Nominations sought for new faculty advising award
The Office of Undergraduate Education is seeking nominations for a new Outstanding Advisor Award to honor faculty members for excellence in academic advising. Faculty may be nominated by other faculty members, staff, students or alumni.

Criteria for the award include effective interpersonal skills, encouraging students to explore options and make decisions, being knowledgeable about university policies and procedures, and participating in professional development activities to improve advising skills. The winner, who will receive an award of $500, will be announced at a faculty awards banquet in April.

Nomination forms are available in the Office of Undergraduate Education, Room 13 in the Design and Resource Management Building, or on the Web at http://www.sp.uconn.edu/~wwwitl/

Once nominated, the nominees will be asked to provide further information, including a statement of their advising philosophy, the name of a person familiar with their advising, and the name of their department head. The deadline for nominations is Friday, February 19. Nominees will be asked to provide information by March 15.

Continuing Ed offering certification in information technology
The University's Center for Professional Development will offer a series of Microsoft and Novell certification classes at UConn Downtown, at Constitution Plaza in Hartford. Offered during the period March through August, these two- to five-day courses prepare participants to take the exams needed to gain certification in a wide variety of hardware and software applications in information technology, including programming, networking, database design, Internet applications, and hardware. Registration for these courses may be done by mail, phone, fax, in person or on the Web at http://www.ce.uconn.edu For more information, call (800) 622-9905. For a free brochure, call (800) 622-9908 and specify "Microsoft and Novell certification."

Nutmeg Grille announces this month's specials
The Nutmeg Grille is offering several specials during the month of February:

• Come to lunch before 11:45 a.m. and receive a complimentary beverage.
  
  
• Bring three friends to lunch and receive your entre free.
  
  
• Bring eight or more people from your department or facility and receive one complimentary entre, beverage and dessert.
  
  
• On Thursday, February 25, from 4-6 p.m.the Nutmeg Grille will be open for cocktails and appetizers. Buy one appetizer and receive a second at half price.
  
  

If using one of these specials, tell your server at the time you place your order.

Math professor a principal investigator in Virtual Cell project
Yung-Sze Choi, an associate professor of mathematics, is one of the principal investigators on a $4 million grant from the National Institutes of Health for the development of a program at the Health Center that simulates the behavior of cells. Choi's name was omitted from an article in the February 1 issue of the Advance.