Category Archives: Action

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Seriously, now you must do the accessibility training

The Provost has asked me to remind those who have not yet completed the accessibility training to please do so. You should be getting reminder emails from the Provost’s Office, including another one Monday. Carolyn Haynes writes:

Please know that I am very aware of the demands that we are making of our faculty.  Because we know how busy they are, we tried to make the training as easy to complete as possible.
Not only is this training related to our need to comply with the terms of our recent court case relating to working with students with disabilities, but it is also a critical need to ensure an inclusive learning environment for all of our students.
If you are not getting the reminder emails then you have already completed the survey (early October, mid-May).

Faculty development opportunity from OARS

From Heather Johnston, OARS:

OARS will be sponsoring a one-day visit by Professor Carl Batt (Cornell University) late in the current semester. On this day, Dr. Batt will present two workshops: one on early career/young investigator programs and one on general grantsmanship. To select a date that works for as many prospective participants as possible, we hope you will take a minute to register your availability in this Doodle poll.

Seriously, you must do the ethics survey

All faculty should have received an email (from General Counsel) about the annual Ethics Questionnaire and External Services. The dean has made very clear that faculty will need to complete the ethics survey, as we need 100% compliance as an institution.

Also, in this email was a link to report external services for things you do for outside entities (even journal service, publisher contracts, etc.). You need to complete this form as well, unfortunately for each such activity that you do (due to lawyers making surveys). Note that many of us have something here–things like serving on an editorial board are included. See the clarification on the matter in MUPIM here. It’s essentially trying to protect the “university’s time” by making sure we aren’t overcommitted to outside activities, but may be quite pro forma.

There are no survey links here as the emails are specific to each of you, to my understanding. Please see me if you did not receive this email or have any questions.

Two requests from CAS and Admissions

From Ted Peters, Asst. Dean in CAS, regarding some need for faculty to help with recruitment efforts. First, they are looking for instructors willing to allow prospective students to attend a class. If you might consider allowing an occasional guest in your class, please enter it directly in the Google Sheet here. They are also looking for faculty willing to sit on panels during recruitment days; he writes:

The Office of Admissions is seeking one faculty representatives from each academic division to serve on panels for the following events this fall semester. Participants will be asked to respond to questions asked by students and/or admissions staff; there is nothing faculty need to prepare beforehand. Admissions will likely ask panelists to address two questions: 1) what’s special/unique about Miami?; and 2) What advice do you have for prospective students about being successful in this environment?

  • Sat. 9/9 @ 10:45AM (Admission Visit Center – Shriver; access via ground level in the rear)
    • Day of Champions: multi-cultural recruitment event.  Please arrive no later than 10:45AM; will take the stage at 11:00AMand finish by 12:00PM
  • Fri. 10/6 @ 9:15AM (Wilks Theater- Armstrong Ctr)
    • Red Carpet Day: high ability student recruitment.  Please arrive no later than 9:15AM; will take the stage at 9:30AM and finish by 10:15AM.
  • Sat. 10/7 @ 9:15AM (FSB 1000)
    • Admission Preview Day: first-year recruitment event.  Please arrive no later than 9:15AM; will take the stage at 9:30AM and finish by 10:15AM
  • Fri. 10/20 @ 9:15AM (Wilks Theater- Armstrong Ctr)
    • Red Carpet Day: high ability student recruitment.  Please arrive no later than 9:15AM; will take the stage at 9:30AM and finish by 10:15AM.
  • Sat. 11/4 @ 9:15AM (FSB 1000)
    • Admission Preview Day: first-year recruitment event.  Please arrive no later than 9:15AM; will take the stage at 9:30AM and finish by 10:15AM
  • Sat. 11/11 @ 9:15AM (FSB 1000)
    • Admission Preview Day- first-year recruitment event.  Please arrive no later than 9:15AM; will take the stage at 9:30AM and finish by 10:15AM

Please let Ted know directly if you are able to help out, have any questions, or have trouble accessing the form. These are some important and impactful recruitment efforts to continue to attract a strong and diverse incoming class.

Important info concerning your undergrad RAs

As you sign up your RAs for this year, please be aware that ALL undergraduates working in your lab or with you on other special projects should be signed up for *77 independent study credit. This should match their standing (e.g. 377 for a junior) and be in appropriate number according to the nature of the experience; generally 1 cr. = 3 or 4 hrs/wk averaged over the semester. You must use the .R modifier if it is a research assistant. This is critical for the student to earn their experiential learning MP designation and for us to be able to properly track students for reporting, etc. Students who are not registered for credit will not be included during evaluations of faculty research mentoring. If you have questions about this or situations where you think students should not be credit-bearing, please let me know.

 

Who are your interesting undergrads?

Jason Barone is now seeking students for CAS Student Spotlight interviews. These are a great way to advertise the work we do through the students we involve, and a way to identify students for further programs, nominations, etc. He writes:

As always, I’m looking for a good variety of students in terms of majors, backgrounds, accomplishments, and so on. Please provide me with some names and majors — and ask your department faculty for some suggestions as well. I’ll do my best to contact the students for face-to-face interviews this fall.

This year, in order to make these profiles more dynamic and interesting, one new feature I hope to add to the written spotlights is a short video portion, in which students talk about a specific accomplishment or activity at Miami — study abroad, research, internship, etc. This will increase their potential use across the web and our social media platforms.

Feel free to reply via either email or the online submission form I’ve set up for this process

Important policy reminders, updates

As we get into the new academic year, I wanted to provide some important policy updates and reminders:

  • A simple cheat sheet with important reminders about purchasing policies and procedures can be found here.
  • Please make sure to send Quentin your syllabus by September 1. In preparing your syllabus, you should consider these important points:
    • If you are teaching 111, 221, 231, 241, 242, or 332, you should review the TAG guidelines for the course. These specify learning outcomes to provide state-mandated alignment of these courses across all institutions in Ohio.
    • You should include a statement in your syllabi regarding academic integrity (departmental statement here) and I strongly encourage you to consider promoting the departmental diversity statement as well.
    • Please think about statements in your syllabus regarding accommodations and accessibility. An interesting read on this topic recently appeared in the Chronicle (thanks Amy S.!)
  • Everyone should have received an email about the new reporting requirements for harassment, discrimination, sexual misconduct, and interpersonal violence. Please be on the lookout for email from OEEO regarding mandatory training for all faculty and GAs. I will provide more information on the blog as it is made available, or you can find additional information on the OEEO website.

 

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.

Support the neuroscience curriculum! #MoveInMiami

Sheep brain dissections in PSY251 teach students the basics of neuroanatomy and help conceptualize the 3-dimensional structure of the brain. This experience creates a strong foundation for all upper-level neuroscience courses.

The second of our #MoveInMiami projects is to support the undergraduate neuroscience curriculum; the related page can be found here, and states:

Neuroscience is one of the most demanding fields in medicine and research, and is also incredibly popular among Miami undergraduates. Enrollment in the neuroscience co-major has steadily increased since its inception.

The behavioral neuroscience fund will expand experiential learning experiences across the neuroscience curriculum in the Psychology Department, including 200, 300, and 400 level courses.

Stay tuned for more about how you can help with this effort as well as the graduate student travel fund, our other #MoveInMiami project. This project was previously announced in this post describing the campaign.