March 27, 2009
WheelerNotes
Furlough Language in 2009-2010 Contracts: At a meeting on March 25 for USG Academic Affairs
Officers, Mr. Burns Newsome of the legal affairs office of the University System of Georgia announced that he was preparing language that would go into the contracts of all 35,000 USG faculty members to the effect that faculty employment is subject to the possibility of limited furloughs. The following very non-official Wheeler observations will give some perspective on this decision.
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There are presently no announced plans to furlough faculty in 2009-2010.
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Chancellor Erroll Davis publicly opposes furloughs as a means to solving budget problems.
He favors specific cuts rather than “across the board” programs like furloughs.
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The language is included because o the legislature made it clear that unless
USG allows the possibility of furloughs it will have economic consequences for the system o the economic circumstances in the state continue to be problematical
Advising Yet Again: We are once again involved in that very important part of the year, the advising period for summer and fall. Faculty members have a new tool this year, the Aiello/Schliecker Advising
Handbook. If you have not yet read “the book,” you might find this a good season for reading. If you have misplaced your paper copy of the Advising Handbook that was distributed earlier this semester, please note that an electronic copy lives on the Academic Affairs web page: http://www.gdn.edu/departments/academicaffairs/index.asp
Please also make your students aware of the web pages titled Advising Notes for Student . They will find this web site very valuable in preparing for their conversation with you.
Vol. I, No. 10
Just in Case: Just in case you have not had time to read the Advising Handbook provided earlier this
Spring, here is some new verbiage on Area A choice in mathematics that appears in the handbook.
MATH 1001 – MATH 1111 – MATH 1113 : By taking any one of these three courses (or Calculus I) students are able to satisfy their Area A requirement in mathematics. The following comments will help advise students in their selection:
MATH 1111 – College Algebra : Students intending to major in the sciences or business will take college algebra in Area A unless they place out of college algebra into MATH 1113 Pre-Calculus by entering
Gordon College with a MATH SAT of 480. College algebra is also a good course for students who
• are undecided majors but are considering a quantitatively oriented major or
• desire to build on their high school curriculum to enhance their abilities in mathematics.
MATH 1001 – Quantitative Skills and Reasoning :
MATH 1001 is not easier than MATH 1111 , but it is less dependent on previous knowledge of algebra.
Hence it is often the choice of students with weaker algebra backgrounds. It is a good course for students who:
• desire a broad understanding of mathematics rather than the specific knowledge of algebra
• have experienced difficulty with algebra before and do not have curricular needs to improve algebra skills
• have tried college algebra and been unsuccessful
MATH 1113 – Pre-Calculus : Pre-Calculus provides a rich set of mathematical tools for students in many disciplines. It is required of science and other quantitative majors and is recommended for business majors. It is also a good choice for students who
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• are undecided majors but are considering a quantitatively oriented major or
• desire to build on their high school curriculum/college algebra to enhance their abilities in mathematics.
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Gordon Student to South Africa: Gordon
College nursing student Jena Marie Jones was nominated through Phi Theta Kappa to participate in the 2009 International Scholar
Laureate Program South Africa Nursing
Delegation. She will be traveling to South
Africa May 24th - June 4th. While in South
Africa, she will have the opportunity to visit many different types of medical facilities, including modern hospitals, rural clinics, midwife obstetrics units, and local orphanages. She will attend conferences discussing South
Africa's growing health care system, the AIDS pandemic and future advancements in the fight against AIDS. She reports that the faculty and staff in the Nursing Department have been extraordinarily helpful and supportive! She closes her comments with this observation, “I cannot thank you enough for the overwhelming support I have received from my Gordon family!”
BaskinNotes
Quick advising reminders:
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Students who were signed up for a Regents’
Test session this past week and did not show up for the test will not be allowed to register for the fall semester during the regular early registration period. Their registration time tickets will be moved to April 20, when open registration begins.
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Students with two or more Learning Support requirements may not be registered for 12 hours or more. They must finish their scheduling during finals week. Students in
Learning Support classes are being given full information on the process they must follow.
New Introduction to Humanities courses will begin
Spring 2010 . HUMA 1500 will be taught in the fall semester, but by January, it will be dropped from the schedule. HUMA 1501 (from the beginnings of civilization to the Renaissance) and HUMA 1502
(from the Renaissance to the 21 st
Century) will be offered instead.
The Smoky Mountain Brass Quintet will be performing at Gordon College on Tuesday, April 7, at
7:30 p.m.
Marlin Adams has been selected as one of the top one hundred finalists in the Art Renewal Center’s
International 2008/2009 ARC Salon™. His work was judged to be among the best out of 1,600 plus entries received from around the world.
HigginsNotes
The Success Center staff would like to thank faculty for their continued support this semester, the very first of our existence. We are still feeling our way, trying to figure out what we can and cannot do, but in general we are very pleased by the results so far. This past Thursday, March 26, we logged our 411 th
Writing tutoring session of the semester, which surpasses the total for ALL of Spring 2008. We are now +149 sessions semester-to-date over Spring ’08, or a 56% increase; we are +105 sessions semester-to-date over
Fall 2008, or a 33% increase. For Math, we are well over 350 tutoring sessions for the semester. So with close to 800 combined sessions so far, we have a legitimate shot at 1,000 total tutoring sessions for our first semester. And these figures do not include the great work of our volunteer Science tutor, Karen
Bishop, whose sessions we only recently started to log. Thanks to all of you who have directed your students to the Success Center. We appreciate the confidence you have in us, and we will continue to work very hard to justify it.
I would also like to take this opportunity to put out a call for help. We will suffer significant personnel losses from our tutoring staff in May, when many of our best and most experienced student tutors will be graduating. If you have any exceptional students who might make good tutors and who will be here at
Gordon next Fall, please send me their names. I rely most heavily on Math and English faculty for these recommendations, but I would love to hear from any faculty member who knows of a “likely suspect.”
Potential tutors should be strong in the subject matter
(Writing or Math), but we would take a solid, dependable “B” student with a positive attitude and a genuine willingness to help over a less dependable, know-it-all “A+” student every time (of course, we would be grateful for any dependable, friendly, helpful “A+” students you might send our way, too).
We can provide the tutor-skills training, but I depend upon faculty to identify students with the “right stuff.”
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It is a paid position, but the true benefits are the experience and the fulfillment that comes from helping fellow students. Thanks again for all your help.
WhitelockNotes
As academic advisors prepare students for Early
Registration, please keep in mind our Learning
Community offerings. For Fall 2009, we have six options available for our students.
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Science and Communications. Any student enrolled in a CHEM 1211 or 1212 class may choose to enroll into Dr. Peter Boltz’ special topics COMM 1110 (Public Speaking) class; advisors of Pre-Pharmacy or other Science majors, please make this option known to your students.
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Live and Learn for Fine Arts: Mr. Tony
Pearson is spearheading our Live and Learn
Community program again this year and is seeking residential Fine Arts majors who would like to live together in a special wing of
Commons B and take a shared cluster of courses, including a Colloquium course (The
Artist Engaging the World). Advisors of
Theater, Music, Art, or other creative arts majors may direct interested students to Mr.
Pearson.
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Other Paired Learning Communities: o ENGL 1101 / PSYC 1101; o ENGL 1101 / MATH 1001; o ENGL 1102 / HIST 2112; o ENGL 0099 / READ 0099.
When advising students who need these courses, please guide them towards these pairs.
My appreciation goes to Dr. Alcena Rogan, Dr.
Jeremy Richards, Dr. Mark King, Dr. Amy Skinner,
Ms. Michelle Perry-Stewart, Ms. Sandra Blythe,
Dr. Jeffery Knighton, Mr. Tony Pearson, Dr. Peter
Boltz, and Dr. Christina Fermin-Ennis for their participation in this program.
We are also preparing our second year of offering the
Gordon College First-Year Experience Course (GFYE
0098) and will be offering six sections of it for Fall
2009. Please remember that any full-time, firstsemester student who enters Gordon with three (3)
Learning Support requirements must be enrolled in this course as well. Please give a sympathetic pat on the back to the following adventurers who will be teaching sections of GFYE in Fall 2009: Dr. Alan
Peterson, Dr. Steve Raynie, Dr. Jeffery Rogers, Dr.
Barry Kicklighter, and Mr. Peter Higgins.
Apr 20-May 21
Apr 28(T)
May 4(M)
May 5-8(T-F)
May 7(R)
Deadlines and Dates
Mar 30-Apr 17 Early Regist/Continuing Students
Apr 7 (T) Smokey Mtn Brass Quintet performs
Apr 17-19(F-Sun) Alumni Weekend
Open Regist Continuing & Readmits
Regents’ Test Results Available
Last Day of Spring Semester Classes
Final Exams
May 16(Sat)
NSO & Group Advising & Registration for
Summer Session
Graduation
Payment Deadline for Early & Open Regist May 21(R)
May 25(M)
May 26(T)
May 27(W)
Memorial Day Holiday
Open Registration
1st Summer Session/Full Session Classes
Begin
May 27-28(W-R) Drop-Add & Late Registration
May 28(R) -Last Day to Registrar for Regents’ Test
-Last day to add 1st & Full Session Classes
-Tuesday, Thursday Evening Classes Begin
June 8 (M)
June 16(T)
-Pymt Deadline for Late Regis&Drop/Add.
-Last Day for Refund for 1st & Full Session
Classes
Midterm for 1 st
Session Classes
Last Day to Withdraw & Receive W
Cannot Withdraw on Line
Mid-Term for Nursing Classes
Last Day to Withdraw & Receive W
Cannot Withdraw on Line
June 16(T) Mid-Term for ARTS 3000A & LART 3007A
Last Day to Withdraw & Receive W
Cannot Withdraw on Line
NSO & Group Advising & June 17(W)
June 17 (W)
Registration for Fall Semester
GA History & US Constitution Exam
June 17-24(W-W) Drop/Add & Open/Late Registration (2nd
June 18 (R)
June 19(F)
Session)
Regents’ Testing Program
-Midterm for Full Session Day Classes and
All Evening Classes
-Last Day to Withdraw & Receive W
June 22 (M)
Cannot Withdraw on Line
-Final Exams for 1 st
Session Classes
June 23 (T) 2 nd
Session Classes begin
June 23-24(T-W) Drop-Add & Late Registration 2 nd
Session
June 24 (W) -Pymt Deadline for 2 nd
Session Late
Registration & Drop/Add.
-Last Day for Refund 2 nd
Session Classes
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