Monday Memo October 9, 2017

Message from Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs

Dear A&S Faculty:

'Tis the season for many deadlines for personnel actions so, just a few reminders:

  • Sabbatical requests are due to the Provost on October 16th. We have several requests which require additional justification. Emails have been sent to these faculty. Once the additional information has been received, Dean Leonard can make a final decision. 
  • The deadline for tenure and promotion dossiers to be delivered to the College Personnel Committee has been extended to October 16th. This reflects a two-week extension due to problems with receipt of extramural reviews.
  • Pretenure binders were delivered to the departments the last week in September.  Pretenure dossiers are due to the College Personnel Committee on February 5th. Other deadlines for the review process will be set by the department.
  • There will be a DGS meeting on October 24 from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. in Humanities 300.

Other good news – While Blackboard shells are usually open to students two weeks prior to classes starting, if instructors want them open earlier, a request can be made using this electronic form. While this is not a new option, it does not seem to be widely known.

Also, the College Personnel Committee has created an electronic list for tenure and promotion case materials. It will be distributed later this year and posted to the College Faculty Affairs web page. It will be put to use during the 2018-19 academic year.
 
On another note, don't forget this year's Annual Day of Giving which will take place this Wednesday, 10/11. Help us "Raise Some L" and show that A&S faculty and staff are the most committed at UofL. Significantly, it is participation not the amount given that counts for this blitz campaign. If you wish to be an Ambassador for your department or program, see the announcement below. 

Wishing everyone continuing productivity during the Fall Semester!

Sincerely,

Deborah Keeling
Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs

Announcements

"Raise Some L" on Wednesday, 10/11
Raise money for A&S or your department or program on this year's Day of Giving. Become an A&S Ambassador and ask your colleagues, friends, and family to participate in this year’s Day of Giving! The focus for this one-day campaign is participation, not dollars. So every gift counts! Go to uofl.me/AS-RaiseSomeL, scroll down to the category buttons, click on the your area, and then sign up to be an Ambassador. Once signed up, you will have access to a toolkit and you can create your very own referral link! Questions: contact Will Holley or Matt Cable. 

How does tenure matter to you?
Tell your tenure story. AAUP at UofL has created a new website dedicated to publishing testimonies that demonstrate the value of the tenure system for higher education. University faculty of all ranks and positions are invited to contribute. Help us educate those who may be unfamiliar with the tenure system and communicate the vital role that tenure plays in fulfilling UofL's fundamental academic mission. Post your story at tenurematters.org.

Historical Walking Tour with Prof. Tom Owen
For the next six Wednesdays (October 11, 18, 25 and November 1, 8, and 15) at 12 Noon, Prof. Tom Owen will lead a free fifty-minute exercise/historical walking tour of Belknap Campus starting and returning from the Ekstrom Library porch facing the Humanities Building. The tour is sponsored by UofL’s Get Healthy Now office and no sign-up is necessary. 
 
A few fun facts about our campus history:

  • In the 1850s, the campus was developed as a city-owned cemetery
  • In 1860, a city-owned orphanage/reform school was built here but, before opening, the Union Army needed the site
  • In 1865, the orphanage/reform school finally opened as the House of Refuge—later called the Louisville School of Industrial Reform
  • UofL moved to this site in 1925 and we still use eight buildings that date to the 19th C. and very early 20th C. 
  • Belknap Campus served white students only until 1951 but, for 20 years before, the University operated a separate campus for Blacks a couple of miles away
  • A busy street with trolleys and buses once separated Belknap Campus from a neighborhood expansion area to the north

Diversity & Engagement

Free webinar: "A House of Civic Engagement: A Foundation of Civic Learning"
Producing informed and civically engaged citizens is a fundamental objective for many colleges and universities. While most strive to increase the civic-mindedness of their students, there isn't necessarily a clear picture of exactly what civic learning looks like or how outcomes can be assessed.

During this FREE webinar, you will learn about:

  • Possible learning outcomes in civic engagement, and the importance of student learning among them
  • Articulating student learning outcomes amid an institutional drive for civic engagement
  • Transitioning research into practice in the assessment of student learning

You'll hear from:

  • Anne Weiss, Ph.D. Candidate, Director of Assessment for Indiana Campus Compact;
  • Dena Pastor, Ph.D., Professor of Graduate Psychology and Associate Director of Assessment Operations in the Center for Assessment & Research Studies at James Madison University;
  • Ross Markle, Ph.D., Senior Assessment Strategist for Higher Education at ETS.

Please join us as we discuss civic learning and engagement and explore how outcomes can be articulated and assessed.

A House of Civic Engagement, A Foundation of Civic Learning
Wednesday, October 11, 2017
2 p.m. ET; 11 a.m. PT

This webinar is sponsored by ETS and hosted by The Chronicle of Higher Education. All content presented during the event is provided by ETS.

Teaching

2018 Celebration of Teaching & Learning: professional development opportunity
The 2018 Celebration of Teaching and Learning has been set for Friday, February 9, at Shelby Campus and planning for this campus-wide teaching conference is under way.  Dr. Dee Fink will be this year’s keynote speaker. In addition to offering the Celebration keynote, Dr. Fink will also lead a course design institute on Belknap Campus in the morning and a lunch session on the Health Science Campus on Thursday, February 8.

Dr. Fink is a national and international consultant on college teaching and faculty development. He is author of Creating Significant Learning Experiences: An Integrated Approach to Designing College Courses (Jossey-Bass, Updated Ed., 2013). He is also co-editor of Team-Based Learning: A Transformative Use of Small Groups in College Teaching (Stylus, 2004).  Learn more about Dr. Fink at www.finkconsulting.info.

Please mark your calendars and plan on joining your colleagues from across the university for this annual professional development opportunity. Registration opens on December 1. More information will be forthcoming. 

Kudos

First year MFA student's work features in October Louisville Magazine
Zed Saeed, a first year MFA student in Studio Art & Desing, has produced a large series of photography for the Louisville Magazine’s October 2017 issue. His work is also featured on the cover of the magazine. The issue's cover story and Saeed's photographs explore the conditions of refugees in Louisville. See the magazine's cover and the full story.

In the News

Is it time to tell your story? Writer's Block Festival takes over Tim Faulkner Gallery (Courier-Journal, 10/3/17) -  Writer's Block Festival ends with a reading by the UofL Anne and William Axton Keynote Leslie Jamison, author of the award-winning essay collection, The Empathy Exams.

The ‘Reel’ Latin American Film Festival returns to Louisville (WFPL, 10/4/17) – About the month long (Oct. 5-Nov. 10) “Reel” Latin American Film Festival, which is in its 24th year. Features quotes from festival creator Prof. Manuel Medina (Classical & Modern Languages).

U of hell scandal: ‘Trafficking black bodies’ (LEO Weekly, 10/4/17) - Guest commentator Prof. Ricky Jones (Pan-African Studies) weighs in on current UofL men's basketball program scandal bribery scandal.