Urban farmer Will Allen is hooded during UM's midday spring commencement exercise. He urged graduates to help fix an ailing food system.

A man of Bunyanesque stature at 6-feet 7-inches tall, Will Allen strode across the stage inside the University of Miami’s BankUnited Center on May 11 to accept an honorary degree. Towering over the podium and its microphones, he then gave graduates some advice: “Eat good food, and know where your food comes from.”

While his words sounded like good fatherly advice, Allen, a former professional basketball player who competed collegiately for UM, had good reason for his counsel. Read the full story

In the wake of President Shalala’s April 24 Dialogue letter to faculty and staff on the serious financial challenges facing the Miller School of Medicine—which noted the need for significant reductions in costs, including staffing—the process of reorganizing and eliminating jobs at the school is now under way.

Due to decreases in state and federal funding, health insurance payments, and the Annual Operating Agreement with Jackson Memorial Hospital, the University has been forced to reduce its expenses and restructure through job elimination and reorganization. This affects administrative and unfunded research jobs at all levels, including leadership. A new shared-services model is being developed for Information Technology, Human Resources, Marketing, and other functions that are currently performed by multiple people in multiple departments, centers, and institutes. The layoffs will not affect clinical caregivers at the school.

All affected employees will be notified by the end of this month. Many impacted employees will be eligible for re-employment elsewhere at the University and will be given priority consideration for these positions. In addition, major organizations in the community have reached out to the University, offering their assistance to help place impacted employees in available positions.

To learn more about these changes:

• read the message from Miller School Dean Pascal J. Goldschmidt

• view a video of President Shalala’s interview yesterday with The Miami Herald

• read last month’s Dialogue letter

One-year-old pianos used for rehearsals and performances by the University of Miami’s Department of Theatre Arts will go on sale at UM’s annual piano sale, May 17-20, at the Ring Theatre. The sale, organized by the Piano Music Center, will also feature an assortment of new and used pianos from Yamaha, Weber, and Baldwin, along with digital pianos from Yamaha, Roland, Kurzweil, and Korg.

Proceeds from this sale allow the Piano Music Center and Young Chang to continue to donate new pianos to UM’s theatre arts department. Appointments are suggested and can be made by calling 305-663-4450 and asking for the appointment desk. For more information, contact Rick Malinowski at the Piano Music Center at [email protected].

UM’s Canterbury Preschool presents Summer Camp Explorations for school-age children who have completed kindergarten through 5th grade. The camp, called X-Treme Summer, will run from June 11 through July 27.

Summer camp is a time for fun, friendships, and exploration. The mission of Camp Exploration is to provide a place that uses your child’s growing capacity to make choices, work together with others, and assume responsibility in a relaxed and non-school atmosphere to create memories that last a lifetime.

For more information, contact Bright Horizons at UM/Canterbury Preschool, Gables Campus. Call 305-284-5347 or email  [email protected].

From left, University of Miami employees M. Judith Donovan Post, Jeanne Krull, Holly Freyre, Adriana Verdeja, and Michael Alessandri gather at the Newman Alumni Center after the Heritage Society induction ceremony. Post attended the ceremony as the representative of an estate, while the others were inducted in the society, joining the ranks of more than 1,500 other members.

Its eye-catching and colorful paint scheme visible from afar, the University of Miami’s Mobile Autism Clinic arrived in an underserved Miami neighborhood one day, its small team of clinical psychologists conducting free screenings for autism and giving out information on how to get help for the condition.

Michael Alessandri, the clinical psychologist who helped build a center dedicated to serving people with autism, wasn’t onboard, but he more than anyone was responsible for the mobile clinic’s presence there, seeking financial support for its creation. Read the full story