Spring break video camp
The Georgia Center for Continuing Education will hold a video production camp for children ages 10 to 14 during the Clarke County School System’s spring break, March 14–18.

Campers will take on three roles—actor, director and technician—as they create a drama, comedy or music video. In teams of four or five, they will learn to operate professional cameras and sound equipment, to direct and to edit their videos into final products.

No previous experience is necessary. For more information or to register, call 542-3537 or go to www.gactr.uga.edu/ppd.

Summer faculty mentors
The Graduate School invites UGA faculty to participate in the 2005 Summer Undergraduate Research Program.

SURP offers outstanding undergraduates from historically underrepresented groups the chance to work closely with faculty in an intensive summer research experience. Students get first-hand exposure to the experiences of graduate school and faculty life while they work with faculty whose research is closely related to their academic interests and career goals. Students work under faculty mentorship either individually or as part of a research team. Research teams may include graduate students, research scientists and other SURP students. Another objective of the program is to encourage SURP participants to pursue graduate degrees at UGA.

The program provides participants with a $4,000 stipend to perform 40 hours of research per week for eight weeks (during summer semester, June 5–Aug. 4). Modest funding of up to $400 for supplies and related expenses is available for faculty mentors for their students’ research. This year a small allowance will cover photocopy usage.

Faculty are expected to serve as a mentor, along with their graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, while providing a learning environment for participants of SURP. SURP students are expected to write a paper and present a poster describing their research project at the end of the research experience.

SURP participants have traditionally had backgrounds in the natural sciences, the physical sciences, mathematics and computer science, but students with interests in other disciplines, such as the humanities, social science and business, are now included in the program.

Mentorship forms are available from Curtis Boyd, Office of Graduate Recruitment and Retention, 508 Boyd GSRC (cdbyrd@uga.edu).

Fee for foreign nationals
The H-lB Visa Reform Act of 2004, signed in December, includes a new “fraud prevention and detection fee” of $500 for each H-1B visa application, in addition to the already required application fee of $185.

This fee is the responsibility of the employer. It will go into effect on March 8.

In an effort to save the university as much money as possible, the Office of International Education will accelerate any H applications that are now in process. Application packets for status changes for current employees must be submitted to OIE by Feb. 15 to meet the March 8 deadline.

Application materials are located on the OIE Web site. The complete H application packet can be downloaded, and it includes a checklist of materials needed.

Any applications submitted after March 8 will need to be accompanied by the new $500 anti-fraud fee. Applications in the mail and postmarked by March 8 should be accepted without the additional fee.

It will be the responsibility of the hiring department to pay the $500. Federal regulations state that the fee must be paid by the employer; the employer cannot be reimbursed by the employee for this fee.

All check requests for the $500 fee will be routed through OIE, which will confirm the requirement for the fee and forward the request to Business Services. The check will be delivered to OIE for inclusion with the petition.

For more information, contact Mary Ann Kelly, associate director for immigration, at makelly@uga.edu. More details are on the OIE Web site at www.uga.edu/oie.

Bulletin Board is limited to announcements from campus-based organizations whose membership includes UGA faculty and/or staff.Bulletin Board is limited to announcements from campus-based organizations whose membership includes UGA faculty and/or staff.