11-7-19 Weekly Three
Nov 07, 2019
Dear Colleagues,
I continue to be inspired by the thoughtful discussion and consideration of items brought before University Senate. Senate recently discussed a proposal to partition the KNH department into two departments, two new business majors, the presentation and recommendations from the Ad Hoc Committee on Faculty Composition (presented by co-chairs Kate de Medeiros and Jen Green) and information provided by Associate Provost Carolyn Haynes about the upcoming Academic Program Evaluation Process, which was a recommendation in our MiamiRISE strategic plan.
I encourage you to continue to review agendas, minutes and Senate actions, and to reach out to your Senate representative(s) to ensure your issues, concerns or questions are addressed about these important topics and other Senate discussion action items coming this year.
We continue to strive to “stretch and bend” our fiscal projections to account for recent challenges we are facing. Our leadership team has identified significant reductions in administrative and operational spending we can make in the coming academic year. I am proud to say that Academic Affairs will accomplish the five-year reductions set by the finance office in two years, giving us a quicker pivot toward a more positive future budget outlook. We continue to invest in promising new ideas that can help us continue to generate revenue that allows us to fulfill our mission. Thanks to everyone who is helping us with good stewardship of resources.
Now, here is this week’s Three.
Open Educational Resources (OER) Workshop – OER helps alleviate the burden of textbook costs for students and provides faculty with course content that can be customized for their courses. A $200 stipend is available to support faculty efforts in exploring open textbook options for one of their courses. Interested faculty should apply to attend the OER Explore Workshop to be held on Wednesday, December 4 from 2-4 p.m. in King Library. Capacity is limited and preference is based on OER textbook subject area availability.
Thanksgiving Week Schedule – The Thanksgiving holiday break begins for students at 10:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 26th. Because Miami’s fall semester consists of the federally-mandated minimum of 15 weeks of classes, including Thanksgiving week, please plan to hold your classes as scheduled on Monday and Tuesday, Nov. 25th and 26th.
Reminders:
Love and Honor,
Jason
I continue to be inspired by the thoughtful discussion and consideration of items brought before University Senate. Senate recently discussed a proposal to partition the KNH department into two departments, two new business majors, the presentation and recommendations from the Ad Hoc Committee on Faculty Composition (presented by co-chairs Kate de Medeiros and Jen Green) and information provided by Associate Provost Carolyn Haynes about the upcoming Academic Program Evaluation Process, which was a recommendation in our MiamiRISE strategic plan.
I encourage you to continue to review agendas, minutes and Senate actions, and to reach out to your Senate representative(s) to ensure your issues, concerns or questions are addressed about these important topics and other Senate discussion action items coming this year.
We continue to strive to “stretch and bend” our fiscal projections to account for recent challenges we are facing. Our leadership team has identified significant reductions in administrative and operational spending we can make in the coming academic year. I am proud to say that Academic Affairs will accomplish the five-year reductions set by the finance office in two years, giving us a quicker pivot toward a more positive future budget outlook. We continue to invest in promising new ideas that can help us continue to generate revenue that allows us to fulfill our mission. Thanks to everyone who is helping us with good stewardship of resources.
Now, here is this week’s Three.
Open Educational Resources (OER) Workshop – OER helps alleviate the burden of textbook costs for students and provides faculty with course content that can be customized for their courses. A $200 stipend is available to support faculty efforts in exploring open textbook options for one of their courses. Interested faculty should apply to attend the OER Explore Workshop to be held on Wednesday, December 4 from 2-4 p.m. in King Library. Capacity is limited and preference is based on OER textbook subject area availability.
Thanksgiving Week Schedule – The Thanksgiving holiday break begins for students at 10:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 26th. Because Miami’s fall semester consists of the federally-mandated minimum of 15 weeks of classes, including Thanksgiving week, please plan to hold your classes as scheduled on Monday and Tuesday, Nov. 25th and 26th.
Reminders:
- HERI Faculty Survey – On Monday, October 14th, full-time and part-time faculty members and academic administrators received an email message from provost@miamioh.edu containing a secure link to the national faculty survey conducted by the Higher Education Research Institute (HERI)–a survey Miami has participated in since 1995. Your confidential feedback via the HERI survey is an important way to chart our progress—especially as we begin implementation of our new strategic plan—and provide a way to identify areas for improvement. If you did not receive the email or have questions, please contact William Knight, Assistant Provost for Institutional Research and Effectiveness.
- Tomorrow, November 8th, Miami will celebrate First-Generation Day with a reception hosted by President and Dr. Crawford at Lewis Place from 4:00-6:00 pm, and other initiatives, including how to connect with a faculty or staff ally and the opportunity to join the Miami Firsts student organization.
Love and Honor,
Jason