Minutes
3 February 2004
Announcements-Musselman
Doctoral Program vote. I announced the results of the vote before all the ballots were in due to closure of the university. The final vote was15 in favor of establishing a PhD in biology with two opposed. This topic will be on our retreat agenda.
Space allocation in MGB. No additional room has been located on campus for me to move my lab and possibly the herbarium. Therefore, we will have to find space in MGB. This will require moving labs. This process will have to begin soon in order to accommodate our new ecology hire. I will reallocate space in accordance with College of Sciences policy. See: http://web.odu.edu/webroot/orgs/sci/colsciences.nsf/pages/ResearchSA It will also be necessary to reconsider space used by adjuncts and emeritus faculty.
Warehouse space. With Mary Hayward, I am visiting laboratories to determine what items might be better stored in our warehouse. If you have items that should be moved, please let Mary know. Precious lab space cannot be used for storage of unused or unusable equipment.
Department retreat. Please reserve Saturday 27 March for our department retreat. The main items on the agenda will be curriculum revision, amalgamating doctoral programs, developing a strategic plan, and reconsidering course budgets. I have appointed someone to head a group to prepare an agenda which will be ready before the retreat. Matters will be discussed at the retreat and voted on later.
Web updates. Our department webmaster, Amine Bouhamidi, will establish hours for consultation. These will be posted outside the main office. In addition, you can make an appointment with Amine to discuss what you need done on your pages on our department web site.
Graduate student concerns. I appreciate the efforts of the GPDs to establish clear communication with our graduate students. Please encourage any graduate students with concerns to talk with me. I am tracking university developments regarding health insurance coverage, computers, office space, and the perennial problem of better stipends.
Research Day 23 March. Please plan to present one of your posters at this event. The dean and upper administration are putting a lot of emphasis on this and a large turnout from our department can only enhance our image. Unfortunately, posters that have only graduate students as authors are not acceptable. A faculty member must be included as an author.
Computers. We desperately need new computers for faculty and graduate students. To help meet this need, I am committing department funds to purchasing new computers. These must be all the same to save money and in accordance with OCCS policies. Do not "rescue" discarded computers! If computers are discarded, it is because they are no longer servicable.
Annual evaluations. Please get these to me as soon as possible following the same guidelines as we used last year. All material must be submitted electronically. There are two parts, an updated CV following the guidelines in our Policies and Procedures Manual and a one page summary of your accomplishments during the past year. General guidelines are at: http://web.odu.edu/webroot/orgs/sci/colsciences.nsf/pages/JoeRule-AnnualFacultyEvaluation and http://web.odu.edu/webroot/orgs/sci/colsciences.nsf/pages/JoeRule-FiveYear If you have any questions, please contact me. The dean has drafted new categories of performance. This document will be distributed after review by department chairs.
In class evaluation. Beginning immediately, I plan to visit classes for evaluation per guidelines in our Policies and Procedures.
Dealing with troubled students. For whatever reason, we seem to have a regular stream of students who need help. If you have any indication that you are dealing with a student who you think might need counseling or other help, please let me know as soon as possible. Each case must be treated with the utmost confidence. Do not share information even if another department member is mentioned.
Research/Development leaves. It has been my policy to be as liberal as possible in granting leaves, particularly for faculty who are pursuing promotion. All that I have requested have been granted but to date I have received no reports per page 170 of the current Faculty Handbook.
Announcements-Story
Our new printer in is in place and working. Please remember to send all large print orders to Electra. Large print jobs must go to Electra, if they are sent to the new printer they risk being aborted. Contact Milissa with any questions.
