Office of the Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs

Message Archive

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

 

Correction: my previous email on “Scheduling Final Examinations” includes an out-of-date link. The exam grid appears at: http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/exams/documents/Fall11FinalExamGrid.pdf

 

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Items for Fall 2011

 

Dear Colleagues,

 

Items of general interest follow, some of which also have been sent previously. One request: when the item (or any email) contains a contact person for additional information, please contact him or her directly (as opposed to clicking “reply”). The items are organized as follows:

 

I. Classroom Related: a few reminders; calendar quirks; peer observations; proctoring support; turnitin.com; take your class to the Mishkin Gallery

II. Faculty Development: training sessions in use of technology; confidential research information; teaching blog; Research Without Borders; international faculty development; Master Teacher Series videos; Faculty Handbook(s)

III. Community Related: faculty lounges; wine tasting club; subscriptions to the Times; lunch at the National Arts Club; email replies; non-functioning links; some matters of civility

 

I. Classroom Related

 

A few reminders to all instructors:

• Please remember to erase everything written on the white boards as a courtesy to the next instructor.
• Transition between successive classes occupying a classroom:  Students and instructors have a right to enter their room in a timely fashion, and instructors already in the room should not continue teaching past the end of the period. But departing students and instructors are also entitled to use a portion of the room for informal discussions in the minutes immediately following class. Both in-coming and out-going students and instructors should be respectful and accommodating during these transitional periods.
• Please ask your students to clean up after themselves.
• Don't forget to log off the lectern computer before you leave the room.
• Please be sure to turn off the ceiling projectors when you finish using them; replacement bulbs are expensive. (The projectors turn off automatically only on certain settings.)
• Please don't leave extra, un-used blue books in a classroom. Blue books should not be easily accessible: some students take extras and use them to camouflage the notes they bring into a closed-book exam.
• New (since this item was sent on 8/31/11): If you have rearranged the chairs, please restore them to orderly rows.

 

Some Features of the Academic Calendar

Please make note of the following features of the schedule of classes this fall. (They appear on the college’s academic calendar at http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/registrar/due_dates.htm#Fa2011):

• September 28-30 (Wednesday-Friday): Rosh Hashanah—no classes are scheduled
• October 4 (Tuesday): Classes will follow a Friday schedule
• October 7-8 (Friday-Saturday): Yom Kippur—no classes are scheduled
• October 10 (Monday): Columbus Day—the college is closed; no classes are scheduled
• November 22 (Tuesday): Classes will follow a Thursday schedule
• November 24-27 (Thursday-Sunday): Thanksgiving—the college is closed; no classes are scheduled

 

Peer Observations

According to Article 18.2b of our contract:

• "At least once during each academic semester, non-tenured and non-certificated members of the teaching staff shall be observed for a full classroom period. One observation shall take place during any scheduled class during the first ten weeks of a semester. The employee shall be given no less than 24 hours of prior notice of observation."
• "After ten (10) semesters of service, teaching observation for adjunct personnel shall be held at the request of the chairperson or the adjunct."

The foregoing are excerpts. For Article 18.2b in full, see: http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/facultyhandbook/observations.htm

 

Proctoring Support

The Provost's office is able to offer proctoring support to any member of the faculty with more than 60 students in her/his class. There are two conditions: that the instructor is not already receiving a proctor from another source (if other sources are available, they should be applied to first) and that the instructor also serve as a proctor for the exam. Instructors who qualify should contact their department chair to locate and arrange for an appropriate proctor. Proctors will be paid at the rate of $14 per hour (i.e., $28 for final exams).

 

Chairs:  

• To pay proctors who are employees of the college use the Baruch College Fund Personal Action Form (BCF PAF). Have the employee fill in his or her name, address, social security number, and amount, and also sign the PAF. Under “Description,” write “Payment for proctoring (COURSE NAME AND NUMBER) exam” (e.g., “Payment for proctoring ACC 2101 exam”). The BCF PAF form is available in the index to the Faculty Handbook under “BCF PAF.”
• To pay proctors who are not employees of the college, use the Baruch College Fund check request form. Fill in the person's name, address, social security number, and amount. Check the box that says "Honorarium & Professional Fees."  Under "Description," write "Payment for proctoring exam." The BCF check request form is listed in the index to the Faculty Handbook under "Check Request Form."
• With either form, you must also attach a memo stating that you have authorized a particular person to proctor an exam(s).
• Send or bring the completed forms to me in the Office of the Associate Provosts (Box B4-230). We will fill in the account number and complete the processing.

 

Turnitin.com

Baruch College subscribes to the plagiarism detection software available at "Turnitin.com." Prof. Gerry Dalgish (English) is the campus coordinator; he can supply you with a password and other basic information: 646-312-3919  or  Gerard.Dalgish@baruch.cuny.edu.

 

Take your class to the Mishkin Gallery

Baruch College’s Mishkin Gallery (135 E. 22^nd Street) welcomes classes. A new exhibition, Narrative, Sketch, Document: The Changing Roles of Photography, will open at the gallery on Friday, September 23, and run to October 26, 2011. The exhibition examines photography’s roles as narrative, sketch, and document, and showcases a variety of images from 1926 through 2007 by 17 well known photographers. The narrative section focuses specifically on works that employ devices such as a sequence of events or the juxtaposition of text and images. Carrie Mae Weems explores racial, sexual, and cultural identity with dramatic visual juxtapositions of image and text. Using the photograph as a sketch, Andy Warhol often worked from color Polaroids of celebrities in order to complete the final versions of his silkscreen paintings. In fact, Warhol used his Polaroid of Dolly Parton as the basis for the large-scale silkscreen of the singer that he created in 1985. The exhibition also examines the documentary function of photographic images. Images like Milt Hinton’s Train Station, Atlanta, Georgia (1940), with black musicians standing in front of a “Colored Entrance” sign, serve as important visual records of American history, in this case of segregation in the south. The exhibition opens with a reception on Thursday, September 22 from 6-8 pm. To schedule a talk during your class period, call Sandra Kraskin at 646-660-6652.

 

II. Faculty Development

 

Training Sessions on Blackboard, Smart Lecterns, Powerpoint, Blogging, etc.

Faculty training sessions are open to full-time faculty and adjuncts. Additional one-on-one sessions are sometimes available. For scheduled training sessions, see:  http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/bctc/training/faculty_training.html

For more information, please contact Kevin Wolff, Instructional Designer:  Kevin.Wolff@baruch.cuny.edu  or  646-312-1149.

 

Confidential Research Information

Principal investigators and others who use CUNY computer resources to store or transmit research information that is required by law or regulation to be held confidential or for which a promise of confidentiality has been given, are responsible for taking steps to protect confidential research information from unauthorized access or modification. In general, this means storing the information on a computer that provides strong access controls (passwords) and encrypting files, documents, and messages for protection against inadvertent or unauthorized disclosure while in storage or in transit over data networks. Questions? Contact Arthur Downing:  Arthur.Downing@baruch.cuny.edu

 

Teaching Blog

This site has engaged a number of members of our faculty in some fascinating discussions. You can read and comment on the posts at: http://blsciblogs.baruch.cuny.edu/teachingblog/

 

Research Without Borders

The provost’s office maintains a monthly schedule of all research/scholarship-related events at Baruch that are sponsored by department, programs, and any other campus-based groups: http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/facultyhandbook/DepartmentalResearchPresentations.htm

Each department should have a someone who is responsible for forwarding such events to Vanessa Cano: Vanessa.Cano@baruch.cuny.edu.

 

International Faculty Development Program

For faculty members whose native language/dialect is not American English, Baruch College offers an International Faculty Development Program. The program has been enthusiastically received by faculty members who have participated. We are particularly happy that the program seems to be instrumental in significant increases in the student evaluation scores of participating instructors. Full-time and adjunct faculty members are welcome, as are GTFs and GAFs. This year the program includes the following services:

• Language Lab - International faculty members are invited to peruse the many excellent ESL materials, including interactive computer tutorials, in Baruch College’s ESL Lab (Newman Vertical Campus 6-121).
• Materials on Pedagogy – Videos and books on pedagogy are available at Baruch College’s Bernard L. Schwartz Communication Institute (137 E. 25^th Str., 3^rd floor). Call 646-312-2060 for hours and information.
• Writing/Editing Assistance - Assistance with written work (e.g., proofreading and editing of professional articles) is available as a paid service — rates to be negotiated with the specific tutor.

With questions about any of the above resources please contact the program coordinator: Prof. Elisabeth Gareis (Communication Studies, NVC 8-240):  egareis@baruch.cuny.edu  or  646 312-3731.

 

Master Teacher Series Videos

Past semesters of this series have brought to Baruch experts in various aspects of pedagogy from around the country. For a list of previous events, see http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/facultyhandbook/MasterTeacherSeries05-06.htm. Many of those events may be viewed in the Newman Library’s Digital Media Library http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/dml

 

Faculty Handbook(s)

Our Handbook (http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/facultyhandbook/topics.htm) contains many entries that are potentially useful. The same goes for our Adjunct Handbook (http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/facultyhandbook/adjunct/topics.htm), which, after many years, remains the first item to come up in a Google search for “adjunct handbook.” If you don’t find what you are looking for (or have indexing suggestions for either), please let me know: dennis.slavin@baruch.cuny.edu

 

III. Community Related

 

Faculty/Staff Lounges

Baruch College maintains two rooms that serve as lounges for members of the faculty and staff: Room 14-290 in the Newman Vertical Campus (NVC) and Room 1107 at 17 Lexington Avenue. To gain access to the latter you will need to punch in the code “524.”

 

Faculty Wine Tasting Club

Our club is in its eighth year: http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/facultyhandbook/WineTastingClub.htm  

If you would like to be on our mailing list, please let me know.

 

New York Times at more than 50% discount

Baruch faculty, staff, and students are entitled to discount of more than 50% to home or office subscriptions to the New York Times and to free subscriptions if you cite the Times as required reading on your course syllabus. For more information see: http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/facultyhandbook/NewYorkTimes.htm

 

Lunch at the National Arts Club

The National Arts Club, located in the historic Tilden Mansion (a designated New York Landmark and a National Historic Landmark) at 15 Gramercy Park South, continues to welcome members of the Baruch faculty for lunch, Mondays-Fridays. Reservations are necessary (212-477-2389). To enter you will need to show your Baruch ID. Payment is by cash or check only. Dress is business casual. Please see their website for additional information, including definitions of "business casual":  http://www.nationalartsclub.org/

 

Email Replies

When replying to a message that was sent to a group of people, please use "reply" instead of "reply all" unless you intend to send your comment or regrets to the entire list. (People complain about receiving too many messages even when they are intended recipients.)

 

Non-functioning links

Links in emails sent from an on-campus computer sometimes don’t work when clicked-on from off campus. Often they will work if copied and pasted into a browser.

 

Some matters of civility

Over the years colleagues have raised a number of issues that bear repetition:

• None of us has the right to jump ahead in line for the elevators.
• The “3-pack” elevators in the NVC are used by all members of our community. Crowded elevators can mean extremely long waits for students and colleagues with disabilities, who do not have recourse to the stairs. When someone with a disability – such as someone in a wheelchair – needs to use the elevator, please make room for him or her, even by leaving the elevator if necessary.
• Using the exit doors of the “6-pack” elevators (2^nd floor of the NVC) to gain entrance to them more quickly is unfair. Please don’t set a bad example.
• The Faculty/Staff Lounge (NVC 14-290) contains a television: please respect the wishes of colleagues for a quiet location by turning on the TV only if you are alone in the room or with a group that would like to watch; in any case, please keep the volume down.

 

I welcome your suggestions, comments, and corrections:  dennis.slavin@baruch.cuny.edu

 

Best wishes for a terrific semester,   DS

 

Dennis Slavin

Associate Provost and Assistant Vice President