Meetings/Events

Sept 28, Mon	- Professional Core Task Force, 12:30-2, Rm. 330 (Kellogg Conference Room)
Sept 29, Tues	- RCOE Administrative Council, 10-12, Greene-Oakes
Oct 7, Wed	- AP&P meeting, 3-5, I.G. Greer
Oct 9, Fri	- RCOE International Activities Committee, 10-11, Greene-Oakes – RCOE Faculty Development Committee, 11-12, Greene-Oakes – RCOE Young Alumni Committee, 2-5, TBA
Oct 12, Mon	- Teacher Education Recruitment Advisory Committee, 2-4 TBA
Oct 13, Tues	- RCOE Administrative Council, 10-12, Greene-Oakes
Oct 15-16, Thur-Fri	- Fall Break, No Classes
Oct 19, Mon	- Graduate Council, 3-5, John Thomas Building
Oct 26, Mon	- RCOE Administrative Council, 10-12, Greene-Oakes
Oct 27, Tues	- RCOE Swing for Scholarships Golf Tournament, all day, Rock Barn
Oct 29, Thur	- Teacher Education Council, 3:30-5, Rm. 03
Dates to Save	- Oct. 15-16 Fall Break: Thursday & Friday—no classes - Oct. 27: Annual Swing for Scholarships Golf Tournament, Rock Barn (information: Dolly Farrell, Advancement Officer - Nov. 7: Education Day (football game and recognition of Education alumni as well as student winners of the Mountaineers Reading Program)

Kudos

Larry Kortering (LRE) has received year 5 of funding ($178,042) from the U.S. Dept. of Education for continuation of his project “Special Education—Technical Assistance and Dissemination to Improve Services and Results for Children with Disabilities.”

Hunter R. Boylan (LES/NCDE) delivered the keynote address to the annual conference of the Japan Association for Developmental Education on September 2.  The conference was held at the Institute of Science and Technology in Hokkaido.  The title of the address was "Improving the academic literacy of college students."  The speech has been translated into Japanese and will be published in the forthcoming issue of the Journal of the Japan Association for Developmental Education.

Doctoral student, Diane Guelzow recently made two presentations at the International Expressive Arts Therapy Association Conference at Lesley University. One was an experiential arts based workshop and the other was a panel on arts-based research.

Teaching Fellows and the Teaching Fellows staff (Jan Stanley, Janice Koppenhaver and Joy Osborne) conducted a highly successful Teacher Cadet Day with 90 students from 7 high schools participating in a day of programming planned by Teaching Fellows to introduce these students to ASU and our teacher education program.

Invitation to a Movie Screening

From Mary Ferrell: A friend of mine, actor Robby Benson, called me and asked if he can share a documentary with my students, who are currently creating a video for a class project. I would like to invite anyone who wants to join us. If you would like to bring a class, please let me know as soon as possible so I can make accommodations for space. "The Last Jews of Libya" was made by Vivienne Roumani-Denn and narrated by Isabella Rossellini. This 50-minute documentary uncovers a story never before told of a little-known Italian and Judeo-Arabic speaking community whose history and traditions differ from the more familiar North-African Jewish communities of Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco. The documentary is based on the memoirs of Elise Tamman Roumani, written in Italian and discovered after her death. Through interviews and archival footage we meet the Last Jews of Libya and begin to uncover their unique heritage and their place in the history of the last century. Robby wants to emphasize the importance of using media to preserve true stories that might otherwise be lost. Afterward, we can have a question and answer time where the audience can ask Robby about his acting/film making career, etc. He will be here this Thursday, October 1, from 8:00-9:15 AM. Location to be determined.

Biography:  "Best known for starring in films such as Ice Castles, Ode to Billy Joe, The Chosen, Tribute, Harry and Son, in his own screenplay for the Warner Bros. basketball classic, One on One, and to a new generation as the voice of Beast in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, the only animated feature film ever to receive a Best Picture Academy Award nomination, Robby Benson is also a three time Golden Globe nominated actor who has co-starred with legends Paul Newman, Jack Lemmon, Burt Reynolds, Gene Hackman, George Burns, Maximillan Schell, and Rod Steiger. His four decades of show business versatility include producing and directing feature films and television series. He’s directed over 100 sitcom episodes/pilots, (including episodes of Friends, and an entire season of Ellen); starred on Broadway in Zelda, The Rothschilds, and The Pirates of Penzance; composed film soundtracks, and has been the recipient of RIAA Gold Records for songwriting. For the theatre, Mr. Benson wrote the libretto and score of his off-Broadway musical Open Heart, which debuted in 2004 and is published and licensed by Samuel French.  Mr. Benson recently added Author to his career accomplishments with the release of his first novel, Who Stole the Funny? published by HarperCollins in 2007, and praised by the Editor in Chief of Variety, Peter Bart as "an irreverent and hilarious stroll down the dark alleys of Hollywood’s TV landscape.”  His most valued professional accomplishment is that of college professor, teaching for two decades at universities around the country. Most recently Robby spent the 2006-2007 academic year as Professor of Film in NYU’s famed Tisch School of the Arts in the Maurice Kanbar Institute of Film and Television, where he received the honor of being nominated for New York University’s Distinguished Teaching Award for his service."

Faculty Development Survey

The RCOE Faculty Development Committee is seeking faculty input on the areas that faculty would like to see addressed through various professional development activities. We ask that you go to the following address and complete the survey there (won’t take long) so the committee can have your input by October 5 as they plan for this academic year. You will also get a direct email with the survey address.

http://survey.rcoe.appstate.edu/TakeSurvey.aspx?SurveyID=ll33l92

Call for BOG Award Nominees

Once again, it is time for everyone to think about the excellent teachers among us. Please consider nominating someone that you feel is noteworthy for the BOG (Board of Governors) Teaching Awards at ASU.

BOG Award for Excellence in Teaching

The award includes a cash award for $7,500, a citation, state-wide recognition during Spring semester in Chapel Hill, and university-wide recognition during the Fall Convocation.

Eligibility: Open to tenured faculty who have taught a minimum of 7 years at Appalachian State University; demonstrated excellence in, and commitment to, teaching over a sustained period of time; are teaching in the academic year in which they are selected.

BOG rule: No faculty member will be eligible to receive this award more than once while teaching at any UNC institution.

Local clarification: In April 2006, the University Awards Committee clarified that the winner of the top level BOG Award for Excellence in Teaching must wait 5 years to be considered a nominee for the Appalachian State level awards.

BOG Appalachian State University Excellence in Teaching Award & BOG Appalachian State University School/College Awards

These awards include cash awards for $1,500 and $1000 respectively, and university-wide recognition during the Fall Convocation.

Eligibility: Open to all faculty (adjunct, full-time and part-time) who have taught a minimum of five years at Appalachian State University; have demonstrated excellence in, and commitment to, teaching over a period of time; are teaching in the academic year in which they are selected. Submit the completed nomination form to the current subcommittee chair.

For 2009-2010, contact: BOG Teaching Awards, Subcommittee Chair, Dr. Melanie Greene – Dept. of Curriculum & Instruction (greenemw@appstate.edu) 828-262-2276

2009/2010 Deadline for nominations: 5 p.m. October 2, 2009

Diversity Reading Groups

The RCOE Diversity Committee is seeking suggestions of books that might be appropriate for selection for reading groups in spring semester 2010; please send your suggestions to Precious Mudiwa (LES) (mudiwap@appstate.edu) in the next week or two. If you can provide a brief description of the book along with citation information, that would be very helpful to the committee.

Revised Post-tenure Review Guidelines.

The following post-tenure guidelines have been approved and should be followed this academic year.

4.3.3 Post-Tenure Review

4.3.3.1 Post-tenure review is a comprehensive, formal, periodic evaluation of cumulative faculty performance, the prime purpose of which is to ensure faculty development and to support and encourage faculty excellence.   Post tenure review requirements can be found in the UNC Policy Manual: 400.3.3.1[G].

4.3.3.2  In addition to the annual review for all faculty, described in Section 4.3.2, each tenured member of the teaching faculty will be subject to a comprehensive, cumulative review on a regular and systematic basis, no less frequently than every five years.  (Note: a review undertaken to grant tenure or to decide on promotion qualifies as such a cumulative review.)  This comprehensive review shall provide for the evaluation of all aspects of the professional performance of faculty whose primary responsibilities are teaching, and/or research, and/or service.  If faculty responsibilities are primarily in one or two of these areas, post‑tenure review and resulting recommendations should take this allocation of responsibilities into account.  Faculty performance will be examined relative to the mission of the University, college, and program.  Exemplary faculty performance will be recognized and rewarded.  Because performance rewards are often part of the annual review process (described in Section 4.3.2), the post‑tenure review may provide additional support for this form of recognition.

4.3.3.3   A post-tenure review committee for a department or academic unit will be elected by a vote of the tenured faculty in the department or academic unit.  The faculty member being reviewed will not have the option of selecting members of the peer review committee.  The tenured faculty will elect from among themselves three tenured faculty, who will serve staggered, non-renewable, three-year terms.  In the initial election, one tenured faculty member will be elected for a one-year term, one for a two-year term, and one for a three-year term. After the initial election, the tenured faculty will elect one tenured faculty member to fill a vacancy each year.  The tenured faculty may also fill vacancies caused by resignation or other contingencies.  In the event that there are not three tenured faculty in the department or academic unit, the tenured faculty will make nominations and will elect from among those nominated a tenured faculty member or members from an allied discipline to serve on the peer review committee.  The review of the committee as well as the recommendations of the department chair will be reviewed by the Dean.  (In cases where the Dean functions as a department chair in an academic unit without departmental divisions, the higher administrative review will be performed by the Provost.)

4.3.3.4   The post-tenure review committee shall provide to the faculty member being reviewed and the departmental chair written feedback concerning its evaluation and will designate the faculty member’s performance as unsatisfactory, satisfactory, or exemplary.  The faculty member under review may provide a written response to the evaluation.  The post-tenure review committee’s feedback should include recognition for exemplary performance.  All reviews must include a statement of the faculty member’s primary responsibilities and delineate specific strengths and weaknesses as they relate to the faculty member’s performance of assigned duties. A faculty member’s response, if any, to the committee’s review will also be forwarded to and reviewed by the Dean.

4.3.3.5  After review by the Dean, any faculty member who receives an unsatisfactory rating in the post-tenure review will be given the opportunity to improve performance.  The faculty member’s chair will: (a) consider the written feedback from the post-tenure review committee and the faculty member; and (b) prepare a written individual professional development plan for the faculty member. A specific timeline including steps for improvement must be included in the development plan, with a clear statement of consequences should improvement not occur within the designated time line [Consequences may include discharge or demotion for "sustained unsatisfactory performance” after the faculty member has been given an opportunity to remedy such performance and fails to do so within a reasonable time, pursuant to Section 3.8.1.1 of the Faculty Handbook.]  The chair is encouraged to assign one or more mentoring peers to the faculty member, and the chair must hold a progress meeting with the faculty member on at least a semi‑annual basis during the specified time line. If the faculty member’s duties are modified as a result of a less than satisfactory rating, the development plan should indicate and take into account the new allocation of responsibilities.

New Building Update

The weather has slowed the contractor down a bit on completing the excavation but concrete should be poured sometime this coming week—weather permitting. The contractor has indicated a willingness to put in overtime and increase his work crew, if necessary, to get back on schedule. The steel for the framing of the building is being fabricated and as soon as the footings and foundation are complete, we should anticipate seeing steel appear; be prepared for seeing the building erected in four phases due to the nature of the site. See latest pictures on our website—and remember, you can go in and see for yourself what progress is being made by using the live webcam. On another aspect of the building, I have been in discussions with Julie Brittain, the university’s interior designer, about furnishings, etc., for the new building. We will be putting a committee together shortly to begin the work of identifying furniture for offices, classrooms, labs, etc. There will be ample opportunity for input and even, we hope, opportunities to view possible selections of furnishings and having “test” sessions for desk chairs and the like.

Budget Update

It appears that the budget is slowly working its way through the necessary channels to reach us; however, I anticipate it may still be several more weeks before we have a clear picture of what the budget parameters will be. I will be sharing that information with chairs as soon as it is available. We have received approval to proceed with faculty searches to fill vacant and/or phased retirement positions; no new positions have been approved at this time.

Electronic Display

If you have not been on the second floor of Duncan recently, then you will not have seen the LCD display board that has been installed opposite the hallway doors. Thanks to the work of Chris Larson, our college webmaster, and Anthony Santucci, Director of Technology Facilities and Services, we are trying out this kind of display to see if it might be something we would like to use in the new building. We will continue to experiment with the information to place on the display; if you have a particular college, department, or program event you might wish to have displayed, submit the information to Chris (larsoncm@appstate.edu) and he will try to accommodate you if possible.

Thoughts on Education

We probably all have our favorite quotations about the importance of education and learning; if you are looking for possibly new material, go to

http://www.flickr.com/groups/858082@N25/pool/show/with/3948886994/

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“Change is a Journey, not a Destination.”
—M. Fullan