Message from Dean Daniel J. Howard, CLAS Council Chair Jeff Franklin, and Former CLAS Council Chair Pam Laird

Faculty Merit Reviews

Annual merit reviews carry both symbolic and practical consequences for faculty, their departments, and the College. This past week, the CLAS Council intended to address a single aspect of college policies, namely how to reward multi-year research/creative projects appropriately. This initial topic, however, inspired a lively and informative discussion that led to some observations about merit reviews more broadly.

Repeatedly, the discussion highlighted the importance of clear, detailed, and up-to-date primary unit bylaws and merit criteria. Council members also noted the benefits of a deliberate and inclusive process of generating and reviewing bylaws and merit criteria. When a vote of each unit’s faculty as a whole approves the results, everyone has buy-in. Moreover, sufficiently clear and detailed criteria accomplish two goals. They assist chairs or merit committees in making meaningful and supportable discriminations between levels of performance. At the same time, they ensure that each faculty member’s achievements are recognized and rewarded at a level commensurate with his/her efforts, regardless of who happens to be serving as chair or as dean.

Returning to the recognition of multi-year projects, the Council unanimously resolved that the College adopt a policy that permits recognizing merit over multiple years. A recent Regental policy allows this to “reflect ongoing achievements in teaching, research, and service that may not yield measurable results in any given year. This principle of a rolling measure of merit recognizes that some projects require years to come to fruition and also that strongly productive years may coincide with years with low salary pools.” There are several ways of instituting such rollover processes, such as a multi-year rolling average, or carrying forward merit points from one year to the next, up to five years. Because of variations across fields, the Council encourages each department to consider how such a practice might best serve its faculty and incorporate that practice into its bylaws.

Annual merit reviews can be anxiety provoking for everyone participating in the process.  Clearly written and frequently updated merit criteria reduce this anxiety by spelling out expectations and keeping these expectations current with the rapidly changing scholarship and teaching activities of CLAS faculty members.  Careful attention to merit criteria and bylaws at the departmental level will be especially important over the course of the next year as the College begins to implement differentiated workloads more broadly.   

With all best wishes,

Dan, Jeff, and Pam

NEW! Assessment Plan for Graduation Requirements

The assessment plan for CLAS graduation requirements has been approved by both the Council of Chairs and the CLAS Council. Tammy Stone will work with the chairs to pilot the assessment measures this summer and the plan will be fully implemented in Fall 2009.  This plan is a living document and conversations will continue at the department and college level as we implement and learn from this plan.  Thanks to all of you for your hard work on the plan over the last year!

NEW! Center for Democracy and Community Engagement

Call for involvement

A group of CLAS professors has been working on a plan for a Center for Democracy and Community Engagement that they will propose as a new University-Level Signature Program at UCD.  

If you are interested in joining this working group to help write the proposal, please contact Associate Dean Brenda J. Allen by email or at 303-556-6713.

NEW! Open Enrollment for 2009-10

PBS has announced that open enrollment will take place April 27, 2009 through May 22, 2009 at 5 PM, MDT.  As in years past this is a firm deadline, and no late enrollment will be permitted.  The web application will open on May 7.  There are no major changes to benefit programs this year; rates will be announced in early May.

Those who do not complete the open enrollment application will be re-enrolled in their 2008-2009 benefit programs, with the exception of health and dependent care flexible spending programs.  If you plan to enroll in flexible spending programs, you MUST complete the open enrollment application by 5:00 PM MDT on May 22, 2009.  

Plan details will be available soon and will be posted on the PBS website. Please be sure to check your e-mail for future communication regarding plans, rates, and enrollment deadlines.

NEW! Outstanding Graduate Students

Call for Nominations

The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences is currently soliciting nominations for the Outstanding Graduate Student from the College.  Departments may submit one individual to each of two categories: Masters (MA, MS, MHUM, MSS, MIS) and Ph.D.  Nominating packets are due in the Dean’s office by 5:00 on Monday, April 27, 2009 and must be students eligible to graduate this semester.

Packets must include the following items:

1)      A nominating letter from the department that clearly spells out why this student stands out above the norm (e.g., publications, grants, service to community or profession)
2)      A clear statement by the student detailing their accomplishments and plans for the future.
3)      A transcript
4)      Additional supporting letters from faculty may be included
5)      A current Vitae
6)      Where applicable, include FCQs for teaching

Additional supporting letters and other materials may be included.  Please be aware that this award is competitive across the College, so it would be useful if you can provide information that helps us to compare students from one field with students in another.  One example is to include the quality of journals if the student has publications or the scope of a meeting (regional, national, international) if the student has meeting presentations.

Contact Mary Coussons-Read with questions.

NEW! Foundations of Excellence Update

UC Denver Staff, Faculty and Administrators:

Last Fall over 800 faculty, staff and administrators participated in the Foundations of Excellence questionnaire related to the first-year experience at UC Denver for entering freshmen students.  This effort represents a 50% participation rate, and we are extremely pleased with your support.

What happened to your input? 

The Foundations of Excellence has prepared nine draft dimension reports utilizing your input, input from students, and other sources of information.  Before preparing the final Foundations of Excellence report in May/June, we are seeking your review and input on the nine draft dimension reports. 

Please visit the Foundations of Excellence web site, where each of the nine dimension committee draft reports can be accessed, each of which is concluded with a link to a simple questionnaire covering the current UC Denver situation and the recommendations for that dimension.  While we encourage review of all nine dimension committee draft reports, you can do the reports on an individual basis.

Thank you for your continuing support of the efforts to improve the first-year experience for undergraduate students at UC Denver.

John A. Lanning
Asst. Vice Chancellor for Undergraduate Experiences
Office:  303-315-2134
www.cudenver.edu/ue

NEW! Sexual Harassment Training

Faculty and staff must complete online course regarding preventing sexual harassment

Sexual harassment in the workplace is bad news for everyone. Knowing what constitutes sexual harassment is an important step toward prevention.

Chancellor M. Roy Wilson has mandated that all UC Denver faculty and staff -- classified staff as well as exempt-professional staff -- must participate in sexual harassment training. The focus is information and resources to enable you to recognize behaviors and situations that constitute sexual harassment. 

Many of you may have already satisfied this requirement. If the Human Resources Management System (HRMS) lists you as having taken this course since July 2000, you have met the training requirement and do not need to take it again. Please review your training summary in the CU portal. Please log in using your same login and password that you use to log into your computer or to check your UC Denver e-mail. Once logged in: 
--click on My.Training tab
--click on “click here for SkillPort”
--click on “CU Learning Programs” on the left side under “My Shortcuts”; list of classes will appear on right side
--scroll to the bottom for “Preventing Sexual Harassment” 
--click on course then “play”

If you have questions, contact Human Resources at 303-315-2700.

Save the Date: Dean's Awards Reception

Friday, May 8

Join us for this year's Dean's Reception on Friday, May 8. All faculty and staff are invited to attend. The outstanding faculty, staff and student awards will be presented.

North Classroom Atrium
9-9:30 am: Continental Breakfast
9:30-11:00 am: Awards presentation

2008-09 Dissemination Grant

Application Due Date: May 1, 2009
Award Notification: May 30, 2009

The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) is providing support to its faculty for engaging in activities that promote their research activities and enhance the profile of the college and university. 

A critical feature of a productive research program is the ability to disseminate findings and engage in scholarly discourse with colleagues around the world to inform future research activities, develop productive research collaborations, and support new grant applications.  

The CLAS Dissemination Grant program is designed to provide tenure-track and tenured faculty with funds for disseminating research via publication (page and other publication charges), travel to support presentations at professional meetings, website design related to communication of research results, or other scholarly dissemination venues.   See the CLAS Web site for the application form and instructions.

Summer Compensation Worksheet

Due May 1

In an effort to make the process more efficient for capturing summer appointment information and to allow faculty to request the timing of administrative and grant compensation, we have created the following worksheet, which can also be found on the CLAS Faculty Resources Web page.   The form should used by all tenure-track faculty and instructors to identify summer compensation from teaching, administration, and grant activities.  Specific instructions and examples are provided on the form.  Forms should be submitted to Heather Sours in the Dean’s Office (submission information is included on the bottom of the form) no later than May 1st.  Contact information if you have questions is also provided on the form.

Challenge Grant Program

UCD Routing Deadline of April 9
Proposal Paperwork Deadline of April 20
NIH Submission Deadline of April 27

The Challenge Grant program provides funding for two-year research projects in a number of specific areas related to health and health behaviors.  You can find the list of research topics and program details in the following announcement.

Because the office of grants and contracts expects a large volume of submissions in response to this announcement we will need to adhere to slightly early deadlines for routing and submission. 

The challenge grants have a submission deadline to NIH of April 27.   The UCD routing deadline will be April 9 and all proposal paperwork needs to be submitted by April 20.  Many faculty members have already contacted us about their intent to submit a challenge grant.  If you have not done so already and are interested in preparing a submission please contact Carol Achziger.

2009 CLAS Outstanding Staff Award

Nominations Due TODAY

An annual award within the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the CLAS Outstanding Staff Award recognizes a single staff member who demonstrates outstanding leadership, ability, initiative and/or achievement.  These contributions must provide a significant benefit specifically for CLAS at the downtown Denver campus.  The recipient will receive a $500 cash award, presented by the Dean and the nominating employee(s) at the Dean’s Reception this spring.

Eligibility
Any full-time (1 FTE/100% time), permanent classified, exempt professional, PRA, Sr. PRA or Research Associate staff member currently employed by CLAS is eligible for nomination.  The individual must have been employed as a permanent staff member within the college for at least 12 consecutive months.

Nomination Process
Eligible employees must be nominated by a University employee using the CLAS Outstanding Staff Nomination form.  Nominations may be submitted either electronically or in hard copy to Heather Sours, HR Coordinator, Campus Box 144.  The deadline for nominations is 5:00 PM today, Friday, April 17, 2009.

Questions?  Please call 303-556-2558.

Nomination Form

CLAS in the Spotlight

Brenda J. Allen, associate dean and communication professor, gave a keynote speech entitled "Assertive and Positive: Strong Leadership in Uncertain Economic Times" for the Rocky Mountain chapter meeting of the American Association for Women in Community Colleges at Aims Community College on April 9.

Westword’s Bests: History Book
Westword, 4/1/2009
We weren't the only ones blown away by Killing for Coal: America's Deadliest Labor War, the very first book by Thomas Andrews, an assistant history professor at the University of Colorado Denver. It was a stunning debut, full of insight into the role of labor and class not just in southern Colorado, but across the country. Andrews's efforts were recently recognized with the Bancroft Prize from Columbia University, the top American history award.

Epidemic of anxiety
Fox 31 News, April 14, 2009
Mary Coussons-Read, associate dean and psychology professor, was interviewed by Fox 31 News regarding sleep deprivation as a result of stress with the economy.

Colorado sees an explosion of poets
Denver Post, April 4, 2009
In an article about the poetry movement in Colorado, Noah Eli Gordon, one of our English instructors, was mentioned and Jake Adam York, associate professor of English, was interviewed.

Students launch water balloons at teachers
KUSA CH 9 (NBC), April 8
Jeff Larson, a graduate student in the Department of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences, was interviewed for a story on how Larson and seven other graduate students are working to bolster the teaching of science and mathematics in public schools, especially in the sixth, seventh and eighth grade levels. Larson is at Everitt Middle School in Wheat Ridge as a result of the GK-12 grant through the National Science Foundation. *This story also aired across the nation.*

Jean Scandlyn, assistant research professor for health and behavioral science, received a Fulbright award to study health-related NGOs in Bolivia.  She is the P.I. on a project entitled "Building Capacity for Qualitative Research in Bolivia."

Diana Tomback, biology professor, had a paper published in Ecological Applications, which was the subject of Ecological Society of America's recent blog post.

EVENTS

Communication Days
April 20-23
Presented by the Communication Department
Various locations and times
Communication Days are a celebration of the role of communication in our lives. All are invited to attend any of the presentations. Times and locations can be found on this brochure.

Communication Days: Keynote Presentation
Thursday, April 23
2:30-3:45 p.m.
Tivoli, Room 320 B & C
Presentation: Communicative Structures, Research and Social Justice: Implications of Schooling in a Prison Society
Dr.  Garrett Albert Duncan, Department of Education
Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri


Libido!  Drive and No Drive 
Thursday, April 23
6:00pm — reception; 6:30pm — program
The last installment of “Feminism & Co.: Art, Sex Politics”
co-directed by Gillian Silverman, University of Colorado Denver and
Elissa Auther, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs     
This adult-oriented evening examines women’s desire from a variety of perspectives.  Come hear from UCD’s professor of history, Marjorie Levine-Clark; psychologist and certified sex therapist, Ruth Morehouse; and award-winning performance artist Holly Hughes!  The event is at the Lab at Belmar: 404 S. Upham Street, Lakewood, Colorado

Research and Creative Activities Symposium
Friday, April 24
10:00 am - 3:00 pm
NC Atrium
More information

Dean's Awards Reception
May 8
9:00 - 11:00 am
North Classroom Atrium

IN THIS ISSUE:

Message from Dean Howard, CLAS Council Chair, and Former CLAS Council Chair

Assessment Plan for Graduation Requirements

Center for Democracy and Community Engagement

Open Enrollment

Call for Outstanding Grad Students

Foundations of Excellence Update

Sexual Harassment Training

Dean's Reception

Dissemination Grant

Summer Compensation

Challenge Grant

CU Online Programs

Outstanding Staff Award

CLAS in the Spotlight

Events

ARCHIVES:

Past issues since Jan 21, 2007.

USEFUL LINKS:

CLAS Event Calendar

CLAS News

Faculty Resources

Staff Resources

Campus News

The CLAS Deans' Notes is a bi-weekly newsletter
for college faculty and staff.

EDITOR:

Katy Brown
303.556.6663
Katy.Brown @ucdenver.edu