Field Trip! Getting out of the Classroom with Continuing Studies

Learning at the Glasscock School is about more than just classroom lectures from award-winning faculty. This spring, Continuing Studies participants saw dramatic performances, took guided museum exhibit tours, enjoyed a walking tour of Houston, shot photos on location around the city, and sketched in local art galleries.

A performance of Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” by the Actors from the London Stage was just one of those opportunities, for participants in the course “The World and Works of William Shakespeare.” The six-week course also included an introduction to the play from Dr. Dennis Huston of the Rice English Department, who helped break down the cultural and historical context for the action, and explained some of the comedy that did not always translate for a modern audience.

The Actors From The London Stage, 2012 Tour of Twelfth Night. Clockwise from bottom left: Richard Daniel Stacy, Jennifer Higham, Dan Winter, Katherine Heath, and Michael Palmer.

The comedy of Shakespeare wasn’t the only exciting extra available with spring courses. Participants in “The Emancipation Proclamation: A Rare Look at a Monumental Document” enjoyed a private viewing of the Proclamation at the Houston Museum of Natural Science during one of their lectures. Fans of drama were treated to a dress rehearsal of the Tony Award-winning play Red as part of the lecture series, “Rothko and ‘Red’” in addition to tours of Rothko works at the Menil Collection.  And dance enthusiasts in the course “A Case en Pointe: Behind the Scenes with the Houston Ballet” witnessed great performers and choreographers at work during a tour of Houston Ballet’s new Center for Dance and the dress rehearsal for “Rock, Roll, and Tutus” at the Wortham Center.

What does the Glasscock School have in store for participants this fall? Look for a sneak peek of fall courses coming soon.

With a little help from my friends…

Several members of The Book Club, with Susie Glasscock, back row, holding "her book"

Susie Glasscock, who along with husband Mel, endowed the School of Continuing Studies in 2005, has amazing friends. How amazing? So much so that they all pitched in and named a seminar room for Susie in the planned new home for Continuing Studies.

Susie is a member of “The Book Club” which has been in existence for 40+ years. (That’s a lot of reading, ladies!) Member Anne Baillio, who had already donated funds for a courtyard at the new Continuing Studies building with her husband, Bob, wanted to make sure something in the building was named for Susie. While the school is now named for Susie, the name of the building and many of its individual spaces are still available for naming.

Anne spearheaded the effort to raise funds from The Book Club ladies to name a seminar room after their dear friend. To break the news to Susie, Mary McIntire, dean of Continuing Studies, and Iska Wire, development director of Continuing Studies, crashed the most recent club meeting and surprised Susie with a book that had a specially designed dust jacket that spelled out exactly what her friends had done for her. The jacket included wonderful quotes from several members about their friendship with Susie, such as “Her love of learning has been an inspiration to all of us” and “Susie has one of the most curious and intelligent minds I have known, yet she is always modest about her contributions of time and talent to the community.”

The Susanne M. Glasscock School of Continuing Studies is forever grateful to Anne for leading this effort and to all the members of The Book Club for their wonderful support.

Explore the Titanic in Depth

The bow of the Titanic as found in the North Atlantic. copyright RMS Titanic, Inc.

As part of the Titanic’s 100^th anniversary commemoration, Houston Museum of Natural Science opened the doors to Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition on Friday, March 16.

On April 15, 1912, Titanic, the world’s largest ship, sank after colliding with an iceberg, claiming more than 1,500 lives and shaking the world’s confidence in the infallibility of modern technology.

HMNS’s exhibit showcases more than 300 pristinely preserved artifacts retrieved from Titanic’s debris field and recreations of the ship’s interior. Thousands of hours of painstaking conservation measures now allow these artifacts, including delicate bottles of perfume, china and various personal items to tell the story of the Titanic’s more than 2,000 passengers and crew.

Participants in our course “Titanic: A Tragedy Revisited”, which begins April 5, have the opportunity to experience a guided tour of this exhibit. Led by expert instructors, this course will examine the Titanic from many angles, including the lives of the individuals on board, naval technology of the era, discovery of the wreckage as well as the resulting new era of preservation and archaeology.

Register for “Titanic: A Tragedy Revisited” by March 22 for an early registration discount.

Rice Celebrates Pi Day and a Birthday with Pie

Rice University President David Leebron and Sammy the Owl honor William Rice on his birthday.

As any mathematician or fan of mathematics will tell you, today (3/14) is National Pi Day, but at Rice University it is also the birthday of our founder William Marsh Rice. What better way to celebrate Pi Day and a birthday than with 2,012 pies?

“It was a unique way to celebrate our founder’s birthday,” said Staff Advisory Board Co-Chair and GSCS professional development program coordinator David Frels. “In the past we’ve celebrated with cake or cupcakes, so pie was a fitting choice for celebrating both occasions.”

Happy Pi Day everyone and Happy Birthday, William Rice!

President Leebron got his pie.

Students dive in for a pie.

Willy got a pie, too!

For the good of the company, all managers should know “Essentials of HR”

If you are a manager, you’ve probably questioned some of your own behavior with your employees. “Should I have said that?” Or maybe you honestly believe that the way you are handling paperwork for an employee is correct, but in reality it could get you and your company into legal trouble.

“Essentials of HR Management,” which starts March 30, is a quick course that covers basic issues of human resources:

• Employment law in the workplace
• Effective recruiting and selection techniques
• Basics of compensation
• Employee orientation and training
• Ensuring quality performance

The course also serves as a good introduction for those interested in pursuing HR as a profession.

Kathleen M. Fenninger, SPHR, GPHR, has more than 25 years of experience in human resources both as a generalist and an employment specialist. She spoke to us about her experience teaching this class over the past several years:

What types of professionals do you typically see in the “Essentials of HR” class?
Typically, small business managers experiencing a need to grow employees, line managers or others who suddenly acquired human resources responsibilities, lawyers looking for a quick overview of human resources from the company standpoint, and those thinking about moving into HR as a new profession. Many students in this class are shocked to find they are close to getting their companies into trouble. This is a rewarding class for me to teach since so much is completely new to the students and they are able to immediately return to their offices and make practical and legal changes.

What HR-related issues seem to be the most misunderstood among your students?
Classifications…exempt/non-exempt…Many have been using “independent” consultants who actually fit the definition of “employee”… For many, I-9 forms are a nightmare and perceived as far more complicated than they are. Where to find information when questions come up…

Why do you believe it is essential for more people to know about basic HR knowledge and skills?
All managers are actually in charge of human resources to varying degrees and can make costly mistakes. Even well-meaning comments can backfire.

How a Continuing Studies Program Led to “Urban Cowboy”

Sometimes when we tell this story, we realize it’s kind of a “six-degrees-of-Kevin-Bacon” tale. But we tell it nonetheless because it’s just plain fun to do so.

From the 1970s off and on through the mid 1990s, Continuing Studies offered the very well regarded Rice University Publishing Program. It was an intensive four-week program – a full immersion into the worlds of books and magazines, designed to help recent college graduates and older career changers get a good grounding in publishing.

Texas Monthly magazine founding publisher and editor, Mike Levy and Bill Broyles respectively, directed the magazine portion of the program for a time in the 70s. In 1978 they invited Clay Felker, editor and publisher of Esquire magazine, to speak at the program. To give Felker a look at Texas nightlife, Levy and Broyles took him to Gilley’s Club, then a vast honky-tonk in neighboring Pasadena with country bands, lots of dancing, a mechanical bull and scores of urban cowboys and cowgirls on the prowl.

Intrigued, Felker called writer Aaron Latham at 3:00 a.m. to tell him to get down to Houston immediately to write an article about what he had just witnessed. Latham’s account, “The Ballad of the Urban Cowboy: America’s Search for True Grit” came out in Esquire’s September 1978 issue. Paramount Pictures quickly bought the rights, and work on the movie “Urban Cowboy” began that December, with John Travolta cast as the lead.

When the movie was released in 1980, the urban-cowboy phenomenon took off. Mechanical bulls were installed in clubs all over the country, western clothing became de rigueur, and country music found a mainstream audience…

…all because of Continuing Studies (wink).

To remind you of the glory that was “Urban Cowboy” we found this reel of highlights on YouTube from the Austin Film Society:

Click on image to start the video.

Expert Advice for Your Nonprofit Career

With 2012 in full swing, it’s time to follow through on your career goals. Angela Seaworth, ACFRE, director of the Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership, presented “Engineering Your Nonprofit Career” at the Greater Houston AFP Chapter’s Ask the Experts Conference at the Hilton America’s on February 28.

She discussed career paths for fundraising and nonprofit professionals and various professional development and continuing education opportunities, including professional certifications, the CFRE and ACFRE, and graduate school options.

Participants were challenged to identify their career goals, functional expertise and areas needing further development to create a personal strategy to advance their careers.

What will you do to boost your career? We can help. See our Center’s surplus of course offerings starting soon.

Seeking High School Students to Earn College Credit

High school students from Rice for High School Students, 2011

Did you know high school students can get a taste of college life at Rice this summer? Rice for High School Students is now taking applications for rising high school juniors and seniors to attend summer school classes at Rice for credit.

Rebecca Sanchez, assistant director for Rice for High School Students, says “It gives high school juniors and seniors the opportunity to explore a university setting while engaging in academic pursuits. They take courses with other Rice students and are treated no differently. They must prepare for class, participate in class discussions, do homework, take exams and have access to the library and other resources. Our goal is for the students to get a real feel for the college experience.”

Students who complete the program prepare for their future while gaining a great perspective on college life on the Rice campus.

“By the end of the program, I have to admit that I had become utterly enraptured by Rice University in all aspects: the campus, students, professors and culturally rich society,” according to a summer 2011 participant. “My learning experience  at Rice was one I will never forget. When I apply for college, Rice University will be my #1 choice!”

We are currently seeking students to apply for this program by March 23. Who do you know?

Would-be Authors to Get a Chance to Learn the Publishing Process

Literary consultant and former executive director of the Writers’ League of Texas Cyndi Hughes will lead a one-day workshop to teach aspiring authors about the modern-day publishing process.

“The Publishing Path: Finding a Home for your Book” will be held Saturday, March 3, 9:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. on the Rice campus. This is the second time this workshop has been offered, and the interest level has been high.

We asked Cyndi a few questions about what she sees happening among would-be authors these days:

What are the common misunderstandings people have about the publishing process?
I would say that the most common misunderstandings are:
• Writing is EASY! Anyone can do it.
• Writing a book is all you have to do; you don’t need to know anything about the business of publishing.
• Once I get an agent, my book will magically appear and hit the best-seller lists.
• If a writer gets a book published, he or she can quit her day job and write full time.

What are errors that people tend to make in the process?
So many writers don’t know what they need to know about writing and the business of getting published that they don’t make informed decisions. I cringe whenever I get call from a writer saying something like “Well, I just received my 500 self-published books. How do I get reviewed in Publishers’ Weekly?”  or “I just finished my book, and I don’t have time to find an agent, Give me some names of agents I can contact.” The business just doesn’t work that way, and many writers do not take the time to learn about publishing.

A corollary to that is the writer who refuses to treat his or her writing like a business, something that is crucial, even for writers who are published by major publishing houses. A wise observer — I wish I could remember who — said that publishing is 5 percent writing and 95 percent marketing and business. The actual percentages might be more like 20 and 80, but largely, I think that’s true.

Another big error I see writers make is taking costly shortcuts, usually in the name of saving money. Examples include failing to hire a good editor to review his or her book before sending it to an agent or publisher, not double checking facts or sources, designing a book yourself just because you have design software, or rushing out an ebook when more work on the manuscript would have made it a much stronger book.

What types of books do you see people writing these days?
The good news is that almost everything goes these days. I’m not really seeing one big trend besides zombies and vampires, which I am SO over with one exception: I can’t wait for Justin Cronin’s “The Twelve,” the sequel to “The Passage.” Call me a misty-eyed optimist, but I truly believe that if a writer writes the book that he or she really wants to write, something good will happen!

Tour Houston Ballet’s New Center for Dance

Houston Ballet's Center for Dance

One of the highlights of our course “A Case en Pointe: Behind the Scenes with Houston Ballet” which starts Wednesday, February 22, is the tour of the spectacular new Center for Dance on April 11. The $46 million facility, which opened last year, is the largest of its kind in the United States.

Six stories and 115,000 square feet, the Center for Dance is located downtown at the intersection of Preston and Smith, across the street from Wortham Theater Center where the Houston Ballet performs. The building includes nine dance studios, a costume shop, a dance lab that seats 175 for presentations as well as rehearsals, and artistic, administrative and support facilities for Houston Ballet and its academy.

Production Director Thomas Boyd, who will lead the tour of the facility, stressed the value of housing all elements of the company in one beautifully functional space. “We are so fortunate to be able to rehearse, design and present in such a well appointed facility,” Mr. Boyd said. “It’s truly as we hoped it would be; the design really does work.”

“We feel totally limitless and fearless in here,” explained principal dancer Melody Mennite in an April 2011 article in the Houston Chronicle.

Houston Ballet is America’s fourth largest ballet company, an ensemble of 52 dancers with an annual budget of $19.2 million and an endowment of $57.6 million (as of May 2011)

“A Case en Pointe: Behind the Scenes with Houston Ballet” meets eight Wednesdays, February 22-April 11, 7:00-8:30 p.m.

Studio space inside the Houston Ballet's Center for DanceMadison Morris outside a studio in Houston Ballet's Center for Dance. Photo by Nic Lehoux, courtesy Gensler