30 January: Collaboration Conference: "The Connected Campus"

Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003
From: James Postema
To: Faculty
Subject: Collaboration Conference: "The Connected Campus"

Faculty should have received a brochure in the PO boxes recently about the Winter Conference of the Collaboration for the Advancement of College Teaching & Learning, "The Connected Campus: How Technology is Changing Teaching and Learning." The conference will be held February 20-21, a Thursday and Friday, at the Radisson Hotel South in Bloomington, MN. We have funds to send four faculty members, covering the basic costs of registration, food, lodging, and transportation. These conferences can be very valuable opportunities to see what's happening on other campuses, and to talk with colleagues from our own campus while there and traveling to and from.

The web page for the conference is at http://www.collab.org/conferences.html. If you would like to attend, please let me know as soon as possible. The group attending would likely leave early the morning of Feb. 20, using a carpool vehicle, to arrive in time for the 11am keynote address; the conference goes until noon on Friday, allowing you time to return to Moorhead by supper time.

If you're interested in attending, or have any questions about arrangements, don't hesitate to contact me.

Jim Postema

29 January: Reminder of Faculty Development Opportunities

Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003
To: All faculty
Subject: Reminder of Faculty Development Opportunities
From: Sabine O'Hara Academic Vice President and Dean

This is a reminder that proposals for support through our new Undergraduate Assistant Program are due to my office by Friday, February 7. Your proposal should describe the project for which you seek support through the UA Program and must include the following:

1. A brief description of your project
2. Project goals
3. Expected learning outcomes for the student undergraduate assistants
4. Expected duration of the project
5. Number of undergraduate assistants you are requesting

Faculty whose projects are selected will receive information on qualified students and will play a key role in selecting undergraduate assistant recipients both among the new student and current first year student cohorts.

UA awards will be made for a 3 to 4 year period. However, you will be expected to submit annual evaluations of your UA's performance to assure that they are truly meeting the objectives you set. Should a student under perform you will have the opportunity to replace them with another student from a pool of qualified candidates for the duration of your approved project.

22 January: Bush Faculty Development Grants Available

Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2003
To: All faculty
Subject: Bush Faculty Development Grants Available

Grants in three areas for program development and faculty development are available through support from the Bush Foundation. The Professional Growth Committee urges you to consider applying for one of these programs by February 15:

- Departments or programs may apply for grants for Workshops on the Liberal Arts, Pedagogy, and Curriculum. These would provide opportunities for departments and/or programs to conduct two-day workshops on the relationship of their programs to the college's overall liberal-arts goals, discussing implications for pedagogy within the context of their own particular curricula. Funds are available to support two to three groups for retreats taking place over two days. Participants will receive $100/day; one coordinator per group will receive $200/day. Funds to cover costs of using rooms in local restaurants (at $15/person/day) will be provided; in addition, a materials budget of $25 will also be available. We expect that the retreats will take place when classes are not in session-i.e., during the summer or mid-semester breaks. 

- Grants for Interdisciplinary Program Retreats are also available, to nurture interdisciplinary discussions on a broad scale for the purpose of improving or creating interdisciplinary programs at Concordia. Grants would support two to three groups, for retreats taking place over two days. Participants will receive $100/day; one coordinator per group will receive $200/day. Funds to cover costs of using rooms in local restaurants (at $15/person/day) will be provided; in addition, a materials budget of $20 will also be available. We expect that the retreats will take place when classes are not in session-i.e., during the summer or mid-semester breaks. 

- Finally, Grants for Collaboration with Off-Campus Teaching Partners are again available for two-three faculty members. These grants support release time for the faculty members to establish working relationships with people from off campus whose expertise could be used in significant ways to improve student learning in a particular course. Off-campus partaners will receive stipends of up to $1500. 

14 January: Reminder about Professional Development Allotments

Date: Tue, 14 Jan 2003
To: all faculty
From: Jim Postema
Subject: Reminder about Professional Development Allotments

I would like to remind you that all faculty members are eligible to use (if you haven't already done so) your allotments of Professional Development funds. I'm including the guidelines for use of the allotments below, so that you will know how to access your funds.

Purpose: Each faculty member on an academic-year contract is given a Professional Growth allotment, to be used for the professional development of the faculty member. These funds may be used to attend teaching workshops, professional society meetings, memberships in professional organizations, journal subscriptions, books, etc. Funds will generally be spent at the discretion of the individual faculty member; however, all expenses must be approved by James Postema, Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Resources (department chairs, by the way, do not have to approve these expenses). Please note that the allotments are not meant to be general professional expense accounts; rather, expenses are meant to help you grow in some way as a faculty member. Further below is a list of expenses that are typically approved or not approved, to help you plan requests for reimbursement.

Allotments: All faculty teaching half-time or more are allotted $525 annually, which includes $150 for travel expenses and $375 for general expenses. Travel funds can be used to pay for food, lodging, and transportation related to professional development activities; these funds may accumulate to a maximum of $450. General funds can pay for travel costs as well as other types of expenses (journals, books, etc.); general funds may accumulate to a maximum total of $1125. Travel expenses will be paid out of the travel funds first; if travel expenses exceed the level of travel funds available in your allotment, the remainder will be paid out of your available general funds.

Faculty teaching less than half-time on academic-year contracts receive half the allotment given to full-time faculty. Faculty on sabbatical receive their regular allotment for the academic year.

Balance information: If you would like to know the current balance in your Professional Growth allotment, you can contact Shanda Schmidt in the Academic Affairs Office (x4211, mailto:sschmidt@cord.edu).

Restrictions: Money from the Professional Growth account may be spent only if funds are present in a faculty member's allotment when a requested expense occurs: i.e., you may be reimbursed for a book purchased in April only if funds are still available in your allotment on the date when the book was purchased. According to accounting guidelines, faculty may not spend funds in advance, nor may funds be disbursed to cover expenses that occurred in a prior fiscal year (before May 1). The only exceptions allowed under these rules are that faculty members may pay airfare costs and/or conference fees in advance, for events taking place during the next fiscal year, if funds are available when these payment requests are submitted.

Faculty may request reimbursement for expenses by submitting either a "Travel Expense Report" or a "Direct Payment Voucher Request," with detailed receipts, to James Postema, Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Resources. For explanations of how to fill out these forms, you could consult the guide on the Faculty Development website, "Using Payment Request Forms--or--How to Get $ from the Administration: A Guide for Faculty, " at http://www.cord.edu/dept/facultydev/vouchers.htm. Links to the forms themselves are also available on that webpage.

Professional Growth funds-precedents

The following expenses will typically be approved:

- trips to professional conferences, or for research purposes

- books, videos or other materials to expand one's teaching repertoire or for professional scholarship

- research supplies

- memberships in professional organizations

- subscriptions to journals in professional fields

- registration fees for professional licensure

- specialized software for one's disciplinary work--i.e., not general office packages

- business cards (please note that this is a change from previous years' policies)

The following expenses have typically not been approved:

- daybooks, Franklin planners

- textbooks for use in courses taught

- general purpose software, especially general office packages

- computer hardware, including Palm Pilots--unless planned use is directly related to research needs (e.g., a specialized data analysis probe), or other direct professional growth rationale

- general hardware--e.g., bookshelves or reading lights

Specific reimbursement policies:

- when a faculty member is driving to a conference or other destination for professional growth, we pay whichever is the lower amount, mileage (at $.24/mile) or airfare (based on online price quotes)

- we typically do not pay for both gasoline purchases and mileage, unless a faculty member must rent a car and needs to cover gas costs as well

- we do not give cash advances for large sums of money (e.g., over $200) without very specific reasons for doing so

Proscribed expenses-by policy the college does not pay for:

- alcohol

- entertainment--although this is often determined by discipline, e.g. theater performances for faculty who teach drama would be covered

- malpractice insurance fees

If you have any questions about these policies, or the procedures for accessing your funds, please don't hesitate to contact me at x4211 or mailto:postema@cord.edu.

Enjoy!--Jim Postema

13 January: New Core Distribution and Integration Course Credit

Date: Mon, 13 Jan 2003
To: all faculty
Subject: New Core Distribution and Integration Course Credit

Faculty Colleagues:

The application deadline for new core distribution and integration course credit is January 24, 2003 for courses offered in the 2003 Fall Term. Core distribution and integration criteria and application forms may be obtained from me or may be found at the Core Committee Home Page: http://www4.cord.edu/acadAffairs/committees/core/Default.htm 

If you have any questions contact me or other members of the Core Committee.

Carroll Engelhardt,
chair Core Committee

13 January: Congratulations to Dr. Sabine O'Hara

Date: Mon, 13 Jan 2003
To: faculty and administrators
Subject: Congratulations to Dr. Sabine O'Hara

Congratulations to Dr. Sabine O'Hara, VP for Academic Affairs and Dean of the College, on her election as Trustee of the Association for Social Economics. ASE was established in 1941 to advance scholarly research and writing about the great questions of economics and ethics, human dignity and the social dimensions of economic problems and economic policy. Dr. O'Hara's election is testimony to her accomplishments as a scholar and teacher and gives credence to our own commitment to academic excellence and ethical leadership.

President Thomsen

7 January: Dr. Sabine O'Hara to give first Faculty Colloquium presentation

Date: Tue, 7 Jan 2003
To: All Faculty
Subject: Dr. Sabine O'Hara to give first Faculty Colloquium presentation

Academic Dean Dr. Sabine O'Hara will give the first presentation in this semester's Faculty Colloquium Series. She will speak on "Economic Development as if Local Residents Mattered," at 4:30pm, Birkeland Alumni Lounge, on Tuesday, Jan. 14. All are invited to attend this presentation and discussion.

Jim Postema