoma. By investing in this abundant renewable resource, KU supported the generation of more than 107 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of green power in 2021 alone, which offset 85% of the university’s 2021 electricity use.
“We are excited to be recognized by the EPA for our use of wind energy. By committing to renewable energy, KU reduced carbon emissions, which is crucial for climate action and resiliency,” said Cassidy Kuhn, KU Energy Program manager.
By leading the way in the voluntary green power market, KU and other Green Power Partners are helping to reduce the negative health impacts of air emissions, including those related to ozone, fine particles, acid rain and regional haze.
According to the EPA, KU’s green power offsets are equivalent to the electricity used by more than 10,000 average American homes annually.
The Green Power Partnership is a voluntary program that helps increase renewable power use among U.S. organizations to reduce both air pollution and other harmful byproducts of electricity use that result in worldwide environmental impacts. In 2020, the Green Power Partnership had more than 700 partners voluntarily using nearly 70 billion kilowatt-hours of green power annually.
KU will continue to prioritize a reduction in fossil fuel use on campus by honoring a commitment to a sustainable future through the purchase of renewable energy, as well as energy conservation, efficiency and other measures.
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Contact: Laura Kingston, Center for Educational Opportunity Programs, 785-864-3415, [email protected], @CEOPmedia
FNSA announces KU Powwow & Indigenous Cultures Festival events
LAWRENCE — For several decades, the University of Kansas First Nations Student Association (FNSA) has hosted the Annual KU FNSA Powwow. The event celebrates the diversity of Native American cultures in the community through dancing, singing and honoring the traditions of ancestors.
The legacy of enriching the local community through Native American traditions and cultural heritage grew with the establishment of the Indigenous Cultures Festival through a partnership with the Lied Center of Kansas.
This year’s event will take place from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. April 9 at the Lied Center of Kansas; the event is free and open to the public.
This daylong, family-friendly event will welcome the KU, Lawrence and surrounding communities to participate, share experiences, make connections and learn more about the traditions, culture, history and contemporary topics relating to the Indigenous peoples of North America.
Throughout the day, there is a full schedule for attendees to participate in interactive experiences, educational workshops and children’s activities focused on Indigenous cultures and history, including:
1. Children’s stories read by author Jimmy Beason, U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, D.-Kansas, and State Rep. Christina Haswood, 10th District.
2. Special presentations by Theresa Milk, Alex Red Corn, Robert Hicks Jr. and Jancita Warrington.
Attendees planning on staying throughout the powwow are encouraged to bring lawn chairs; seating directly around the powwow circle will be reserved for dancers, dancer families and audience members who need seating accommodation.
Regional Native American artists and artisans will have items for sale in accordance with the Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990. Leading the food vendors is an invited friend of the festival, Raven’s Table, in addition to longtime vendor the Peaches Family. Indigenous-inspired food will be available for purchase throughout the day. During the event, adult-size T-shirts will be for sale. Official merchandise is available online through March 28, and profits benefit KU FNSA.
In addition to the all-day event April 9, there will be several in-person and virtual events leading up to the powwow and festival, including a land acknowledgment discussion and visiting Indigenous artists.
1. March 25, 5-9 p.m.: Indigenous Arts Initiative Exhibit Opening at Cider Gallery’s Final Friday event. The event includes the exhibit opening, a local Native food vendor and a dance showcase.
2. April 3, 4:30 p.m.: Indigenous Arts Initiative artists reception and talk with Cara Romero, Nanobah Becker and mentees at Cider Gallery.
3. April 5, 6 p.m.: Land acknowledgment conversation on Zoom with Melissa Peterson, Laurie Ramirez, Sarah Deer, Lori Hasselman and Kelly Walker. Registration is required.
4. April 8, 7:30 p.m. – The Lied Center of Kansas presents Red Sky Performance: “TRACE.” Red Sky is a leading company of contemporary Indigenous dance, theatre, music and media in Canada and worldwide. Tickets are available through the Lied Center.
5. All activities are free and open to the public. It is recommended guests bring cash to purchase from vendors. COVID-19 safety precautions will follow KU, Douglas County and federal guidelines. For full and up-to-date details on the Annual FNSA Powwow & Indigenous Cultures Festival, please visit fnsapowwow.ku.edu or connect with the Facebook event.
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Contact: Christy McWard, KU Libraries, 785-864-0092, [email protected], @kulibraries
KU Libraries announce the 2022 Textbook Heroes cohort in celebration of Open Education Week
LAWRENCE — In celebration of Open Education Week, which is March 7-11, the University of Kansas Libraries and the Shulenburger Office of Scholarly Communication & Copyright have announced the 2022 Textbook Heroes cohort. Textbook Heroes are members of the KU community who have taken extraordinary initiative to increase access to and affordability of required course materials by implementing and advocating for Open Educational Resources (OER) and other low- and no-cost course materials.
This year’s Textbook Heroes are KU Libraries OER student assistant Axel Heinichen and the Open Language Resource Center (OLRC), including Jonathan Perkins, director of the OLRC; Keah Cunningham, assistant director of the OLRC; and Katie Ashley, education program coordinator.
“It’s wonderful to have institutional partners at KU providing leadership and support for the development and use of OER in language learning,” said Josh Bolick, head of the Shulenburger Office of Scholarly Communication & Copyright. “The OLRC provides extensive expertise in partnership with language faculty to produce high-quality, effective and engaging language OER. Beyond this local advocacy and support, the national profile of the OLRC contributes substantially to KU’s prominence in the open education landscape. It’s our honor to recognize them for their great work.”
Heinichen’s projects include transitioning OER created through the Libraries’ OER grants to Pressbooks, a digital publishing platform specifically designed to support the adoption, adaptation and the creation of open textbooks.
Migrating OER to this platform will make them more usable and accessible.
“I nominated Axel because the ongoing conversations with him about OER have been enlightening for me,” said Carmen Orth-Alfie, graduate engagement and business librarian and Heinichen’s supervisor. “We had a discussion when he was first starting to work about open textbooks and how it differs from having a licensed online textbook, where the license might restrict access just for that semester or maybe beyond the semester. But OERs you always have and may not read cover to cover, but you can refer to throughout your academic career.”
KU’s Open Language Resource Center is one of 16 federally funded National Foreign Language Resource Centers working to increase the nation’s capacity to teach and learn foreign languages. Perkins, Cunningham and Ashley were recognized for their direct support of language Open Educational Resources at KU and their advocacy and impact beyond KU as national leaders of languages OER, such as through conferences held in 2021 and 2022.
“Work on language OER is important not only as a means to save students money, but as a way to provide access to materials for Less Commonly Taught Languages (LCTL) that commercial publishers would simply dismiss as unprofitable,” Perkins said. “We are happy to maximize our audience by creating materials for Spanish, French and German, but we recognize that our work on textbooks for Ukrainian, Kiswahili and Turkish may actually have a larger proportional impact.”
Established in 2019, the Textbook Heroes initiative is an ongoing effort with new champions to be added each academic year during the spring semester. To learn more about OER and KU Libraries’ support, please visit the OER website or contact Josh Bolick, [email protected].
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