? THE DEAN OF GRADUATE STUDIES, EMILY MCDERMOTT IS STEPPING DOWN and returning to her work in the faculty as a professor of Classics. Her six-year term as dean will be followed by sabbatical in the fall to pursue a work on her book Learning Latin: Politics of a Dead Language. The position will remain vacant for the remainder of the semesters, while Provost Fonteyn assesses the position. ? STUDENTS AND FACULTY TABLE FOR PETITION IN PROTEST OF CLASS CANCELATION POLICY. This comes in response to last year’s enforcement of an existing policy which resulted in many courses being canceled and several of the faculty who taught those courses being let go. CPCS was hit especially hard due to their traditionally lower class enrollment numbers. The group is petitioning to lower the current enrollment minimum from 12 students to eight, which is the current minimum for graduate courses. Contact [email protected]. ? STUDENT TRAVEL MAY BE JEOPARDIZED due to the actions of students that took a university-funded trip to New Orleans over winter break. The group, who went to assist in clean up efforts in the ravaged city, refused to board the bus back home at the designated time and caused logistical problems that cost UMass Boston both time and money. Administrators are contemplating whether or not to completely scrap university-sponsored travel after this, and other, disaster-ridden trips. ? UMASS BOSTON ANNOUNCES NEW MASTERS OF SCIENCE IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY DEGREE. The program aims, according to the UMass Boston College of Management, to educate its students on “how to deploy IT assets effectively to manage customer relationships, data collection and analysis, supply chains, work flows, or security concerns.” The course-load for the MSIT program has three focuses: Technical Foundation of Information Technology, Applications of Information Technology and IT Management and Strategy. ? ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT WEEKEND! Thursday through Sunday, the Boston Globe is holding a series of events and discussions about arts and entertainment. The Globe Talks will be a series of candid conversations between some of today’s best artistic talents and Globe journalists. There will also be fantastic offers at theaters, museums, movies, restaurants, hotels and more. Track down the Feb. 4 edition of the Globe for a special program guide filled with special coupons and discount offers. You can also visit boston.com or www.citicenter.org for more information. ? UMASS BOSTON EARNS BENCHMARK FOR COMMUNITY SERVICE. The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching included UMass Boston along with 76 other schools for its new Community Engagement Classification. The title brings recognition to UMass Boston’s commitment to the, in the Foundation’s words, “mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources in a context of partnership and reciprocity” within the Boston community. UMass Boston conducts around 200 projects within the Boston community that vary from non-profit assistance to support for local schools. ? THE NATION MAGAZINE VISITS UMASS BOSTON on February 15. Editors, columnists, and other staffers will come and engage in conversations with students about the news media and politics. The event will take place in the Campus Center 3rd floor. ? ROLLER SKATE FOR THE COMMUNITY on Thursday, February 8. Chez Vous, a community center for kids located on the Dorchester/Mattapan line will host a roller disco to raise funds to help sustain its operations. The evening with include performances by several DJs and will only cost $8 for admission. Rental skates are free. The party starts at 8 pm and will continue until midnight. Chez Vous is located at 11 Rhoades St. in Dorchester. For directions or more information, call Chez Vous at 617-825-6877 or visit www.chezvousskate.com.