- Experience One Implementation
The decision was made during April 2002 by Chancellor Hulbert with the concurrence of President Dennison to implement Experience One type scheduling campus-wide with a target implementation date of fall 2004. In order to achieve this target, many things need to be accomplished in a coordinated fashion. The most pressing current need is to develop and fully approve all curriculum changes by October 1, 2003. That objective is the primary focus of the fall faculty meetings on August 18-22 and will continue to be a major faculty activity through September. If that deadline cannot be met, the campus will examine the feasibility of a partial implementation in 2004, followed by a full implementation in 2005. Information on Experience One will continue to be posted at: www.umwestern.edu/shares/fipse_share/index.htm .
- WebCT Implementation
All campus courses beginning fall semester 2003 will be supported by a WebCT course site that is automatically generated by the WebCT software. Each course will be automatically populated with a student list, including e-mail addresses, generated by the campus BANNER software system. All faculty members will be responsible for entering certain basic information, including a syllabus and a course calendar, onto each of their course sites. Faculty will be able to communicate with their students either by posting items to their course sites or by sending e-mail messages to individual students or to the class as a whole. Workshops on the use of WebCT will be offered during the week of August 18-22. Faculty will be able to post their syllabi during these workshops.
- Name Badges
Uniform red plastic magnetic name badges have been ordered for all faculty members who have not already received one. These name badges should be worn to orientation week functions and to other functions during the year where there are likely to be concentrations of those new to Western.
- Annual Development Plans
All full-time faculty must submit annual development plans to the Dean of Education, Business and Technology (Cheri Jimeno) or to the Dean of Arts and Sciences (Karl Ulrich) by Septemeber 15th of each year. The plans should briefly outline what each faculty member expects to accomplish each year in the areas of teaching; creative/scholarly activity; and professional service, both on and off-campus. Copies of these plans, as well as a faculty member's success in meeting the goals of this plan, should be included in all annual, biennial, promotion and tenure portfolios covering accomplishments achieved during the respective evaluation time periods. The full faculty evaluation procedures can be found on-line at: www.montana.edu/wochelp/collbarg/umw/umw9.htm#EVALUATION%20PROCEDURES .
- Application for Tenure or Promotion
The application for tenure or promotion begins with a letter of intent to apply for tenure or promotion to the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs by September 15th. This letter need not include any description or evidence as to why a faculty member merits tenure or promotion. The Vice Chancellor will then determine whether or not a faculty member meets the minimum time-in-rank and terminal degree requirements. The full tenure and promotion requirements can be found on-line at: www.montana.edu/wochelp/collbarg/umw/umw9.htm#TENURE%20AND%20PROMOTION%20REVIEW%20PROCEDURE . Unit standards for tenure and promotion can be found at: www.umwestern.edu/shares/VCAA_share/US.html
- Annual and Biennial (tenured faculty) Evaluation Portfolios
During each academic year faculty should be building evaluation portfolios for submission by May 15th of each year (non-tenured faculty) or by May 15th every other year (tenured faculty).
- Class Meeting Times and Places
All classes must meet during the full scheduled meeting times and dates, including the times scheduled during finals week. Classes must not be moved to another location without first clearing the move with the appropriate dean and the registrar's office.
- Absences
Absences for professional reasons must be cleared by the appropriate dean in advance of the absence. When a faculty member is unable to come to campus for a medical reason or a personal reason, they should report this as soon as possible to their respective deans so that arrangements can be made to cover their assignments or cancel their classes. All sick leave and personal day usage must be reported on a form available from the Business Office.
- Grade Reports
The BANNER Web for Faculty system is now used by all faculty to submit their grades over the internet. Training will be provided to those faculty who are not familiar with this process. Deadlines will be established for the submission of all grades. It is important that you plan your course assessments so that you are able to turn your grades in by this deadline. If you assign an I (incomplete) grade, you must provide the registrar's office with a rationale for the grade and a detailed plan for completing the missing work on the appropriate form. Faculty will need to log onto dawgs.umwestern.edu/ to post their grades.
- Arts and Sciences Program Reviews
I have asked David Moore to work on development of a plan for the regular review of all Arts and Sciences programs, as part of Western's assessment process.
- Assessment Plans
Thorough program assessment is critical to both to NASCU and NCATE accreditation as well as to the continual improvement of Western's programs. Assessment plans need to be reviewed this year and modified as appropriate. Development of standardized internship assessments and program review standards will be a component of these plans. Most current assessment plans are posted at: www.umwestern.edu/shares/VCAA_share/Assessment_Plans/Index.html .
- Campus Committees
Normally faculty members are asked to serve on two campus committees after their first year of service at Western. Exceptions may be made in cases where faculty members have extensive campus service duties such as serving as department chair, serving on Faculty Senate or its committees, or having exceptionally high advising loads. Last year's committee assignments can be found on-line at: www.umwestern.edu/shares/VCAA_share/ . Please contact your respective dean if you have a desire to serve on a particular committee. The Chancellor and his senior staff will coordinate committee assignments with the appropriate appointing and ratifying agents including Faculty Senate and the Faculty Association.
- Advising
Advising checklists are currently available for all Western academic programs. Advisees should maintain these checklists so that they may be referred to in consultation with their advisors. Checklists are available from Cathi Love, in the Vice Chancellor's Office in the Short Administrative Building, from Linda Lucero in the Education Office in Main Hall, or from David Moore on the second floor of the Roe House. Much useful information on the registration process can be found at: www.umwestern.edu/Academics/registrars/registration.htm
The EOP program (www.umwestern.edu/shares/outreach_share/eop1) is now providing advising services to many students in their first year or so of attendance at Western.
- Internships
David Moore has been working on a standardized manual for internships that will be reviewed by faculty this fall. Much of this was borrowed from a similar manual developed for use in the business and tourism programs. It is important that Western be able to demonstrate that all internships conform to certain standards of outcome development and have thorough and appropriate assessments.
- Strategic Plan
Western's strategic plan, as well as the first progress report on that plan, can be found at: www.umwestern.edu/GenInfo/infodocs.htm . The second annual review of the strategic plan will occur early during the fall of 2003. This plan provides a framework for all of the activities of the Western campus.
- Computer Labs
Western has four multi-purpose computer labs, three in the STC and one in Main Hall. One of the three labs in the STC has MacIntosh computers while the other three have PC's. It is campus policy to have one of the three PC labs available for open student use at all times.
Many COMS courses are scheduled to meet in the PC labs. Since scheduling of the labs for non-COMS courses on a first-come, first-served basis has created some availability problems for some users, a system will need to be developed to prioritize use. As a first step in this direction, any requests for use beyond one hour per week for traditionally scheduled courses or five hours per week for X1 courses will need to be made in writing with justification to the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs.
- Technology Steering Committee
The Technology Steering Committee Policy has been developed and is posted on-line at: www.umwestern.edu/Administration/policies/500.3%20Technol%20Steer%20Comm%20Policy.pdf . This committee also developed a Campus Technology Plan that will be posted to the web soon. Please familiarize yourself with this policy and the provisions of the plan when it becomes available.
- Educator Licensure
K-12 schools and institutions such as Western that provide teacher education programs must rapidly come to consensus on ways to meet numerous mandates outlined by the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation. As Western starts to go through some major curriculum modifications, faculty need to pay attention to the following:
- By no later than 2005, all teacher education graduates with a minor seeking educator licensure must pass national- or state-approved content and pedagogy exams. Most states have adopted the Praxis II series provided through ETS.
- By 2005 all teacher education graduates with an academic major (English, math, history, science) must be defined as a "well-qualified" teacher. his means the graduate must complete an accredited teacher education program major plus pass national- or state-approved content and pedagogy exams. Again, most states have adopted the Praxis II series.
- New NCATE accreditation standards mandate multiple assessments, but one of the assessments must include a content exam. In order to maintain accreditation, 80% of the students taking the exam must pass it.
Montana continues to grapple with how they are going to meet the above standards. However, as Montana continues to look for ways around the federal mandate, many of our surrounding states (where Western places almost 50% of our graduates) have already implemented (or will implement by 2005) passing scores on content and pedagogy exams for licensure. Our students must be ready to take and pass these exams.
