This guide is intended to be an ongoing resource and reference for
new faculty during the first year at USAO. Please bookmark it and keep
it on hand for questions that come up throughout the semester.
If you have any ideas for revisions or topics to add to this guide,
please contact me, Paul Regier, or any of the New Faculty Welcome
Committee:
-Paul Regier, Josh Hakala, and Junjae Hwang
Best wishes for this year!
Finding Places
Once on campus, we plan to get everyone a proper Campus tour at some
point. Until then, here is the campus map that
you can use to find your way around.
Meetings
During the Spring and Fall semester, Tuesdays, 11 am - 12 pm
are reserved for faculty meetings. Generally, each Tuesday of
the month is reserved for meetings as follows.
- 1st Tuesday – Faculty Association
- 2nd Tuesday – School Meeting
- School of Education and Speech-Language Pathology
- School of IDS and Humanities
- School of Science and Physical Education
- School of Social Sciences and Business
- School of Visual and Performing Arts
- 3rd Tuesday – Committee meetings
- 4th Tuesday – Faculty Forum with Academic Vice President
Thursdays from 11 am-12 pm are sometimes used for other meetings
(with the President, committees, etc.).
Helpful advice from JC Sanders: “During Faculty Association meetings
(1st Tuesday of the month), there will likely be discussions that are
either confusing or meaningless to a new faculty member. Senior faculty
members may not include background information and often your colleagues
are extremely passionate about the topic being discussed. If this
happens, you should ask a fellow faculty member (or two or three) to
explain and bring you up to speed. It is a good idea to get a few
perspectives on the topic as it may be complex. You can ask the faculty
member who brought up the topic, another faculty member, or even your
dean for your school.”
Advising
For orientation on advising, set up a meeting with the dean of your
school. They can provide you with degree plans and tips on enrolling
students.
Many files can be found on the shared drive. For example, for the
School of Science and Physical Education, a folder of checklists
and degree plans for majors and minors are provided in the
curriculum folder of the shared drive (e.g. Faculty\SHARED\School of
Science & Physical Education\Curriculum).
Other assorted documents are provided in the “Advising” folder (e.g.
Faculty\SHARED\School of Science & Physical Education\Advising):
- recommended IDS course sequence
- how to pre-register for courses on MyUSAO
- pre-graduation check forms
- course equivalencies
Perhaps this kind of information will be cleaned up and put elsewhere
someday.
General Tips
If a course is full and students need this course to stay on schedule
toward completing their degree, email the dean for your school (or they
may direct you to someone else). They have the authority to adjust caps
with the permission of the instructor. Courses necessary for completion
of the degree include:
- Major courses that would delay completing their degree
- Remedial courses, in the case when multiple courses are needed.
However, students may retake the exams at the end of the semester, so in
the case where they are simply rusty on a subject, they may be able to
pass an exam and avoid extra requirements. Talk to advisees about their
sense of this.
Course
substitutions
In helping our students get their degrees in the best way possible,
course substitutions are surprisingly common. Don’t hesitate to reach
out to your dean or other faculty to discuss appropriate course
substitution for an advisee.
From Registrar Chelsea Phillips:
On the Advising page of MyUSAO, you will see the
Course Substitution/Waiver Form and the
Enrollment Form. They each can be downloaded, filled
out electronically, and submitted to registrar@usao.edu. The Course Substitution Form will
need to be submitted for an advisee who is enrolled in or already
completed a course that will be used in place of another required course
or if a course requirement is being waived.
Adding courses with
special permission
The Enrollment Form will be used to enroll an advisee in a course
where the pre-requisite(s) hasn’t been met, or the course is full and
you have received permission from the instructor to let one more student
in, or the course time conflicts with another course but the instructors
have arranged to work around that conflict.
Dropping
Students
The Enrollment Form is also used to drop student-athletes or
international students from courses. On the Faculty page of MyUSAO, you
will see the Grade Change Form. You can download the form, complete it,
and send it to my office at registrar@usao.edu and we will forward it to the
Office of Academic Affairs if needed.
Student Support
Attendance Rosters of
first 2 weeks of class (for Financial Aid)
For financial aid to meet US Department of Education regulations, we
need to submit attendance for all students, for each class, for the
first two weeks of class. For example, if class starts on a Thursday, we
should “record” attendance for all classes from that day until the two
weeks from that Thursday. However, to submit this, we should use the
“roster” (from MyUSAO) dated on or after the date two weeks from the
start of class.
To do this, meet with administrative to your dean to get a run down
of the process, or follow the steps below:
- Record attendance during the first two weeks of class.
- On or after two weeks from the first day of class, download your
course roster from MyUSAO. Here are instructions
with screenshots for doing this, or written instructions: On MyUSAO,
choose “Faculty” -> scroll down to “Course Lists” -> “Select Area”
-> then select under the drop-down under “Go Directly to” ->
choose “Class list” -> then choose “Export to Excel”.
- When opening note the file that is downloaded, note that is not
actually an Excel file. You will get a warning that the file may be
“corrupted or unsafe”. Choose “Yes” to open it anyway. Then save it as
an xlsx file. (If you don’t resave the file format, other people might
not be able to open it.) Here are screenshots of what this looks
like.
- Next, highlight any students who have not begun attending class
(absent from all classes). These students will be considered for
automatic withdrawal (AW). Your report to Financial Aid does not
automatically change any enrollment status with the Registrar, it only
affects Pell eligibility. If the student deserves an AW then you may
discuss this with others and initiate that process with the Registrar
yourself.
- If all students attended at least one class, put a note below the
class list, “all students attended.”
- Do this for all your classes and email to Laura Coponiti by the
dates requested.
Early Alert
Messages
The Student Success Center manages alerts for students who are not
attending/not turning in work. You can make an alert for these students
from MyUSAO, the sooner the better!
I understand Misty Steele and Kelli Monroe are the main contact
points for these alerts. You can also reach out to them individually if
you have concerns/questions:
Misty Steele - msteele@usao.edu
Kelli Monroe - kmonroe@usao.edu - 405-574-1267
End-of-semester
evaluations
Encourage your students to take your end-of-semester student
evaluations of teaching (SET) verbally, by giving time in the last week
of class, or by other means outside of sheer bribery (bribing students
with extra credit for reaching a certain response rate is not
recommended as it can cause sample bias).
There is abundant research and contention regarding the accuracy and
reliability of teaching (SET). However, student feedback on evaluations,
especially written responses, plays an important role both in helping
make changes to a course and in writing your annual review.
Here are some recommendations from an anonymous faculty:
- Student evaluations are sometimes problematic. Comments are
typically polarized into extreme opinions (either good or bad) and most
courses have low response rates (sample bias). I provide targeted
questions as a separate course evaluation for my betterment that has
specific questions about aspects of the course that I think could be
improved or I think went well but want feedback on.
- Encourage students to do the course evaluations and provide honest
and constructive feedback. I always tell them if they hate me fine, but
tell me why.
In writing your annual review, you may include formative or other
“non-official” student feedback. However, do try to respond to any
negative comments on your end-of-semester evaluations (individually or
in a general way). Otherwise, your dean may bring them up, out of
concern/to protect you, in ensuring they have been properly
addressed.
Grade Submission
Midterm and Final Grades are submitted on MyUSAO from the course list
available under the Faculty tab. Keep an eye out for emails for
instructions for submission instructions/deadlines.
If you are liable to misentering grades like me, double-check the
final grade entry is a good idea because once grades are submitted, they
cannot be changed except by emailing the registrar.
Midterm Grades
Midterm grade due dates are listed in academic
calendar.
Purpose: These are used by the Student Success Center to
reach out to any students reporting a D or F. Misty Steele and Kelli
Monroe from the Student Success Center contact and check in with these
students.
Final Grades
Final grades are due the Monday after finals week. Again, once grades
are submitted, they cannot be changed except by emailing the
registrar.
If an “Incomplete” is given to a student, the instructor will make a
plan/schedule with that student for making up missed work. The record or
details of this plan should then be included in an email to the student,
registrar, and dean of your school. Once work is completed and a grade
for the course has been assigned, send a “reply to all” on the above
email with the final grade so that the registrar to update the
grade.
Course planning
Course schedules for the next semester (including summer when the
Fall schedule is submitted) are due to the registrar around a month from
the start of the semester. Revisions can be made for a few weeks, but
once courses are open for enrollment, changes of times, and course
offerings are not feasible, though switching instructors is.
Course Rotations
Special Topics
Courses
To teach a Special Topics course, there is a form for soliciting
student interest [ask the dean for your school for now]. Part of the
purpose of proposing courses and gauging interest is to gauge student
interest to tailor offerings to student needs. Keep in mind, that if a
course doesn’t run, this information (and work in planning a course) is
useful for the process of offering the course in the future.
Annual Review
The annual report is a multiple-page document that lists your
teaching, advising, professional development, scholarly activities, and
service for that year. Your annual reports are the primary form of
documentation used when applying for tenure and promotion. To assist
with the writing of your report, it is a good idea to keep an organized
record of:
- teaching activities (e.g. syllabi, course evaluations, advising
materials/records,
- curriculum development)
- scholarly and professional development activities (e.g.
publications, presentations, conferences, workshops, works of artistic
expression)
- service (e.g. local & state committees, USAO committees,
sponsoring USAO clubs, meetings attended, volunteerism, and professional
organizations)
From your first day as faculty, it is a good idea to keep track of
the things you do (even if it is just a list) so you are not trying to
remember everything you did one year later. Annual reports use a
calendar year (January through December), rather than the traditional
academic year. If you started at USAO during the fall semester, your
first annual report will be based solely on the fall semester and will
be used for reappointment. Annual reports are due on January 31st and
are submitted to the dean of your school. After this, the dean will
complete an administrative review of your performance based on your
annual report and set up a meeting with you to discuss it.
There is a digital annual report template that you must use to
complete your annual report. The template may change from year to year,
but the basics stay the same. Feel free to fill out your report as you
go and get a head start. Ask your dean for your school for an annual
report template, and don’t hesitate to reach out to your dean for other
faculty for any questions on this.
Committees
Committee assignments are made at the beginning of each semester. The
Committee on Committees keeps an up-to-date list of committee members
for each committee. The officers of the Faculty Association serve on the
Committee on Committees and provide membership and descriptions for
Faculty Association Committees. So, if you are interested in being added
to a committee, talk to an officer of the faculty association.
The committees are listed on pages 8-11 of the Faculty
Handbook, though the handbook has not been updated since 2018, so
some may be a bit out of date or others may not be listed in the
handbook.
Types of Committees
- University Committees - composed of faculty, staff,
students, and administrators, appointed by the president from
nominations from the president. These committees change and are
periodically sent out by the VP of Academic Affairs. The latest is also
available here.
- Standing Committees - generally appointed by the
president
- Faculty Association Committees - appointed by the
president of the Faculty association. Here are the faculty association
committees as listed in the Faculty Handbook:
- Curriculum Development: To receive, review, evaluate,
initiate, and recommend to the Faculty Association regarding the
development of, or changes in, courses or curricula. Requirements: One
member from each school and one member at large. All members of this
committee should have completed at least three years as a full-time
member of the faculty at USAO.
- Faculty Handbook: To study, review, and keep current
policies and procedures that pertain to faculty, and, in cooperation
with the Vice President for Academic Affairs, edit the Faculty Handbook.
Requirements: One member from each school and one member at large.
- Resources: To formulate and protect criteria for improving
the instructional environment. Its goals include, but are not limited
to, increasing communication between faculty and administration;
preparing supply, support, and facility changes to enhance teaching; and
instigating changes in faculty benefits to encourage sound hiring and
faculty retention. Members are the current Faculty Association
president, immediate past president, president-elect, and one
representative from each academic school, two of whom will rotate off
each year.
- Faculty Promotion and Tenure: To review the candidate’s
tenure or promotion dossier, to evaluate the recommendations from the
School and the school dean, and to recommend directly to the Vice
President for Academic Affairs. Requirements: All members of the
committee must be tenured and in the rank of associate professor or
above. Two members from each school should be appointed to serve.
Ideally, these members should be from different disciplines within the
school. School deans may not serve.
Cafeteria
To eat in the cafeteria, you can order a punch card (10, 25, or 50
lunches) from their website, https://usaodining.sodexomyway.com/my-meal-plan/index,
under commuter plans. The easiest thing to do is to pay online, and then
pick up your lunch card from Jennifer Warren (jennifer.warren@sodexo.com) during lunch. Sometimes
she is not there. If so, email Jennifer to find out when you can pick it
your card.
Long-Term
Resources
This section includes items from a “Checklist for New Faculty” of
long-term items written by JC Sanders. Many of these items you may learn
about or gain exposure to naturally in the course of your work; however,
they may be helpful to know about and are listed here for your
reference.
Maintenance
Requests
Contact Information:
- Maintenance Office (at the corner of Grand Ave. and 19th St. across
from the Old Gym, aka PE Building)
- Danielle McAllister, Administrative Assistant, (405) 574-1233, dmcallister@usao.edu
Have a problem that requires maintenance or the groundskeeping crew?
Is the heat or air conditioning not working? Do you need some wall
anchors installed to hang your photos in your office? Or perhaps a light
has burnt out. Submit a maintenance request by emailing or calling
Danielle McAllister using the contact information above. Be very
specific in your request. Include the building and room location,
description of the problem, and any other pertinent information. If you
want something to be done a certain way (e.g. mounts for hanging
pictures) be sure to have a plan ready before you make the maintenance
request. You should also CC your school administrative assistant on the
e-mail in case you are not around when the maintenance request is
addressed.
The Assessment
Office
Contact Information:
- Assessment Office, Troutt Hall 318A
- Jan Ware, Assessment Coordinator, (405)574-1281, jware@usao.edu (Test
Proctoring and Special Accommodations)
Occasionally a student enrolled in one of your classes will be
identified by Student Services as needing special accommodations to be
successful in their coursework at USAO. One possible situation is the
student may request to complete all examinations in the Assessment
Office (instead of the classroom). Your responsibility is to provide
either an electronic copy or paper copy of the exam, the correct form
identifying the student, and the date the exam will take place to the
Assessment Office before the exam is given during class. In addition,
the Assessment Office can proctor a missed exam, but you will need to
make the appropriate arrangements. Scantron Machine (OPTIONAL)
The Assessment Office has a Scantron machine for grading
multiple-choice exams. You are free to design exams as you see fit, but
if you would like to use some multiple-choice questions or perhaps take
a simple survey, this resource is available. Scantron forms for the exam
are acquired from your school office (NOT the Assessment Office). Give
the exam during class and have students fill out the Scantron form
including their last name, first name, ID number (bubbling in the
circles on the left side of the form that correspond with the last 4
digits on their ID card), and test form (usually A, but you can have
multiple versions of the exam if you prefer). They must also bubble in
the correct circles. They do NOT need to include their phone number on
the form. Following the exam, take all of the students’ Scantron forms
and an answer key to the Assessment Office. When you drop off the exam,
you will complete a form indicating what information you want from the
exam. Ask one of the student workers if you are unsure about whether you
need a certain item (these items include statistical analyses of every
question so you can see where your students are struggling). The results
of the exam (student scores) can be e-mailed to you in an Excel
spreadsheet if you request it (be sure to include your e-mail
address).
Absences from
Campus
Contact Information:
- Administrative Assistant for your School (see USAO faculty/staff web
directory)
- Dean for your School (see USAO faculty/staff web directory)
Absences from campus, especially those that result in missed classes,
meetings, or office hours should be documented. Ask your school
administrative assistant for the absence from campus form when
necessary. If you are absent for University business (conference,
seminar, etc.) this form documents that you are working and helps ensure
that you are covered in case something happens. Planned absences
(conference travel, research seminars, etc.) should be approved in
advance, so be sure to submit the form as soon as you are aware of the
details. It is your responsibility to see that your classes are covered
while you are away, so seek assistance from your fellow faculty members
and plan (e.g. schedule an exam that can be proctored by someone else).
For illness and other unanticipated absences, you should contact your
school’s administrative assistant and the dean of your school as soon as
possible so that the appropriate steps can be taken and fill out the
absence from campus form as soon as you return.
Purchasing and
Ordering Supplies, Equipment, etc.
Contact Information:
- Administrative Assistant for your school (see USAO faculty/staff web
directory)
- Dean for your school (see USAO faculty/staff web directory)
- Business Office, Troutt Hall 220
- Sharon Ast, Accounting Clerk and Foundation Bookkeeper,
(405)574-1355, sast@usao.edu
- Dwight Yokum, Accounts Payable Specialist, (405)574-1334, dyokum@usao.edu USAO
Foundation/University Advancement, Canning Hall 101 and 102
- Cynthia Fuston, Administrative Assistant, (405)574-1349, cfuston@usao.edu Sid
Hudson, VP for
- University Advancement, (405)574-1324, shudson@usao.edu
Purchasing and ordering can be complicated and may involve several
different people. Funds usually come from one of two sources: USAO funds
directly through your school budget or administration and foundation
money from outside (private) sources. The process differs depending on
where the funds are secured.
For University funds from your school or another USAO source, a
purchase order needs to be filled out and approved. Your purchase MUST
be approved before ordering. No orders are to be made until approved.
Ask your school administrative assistant and/or a fellow faculty member
to help you complete the form. Once the form is completed it will need
to be approved by several people, usually the dean of your school and at
least one vice president. New technology requests, both for classroom
and/or office use, should be discussed with the dean of your school
first and then sent to Information, Research, and Network Services. The
staff in Information Services will generate the PO for that
purchase.
For USAO foundation funds, the current purchase order form is
available on the USAO public share drive, which is accessible on the
USAO network or via remote login. This form changes from time to time,
so make sure you use the most recent version. Click this link
\AHSERVERShareFORMS to find the PO. Once the form is completed it will
need to be approved by several University personnel and signed by the
Foundation’s Executive Director certifying that the funds are held at
the foundation for the purpose requested and verifying to the vendor
that the funds will be encumbered for payment.
Publicizing the
Great Things You Do, Communications and Marketing
Contact Information:
- Troutt Hall Room 103
- Zachary McGrew, Media Manager, (405) 574-1362, zmcgrew@usao.edu
Benjamin Blackstar, Creative Services Coordinator, (405) 574-1383, bblackstar@usao.edu
- Beckie Brennan, Web Coordinator, (405) 574-1369, bbrennan@usao.edu
- Tanner Shoemaker, Sports Information Director, (405) 574-1210, tshoemaker@usao.edu
- Amy Goddard, Director of Communications and Marketing, (405) 574-1337,
agoddard@usao.edu
When you or your students do great things, get the press you deserve
by filling out the online request form. Some examples that we hope you
publicize include research, presentations, outreach, community service,
and just about anything that reflects positively on USAO or the local
community.
To best serve all USAO schools and departments, there is an online
Request Services System. If you have requests for services from anyone
in Communications and Marketing (excluding the print shop), please use
the online request form. Communications and Marketing want to utilize
their skills and abilities in the most strategic way possible to ensure
they are marketing to our target audiences effectively and consistently.
Please note Communications and Marketing will continue to support
specific ongoing, reoccurring events and projects as normal. Using this
online request form will not only ensure your project receives attention
but will help Communications and Marketing strategically plan and track
our progress. Please contact Communications and Marketing if you have
any questions. https://usao-gcgxy.formstack.com/forms/c_m_service_request_form