Monthly Archives: August 2017

Help support the department with #MoveInMiami

As discussed some previously in this post, Miami coordinates a one-day fundraising campaign on freshman move-in day, Thursday, August 24. This is one opportunity for individual departments to include individual “projects” for targeted publicity and (hopefully) support.

This year we are focusing on the graduate student travel fund and the neuroscience curriculum. We are asking for your help in publicizing these campaigns in any of several ways:

  • Take a picture in the main office for us to post on social media, with a single phrase of “wisdom” for the incoming class.
  • Post the links to your social media, and be sure to use the #MoveInMiami tag. You might also follow activity of other university entities such as @PresGreg or @miamiuniversity.
  • Reach out to individual alumni, especially former graduate students that might understand the need for graduate student travel support. Every little bit helps.
  • Make a contribution! Again, every little bit helps.

I’m hopeful we can all work a little bit to see if we can make this a success. For relatively little individual effort, flash campaigns such as this can reap tangible (and “record-breaking”) benefits. I understand that the fundraising functions of the department and university are not within our typical routines and appreciate any activity each of you are comfortable undertaking.

Budget and fiscal priorities

I am glad to announce that I’ll be serving on this committee for the upcoming AY*. I think it’s important to be a part of this conversation on the university level and hope its a good chance to advocate for the work we value as a department.

* unless Senate disbands it

New IT support procedure

From this point on, all IT requests should go through IT Help, rather than contacting Todd directly. From the dean:

Starting August 1, the College of Arts and Science IT staff (CASIT; your primary rep is Todd Henson) will provide their support services in a new partnership with University IT Services. They have worked together on developing a shared support model that integrates their activities in a collaborative fashion, streamlining your support experience through a single interface, shared practices, and defined response times. The new support model was piloted by several departments last spring and is now being expanded to all departments in the College. Here are some key benefits of the new model:

  1. Single point of contact for all technology support
  2. Faster response to phone calls with immediate efforts to resolve the issue
  3. Emergency calls may be passed directly to CASIT
  4. Allowing you to track and interact with the status of your ticket
  5. Eliminate confusion as to whom you should contact for a particular problem.

From now on, please do not phone, text or email your CASIT rep directly to initiate service. Beginning August 1st, we are asking that you direct your IT-related issues through the IT Services Support Desk by:
Phone:   513-529-7900
Email:  ithelp@miamioh.edu
Online:   miamioh.edu/it

If the Support Desk is unable to resolve the problem while you are on the phone, they will either transfer your call directly to a CASIT Team member or create a ticket and assign it to CASIT.

NSF Major Research Instrumentation

Faculty interested in this grant mechanism should let OARS know of your interest, since the number of institutional proposals is limited. From OARS:

The National Science Foundation’s Major Research Instrumentation Program (MRI) assists in the acquisition or development of major research instrumentation.

NSF is currently revising guidelines for this program, which may affect the number of proposals Miami University can submit. Historically, however, we have been allowed to submit up to 3 MRI proposals (at least 1 of which must be for instrument development and no more than 2 for instrument acquisition) on which we are either the lead or a partner institution. To facilitate the selection of our submissions to NSF, we have set a deadline of Monday, October 2, 2017 to receive preliminary MRI proposals for internal review. You are required to provide a preliminary proposal regardless of whether you were selected as an institutional submission in previous years.

To be considered as an institutional submission, please email a preliminary proposal to
Anne Schauer, including a cover page giving title, PIs and departments, amount, and list of instrumentation.  The Project Description should address both the scientific merit and broader impacts (3 pgs.). You should describe the proposed major research instrumentation, the type of research or research training to be conducted, the activities and projects that would result from this instrumentation, and how students will be involved and how their education will be enhanced through this instrumentation.

Direct any questions to Anne Schauer.

Celebrate the new (academic) year!

Recall Elise and Josh are hosting a potluck to start the new year on August 20. From Elise:

We have a lot to celebrate! An impending solar eclipse, a beautiful summer, a wonderful department, and most importantly: Vrinda Kalia officially joining our faculty on the tenure track!

With this in mind, Josh and I would like to invite you to our house, specifically:

What? An end-of-summer potluck celebrating Vrinda Kalia and other happy things
When? Sunday August 20, 12-4pm
Who? Psychology department faculty, staff, students, and significant others/families
Parking? Our driveway, North Patterson, or East Withrow (no parking on Shadowy Hills please)
RSVP? email (eliseclerkin@gmail.com) or call/text Elise (see her email)
What to Bring? A drink or dish to share

Direct any questions to Elise and Josh of course, and see you there!