August 05, 2011
Picking Wheeler’s Pockets
Although I have always been squeamish about fundraising campaigns, development officers at each of the five colleges and universities in which I have served have convinced me of the following: It is crucial that they be able to report broad support from the campus community when they go in search of friends in the external community.
Hence, the important issue is not the amount of money given by faculty and staff, but the level of participation. With that in mind, let me announce that I will match the first $5 given by any staff or faculty member in the academic affairs side of things who has been hired in the last three years (subsequent to May, 2008).
When you make your gift, just tell the development office to “Pick Wheeler’s Pocket!” (However, please know that I will not receive names of “pocket pickers.” A gift will neither help nor hurt next year’s big raise. ☺ )
When a “W” is Not the Solution:
Students and some faculty are convinced that a grade of W is the best solution for all problems. If the student does poorly on the first test, misses a few classes, hopes for the legendary “better” teacher, doesn’t like to get up in the morning, …, the student will often withdraw before mid-term and receive a
W . Some faculty members encourage students to follow that course because we know that a grade of
W does not adversely affect grade point average.
There are indeed times with a W is the best path to follow. However, please consider these contrary indicators before affirming this path for your students:
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If the student leaves before mid-term, they miss the valuable teaching from the rest of the semester. If the course is a course that the student will ultimately have to pass, a semester of engagement with the material, even with a
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low grade, might prove the tonic that leads to success the “next time.”
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Seeking a grade of W leads to a waste of resources that have been paid for. Someone – parent, Pell program, student – has paid $300 for the course. [This ignores the investment the
State of Georgia has made.] Disconnecting at midterm leaves those resources on the table.
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Students on financial aid must pass 67% of hours attempted to keep financial aid. A W counts the same as an F in this calculus.
Keeping Student Tests:
Many faculty members return tests to students in the hope that they will review the tests and use the review of material that has been marked as incorrect as a learning experience. [This has the additional benefit of placing the responsibility of keeping up with the tests on the students.] However, for faculty who prefer to keep student tests rather than return them, please be aware that the Academic Guidelines of the University System of Georgia has very specific rules for faculty who keep student work.
Those tests must be kept a minimum of one full semester after the grade has been awarded . Even those of us who only keep final examinations should be aware of this rule.
USG Policy for Records Retention (item K38):
“Records may include but are not limited to: examinations and answers; quizzes and answers; homework assignments; course papers; term papers; and essay assignments.” “Retention: 1 term after completion for uncontested grade results; until resolved for contested grade results.”
eBooks and Audiobooks (at EBSCOhost) formerly known as NetLibrary, in GALILEO, provides access

to electronic books (eBooks), including reference books, scholarly monographs, publications of many university presses, and consumer books that have been converted into digital format. It is possible to perform full-text searches of a single eBook, search thousands of volumes simultaneously, browse topic categories, or read eBooks directly online. There is currently no checkout period for eBooks (at
EBSCOhost).
Users can also create an account on library computers that will allow them to use eBooks by searching the GILCatalog, but a personal account is not required for accessing eBooks through the
GALILEO interface. Using these 27,000 volumes of books provides another resource for students at their home computers
Advising Note: One of the goals of the First Year
Experience course is to get students to see the relevance between their academic and life goals, and to plan accordingly. The Academic and Career
Target Plan is an assignment that requires students to meet with their advisors as a part of completing the plan. Because the course lasts only eight weeks, these students will be making appointments with advisors a few weeks before the regular midterm. If you have any GFYE students as advisees, you will receive further information after the semester begins, but I wanted to let you know to expect a visit.
Change of Appeal Deadline for Grade Changes:
To reduce confusion for students, faculty, and staff, the college has moved from having different deadlines for grade appeals and hardship W appeals to a single deadline, the same deadline we have been using for hardship W’s. The new catalog reads, “All grade appeals must be initiated by midterm of the semester following the posting of the grade. For grades posted in the spring semester, appeals must be submitted by midterm of the following full summer session.” (p. 60)
Copyright information: If you would like to know more about how copyright law applies to your work and your use of other’s work in the classroom, the following resources are available:
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The USG Faculty Development Office recommends the Copyright Crash Course, free online. This is out of the University of Texas
Libraries and is well known as an excellent resource. Georgia Harper is the contact person.
She is also a highly recommended and well known authority on copyright. o About Georgia Harper: http://copyright.lib.utexas.edu/gkhbio2.html
o Copyright Crash Course: http://copyright.lib.utexas.edu/
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Georgia Highlands has created a web page titled “How to Make Sense of Copyright Law,” and it provides useful links to a variety of sources.
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The USG has posted a workshop/presentation by Gail Gunnells,"What You Don't Know Can
Hurt You, Copyright and Fair Use in the USG," on our iTunes site: http://itunes.usg.edu/ .
When you arrive at the USG page, scroll down to the section labeled “Faculty Development
2008-2009”. The workshop is broken into four iTunes files.
Dr. Amanda Duffus
-- presented an invited paper “Ranaviruses in
European Amphibians” at the First International
Symposium on Ranaviruses on July 8 th
, 2011 in
Minneapolis, MN.
-- presented a poster at the Joint Meeting of
Ichthyologists and Herpetologists:
--Duffus, A.L.J
., Nichols, R.A., and T.W.J. Garner
2011. Experimental Assessment of Virulence and
Host Specificity of the Ranavirus in Rana temporaria and Bufo bufo tadpoles.
Joint Meeting of
Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, Minneapolis,
Minnesota, USA, July 6-11.
-- also had an article published in the May edition of
FrogLog on “ The establishment of a global ranavirus Reporting System” with
Dr. Dede Olson from US Forest Service for the project that they are working on in coordination with
Imperial College, London UK, to establish an epidemiological data bank for ranavirus outbreaks and infections in amphibians
Dr. Mustapha A. Durojaiye has been selected to participate in a focus group discussion on how to create new offerings in the teaching of microbiology.
This discussion will be part of the Faculty
Development Workshop sponsored By the
Committee on Undergraduate Educators initiative
(ASMCUE), a committee of the America Society for
Microbiology’s Education Board. The Conference
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will be held in San Diego, California, May 20-23,
2010.
Dr. Beike Jia presented a poster, “Negative Ion
Formation between Rb Atoms and Unsaturated
Halogenated Molecules” , at the Dynamics of
Molecular Collisions Conference 2011 in Snowbird,
Utah in July.
Dr. Lynn Rumfelt attended three training sessions and received certification by the Georgia Adopt-A-
Stream, a group associated with the Georgia
Environmental Protection division, Water Protection
Branch. The training allows her to train and work with research students to monitor local bodies of water for chemical, biological and bacterial quality and report our findings to the Adopt-A-Stream group, and if aberrancies are discovered, to our local water authorities.
In June she attended Reacting to the Past Conference at Barnard College in New York to receive training in a different kind of pedagogy which uses unscripted game playing of a controversial moment in history by assigning students specific roles.
Students are free to speak through the voice of their characters in ways they may be reluctant to speak in their own voice. To role play the students must engage with course materials and practice critical thinking skills. Her participation was funded by the
National Science Foundation, whose interests are to increase student engagement in math and science classes.
Dr. Richard Schmude, Jr . attended a meeting of the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers on
July 21-23, 2011 in Las Cruces, New Mexico. He gave the following talks at this meeting:
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“Jupiter in 2010-2011: An overview”
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“Jupiter’s unusual train of spots: The STBn
Jetstream”
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“Uranus and Neptune in 2010-2011”
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“Jupiter’s South Equatorial Belt in 2010-2011”
Dr. Schmude also gave a hands-on Jupiter workshop to this conference.
Dr. Marwan Zabdawi Submitted to GAS (Georgia
Academy of Science) Journal a paper “A Smart &
Easy Way for Grid Generation Between Concentric
Cylinders and Over a Free Cylinder” . It is currently under review for publication.
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Dates & Deadlines
Aug 2 -12 Open Registration for Continuing & Readmitted
Students
Aug 3 New Student Orientation – Alumni Mem Hall
Group Advising & Registration (Fall Semester)
Aug 8
Aug 10
Joint Faculty Staff Meeting - Fine Arts Auditor
New Faculty Orientation (more at later date)
New Student Orientation – Alumni Mem Hall
Group Advising & Registration (Fall Semester)
Aug 12
Aug 12
Aug 16
Full Faculty Meeting (refreshments at 7AM –
Russ Hall Lobby) Meeting 8AM in Russ 211)
Payment Deadline for August 2 12
Open Registration --4 PM
2011 Fall Semester Classes Begin
Aug 15-17 Drop/Add
Aug 15-17 Late Registration
Aug17
Aug24
Sept 2
Payment Deadline for Late Registration and
Drop/Add Periods—4 PM
Last day to receive refund for reduction of hours.
Faculty Enrollment Verification Deadline --8 AM
Deadline for Student Petitions for Reinstatement to Class Rolls—5 PM
Labor Day Holiday, College Closed Sept 5
Oct 6 Midterm – Withdrawals and grade appeals after
October 6 will be an automatic WF except in cases of hardship as documented and approved by processing a Student Petition.
Oct 10, 11 Fall Break for Faculty and Students
Oct 12
Oct 31-
Nov 8
Nov 17
Georgia History & U.S>. Constitution Exam
Early Registration for Continuing Students
Nov 23
New Student Orientation – Alumni Mem Hall
Group Advising /Registration (Spring 2012
Semester)
Administrative Offices are open
Nov 23-25 Thanksgiving Holidays for Faculty & Students
Nov 24-25 Thanksgiving Holidays for Administrative Staff
College Closed
Dec 5 Last day of classes
Dec 6-9 Final Exams
College Closed Dec 19 thru Jan 2