Academic Affairs


Information for New Faculty— Updated for 2008-09

Welcome to the Clark University community. This site offers basic information for new faculty members that we hope will be helpful as you begin your career at Clark. While not meant to be comprehensive, the following items provide some guidance about dates, policies, and resources here. Please feel free to contact me, Deb Brenner, in the Provost's Office (or x7766) if you have questions or concerns. We look forward to getting to know each of you over the course of the year.

A head's up to the incoming group of new faculty for 2008-09:  Here's a flyer we put together, of you and for you.  To check out what your soon-to-be cohort are up to, click here.

Information to Help Get you Started:

Support Once You've Arrived:

Key Dates:

Important Information for All Faculty:

Student Support Services:

New Faculty Orientation Schedule -

Prior to the beginning of the academic year two day-long orientation meetings will take place. Thereafter, meetings will then take place on a monthly basis (more or less), and will be approximately 1-1/2 hours long each.

FALL SEMESTER:

  • The first will be held on Monday, August 25, 2008 at Tower Hill Botanic Gardens in Boylston, MA, which is 15-20 minutes from Worcester. This event will begin with a light breakfast, include lunch, and last most of the day.  We will take time for walking through the beautiful gardens there.  Check out the link above for directions.  If anyone needs a ride, please contact Deb Brenner.
     
  • The second orientation event will follow on Tuesday, August 26, 8:30-3 in the Lurie Conference Room on the first floor of the Higgins University Center.  This session will focus specifically on teaching topics, with sessions on constructing a syllabus, grading, classroom civility, and incorporating Clark's signature "learn through inquiry" pedagogy into your teaching.  It will be led by Judith E. Miller, Associate Dean for Special Academic Initiatives.
     
  • In September, time and place TBA, we will meet on "Everything you wanted to ask about being a faculty member at Clark University but didn't know who to ask."
     
  • In October, time and place TBA, we will meet to familiarize you with the personnel procedures at Clark, including the annual review, reappointment, promotion, and tenure.
     
  • In November, time and place TBA, the staff there will provide an orientation to available resources; then, in the University Archives, on the first floor of Goddard, there will be an informal coffee to which other recently hired faculty will be invited.
     
  • In December, time and place TBA, there will be a session on "Achieving Balance: Juggling the demands of being a teacher-scholar."
     

SPRING SEMESTER:

  • In January, time and place TBA, we will hold a session on teaching evaluations. By the time we meet, your fall teaching evaluations will have been returned to you. It's common to be unhappy with at least some aspects of your evaluations, and it's common to give more weight to negative than to positive comments. Using fictitious teaching evaluation data as the basis for discussion, we will consider how to interpret teaching evaluations, and how to use them as a basis for improvement. You will not be asked to share your evaluations, but you might want to bring them along for reference. Our goal is that you leave this session reassured, and with a concrete plan for improvement.
     
  • In February, time and place TBA, you will meet with Denise Darrigrand, who is our Dean of Students.  Come prepared with questions -- this is usually a lively session.
     
  • In March, time and place TBA, our orientation will consider Academic Advising and Academic Support Services.  Kevin McKenna, Associate Dean of the College, will provide an overview of faculty advising at Clark.  He will be joined by David McDonough who will speak about Career Services, Jane Daigneault who will address disability services, Jennifer Plante who will talk about the Writing Center and her consultation with faculty on incorporating writing into your curriculum, and lastly, Micki Davis, who will speak about student volunteerism and incorporating community engagement activities in your classes.
     
  • In April, time and place TBA, you will meet with Nancy Budwig about the research operation at Clark. Here's what she wants you to know about this session:

You have almost made it through another semester of teaching. Are you looking forward to turning more of your focus to your scholarship? How might resources at Clark be useful to your scholarship at this juncture and what advice might there be to make the most of the summer for your scholarship?

This workshop aims to introduce new faculty to the research operation at Clark. Nancy Budwig will provide an overview of the Office of Sponsored Programs and Research (OSPR) and Jane Baker, Director, Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations, will provide perspective on foundations and corporate support. Staff from these offices will be invited as well. Procedures and policies for obtaining external funding will be reviewed in addition to highlighting resources available through these offices.

In the second part of the meeting, Nancy Budwig will facilitate a discussion with new faculty exploring issues related to being a productive scholar, including discussion of a) how one can best use summers for scholarly pursuits, b) best ways to be most creative and productive with your scholarship, and c) views on successes and challenges you have had related to your scholarship as you have transitioned to Clark.

Childcare possibilities -

Many new faculty arrive in Worcester with small children, and questions about child care often come up.  As a new addition to this website we've decided to include some information -- not comprehensive information -- on quality child care in the local area ("local area" broadly defined). 

The following are child care providers that other faculty (those who've been at Clark for a year or two or three) have been happy with.  Note that we are not endorsing one center over any other; rather these are the places with which we've had positive experiences. 

Worcester Jewish Community Center (JCC)
First Friends (in Worcester)
Skribbles (in Northboro, where Shrewsbury, Northboro and Westboro meet)
Shrewsbury Montessori School
Guild of St. Agnes (Worcester and other locations)

The Clark OneCard -

The Clark OneCard is your multipurpose Clark ID card. You will need it to access the library and the Kneller Athletic Center, for examples. You will need to have a photo taken (22 Downing St., 2nd floor) to initiate the process, and for this you should contact Paul Coute our business manager (x7385 or x7109) to set up a time.  There are regular hours for taking student ID photos and you can always drop in during these times but you risk waiting on line.  The OneCard webpage is http://www.clarku.edu/offices/id/.

Moving Expenses -

If moving expenses are awarded, the maximum amount is specified in the new faculty member's contract letter. These need to be handled as reimbursements rather than as direct pay to moving companies.  Reimbursements are processed as quickly as possible so that you are paying out-of-pocket for the shortest possible time.

Reimbursement for moving expenses has become more complicated in recent years.  First of all, there are two types of guidelines you need to be aware of:

  1. Guidelines for what Clark considers to be reimbursable moving expenses.  To date these are unwritten (my summer project), so if you have a question, just ask me, Deb Brenner or at x7766.  Generally speaking we use a broad definition for "moving expenses."  To give you some examples, reimbursable expenses might include moving company costs, packing expenses, storage costs, or trips to Worcester to look for housing.  Expenses we wouldn't consider reimbursable are lawyers or realtor fees, points paid for purchasing a house, or penalties incurred due to breaking a lease in order to move to Worcester.
  2. IRS Guidelines on taxability of reimbursements.  These are not related to the Clark guidelines above.  For example, while Clark will reimburse the cost of traveling to Worcester to look for housing, only the actual move to Clark is considered not taxable by the IRS.  The IRS will tax any expenses related to house hunting.  For these IRS guidelines and the form you need to fill out to request reimbursement, click here.

In order to be reimbursed, you will need to submit to me, in hard copy, the Moving Expense Reimbursement Request form which is included with the IRS guidelines, as mentioned above. As noted on the form, you will need to attach proof of payment such as an invoice clearly marked PAID or proof of payment such as an original credit card statement.  If you have not yet started working here and not yet gone through the I9 process with Human Resources, then you will need also to complete and submit a W4 form. Please fill out the form on line, then print it, sign it, and submit it with the reimbursement request form.  Please send both to:

Deb Brenner
Provost's Office
Clark University
950 Main Street
Worcester, MA   01610

That's it.  Please feel free to contact me with any questions.

Start-up funds -

Some faculty, especially those in the sciences, are awarded start-up funds, the amount of which is designated in the appointment letter. Please contact Deb Brenner to discuss how to access these funds.

Computer Hardware and Software Support -

The majority of your contact with ITS will probably be with one of two groups in ITS: Academic Technology Services of Desktop Support Services. Academic Technology Services is responsible fore exploration, development and dissemination of technology-based solutions in support of the teaching, learning, presentation and communication needs of faculty and students. This includes support of Clark's course management system*. The team actively partners with faculty, staff and students in imagining ways that we might use technology to meet academic goals. Examples of ATS partnerships include:

  • consulting with faculty regarding existing technologies and their implementation to solve pedagogical challenges;
  • developing applications, learning modules, videos and web sites to support curricular needs;
  • exploring current and emerging technology tools and considering how they might be used at Clark;
  • communicating with faculty, staff and students about technology tools and/or teaching/learning trends;
  • conducting training sessions with students and/or faculty.


More information about what ATS does is available at http://www.clarku.edu/offices/its/academictechnology. Members of Academic Technology Services include: Anthony Helm and Michael Krikonis as Academic Technologists; the Manager for Campus Media Services (a search for this position is currently underway), Terri Guttormsen as the Media Specialist and Cheryl Turner Elwell, who is also the Director of the group.

You will also have contact with the Desktop Support Services team.  The Desktop Support Services team is responsible for support services (via the ITS Help Desk), installation and maintenance of desktop software and hardware, operation of public computer labs, and break-fix support for University-owned computing equipment. Members of the Desktop Support Services team are managed by Justin Brooks, and include Sharon Griffin Edson, Matthew Essig, Jim Hilow and Kathy Larson.

So when you need it, how do you get support?

The short answer is that no matter who you contact, we should be able to get you connected with the "right" person. That said, your best starting points are as follows:

  • When you have an issue with your username/password, your Clark computing equipment, or have software questions, you should call, email or visit the Help Desk and work with the Desktop Support Services group. (Carlson Hall 019, helpdesk@clarku.edu, 508-793-7745).
  • As you consider the integration of technology and the teaching/learning/research environments you create, you need support with CICADA*, or have questions about curriculum-oriented software, you should contact the Academic Technologist assigned to your department, or me.  The departmental assignments are:

Anthony Helm (508-793-7214, ahelm@clarku.edu): Biology, Chemistry, English, Foreign Languages and Literature, Visual and Performing Arts, History, Math and Computer Science, Philosophy, Physics.

Michael Krikonis (508-793-8807, mkrikonis@clarku.edu): Economics, Education, Geography, Government, IDCE, Management, Psychology, Sociology.

  • If you need AV equipment delivered to your classroom, or would like to borrow equipment to take to a presentation on or off campus, contact Media Services by email at media@clarku.edu, by phone at 508-793-7724 or by stopping by their office on the first floor of  Jonas Clark Hall.

*Note that the 2008-09 academic year will be a transition year from Blackboard to CICADA, a Moodle-based CMS.

Faculty Assembly Meetings -

Faculty assembly meetings are held monthly on Wednesday afternoons, normally at 2 pm in the Grace Conference Room of the Higgins University Center.  Faculty assembly dates for 2008-09 are as follows:

September 10, 2008
October 15
November 12
December 3
January 28, 2009
February 25
March 25
April 15

Email announcements and agenda are distributed to faculty in advance of each meeting.

First Fridays -

Four years ago, the provost initiated a series of First Friday receptions.  These are held the first Friday of each month of the academic year, 4:30-6pm, and are meant as a time to unwind from the workweek, enjoy some munchies and, if you choose, have a glass of wine or a beer.  Each event is hosted by a different academic or non-academic department, and some departments pick a theme for their First Friday.  Each First Friday is held at a place of the hosting department's choosing. The First Friday dates and hosts for 2008-09 haven't yet been set, but they will appear here when we know them.

Email announcements will go out prior to each event, and we hope to see you at many of these.  First Fridays are a great way for Clarkies to get out and meet one another.

Faculty Advising -

Faculty in their first year at Clark typically do not take on formal advising duties. However, after the first year, all regular faculty are expected to advise. The Academic Advising office publishes a hard-copy advisor's handbook, which will be mailed to all new faculty. If you have any questions, please contact Kevin McKenna, Associate Dean of the College, at x7468. 

Teaching Evaluation Process -

The teaching evaluation process uses paper evaluations completed by students during the penultimate week of each semester, during the first 20 minutes of each class.  This year we are piloting two new software program possibilities for on-line evaluations, and we'll see how they go.  We are all hoping to go 100% on line sooner rather than later!  

The Writing Center -

The Writing Center offers free one-to-one writing assistance to all members of the Clark University community.  Writing consultants will work with student writers on any piece of writing -- short papers, research papers, lab reports, presentations, senior honors theses, graduate school applications or resumes.  Students may bring writing at any stage of the writing process, whether they are brainstorming, outlining, revising or editing.

Jennifer Plante, Director of the Writing Center and Writing Program, consults with faculty across the disciplines.  If you would like to talk about your students' writing, your writing assignments (formal or informal, in-class or take home), or your responses to student writing, or if you would like to know more about how you can encourage your students to work with the Clark Writing Center, please contact Jennifer by email or at 508-793-7469.