• From the Chair
• Upcoming FAC Elections
• Upcoming Faculty Forums
• Summaries from past Faculty Forums
• PeopleSoft Rollout & MyUMUC
• Useful Links for Web-based Faculty

Ladies, gentlemen, colleagues,

Good times, bad times. We live in interesting times. The university continues to move with break-neck speed in several directions at once, depending on local conditions, and providing a single summary of all that's going on is tricky, but it falls to me to attempt it.

The F.A.C. was created in the fall of 2001, so the Council is in its 4th year. And while on a day-to-day basis movement may not be discernable, if we look back four years, some things are now quite different. The FAC runs a regular program of faculty forums, for example, which provide faculty with a means of influencing senior administrators in ways that just didn't exist four years ago. And, rather than being skeptical of the value of these forums, senior admin are now coming to the FAC and asking for "face time" with the faculty on various issues. Slowly but surely, the concept of "shared governance" is not just being accepted within UMUC but becoming an integral part of the way UMUC works.

No, it's not a democracy. Certainly not an independent democracy -- reality says UMUC is a state institution on the lower rungs of the USM hierarchy, and in many cases, decisions are imposed from above on the institution -- just as Shared Governance itself was imposed on UMUC by the Board of Regents, I might add -- so faculty may not see all their ideas taken up and turned into policy. But there is communication that didn't exist four years ago.

What's the point of talking if nothing happens? Here we come up against Outcomes Assessment. What outcomes can the FAC point to?

Last year it became clear that the military was considering large movements in Korea, and then in Europe too, affecting faculty in both overseas divisions. The FAC mentioned this to the Provost's Office, and a task force was created last fall, which reported over the winter to the university. By March there was a Transfer Policy in place -- which faculty are now using. Less tangibly, the concept of "re-applying" was buried with a stake through its letters, and replaced with "transfer." Small potatoes? Maybe, but like the pea under the mattress, that small potato really annoyed, and now it's gone.

Another outcome that will happen this year is the development of a faculty evaluation process. Again, timelines stretch this out over months -- it's difficult to point to a specific date and say, "We did this last Thursday!" but FAC members have been talking to the Provost Office since March about evaluation, and we held a forum in May. On the basis of that interaction with faculty a policy will be in place later this year, with FAC approval.

Similarly, FAC is now (July) engaged with the Provost Office on the design of this year's faculty survey, which will be run in September. The conversation started in June, and we're discussing the form of questions and what to ask, with what outcome in mind, and it will come together, but it's a slow process. Nevertheless, it exists. UMUC has a long history, and even four years ago, the idea of faculty representatives putting together a faculty opinion survey was unheard of. That's progress.

Al Raider, both a FAC member and Chairman of the University Advisory Council, is now also a member of the Presidential Search Committee. Back in 1999, when President Heeger was appointed, there was no formal process of faculty input into the search. This time round, it was clear from the outset that there would be a Shared Governance representative on the Search Committee -- that was a given, this time. No question about it.

And to give everyone their due, particularly with the Middle States re-accreditation process under way, there is no question about it that the doors of the offices of the various Provosts, Vice-Provosts, and Assoc. Provosts -- Larry Leak, Kim Kelley, Bob Jerome, Nick Allen -- are open to faculty representatives. Overseas, too, the atmosphere in which faculty representatives work couldn't be better. Reps have access to Allan Berg and John Golembe in Europe and to Lorraine Suzuki and Joe Arden in Asia. Times are good.

However, UMUC is not exactly rolling in cash. Times are bad. I wish FAC could announce an across-the-board 20% hike in pay, better benefits, and tenure. Don't hold your breath. Europe in particular has been hit by the fall in the dollar and a military contract that includes no currency adjustment. We have no magic solutions to offer. All we can say is that the Administration is talking to faculty representatives about the challenges. Personally, I am confident in the leadership of John Golembe and Joe Arden as they chart a course through these troubled times.

Within FAC -- since we're mentioning names -- Lee Pierce has been working with Adelphi to bring stateside BIOL pay into line with the overseas division pay for BIOL 102 instructors. James Stewart is responsible for holding the FAC forum series together, which involves extensive networking. David Kupiec in Asia is engaged with Joe Arden. Bill Kerr in Europe challenged the administration's new DE schedules. Anita Baker has been working with Kim Kelley concerning a new ethics code. Al Raider as Chair of UAC plays a prominent role at Adelphi, talking regularly to President Heeger. Robin Bush helps keep our website up and running and is primarily responsible for this newsletter.



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Faculty Advisory Council Elections Are Coming Up. Six seats on the Faculty Advisory Council, the key body through which the UMUC faculty participates in the shared governance of the University, are up for election this fall. Faculty are urged to considering nominating themselves for an available seat in their category.

The two-year seats available are:

• SUS Adelphi -- one seat
• Europe -- one seat
• UMUC Librarians -- one seat
• Adjunct -- one seat

And a further two seats are "wild cards," since two "At Large" representative seats are to be contested. At large seats are truly global, being occupied by popular representatives who achieve broad faculty support at election time but who may nevertheless not acquire a specific regional seat.

The Faculty Advisory Council advises the Provost and President on faculty matters, conducts a series of online faculty forums on topics of importance to faculty members, and serves to receive faculty concerns on any matter relevant to them.

Faculty Advisory Council participation is voluntary and involves no compensation -- except that gained from offering further service to UMUC.

Again, all faculty are urged to consider nominating themselves for an available seat in their category. Nominations will be accepted from Monday, August 22nd through Monday, September 4th, for the FAC election starting October 4th. If you have any questions about the nomination process, the FAC, or Shared Governance, please contact your local representative: http://www.umuc.edu/gov/fac/faculty_reps05.shtml.

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There are now four online forums that your Faculty Advisory Council has planned for the remainder of 2005 and early 2006. These forums are as follows:

1. The Middle States Reaccredidation Self-Study Team report
• When: September 19-25
• Facilitators: Larry Leak, Kimberly Kelley

Larry and Kim will lead a discussion of the report as recently presented to the reaccrediting body.


2. Application of USM Ethical Standards to UMUC
• When: October 17-23
• Facilitators: Kimberly Kelley, Kimberly Bonner
The two Kims will lead participants' consideration of whether UMUC should introduce a student honor code and if so, how it should be worded and enforced.


3. The course rating questionnaire aka the student satisfaction survey / Outcomes assessment at UMUC
• When: November 14-20
• Facilitator: While this forum is still in the planning stages; Husein Abdul-Hamid, John Aje, Ellen McLaughlin have been invited.
We're hoping that Husein will explain the current survey and invite participants' comments and suggestions to improve it. John and Ellen will cover the current status of outcomes assessment at UMUC.


4. Faculty Development
• When: February 6-12, 2006
• Facilitators: Susan Ko, Pamela Witcher, Richard Schumaker
Susan, Pamela and Richard will present faculty development opportunities offered by UMUC.

Please watch for registration announcements forthcoming about one month prior to each forum. Additional information can be found at http://www.umuc.edu/gov/fac/faculty_forum.shtml.

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UMUC Faculty Forum on the Faculty Evaluation System, 31 May - 6 June, featuring Dr. Salvatore Monaco, Dr. Robert Jerome, and Dr. Greg van Lehmen

Here is Vice Provost and Graduate School of Management and Technology Dean Monaco's succinct summary of this forum:

Reviewing the responses confirms that, although most of us believe evaluations should include multiple components, it would be unlikely to achieve consensus on weights. Nevertheless, there is general agreement on priorities, i.e., which factors are more important than others.

Student evaluations of the course, the ability to interact effectively in the classroom (I would frame this as following best practices), and following UMUC policy guidelines (grading and other uacriteria) appear to lead the list.

UMUC Faculty Forum on Adjunct Faculty Matters, 19-25 April, featuring Dr. Robert Gerome and Dr. Alan Berg

Because this is the first forum specifically addressing the needs of Adjunct faculty, we're providing a more detailed topic by topic summary.

The "Future" conference addressed the three major challenges outlined by Dr. Robert Jerome in his "Prelude Thoughts": Growth, specifically the increasing number of students; the integration of three disparate academic divisions; and the conversion of office systems into one, PeopleSoft system. The 63 comments posted dealing with these three major issues focused on:

UMUC’s capacity to absorb rising enrollments;

Concerns about a perceived decline in the preparedness of students to take college-level courses;

Possible changes to admissions standards and entrance requirements;
Adjunct

faculty as "migrant" labor and other perceptions of the status of adjunct faculty and their role in UMUC’s business model.

In response, Dr. Jerome observed that UMUC has made a commitment to be an "open university" and that some remedial courses will be necessary. He noted the remedial courses currently available in the undergraduate and graduate programs to assist students. There is also the UMUC "writing initiative; the institution is in the process of revamping the Writing Center to make it more accessible to a larger number of students." The current on-line UMUC Effective Writing Center was strongly endorsed by conference participants.

In respect to the comment characterizing adjunct staff as "migrant labor," Dr. Jerome noted that UMUC’s five-year plan for the faculty envisions an increase in its number and includes a review its "mix". His comment that the majority of adjuncts hold other full-time jobs and teach for reasons that go beyond financial, raised lively discussions in other Conferences, where his assumptions about the nature of the adjunct faculty were questioned. He also observed that the UMUC pay rates for adjunct faculty are competitive. And, to a question on the standards being used to evaluate adjunct faculty, he wrote that in this respect there is no distinction made between adjunct and collegiate faculty: The standards are the same for both groups.

Additional issues raised, listed below, were discussed in detail in the other Conferences:

PeopleSoft’s capabilities;
The new generation of WebTycho;
The future prospects of instructors in Western Europe given the changes within the U. S. military;
Communications issues: with academic directors, with adjuncts who are not located in the Washington D.C. area, and the use of the "999."
Best practice in assisting students who may not have pre-requisite knowledge or skills, poor knowledge of the English language, and the benefits of having a librarian visit classes.

The substantive bulk of the Policies conference was comprised of these discussions:
Promotion;
The fifteen credit hour teaching ceiling for adjuncts;
Adjuncts' role in course development;
The potential for adjuncts transitioning to contracted positions;
The need for faculty to be informed about major employment changes before they occur; and
The way policy changes are communicated to faculty.

The fifteen-hour credit ceiling is a concern echoed by many faculty members throughout this conference and the forum generally. Adjunct faculty would like UMUC administration to raise this ceiling. Reading the USM policy, it seems there is some wiggle-room in this regard.

In discussing "faculty burnout," it was recommended by administration and other faculty that all faculty should take advantage of the enrichment and professional development programs detailed in the Pay and Benefits section (through ODELL, the CTL, and so on). Jerry Glover pointed out that UMUC is linking more of its professional workshops to Continuing Education Units. In is way, training can strengthen faculty both in their UMUC teaching as well as other professional positions held.

Significant enthusiasm surrounded the idea of adjuncts transitioning to contracted positions. It was pointed out that, naturally, the faculty member must be a strong teacher and that UMUC could not create positions for faculty members. Rather, the need must be present, driven by student enrollments, with pay levels in tune with the market forces of supply and demand.

Questions about the nine-month contracts included: What is the anticipated timeframe on this rollout? (Anita Hibler) and How does one apply for these positions? The new transfer policy – and the recent message from the Provost – has addressed this and will be helpful.

While all were in agreement that the world is changing, it was stressed that long-term staff should be kept abreast of changes before and as they're occurring. When effective communication (particularly involving job security) doesn't occur, folks' concern for their professional future compounds and their commitment may erode. Still given these concerns, there is optimism for the future, shared by administration and faculty.

The Teaching Across Divisions conference began with discussion about harmonizing the Asian Division, European Division, and Adelphi student and faculty populations. It was noted that tax, labor, and other legal codes complicate attempts to harmonize the three faculty divisions. Allan Berg pointed out that ten years ago (and earlier) "… host countries weren't quite as rigorous in the enforcement of various tax laws as they are now."

A sample of practical distinctions drawn between divisional faculty:
Full-time collegiates overseas fall under the military contract. As contract resources, their student pool is limited (contract resources cannot be used for non-contract purposes).
Different pay rates are mandated by contracts.
Local labor and tax laws vary.
There was some discussion about the fifteen-hour ceiling for adjuncts (half of a full-time position) which is predicated by the declaration of thirty hours as a full-time schedule. All adjuncts weighing in on this subject expressed conviction that the fifteen-hour ceiling should be raised (as well as the thirty- hour ceiling for full-time faculty). Niko Maksimyadis of the European Division cited the related USM policy and commented "… It is understood that there may be differences across departments of an institution, as approved by the president." Niko then asked, "Therefore why can not we at UMUC see if we can make alterations to the policy?"
John Booth from the ED wrote that "quite a few US-Citizen faculty held Collegiate rank before the most recent Army contract. After the Army contract, those faculty were reduced to Adjunct ranking." This reduction resulted in some UMUC faculty losing health and retirement benefits (without knowing in advance). Pointing out that some of these re-categorized faculty "…would choose to stay in Germany in spite of the reduction of job security…The loss of job security and benefits was a sharp blow in these cases;" and, as John wrote, "that they are being treated so shabbily does no credit to UMUC, nor the US military."

Conference discussion shifted to relocation, where many questions centered on concern that UMUC overseas faculty ought to be preferentially screened. Logistical questions were also posed about how to apply for Adelphi, contracted, full-time, or adjunct positions. A thumbnail sketch of the Relocation Policy was offered with direction on where to access the official policy in its entirety and the policies and procedures for ED faculty wishing to transfer to Adelphi. Although the policy is clearly worded, questions remain about how factors such as experience will contribute to class assignments. Jane Burman-Holton wrote: "…it would make sense for UMUC to find effective ways to reduce the stress, anxiety and uncertainty of Adjunct faculty so they can focus on the primary mission of student learning and teaching excellence."

The "How Are We Communicating" Conference centered on five questions:

Do adjunct faculty members think there is a communications problem?
Are adjunct faculty members receiving the information they need and want and in a timely manner?
What communication methods work best for adjunct faculty?
From whom do they wish to receive information?
How can communications be improved between the institution and adjunct faculty?

The first question, "Do we have a communications problem?" elicited comments ranging from "No, we don’t have a problem" to "We most certainly do." The 148 responses in this Conference indicated wide differences in experiences with, and perceptions about, the amount and timeliness of the information faculty receive from UMUC. On the plus side, some participants regularly receive the Provost Post, Deans Office News, Graduate School email, DE Oracle Newsletter, CTL Newsletter, academic coordinator emails, and WebTycho emails. Others noted how well "999" classrooms work as a method for facilitating the exchange of information on courses and teaching. Other positive observations included posting the new Faculty Handbook on-line and making the proceedings of the February Faculty Meting available electronically. One faculty member commented on the availability of a "’Course Manager’ who is always available to answer questions…"

However, another participant observed that they receive little information from UMUC or academic departments, that the use of "999" is uneven; and that some departments are inconsistent in communicating with instructors who are not resident in the Washington D.C. region. One participant wrote that, "If what is meant by "communication" is that we are informed of policy decisions that are being done…are informed as policy is developed, that is not being done." Another person commented that "large-scale initiatives, university-wide endeavors (outcomes assessments, learning outcomes, scalability) are not communicated or understood by adjunct faculty…If it’s worth while, it shouldn’t stay in the Adelphi buildings but be blasted out to the divisions."

In response, Dr. Jerome noted that it is difficult to know how much information faculty want and on what issues. In the next six months, he hopes to have appointed a person to focus on communication issues, and work has also begun on creating a faculty portal. "The intention is to make faculty communications more transparent and useful." He wants to see the Faculty Center as a "one stop shop." "PeopleSoft will allow us to "push" emails out automatically on various issues, but also we will have a faculty portal where much information will be available."

Other topics raised in the discussion included:
A variety of technical and technological issues. UMUC mass emails, for example, are sometimes perceived by mail programs as "spam" and therefore deleted.
The timeliness of sending information to faculty about students with special needs. In response, UMUC administrators noted that "Because of the myriad of federal, state, USM, and UMUC policies and procedures, faculty should not attempt to handle accommodation issues themselves. The student should be directed to the appropriate point of contact."

Unexpected changes to the DE schedule for the Academic Year 2005-06 and a concern about student expectations resulting from the changes. The changes to the DE schedule resulted in lengthy discussions with Dr. Larry Leak, who detailed the reasons for making those changes.

The preferred method of communication – for the majority of respondents, it is email. Some faculty stated a preference for receiving paper copies of materials. However, Dr. Jerome noted that UMUC is moving away from paper copies and to the greater use of electronic methods.

Participants also presented ideas for improving the UMUC’s communications with adjunct faculty, some of which are listed below.

Send emails to faculty when a website area of UMUC is enhanced or improved or when an online document is updated.

Organize a global 999 classroom or several 999 classrooms that address different topics, available to any/all faculty members to "build camaraderie and help each other solve problems." Jerry Glover noted that "The WebTycho shell has been created" and he will roster any faculty who contacts him.

Create one central place that lists all the various newsletters and mail lists, so that faculty can sign up for those that are of interest to them and post all links/websites faculty became aware of as a result of this and other e-conferences.

E-mail the FAC Newsletter to all faculty, similarly to the Provost’s Post.

Provide clear statements regarding "our working relationships and prospects for teaching assignments"; establish procedures that will make staffing occur earlier (about 4 months before class). Dr. Jerome noted that with PeopleSoft it might be possible to improve on the timeliness in notifying faculty on these matters.

Pay and Benefits Conference

Adjuncts would like to know what their expected pay will be when they agree to teach a class or when a class is offered. This will be addressed in the PeopleSoft conversion. Some would like more frequent payments.

The Mercer Group is conducting a study intending to address several broad pay-related questions related to pay equity in specific areas. The study is not yet complete.

Tuition paid by DE students goes to all the other services the university provides as well as infrastructure and administrative costs. Unlike other state schools, UMUC gets virtually no support from the state legislature, which means that tuition pays for everything at this university.

Adjuncts are interested in benefits including retirement and health insurance. It's assumed that adjunct faculty members have other jobs that provide benefits and retirement. According to the last FAC survey, nearly two-thirds of Adelphi adjuncts (61%) report working full time in a job related to their teaching, with 20% working part time in a related job. We did see some exceptions to that rule.

Some collegiate professors have lost benefits when their status was changed to adjunct.

Many stated that they enjoy working for UMUC and feel as though they're treated well. Many would like to teach beyond the 15 credit hour limit.

Many wanted to see a larger budget to fund training and professional activities.

Resources were posted including: http://www.umuc.edu/distance/odell/ctla/pdg.html(Adelphi)
http://www.ed.umuc.edu/staff/faculty/faculty_dev/travel.html (European Division)
http://www.umuc.edu/distance/odell/ctla/workshops.html (CTL Workshops).

Many wanted to take classes such as online certification courses from eCollege. The availability of training through SkillSoft was mentioned. Others wanted a tuition discount or waiver to take classes at UMUC. It was stated that adjunct faculty are not eligible for tuition remission at UMUC.

The "At the Water Cooler" conference generated good ideas. There were some adjunct-to-adjunct connections including a group of stay-at-home teaching moms and biology professors. This forum attracted many faculty members who had never participated in a Faculty Forum before.

Adjuncts want @umuc.edu faculty addresses. It is likely that one will be available in time.

Adjuncts want to be included in the faculty directory. This will be addressed by the PeopleSoft conversion. Professor Jerome stated that we are trying to integrate all of our back office systems into one system. The various functions that need to be integrated: employees (including faculty), students, classes, and all the interfaces such as staffing a class, financial aid, paying faculty for the appropriate classes, etc. More info on PeopleSoft can be found at
http://www.peoplesoft.com/corp/en/public_index.jsp.

Adjuncts would like to see improvements to the online exam system so that they could tell who had registered for the final exam. Timely delivery of exams prior to the due date for grades was requested. Online exams were also discussed. Professor Patti Wolf will be revamping the exam system and has agreed to keep us in the loop.

Some communications issues spilled over into this conference:
Many requested a single location where they could sign or opt out of all the various newsletters such as the Provost Post and the Faculty Advisory Council newsletter. Some wanted to be notified via mail if information on a particular website changed. Adjuncts are also interested in communicating with their counterparts in Europe and Asia via global 999 classrooms. Still others want more informal communication with a wider population on a permanent basis. Some suggested a mail list or message board interface outside of WebTycho but available via the new Faculty Center that is linked to the PeopleSoft conversion.

Many adjuncts raised issues relating to the change in DE schedules and the complexity of term lengths, particularly in the European Division.
These summaries were compiled by Anita Baker, Rebecca deGuzman, and Roberta Bush

UMUC Faculty Forum on Web Tycho and Other Information Technology Issues at UMUC, 15-21 February, featuring Dr. Gregg Chottiner and Dr. Rob Sapp

Here are Adjunct Professor and Faculty Advisory Council member Roberta (Robin) Bush's summarized suggestions emanating from this forum:

Feature Requests:
IM and Chat improvements
An equation editor and graphing tools
Expanded symbol support, Support for subscript and superscript text
A search function
A "Mark as read" option that would reassign a red star to a conference post
A reporting structure including student access to areas of the classroom
Improved support for audio files
Ability to import classes from the current version of WebTycho to Tycho NG
An internal email system
Support for multiple email addresses
Email addresses export from WebTycho to an external email address book
Faculty web-based email accounts
Bookmarking of WebTycho pages
Automatic virus scanning of attachments
Better support for Macs including availability the TFE
Keeping the TFE as an optional feature preserving HTML and plain text options
Foreign language spell checkers
Ability to recover documents when connection times out
Ability to log in as a student or have a 'student view'
Polling or survey tool, anonymous surveys

Gradebook enhancements requested:
 Ability to subdivide gradebook to reduce number of tabs
 A class participation calculator
 Giving students more access to gradebook data
 Comments/file attach for class participation
 Ability to upload files with instructions for assignments
 Support for Extra Credit assignments
 Include a time setting for assignment lock date
 Optional email notification when students submit assignments to the gradebook or workbook

Online exams features requested:
 Online quizzes or tests
 Online proctored exams
 Automatic grading
 Ungraded 'Self tests' as a learning tool
Timed exams possibly via JavaScript

 

UMUC Faculty Forum on University Finances, 30 November - 6 December 2004, featuring Dr Vince Conti

UMUC Senior Vice President and COO Vince Conti provided forum summary comments as follows.

I want to thank you all for a memorable experience. I have enjoyed it and would like to do it again at an appropriate time. There are some issues still open and resolution is underway. These include, among others, the issue of lost benefits for a couple of faculty with whom I will work off line, the issue of getting clear understanding for everyone on the health benefits offered at retirement which we will work with FAC on, the ongoing compensation study which should be completed in the next 30 to 60 days, and the report of the transfer Task Force due in early January. Thanks you again for inviting me to join you.


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