NEW! Google Apps for OSU launches in July: Everyone with an ONID account, including all OSU employees and students, will be able to access Google Apps for OSU in July. Read LIFE@OSU and discover how our community will have a new and powerful set of tools for collaborating with OSU students, faculty, researchers, and external partners. The Google Implementation Team also invites you to complete a brief survey on Google Apps; we seek your input and feedback.
Bioenergy Scholarships for Masters of Agriculture Students
The Bioenergy Education Project is announcing the availability of $3000 scholarships for Master of Agriculture students in bioenergy-related fields. Both new and current M.Ag. students are eligible to apply. Funded by a grant from the USDA, the purpose of the scholarships is to encourage non-thesis Masters of Agriculture students to receive training in business and management as well as bioenergy, to enable them to enter the professional workforce in this growing area.
> The Master of Agriculture program requires students to take courses in three different areas (a major and two minor concentrations), two of which must be from the College of Agricultural Sciences or closely related areas. Students receiving the Bioenergy scholarship will be required to take 18 credits of a specified curriculum to earn a Graduate Certificate (GC) in Management for Science Professionals, for one of their minor concentrations. For their second minor concentration, students will choose 9 credits of coursework related to Bioenergy, to be approved by their major professor and committee. The M.Ag degree is non-thesis; students have done a variety of projects for their graduate supervisors.
> For questions about the Bioenergy Scholarships, contact Kate Field (kate.field@oregonstate.edu). For questions about the Master of Agriculture degree, contact Greg Thompson (greg.thompson@oregonstate.edu).
Oleksii Motorykin selected for NIEHS Global Environmental Health Newsletter
Oleksii Motorykin has been selected for highlight as the best SRP – Supported Graduate Students and PostDocs in the NIEHS Global Environmental Health Newletter. Congratulations Oleksii!!
Margie Haak in Terra Magazine
If your memory of college includes trying to stay awake in large lecture halls, Cub Kahn has news for you. When he thinks about the future of higher education, he sees hybrids. Forget the cars that combine gas engines and electric motors. These hybrids are the latest in college courses. They enable students to learn via computer with online videos and activities that can be done at home or in the library or coffee shop. Hybrids meet less often in actual classrooms, but when they do, their sessions resemble hands-on workshops where students solve problems and apply their knowledge. Done well, hybrids can improve learning and help students get more mileage out of education. More…
Computational Organic Chemistry Video made for Career Day
PhD Candidate, Ryne Johnston made a video about Computational Organic Chemistry for Career Day. Check out the link below.
Undergraduate of the Quarter – Spring 2013 – Shelby Paulson
Shelby Paulson grew up in Coos Bay, OR – graduating from Marshfield High School where she was a three-sport athlete (cross-country/track, basketball and swimming). Her senior year, she was awarded an Air Force ROTC Scholarship, which covered much of her cost to go to college. Military service is a tradition in her family as both her parents were in the Army. She selected OSU for college because her mom got her Masters degree from here and because “she didn’t want to to that school in Eugene.” Her favorite courses were the Integrated lab sequence because it was “lots of fun and hands on.” She also really enjoyed Staci Simonich’s CH 692 Environmental Transformation of Organic Compounds course and Jennifer Field’s Toxicology course. She has worked in Staci’s lab for over a year now and has really valued the experience. She has also been active in the Student Alumni Association during her time at OSU. After graduation, she will start her six-year service as an Air Battle Management Officer in the Air Force. We are fortunate to have talented students like Shelby in our Department, and we are grateful for her service to our country!
NIH SBIR Phase 1 Program
Applying to the NIH SBIR Phase I Program for First-Time Applicants: June 3 and 4, 5 p.m. RSVP or questions please contact Jianbo at the Office for Commercialization and Corporate Development at jianbo.hu@oregonstate.edu 541-737-2366. The NIH SBIR Phase I Program for First-Time Applicants is a very practical step-by-step, four-hour online “How-To” workshop over two evenings at ALS 1019 to help researchers, faculty members, graduate students, post-docs and entrepreneurs create a SBIR company and apply to the NIH SBIR program in August of 2013.
Chemical Safety Memo Spring 2013
New Faculty Ranks
At the April 11, 2013 meeting of the Faculty Senate we completed the work to implement new faculty ranks (Instructor, Faculty Research Assistant, and Professor of Practice series). President Ray approved these changes on May 10, 2013. The Faculty Handbook has been updated, and you can see the details of the changes on the Faculty Senate webcast site (http://oregonstate.edu/senate/webcast/2012-2013/1304/).
We are writing to you today with some important matters related to the implementation. Below we will provide a brief summary of the new ranks and who is eligible. In italics we note several process issues to be aware of. Finally, at the end of the email we announce upcoming opportunities for faculty to develop teaching portfolios to use for promotion. The Faculty Senate will also sponsor a panel early in Fall of 2013 for “how to be an effective external reviewer” for promotions in the new instructor and FRA ranks.
Professor of Practice
Faculty members with significant responsibility for non-traditional education or community outcomes may be defined as professors of practice. It is to be used only for faculty members whose primary work assignments are in professionally related community education and service, though scholarship and university service are also expected. Professor of Practice faculty are not eligible for tenure, but are eligible for extended fixed-term contracts at the Associate and Full Professor ranks.
Note: Because this is a new category of faculty, we ask units to work with the Office of Academic Affairs before establishing and/or recruiting for professors of practice.
Instructor series: Instructor, Senior Instructor I, and Senior Instructor II
A faculty member currently in the rank of “Senior Instructor” will become “Senior Instructor I.” Promotion to the rank of Senior Instructor II may be considered after four years of full-time service at the rank of Senior Instructor I or the accumulation of its equivalent for part-time Senior Instructors at 0.50 FTE or greater. To be promoted, a candidate must have a sustained record of exceptional achievement and evidence of professional growth and innovation in assigned duties. Senior Instructors I and II are eligible for extended fixed-term contracts.
Note: Units need to develop clear criteria for promotion to Senior Instructor II.
Note: Promotions for instructors include a requirement for external review letters. These letters must come from people who are at, or above, the rank to which the faculty member is being promoted. A majority of the reviewers should be from outside the faculty member’s unit and you are encouraged to seek reviews external to OSU.
Faculty Research Assistant series: Faculty Research Assistant, Senior Faculty Research Assistant I, and Senior Faculty Research Assistant II
A faculty member currently in the rank of “Senior Faculty Research Assistants” will become “Senior Faculty Research Assistant I.” Promotion to the rank of Senior II Faculty Research Assistant may be considered after four years of full-time service at the rank of Senior Faculty Research Assistant I or the accumulation of its equivalent for part-time Senior Faculty Research Assistants at 0.50 FTE or greater. To be promoted, a candidate must have a sustained record of exceptional achievement and evidence of professional growth and innovation assigned duties. Senior Faculty Research Assistants I and II are eligible for extended fixed-term contracts.
Note: Units need to develop clear criteria for promotion to Senior Faculty Research Assistant II.
Note: Promotions for faculty research assistants include a requirement for external review letters. These letters must come from people who are at, or above, the rank to which the faculty member is being promoted. A majority of the reviewers should be from outside the faculty member’s unit and you are encouraged to seek reviews external to OSU.
Note: Currently the promotion to Senior Faculty Research Assistant ends the formal review at the College level. However, for those going up for promotion to Senior II Faculty Research Assistant, reviews will continue on to the university level committee.
Fall 2013 Workshops to Support the Promotion Process
- The traditional dossier used for promotions are not always the best approach for summarizing the impact of faculty work in instruction. The Center for Teaching and Learning will be sponsoring workshops next year on “Creating Effective Teaching Portfolios.”
- Getting good external reviews is always a challenge, and is especially a challenge for promotion of instructors. Part of the reason is the way we put together dossiers. But more important is that we are never really taught how to be an external reviewer. In the fall the Faculty Senate will sponsor a panel on “Being an Effective External Reviewer.” We encourage all senior ranked faculty (including senior instructors and FRA’s) as well as administrators to attend the workshop. Reminders will be sent out late summer and early fall.
If you have any questions about the new ranks, or the process of appointing and promoting faculty in them, please let us know.
Becky Warner Kevin Gable
Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs Faculty Senate President
Strategic Plan
For your reference, the attached link will provide access to the current version of the strategic plan.