Message from Chair of Political Science and Criminal Justice

Information of Political Science and Criminal Justice Faculty

Advisor Information: At http://www.cas.appstate.edu/studentserv/, you’ll find information on the technical aspects of advising. In the Fall, the College normally holds a session on how to advise studies in the major and in the core curriculum. New faculty will not actually be advising until the Spring of their first academic year as they need more time to acclimate to the way ASU operates.

Annual Report: In late March, using a timeline From March 16 to March 15 of every academic year, all faculty fill out the “Faculty Annual Report.” This is on the web page of the College of Arts and Sciences. I use this in part to conduct my annual faculty evaluations. I also use teaching evaluations from the Fall of that academic year to provide feedback on your progress in the teaching area. I meet with all faculty who are untenured and have not been promoted to Full Professor in Spring for the formal evaluation.

Chairperson Evaluation Form: Early in each Spring semester (usually January), faculty members are asked to evaluate their departmental chairpersons. A copy of the evaluation form is available at the College of Arts and Science web page.

Chronicle of Higher Education: PS/CJ has a departmental account with the Chronicle of Higher Education. You may read it on-line by going to their web site at http://chronicle.com, typing in 22228937 in the first block and 2strck48 in the second block. Or, you may read the hard copies that I place in the lobby by faculty mailboxes.

Class Schedules: Class schedules will no longer be published in paper formats. Instead, you may access them on the web at the Registrar’s home page. Go to: http://www.registrar.appstate.edu/regsinfo/scheclass.html.

Computing Services and Computer Accounts: Academic Computing at 262-6266 and through its web site supports faculty and staff, answers their questions and offers technical support. Tom Van Gilder and Pamela Graham in the College of Arts and Sciences provide assistance to CAS departments directly through http://rightnow.appstate.edu requests. Please do not contact them directly as they are very busy responding to these “rightnow” requests.

Coffee: Ron Stidham usually calls for contributions to the coffee fund at the beginning of every semester. We have a functional coffee machine and for coffee lovers, this is essential.

Computer Lab: The department controls a computer lab downstairs–the smaller one. It has approximately 22 new machines and is available through reservation. Contact Julie Hutchens if you wish to use it in unscheduled times. Currently, those who teach Research Methods have it scheduled from 3:00-5:00pm on Monday through Thursday.

Copying: Submit your photocopying requests to Peggy Ellis. She has devised a system for “Copy Request” that looks like:

class=Section2>

Copy Request

# of Copies: _____

F/B (front and back) Yes or No

Time Needed: __________

Date Needed: __________

Color of Paper: __________

Requesting Person: __________________

class=Section3>

This is part of Peggy’s job description and not considered menial or demeaning. She asks that photocopying requests be submitted to her at least one hour in advance of your need. I prefer that only staff and I directly operate the photocopier because it easily descends into disrepair when there are multiple users.

Departmental Committees: We have four standing committees: the Departmental Personnel Committee (elected by faculty, limited in membership size and members serves staggered terms of office–see Faculty Handbook rules and departmental rules on composition and operations of the DPC), the Criminal Justice Curriculum Committee (open to anyone who teaches in criminal justice), the Political Science Curriculum Committee (open to anyone who teaches in political science) and the Graduate Faculty Committee (open to all departmental Graduate Faculty). We create ad hoc committees from time to time to deal with particular issues or problems.

Diversity Office: The Diversity Office helps departments increase diversity in the student body and in the ranks of faculty. See the Diversity office link and the faculty recruitment and retention plan.

Equity Office: The Equity Office helps ensure that ASU operates in a fair and non-discriminatory manner. It offers educational and training programs to encourage a discrimination-free working environment. Its link is supplied to you.

Faculty Absence Form: Because it is my duty as Chair to make arrangements when classes can not be taught due to illness or other unavoidable causes (see Chapter V in Faculty Handbook, page 4) and because the Handbook says all absences should be planned with the Chair, I have instituted the Faculty Absence Form that should be filled out prior to any anticipated absence or immediately after an unanticipated absence. This protects you from unwarranted student complaints or faulty observations.

Faculty Evaluation Criteria (Merit): The department developed and uses the Faculty Evaluation Criteria for purposes of awarding merit. It is a point-based system. A copy is available at our departmental web page. Please feel free to contact me about any questions you might have.

Faculty Handbook: I have photocopied some of the most relevant chapters from the Faculty Handbook for you. Please read over these policies and if you have any questions or if you see something in it that is not clearly expressed, come see me.

Faculty and Academic Development: The Hubbard Center, located in Whitener Hall, provides a number of services to faculty–aiding them in instructional development, health promotion, counseling and organizational assessment. Each year they offer faculty development grants that you can apply for that allows for new course development, instructional improvement and so on.

Faculty Senate: The Faculty Senate is the representative body for faculty to the administration. They meet monthly and at the beginning of each semester, solicit your input on agenda items they should consider. Currently the department has one faculty senate representatives–Kathy Simon. Please feel free to relay any concerns you have to her re: faculty shared governance.

Fall Planning Conference: I meet with all faculty eligible for tenure or promotion once in the Fall to determine their needs and objectives. I use this as an opportunity to help faculty, not as an evaluative tool.

Family Day: Each semester–once in Fall and once in Spring–ASU sponsors a Family Day. Family Day allows prospective students along with their parents to get a closer look at ASU and what each department has to offer. This Fall, for example, Family Day is on Saturday, September 18^th. Any faculty member may volunteer. All faculty are welcome to participate even if it’s not for the full time period.

Forms: For access to forms (i.e. independent study, drop/add, change of major, etc.), go to the College of Arts and Sciences web page at http://www.cas.appstate.edu/dean/forms/forms.html. Other forms are available in the Main Office. Please feel free to ask Peggy Ellis or Julie Hutchens for any forms you may need.

Graduate School–Getting Graduate Faculty Status and Other Support: The Graduate School (Graduate Studies and Research–official title) offers a wide array of services to you. I encourage all faculty to apply for Graduate Faculty membership so that you can teach graduate-level course work. I also encourage you to use their support services, i.e. the Gold Form (at Graduate Studies and Research home page) and the University Research Council grants. The graduate school also processes grant proposals and helps faculty assimilate the necessary materials for them. Numerous opportunities for funding are located in the graduate school and I’d like you to explore them all.

Human Resources: Go to http://www.hrs.appstate.edu for access to Human Resources Services. They offer important information on benefits, retirement and forms that you might need. Their phone number is 262-3186.

Institutional Research and Assessment Planning: IRP offers a wealth of information on department enrollment, credit hours generated, number of majors and so on. Go to its web site for the studies, reports, fact books and other information that IRP has.

Keys: Julie Hutchens issues keys and both Julie and Peggy understand the keying system. If a classroom is locked, often your office key will open it except for 53 and 57 downstairs, Room 150's smartboard upstairs, and the computer labs and distance education classroom downstairs. Ask Julie or Peggy about the keys.

Mail: Mail is distributed twice daily in your assigned mailboxes–once around 10:00am and again around 2:00pm. Peggy Ellis distributes the mail.

Major Checksheets: For access to major checksheets in the College of Arts and Sciences, you can find PS/CJ’s in the Main Office–ask Peggy Ellis for any checksheet of interest or you may go to the College of Arts and Sciences web site at http://www.cas.appstate.edu/checksheets.

Office Hours: The Faculty Handbook (5.4–Office Hours, page 6) requires all faculty to maintain ten posted office hours per week in Fall and Spring semesters. If teaching in the Summer, a minimum of five posted office hours is required.

Parking and Traffic: Parking spaces unfortunately will be scarce after the early morning hours. The Bookstore Lot, Raley Lot and Edwin Duncan Lot offer the closest access to Whitener Hall. New faculty, please bear with us through this period of construction.

Password Change: To change your computer account password, you may go to the Password Change Form on the web at: http://www.fpext.appstate.edu/userinfo/default.asp. The university asks that you synchronize your VMS and AppalNET passwords.

Paychecks: For new faculty, all paychecks now are delivered through direct deposit. Please check with Human Resources, if you haven’t already, to ensure that you will receive you check in a timely fashion. Paychecks are distributed on the last work day of every month.

Peer Observation Form: All untenured faculty must undergo peer observation once a year. All tenured faculty must be peer observed every three years. The forms and guidelines for peer observation are available in the Main Office.

Phones: Please rely heavily on e-mail and don’t use telephones for long distance calls unless absolutely necessary. Telephones should not be used for long distance personal calls at all.

Post Tenure Review: ASU has a post-tenure review policy which I will share with you. All tenured faculty must undergo post tenure review five years after receiving tenure and then at regular five year intervals thereafter.

Room Reservations for Special Events: For reserving rooms in Whitener, contact Julie Hutchens. For reserving rooms in Plemmons Student Union for student clubs, symposia and so on, contact the Student Union.

Supplies: All supplies, such as paper clips, paper, pens, diskettes, CDs and so on, are stored in the Main Office. Please don’t hoard supplies. Trust the Main Office for maintaining a steady, dependable number of supplies for your use.

Tenure, Promotion and Reappointment: The Faculty Handbook offers general guidelines on tenure, promotion and

reappointment. The Department has more refined, specific guidelines which I will share with you. Please read over both the Faculty Handbook and the department guidelines and come see me if you have any questions.

Textbook Orders: Peggy Ellis handles textbook orders and is the departmental liaison with the Book Store. She will issue a call for textbook orders for Spring fairly early in the Fall semester–usually in the first week of October. She will issue a call for textbook orders early in Spring for Fall book orders. So, don’t be shocked when these early requests are made. ASU is on a textbook rental system. This means that any hardback textbook adoption usually locks in use of that textbook for three years. Exceptions to this rule exist. Paperbacks, for example, may be ordered to supplement hardback rental texts.

Travel Request Forms: To guarantee equity in travel, I have instituted a new departmental form – the preliminary travel request form. Copies are available in the Main Office. Travel monies are set aside for faculty who plan to present papers at professional conferences; merely attending a conference is not a sufficient reason for receiving travel monies. Please fill it out in consultation with Julie Hutchens so that I may forward your travel needs to the Dean’s Office. Julie will also complete the Dean’s travel request form and other paperwork for you.

Weather Policy: ASU does not normally cancel classes for any inclement weather conditions. The local media stations do not announce individual faculty class cancellations. ASU’s inclement weather policy is on the university’s main web page.

Web for Faculty Portal: Click on Web for Faculty under Academic Resources and look at the array of services available to you through the Web for Faculty Portal. For your immediate use, you may wish to explore your class lists. photo lists and e-mail options. This is an invaluable resource to all faculty.