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College of Humanities and Social & Behavioral Sciences |
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| II.
Department Life |
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Department Governance and Personnel Matters
2.1
How do I know the rules that govern my department and how the department
works?
Make sure that you have an up-to-date copy of your departmental By-laws and working rules (also called department standards and/or practices ). Your By-laws will typically set out the committee structure of your department; reappointment, tenure and promotion requirements; summer school; selection of the chair (and term) as well as other items that your department selected to include. All current department By-laws are on the university web site at: <http://www.fps.cmich.edu>.
In many cases, other working rules have been developed over time and have been printed in departmental minutes. If you have questions about the “practices” of the department, your best sources of information may be your department chair, your department secretary, or your mentor (if you are a recent hire in the department).
2.2 I am preparing my materials
for reappointment (tenure or promotion).
What do I do?
First, you need to consult your department By-laws because they have been contractualized and they provide your most important information. Then you should organize your materials reflecting the university’s four standards as found in the CMU-FA Agreement and reflected in your By-laws: teaching effectiveness, scholarly and creative activity, professional growth, and service. Using your department standards (as found in your By-laws), you should further organize your evidence showing how your work meets each of the criteria.
When in doubt, consult your
mentor, your chair, or colleagues on your personnel committee.
Remember that the narrative that you provide, showing how you have met
the department and university standards and each of the criteria, is
very important.
Including records of previous appointments and
letters from your mandatory conferences with the associate dean (for
non-tenured faculty) or meetings with the
dean (in the case of tenured faculty) may also prove helpful.
2.3
What are the deadlines for personnel matters?
Always check the
CMU-FA
Agreement for contractualized deadlines.
No deadline is specified in the
Agreement
for reappointment, although the deadlines for tenure are generally
applied to reappointment. Sometimes
departments prefer to set earlier deadlines than those that appear in the
Agreement, so it is
good practice to ask the department chair for clarification and guidance.
If you are still in doubt about personnel deadlines, contact Faculty
Personnel Services (x3368).
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Department
Working Rules
2.4
What are the department policies on telephone use?
Each department sets its own rules for the use of university telephones because phone bills are paid at the department level. Before making long distance charges to the department, check on department policy.
2.5
If I want voice mail on my phone, how do I set it up?
Call telecommunications (x4983) and request a voice mail set-up on your telephone. For double offices, university telecommunications can configure voice mail to both parties if the caller is using a touch-tone phone.
2.6
How do I obtain copies of books that I am using in my courses?
Most publishers provide free copies of books that have been adopted for courses. Check with your department secretary about obtaining a desk copy directly from the publisher. Most departments do not allow faculty members to purchase desk copies from the bookstore because the costs are charged to the department.
2.7
What are the department policies on photocopying?
Again, policies vary by department. Typically department copy machines have access codes and counters. Your department secretary can provide you with your code, your designated number of copies (by formula or grant), and any other policies that apply (e.g., a policy on copying personal items).
2.8
I would like to recommend some library purchases of
monographs, serials, and videos.
How do I go about doing this?
Check with your department secretary or chair for department policies
concerning purchases.
Then use one of the methods provided by Park Library.
You can use paper forms (available in your department office), the
on-line form that can be found at <http://catalog.lib.cmich.edu/acquire>, or by
e-mailing your department’s bibliographer at Park Library.
The Library also has a purchase profile for each department that targets
purchases from designated publishers; it
is updated frequently with input from the department.
As far as serials are concerned, typically the department weeds serial
titles and makes recommendations as a whole.
For videos, often the department resource committee or
finance committee makes recommendations based on faculty
“wish lists.”
2.9
What do
I do about instructional needs like making
transparencies and color copies; making, copying or digitizing
slides;
scanning; copying video clips; burning CDs and the
like?
Some departments are better equipped than others.
First check with your department about the availability of transparency
paper and making color copies on your departmental copier or office printer.
Scanning is available in most departments, although zip drives are not
universally available, so you may want to save your scanned items to your hard
drive or to your folder on the college server.
University media services provide some instructional services, but
hourly or job fees are charged, so you need to check with your department
before contracting with them. A fee
schedule is available from media services or from your department office.
For more high-end activities like digitizing slides, burning CDs, or digitizing video clips, contact the college’s computer support if your department does not have the equipment to
provide the service. The college does not
currently charge for the services that it provides
(only for materials if you do not provide them and for color laser
copying in large quantity because of the cost of the ink cartridges).
2.10 Does my department have a faculty handbook or guide?
This varies by department. Check
with your department chair or secretary.
2.11
What is a faculty mentor?
A faculty mentor is simply a veteran faculty member, either chosen by the newer faculty member or assigned by the department (the method is determined by the department), who is available to answer your questions, to work with you on research or teaching needs, and to provide initial guidance on issues related to reappointment and employment with the university. The university expects faculty who have been hired under the Multicultural Leadership Program to have mentors; it is an optional arrangement for other new faculty members. Contact your department chair for further information.
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Computer
Support (x1229 and x1740)
2.12
How do I get a new or upgraded computer for my office?
Each
department has its own policies concerning distribution of computers, but you
should make your department chair aware of your need (in some cases, department
resource or finance committees make recommendations to the chair).
Your department then ranks faculty needs and either uses its own
resources for the purchase of faculty computers or makes a request to the dean’s
office. The college typically makes bulk
purchases of equipment twice a year.
2.13
When I receive a new computer, how do I get it set up, connected and configured?
Let your department secretary know that your new computer (probably still in its box) has arrived in your office. Then she or he can submit a work order to the college’s computer staff to install your computer. If you have a computer already in your office, the college’s staff has configured and connected it and everything is fine. Once you are sure that you have been connected,
configured,
and your existing files transferred, then you should contact your department
secretary to file a moving request to have the old computer sent to salvage
(unless the computer is being reassigned to a graduate student, staff member,
another faculty member or department).
Usually the department makes such decisions.
If the computer is being reassigned, let college computer support know
where you are moving the old computer (for reasons of inventory) and the staff
will come to wipe the hard drive clean (for reasons of security) and rebuild the
computer for its new recipient. Just as a
reminder--we cannot give away old computers to individuals or groups no matter
how worthwhile the cause. See the college
web site at:
<http://www.chsbs.cmich.edu> for further information and policies.
2.14
How do I contact computer support when I have needs?
Contact
your department secretary who will file an on-line work order for computer
support. Please be very specific about
your needs and whether or not you need to be in your office when the service is
performed. The on-line computer support
form is linked to the college’s main page where any faculty member can access
it, but most departments prefer to have the secretary submit computer requests
for purposes of tracking them.
Once your
computer service request has been made, you can track progress and completion by
accessing the college Computer Support page and clicking on the button marked
“Work Status.”
Work orders
are not accepted by telephone, but you should feel free to report emergencies or
to ask questions by telephoning x1229 or x1740.
2.15
What is the difference between college computer support and the
university’s computer support?
The college computer support personnel will handle your daily needs:
software problems, hardware glitches, web questions and linking, set-up
and configuration.
In general, if you are new to the university or to web-based applications, you will need to contact university computer support to set up your e-mail account and your calendar (if you so desire). As a general rule, check with the college’s support staff before going to the university’s computer support
personnel.
2.16 What do I need
to build a faculty home page or a course
page?
First, you need to contact the college’s
computer support (x1229 or x1740) to have a folder set up on the college’s web
server. Second, you should, if possible,
use Frontpage
as your general web development tool.
Third, once you have completed your web development work, then you can
move your faculty home page or course page to your destination folder on the
college web server. Whenever you update
your pages, you can simply access that web location and make your changes as
replacements.
2.17
What if I haven’t reached the stage of building my own
page to put on the server?
Watch for listings of college workshops on
FrontPage or
workshops offered by university computer support
on the
OIT webpage at:
<http://www.oit.cmich.edu>.
OIT (Office of Information Technology) can also supply a
self-teaching CD to instruct you in building your
FrontPage web.
Frontpage is generally the recommended program
for simple web page development.
When you decide to move into the world
of on-line course exercises, interactive experiences, and course management,
then you should consider workshops on
Blackboard, the
university adopted software to support your needs.
Contact OIT for workshops and self-directed learning.
2.18
I have completed my faculty page and my course
page(s). How do I get them linked to the college page?
You can
follow one of two paths: (1)
watch for the form that is mailed to each faculty member each semester
for listing the URL of your faculty page and course pages, fill it out and
submit the information to the Dean’s Office; or
(2) consult the college page (For
Faculty button) where there will be an easy on-line form to submit.
2.19
What “technical standards” does the college and/or
university
require for course or faculty web pages?
As of summer 2002, the university had not yet adopted a binding set of
“technical
standards.”
The college recommends the
following minimums:
(a) Identification of the course or faculty member with Central Michigan University on the main course or main faculty page. Use of the CMU logo, however, requires permission of university Public Relations (x3197).
(b) Use of the ADA statement (see 3.5 or 5.4), along with other course information and requirements on the syllabus page.
(c) Links back to CMU and CHSBS.
(d) Identification
by name of the author of the page.
Avoid the use of webmaster@….
(e) Date of last update of the page.
(f) Spell checking.
2.20
How do I find out about and have an influence on some or all of
the computer initiatives on campus (hardware,
software,
purchasing, requirements, etc. )?
In general, computer hardware comes from two sources:
(1)
Hardware to support student instruction
is funded annually by
the Technology Planning Board with some matching support from colleges.
Departments discuss their needs, send requests forward via their
department chairs to the college where the dean ranks the requests and presents
them to the Technology Planning Board (a competitive process).
The CHSBS computer laboratories and “mediated” classrooms have generally
been funded this way. Your representative
in this process is your chair at the college level and the dean at the
university level.
(2) Hardware to support faculty
is funded by departments
(supplies and equipment or development budgets) and/or the college.
In both cases, need and available funds play a role in purchases.
See section 2.12 in this guide for further information.
Teaching
and course-related initiatives
are being recommended by
an OIT task force, that has historically been called the
TLTR--Teaching/Learning/
Technology
Roundtable.
College faculty serve as
representatives on that
group. Initiatives under discussion
include a computer requirement for students, faculty training support and
options, and adoption of a standard web-based course design and management
software.
“technical
standards.”
The college recommends the
following minimums:
(a) Identification of the course or faculty member with Central Michigan University on the main course or main faculty page. Use of the CMU logo, however, requires permission of university Public Relations (x3197).
(b) Use of the ADA statement (see 3.5 or 5.4), along with other course information and requirements on the syllabus page.
(c) Links back to CMU and CHSBS.
(d) Identification
by name of the author of the page.
Avoid the use of webmaster@….
(e) Date of last update of the page.
(f) Spell checking.
2.21
What will I find on the college computer support page?
|
CHSBS Computer Support
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|
On-line form for making
computer-and mediated classroom
related requests to the college computer support personnel. All computer needs
(set-up, configuration, repair, trouble-shooting), must be posted here. |
| This is a database generated from work requests. This database records all computer requests, date of posting, and status( completed, incomplete, waiting for parts, etc.). If you have further questions about your work order, contact computer support directly (telephone x1229 or x1740). | |
| Policies for students and faculty who use the computer laboratories in this college are posted here. These policies include access, hours, playing “games”, specialized software, and behavior. | |
|
This
link gives a list of courses
being offered by the college and
where to go for
other courses. |
|
| This category includes all sorts of information for faculty members, policies, software that is available etc. | |
|
This link is to
comment on this website or give any suggestions on what type of
service you would like computer support to
give. |
|
2.22
I know that service is an important part of my role as a
faculty
member at Central Michigan University.
What is the
committee structure of this university?
How do I become a
member
of one of these committees?
There are committees at all levels of the university, beginning at the department level.
Department Committee Structure:
Most departments elect or compose their committees at the beginning of each academic year. Typically personnel committees are elected (based on the provisions set forward in the department By-laws). Other committees may be elected, appointed or composed of volunteers. Check your department By-laws or working rules for information on department committees and how they are formed.
College Committee Structure:
Promotion and Tenure
Committee (a portion of the members are elected by departments and a
portion are appointed by the dean; all members must be tenured and hold the rank
of associate professor or higher).
Makes recommendations to the dean concerning all
promotion and tenure cases.
College Curriculum
Committee (one member from each department elected by departments for
two-year terms on alternating replacement schedules).
Considers all curricular items from
departments and interdisciplinary units in the college and acts on them by
forwarding them as publication or action items to the university’s curricular
bodies.
Committee on Excellence
in Teaching and Academic Programs (one member from each department
elected by departments for one year terms, may be re-elected for another
consecutive year).
Oversees and makes recommendations
concerning projects on teaching and learning.
Committee on Change of
Grade—Grade Grievance Committee (3 faculty members and 3 students from
the college, recommended by their departments and elected annually by the
college’s Dean’s Advisory Council).
Handles cases referred by the associate dean,
based on the university’s Change of Grade policy.
Sabbatical Committee
(3 chairs elected by the Dean’s Advisory Council).
Makes recommendations to the dean
concerning sabbatical leave applications and Summer Faculty Scholars grants to
faculty in the college.
Student Paper Prize
Committee (3 annual volunteers from among faculty in the college).
Reads undergraduate and graduate papers submitted for the college
paper prize, making recommendations to the dean and associate dean.
Work takes place during the summer.
Warriner Scholarship
Committee (2 annual volunteers along with the Associate Dean).
Solicits, reviews, and recommends
recipients for the Warriner family scholarships in humanities and social
sciences.
Homecoming Committee
(at least one department member per department).
Assists the dean’s office in hosting
homecoming activities.
University
Committee
Structure:
At the university level, there is a vast array of committees. Each spring, the Academic Senate sends out a preference form to all faculty members. Select one or more committees of interest to you, and then submit the form to the Senate Committee on Committees. You may be selected to membership on a university committee through that method. If you do not achieve membership on a university committee through the Committee on Committees, talk to your department Academic Senator to see if there is an opening that will be filled by election from the floor of the Senate.
Watch also for announcements through your department chair or at your department meetings of needs for members of many of the ad hoc university-wide committees, program councils, or task forces.
♦♦♦♦
2.23 My office furnishings are a nightmare. What do I do?
Talk to your department chair to see if the department has any method for allocating furnishings or for purchasing furnishings. If not, then either contact the associate dean (for information of what used items might be available in the college’s storage in Pearce Hall) or the university’s salvage at x3917 (Jeff Peavey).
2.24
I have claustrophobia.
How do I get a larger office or one
with a window?
Each department has its own policies concerning the assignment of offices. Contact your department chair about the process of assignment (e.g., lottery, seniority, need). Space is always at a premium in the College of Humanities and Social & Behavioral Sciences, so there may be no way of dealing with your problem in the short term.
2.25
The classroom(s) in which I teach are always dirty,
poorly set up, and miserable to teach in.
What can I do?
Missing chalk and
erasers? Contact the dean’s office if
you are teaching in Anspach or your chair if you are in another building to let
the janitorial staff know the problem.
The janitorial staff monitors chalk and erasers, but they need to know if there
are problems.
Wrong number of chairs?
First, make sure you didn’t over-enroll your class.
If you did, do not “steal” chairs from a neighboring classroom.
Contact the dean’s office to see if additional chairs can be sent to your
classroom. Each classroom has a “cap” set
by the number of chairs. If you borrow
from a neighboring classroom, you have just created a nightmare for another
instructor. If you are in doubt, contact
the Registrar’s Office or the dean’s office for information on the number of
chairs that are supposed to be in each classroom.
Broken classroom furnishings?
In Anspach, contact your department secretary or the dean’s office so that the
BMW
(building maintenance worker) can make repairs. In other buildings, contact the