Weekly Web Updates – December 10, 2018

WordPress 5.0 was released this week, but we have not yet applied this update to the sites.middlebury.edu and sites.miis.edu network. This release includes a significant change to the editing experience and we want to get feedback from the community before making this change. We have set up a copy of the live site on one of our development machines which you can use while on-campus or using a VPN client. As this is a development copy, it’s not as fast as the live site and you may encounter some glitches or things which didn’t copy over from the live site.

Please try the new editor on the copy of some of your sites and let us know how it works. We’re especially interested in whether there are technical issues we need to remediate before applying this to the live site, but are also interested in hearing from you about its ease of use and accessibility concerns.

Updates

  • WordPress appointments plugin 2.4.1
  • WordPress jetpack plugin 6.8.1
  • WordPress liveblog plugin 1.9.4
  • WordPress ml-slider plugin 3.10.3
  • WordPress social-icons-widget-by-wpzoom plugin 3.0.13
  • WordPress the-events-calendar plugin 4.7.1
  • WordPress accelerate theme 1.3.8
  • WordPress garfunkel theme 1.17
  • WordPress hemingway theme 1.70
  • WordPress sydney theme 1.53
  • WordPress twentyeleven theme 2.9
  • WordPress twentyfifteen theme 2.1
  • WordPress twentyfourteen theme 2.3
  • WordPress twentyseventeen theme 1.8
  • WordPress twentysixteen theme 1.6
  • WordPress twentyten theme 2.6
  • WordPress twentythirteen theme 2.5
  • WordPress twentytwelve theme 2.6

Fixes and Tweaks

  • We’re investigating an issue which may have caused the All Faculty and All Staff groups to be dropped from the permissions list on some Drupal pages and forms, preventing people in those groups from being able to log in and access the content. We have restored permissions to several pages and expanded the documentation on how to add these permissions for those who need to going forward.
  • Added new inquiry call to action menu items for the Middlebury Institute academic programs.
  • As we previously announced, MiddMedia will no longer allow new video and audio uploads. Panopto is available and can be used for most of the needs MiddMedia was meeting. Existing videos in MiddMedia will remain available until January 1, 2020 and you can log into the service and delete media you no longer need.

Ongoing Work

  • Sunsetting MiddMedia.
  • Fixes and tweaks for the new Institute site https://www.middlebury.edu/institute/
  • Creating a new “Offices” site for institution-wide anchor functions.
  • Upgrading applications to run on PHP 7.1.
  • Upgrading the Drupal sites for the Davis programs, Dining Menus, and Museum of Art to Drupal 8.
  • Providing O365 Groups to classes via the Course Hub.

Resources to Quit Smoking

With the new year right around the corner there is no better time to take action toward improving our health.  One of the best ways to stay healthy is to refrain from using tobacco products. The use of tobacco products is one of three behaviors that contributes to fifty percent of all deaths in Vermont.  Quitting is hard and some support can go a long way in helping us be successful. Through the VT Department of Health and 802 Quits there are lots of resources to help us move toward a tobacco free lifestyle.  Check out these free resources and move one step closer toward having the level of health you want and deserve.  If you’re interested in participating in a free tobacco cessation group on campus, please contact Rebecca Schubert, GMHEC Employee Well-being Coordinator at rebecca.schubert@gmhec.org.

-Rebecca Schubert, MS RDN NBC-HWC
GMHEC Employee Well-being Program Coordinator

Frankel Cardiovascular Center Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship

Application opens December 14th! Deadline January 31.

The Samuel and Jean Frankel Cardiovascular Center is pleased to offer a 10 week undergraduate summer fellowship program to support undergraduate students who are interested in cardiovascular research. Each student will be matched, based on his or her interests, to a laboratory that is led by a faculty member of the University of Michigan Frankel Cardiovascular Center.

This collection of laboratories is involved in nationally recognized research in topics such as atherosclerosis, genetic cardiomyopathies, blood clotting disorders, cardiac arrhythmias, vascular biology, and heart failure.

Read more about the fellowship and gain access to the application link on December 14th.

Save the Date: Meet Alumni in DC this Spring Break

Announcing the CCI Trek to Washington DC: March 25-26

Gain a better understanding of politics and government. Explore alumni career paths at a variety of organizations in D.C.  Program will include site visits and multiple opportunities for networking.

Who should apply?

If you are interested in learning about or working in government or policy, this trek is for you! All majors and class levels are welcome.

 Who will we meet?

In the past we have engaged alumni who work in exciting roles on Capitol Hill, the State and Treasury departments, think thanks like Brookings or the Aspen Institute, and non-profits like the National Democratic Institute.

Click HERE to register your interest.

This is just a friendly announcement to make you aware of the opportunity. The official application will be posted in Handshake in January. Good luck as the semester winds down and happy holidays

End of Semester Stress Busters

It is that time of the semester again when we hear from so many of you that you are too stressed out. We thought it might be helpful to remember that:

  • “My work will get done, it will be over soon, and then there will be time for relaxation and celebration.”
  • “This is a hectic time, but I don’t have to give in to it. Stress will make me frustrated and worn out, not a better writer or test taker.”
  • “I’ve done this before and got through it, I can trust myself that I’ll do it again this time.”
  • “I’m not giving up and handing myself over to this thing called stress. I will prove to myself that I have the confidence and resilience to succeed.”
  • Check out the full Psychology Today article here for more tips.
  • Check out the Student Life Stress Reduction Techniques page.

Remember to take breaks from studying as often as you can. Take a walk, stretch, chat with friends, eat a healthy meal, or indulge in a not-so-healthy meal – whatever works for you!

If you get to the point of feeling overly anxious, try to follow this 4-7-8 breathing technique:

  1. Exhale completely through your mouth, making a whoosh sound.
  2. Close your mouth and inhale quietly through your nose to a mental count of four.
  3. Hold your breath for a count of seven.
  4. Exhale completely through your mouth, making a whoosh sound to a count of eight.
  5. This is one breath.
  6. Repeat.

Best of luck to all approaching these final busy days that are upon us!

JUMP into STEM Challenge for Summer 2019 Paid Internships

Have you heard about the new student competition called JUMP into STEM?

JUMP into STEM is a new STEM online crowdsourcing platform that poses technical challenges for innovative and energy saving building technology solutions. Students (undergraduate and graduate) with the best online submissions will compete in a final event for up to 6 paid 10-week Summer 2019 internships at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Students must meet eligibility requirements for the Building Technologies Minority Serving Institutions Program (BTMSIP) or the Higher Education Research Experience (HERE) program.

Team submissions are encouraged. The third and final challenge is open until February 8, 2019. The challenges are focused on: how to influence homeowner decisions to optimize their energy use; new methods to identify fault detection and diagnosis in buildings; and product solutions for retrofitting residential building wall systems.

Students may participate individually or in teams. During the challenge judging review process, the JUMP team and DOE will pay particular attention to consideration of teaming criteria that includes team diversity requirements:

  • Representation by more than two or more academic departments
  • Representation by women and/or minority students
  • Demonstrated contributions by all team members

Idea submitters should also review the HERE and BTMSIP application criteria to ensure eligibility for competing in the Finalist event.

 

Learn more about JUMP into STEM Challenges here.