March 2008 Archives

The College invites nominations for this year's CLA "Red" Motley teaching award. Faculty members must be nominated by at least five CLA undergraduate and/or graduate students.

Description of the award; nomination form; and dossier cover sheet may be downloaded (all are pdfs) off the web or obtained from the CLA Undergraduate Programs Office, 113 Johnston Hall, 612-624-8675.

Nomination Forms are due in 113 Johnston Hall on Friday, March 28, 2008.

Anticipated Cases. Please identify all probationary faculty members expected to be considered for promotion and tenure during the academic year 2008-09, as well as any tenured faculty members who may be considered for promotion to professor. Please email your cases to Gayle Gabrielski at gabr0074@umn.edu by Wednesday, 2 April 2008.

Information Sessions. Promotion and Tenure information sessions will occur in April. More information will be forthcoming. Faculty, Chairs/Directors, and staff members in departments with upcoming cases are encouraged to attend.

As many of you already know, Karna Kurtz's contract with the College of Liberal Arts is completed at the end of March. The duties and responsibilities previously held by Karna are being folded back into the CLA Office of Human Resources. From this point forward, please direct all correspondence and HR-related business with Karna to the new CLA Director of Human Resources Margaret Klein. Margaret can be reached at 6-9842 or klein021@umn.edu

Margaret's assistant Rick Jacobson can be reached at 4-3605 or rickj@umn.edu

Mar 27
Financial / Human Resources Meeting, 101 Fraser Hall, 9:00 am

Mar 28
Deadline for requesting a TA Allocation Agreement for fall and/or spring semesters 2008-09

Mar 31
Deadline for Annual Reviews of Chairs / Directors

April 4
CLA Payroll cutoff for the 03/31/08 - 04/13/08 pay period, 4:30 pm.

April 5
CLA Open House, 7:15 am - 5:00 pm

April 18
CLA Payroll cutoff for the 04/14/08 - 04/27/08 pay period, 4:30 pm.

April 25
Firm deadline for submitting requests for Tuition Benefits for Summer 2008 Graduate Student TA and Instructor Appointments

Reminder: Units that received the Feb. 28th e-mail from Karen Dewanz and James Parente regarding dormant funds at the Foundation should send their responses to Deb Ludowese (ludow006@umn.edu).

Unit responses, including plans for fund utilization are due back by March 24th.

Please contact Rose Pederson (r-kerb@umn.edu, 6-7611) if you have any questions.

Thanks to all who have responded.

Training for U-Stores Purchasing

The Enterprise Financial System project has received input from a number of faculty members and lab staff concerning the amount of training required of them to make U-Stores purchases in the new financial system. Feedback from users of the financial system is important to the project and is always taken into consideration when making decisions. Based upon this input, Training Services will develop an online tutorial condensing the Chart of Accounts and Create Requisitions courses. An online assessment will be required upon completion of the tutorial.

This tutorial will be available to individuals, such as faculty, lab staff, and administrative staff, who only purchase through U-Stores and have no other responsibilities within the financial system. Access to other parts of the financial system will be restricted. Qualifying faculty and staff should closely review the attached document.

We anticipate the time commitment for the tutorial to be between one and two hours.

Registration will occur through the Training Services Web site by May 1, and classes will be available May 15.

Anticipated Cases. Please identify all probationary faculty members expected to be considered for promotion and tenure during the academic year 2008-09, as well as any tenured faculty members who may be considered for promotion to professor. Please email your cases to Gayle Gabrielski at gabr0074@umn.edu by Wednesday, 2 April 2008.

Information Sessions. Promotion and Tenure information sessions will occur in April. More information will be forthcoming. Faculty, Chairs/Directors, and staff members in departments with upcoming cases are encouraged to attend.

As many of you already know, Karna Kurtz's contract with the College of Liberal Arts is completed at the end of March. The duties and responsibilities previously held by Karna are being folded back into the CLA Office of Human Resources. From this point forward, please direct all correspondence and HR-related business with Karna to the new CLA Director of Human Resources Margaret Klein. Margaret can be reached at 6-9842 or klein021@umn.edu

Margaret's assistant Rick Jacobson can be reached at 4-3605 or rickj@umn.edu

Information regarding May/Summer session instructional funding has been sent to department administrators and accountants.

This information is also available on the CLA Fiscal Administration website at: http://www.cla.umn.edu/intranet/fiscal/funding.html#summer

• Annual Reviews of Faculty Performance - 24 March 2008
Effective spring 2008, all faculty activity reports and curricula vitae must be submitted electronically.

FARs and CVs should be submitted as separate files; pdf attachments strongly preferred.

Contact Gayle Gabrielski (gabr0074@umn.edu; 5-1805) with questions.

Submit all documents to clafclty@umn.edu.

• Annual Reviews of P/A Staff - 24 March 2008 (direct to Angie Plambeck in 212 JohH)
• Annual Reviews of Chairs/Directors - 31 March 2008 (direct to Gayle Gabrielski in 212 JohH)

Annual reviews of Chairs/Directors, Regular Faculty, and P/A Staff

Mar 21
CLA Payroll cutoff for the 03/17/08 - 03/30/08 pay period, 4:30 pm.

Mar 24
Deadline for Annual Reviews of Faculty Performance

Mar 24
Deadline for Annual Reviews of P/A Staff

Mar 27
Financial / Human Resources Meeting, 101 Fraser Hall, 9:00 am

Mar 28
Deadline for requesting a TA Allocation Agreement for fall and/or spring semesters 2008-09

Mar 31
Deadline for Annual Reviews of Chairs / Directors

April 4
CLA Payroll cutoff for the 03/31/08 - 04/13/08 pay period, 4:30 pm.

April 5
CLA Open House, 7:15 am - 5:00 pm

April 18
CLA Payroll cutoff for the 04/14/08 - 04/27/08 pay period, 4:30 pm.

April 25
Firm deadline for submitting requests for Tuition Benefits for Summer 2008 Graduate Student TA and Instructor Appointments

When CLA hired Margaret Klein, its new Director of Human Resources, it got a bonus in the deal: Rick Jacobson. Rick was Margaret's executive assistant in the School of Dentistry and agreed to follow Margaret to the second floor of Johnston Hall. Rick brings a long history of access, accommodation, and working with people who are blind or have low vision. He assists Margaret with printed materials, technologies, getting around campus, and other areas that will make her more effective in her new job.

Outside of his day-to-day life at the University, Rick provides audio description for blind theater patrons at about 25 venues all around the Twin Cities. He uses an FM transmitter to broadcast and explain the visual aspects of productions in real-time. He also writes description scripts for television and has started describing for blind passengers on cruise ships. For over 4 years, Rick voiced description for shows still being broadcast on Nickelodeon, Noggin, and public television stations throughout the United States.

Rick has worked at the University for nearly 8 years, primarily doing payroll. He's somewhat relieved that his new position in CLA doesn't involve timesheets, leave entry, or off-cycle check requests.

Rick can be reached at 4-3605 or rickj@umn.edu

The University's annual fringe benefit rates are part of the negotiated facilities and administrative (F & A) cost rate agreement with the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). These rates are therefore subject to negotiation as a condition of our federal funding. Also, OMB Circular A-21 regulates how these rates are charged and it states that fringe rates must be applied consistently across all funding sources.

The University has now reached an agreement on the FY09 fringe rates with DHHS. The rates have changed only slightly from the proposed rates which were communicated in the FY09 budget instructions. These final approved rates should have minimal impact on your FY09 budgets or actual fringe expenditures; therefore, no changes will be required to the FY09 budget materials that you submitted to the college.

The revised rates are as follows:

• Academic rate = 30.40% (unchanged)
• Civil Service = 32.70% (proposed rate was 32.8%)
• Police = 34.70% (unchanged)
• Graduate Assistant = 21.9% (unchanged)  

The detailed FY09 Fringe Rate Table by Component is located at:
http://www.budget.umn.edu/FY09docs/FY09_Fringe_Benefits_Approved_Rates.pdf

The FY09 Fringe Rate Matrix can be found at:

http://www.fpd.finop.umn.edu/groups/ppd/documents/rates/fringe_2008_2009.pdf

Based on UMF Finance Committee review and in consideration of declining interest rates and volatile investment markets, the guaranteed annual interest rate for demand funds (crediting rate) has been changed to .5% (from 2%) effective February 1, 2008.

The policy for unspent available funds in endowment or quasi-endowment funds has been clarified as follows:

"The annual interest rate paid on unspent available dollars in endowment or quasi-endowment funds will be limited to the investment earnings of the current fiscal year up to the established crediting rate." (To clarify, if there is a negative investment return, the available balance portions of endowments and quasi-endowments would not receive a return at all.)

The crediting rate will be reviewed for adjustment on a quarterly basis.

If you have questions, please contact Gracie Davenport at 612-624-0346.

The College invites nominations for this year's CLA "Red" Motley teaching award. Faculty members must be nominated by at least five CLA undergraduate and/or graduate students.

Nomination Forms are due in 113 Johnston Hall on Friday, March 28, 2008. The Undergraduate Programs Office will contact the home department of each nominated faculty member and will provide guidelines for preparing a complete nomination dossier. The department prepares the nomination dossier for the faculty member.
Dossiers are due in 113 Johnston Hall on Friday, April 18, 2008. Departments are asked to submit the original plus 9 copies.

The CLA Instructional Awards Committee will review the dossiers and make a recommendation to the Dean.

If you need further information, please contact Barbara Schwab at:

612-624-8675 or schwa133@umn.edu

Promotion and Tenure 2008-09 - Preliminary Information

Anticipated Cases: Please identify all probationary faculty members expected to be considered for promotion and tenure during the academic year 2008-09, as well as any tenured faculty members who may be considered for promotion to professor.

Please email your cases to Gayle Gabrielski at: gabr0074@umn.edu by Wednesday, 2 April 2008.

Information Sessions: Promotion and Tenure information sessions will occur in April. More information will be forthcoming. Faculty, Chairs/Directors, and staff members in departments with upcoming cases are encouraged to attend.

Information regarding May/Summer session instructional funding has been sent to department administrators and accountants.

This information is also available on the CLA Fiscal Administration website at: http://www.cla.umn.edu/intranet/fiscal/funding.html#summer

If you have any questions about May/Summer session instructional funding please contact Pandora Aaron (aaron012@umn.edu, 4-9370).

All graduate students who teach during Summer Session are appointed as graduate student employees with a job classification that does not carry tuition benefits.

In some cases students may need to enroll in a class offered during summer that is related to their graduate studies. CLA will fund tuition benefits for those students. 

Funding is available primarily for students enrolled in CLA graduate programs. 

Students can additional information and the application form on CLA Administration website at: http://www.cla.umn.edu/intranet/grad/summerTuition.html.

The firm deadline for submitting requests is April 25, 2008. 

Please contact Jennifer Reckner at: 612-624-9815 or Reckner@umn.edu if you have questions.

Blanket Requisitions - Term Faculty & P/A Instructional Appointments

Blanket requisitions for term faculty and instructional p/a staff positions must be
refreshed annually. Appointments of term faculty and/or instructional p/a staff for academic year 2008-09 (fall semester 08, spring semester 09, May session 09, summer session 09) must be made on a requisition created for 2008-09. Units anticipating such appointments during 2008-09 should begin preparing blanket requisitions at this time. Dates covered by the blanket should be specified within the requisition.

Blanket requisitions for 2007/08 should remain open until 30 June 2008 to ensure that appointments for the remainder of spring semester 08, May session 08, and summer session 08 can be made when the need arises.

The term faculty series job code (#9902) covers visiting, contract, adjunct, and temporary faculty appointments at the ranks of professor, associate professor, assistant professor, and instructor. The instructional (non-faculty) teaching series job code (#9903) includes the P&A classifications teaching specialist, senior teaching specialist, lecturer, and senior lecturer.

Templates for the term faculty and P/A instructional blanket requisitions are on the CLA website:

http://www2.cla.umn.edu/admin/faculty-research/TermFacultyAppointments.html

FFI: Office of the Associate Dean for Faculty and Research and CLA Office of Human Resources, 612-624-9839.

• Annual Reviews of Faculty Performance - 24 March 2008
  
  Effective spring 2008, all faculty activity reports and curricula vitae must be submitted electronically.
  
  FARs and CVs should be submitted as separate files; pdf attachments strongly preferred.
  
  Contact Gayle Gabrielski (gabr0074@umn.edu; 5-1805) with questions.
  
  Submit all documents to clafclty@umn.edu.
  

• Annual Reviews of P/A Staff - 24 March 2008 (direct to Angie Plambeck in 212 JohH)
• Annual Reviews of Chairs/Directors - 31 March 2008 (direct to Gayle Gabrielski in 212 JohH)

http://www.cla.umn.edu/intranet/faculty/annualreviews.html

Mar 21
CLA Payroll cutoff for the 03/17/08 - 03/30/08 pay period, 4:30 pm.

Mar 24
Deadline for Annual Reviews of Faculty Performance

Mar 24
Deadline for Annual Reviews of P/A Staff

Mar 27
Financial / Human Resources Meeting, 101 Fraser Hall, 9:00 am

Mar 28
Deadline for requesting a TA Allocation Agreement for fall and/or spring semesters 2008-09

Mar 31
Deadline for Annual Reviews of Chairs / Directors
 
April 4
CLA Payroll cutoff for the 03/31/08 - 04/13/08 pay period, 4:30 pm.

April 5
CLA Open House, 7:15 am - 5:00 pm

Information regarding May/Summer session instructional funding has been sent to department administrators and accountants.

This information is also available on the CLA Fiscal Administration website at: http://www.cla.umn.edu/intranet/fiscal/funding.html#summer

If you have any questions about May/Summer session instructional funding please contact Pandora Aaron (aaron012@umn.edu, 4-9370).

On February 27th, department chairs and administrators received a copy of the "Optional CLA-Departmental TA Allocation Agreement," which was presented at CEDD in early February. This document describes an option available to departments regarding TA appointments for specific courses for 2008-09. For some departments, the agreement may provide added security and flexibility in making TA appointments.

The deadline for requesting a TA Allocation Agreement for fall and/or spring semesters 2008-09 is Friday, March 28.

Pandora Aaron and Nanette Hanks will be holding two open sessions to answer any questions you may have about the new agreement:

• Friday, March 7--10-11am, B-33 Johnston Hall
• Tuesday, March 11--3-4pm, 202 Johnston Hall

Refreshments will be served.

Please RSVP to Alicia Miller (peas0030@umn.edu) if you plan to attend.

Attached you will find some important information regarding the EFS training courses.

The attached memo outlines critical information on who should be taking the courses, what courses are available, how to change training sessions and who to contact to change or add courses.

The information contained in this document relates to training for the new Enterprise Financial System, and should clarify many of the questions you may have as we continue to design and implement EFS within CLA. (See: EFS Training.doc)
Tuition Benefits for Summer 2008 Graduate student TA and Instructor Appointments

All graduate students who teach during Summer Session are appointed as graduate student employees with a job classification that does not carry tuition benefits.

In some cases students may need to enroll in a class offered during summer that is related to their graduate studies. CLA will fund tuition benefits for those students.

Graduate teaching assistant appointments for CLA May term 2008 and Summer term 2008 courses are eligible. These students are automatically appointed under the 9575 job classification in summer session (non-tuition-bearing type). Research Assistants, Administrative Assistants or other types of non-instructional appointments outside of the 9575 appointment classification are not eligible.

Funding is available primarily for students enrolled in CLA graduate programs.

Students can additional information and the application form on CLA Administration website at: http://www.cla.umn.edu/intranet/grad/summerTuition.html.

The firm deadline for submitting requests is April 25, 2008.

Please contact Jennifer Reckner at: 612-624-9815 or Reckner@umn.edu if you have questions.

Blanket Requisitions - Term Faculty & P/A Instructional Appointments

Blanket requisitions for term faculty and instructional p/a staff positions must be
refreshed annually. Appointments of term faculty and/or instructional p/a staff for academic year 2008-09 (fall semester 08, spring semester 09, May session 09, summer session 09) must be made on a requisition created for 2008-09. Units anticipating such appointments during 2008-09 should begin preparing blanket requisitions at this time. Dates covered by the blanket should be specified within the requisition.

Blanket requisitions for 2007/08 should remain open until 30 June 2008 to ensure that appointments for the remainder of spring semester 08, May session 08, and summer session 08 can be made when the need arises.

The term faculty series job code (#9902) covers visiting, contract, adjunct, and temporary faculty appointments at the ranks of professor, associate professor, assistant professor, and instructor. The instructional (non-faculty) teaching series job code (#9903) includes the P&A classifications teaching specialist, senior teaching specialist, lecturer, and senior lecturer.

Templates for the term faculty and P/A instructional blanket requisitions are on the CLA website:

http://www2.cla.umn.edu/admin/faculty-research/TermFacultyAppointments.html

FFI: Office of the Associate Dean for Faculty and Research and CLA Office of Human Resources, 612-624-9839.

The deadline for P&A Promotions has been extended to March 11, 2008. This is an extension of the previously published deadline of February 1, 2008.

Additional information is available online:
http://www.cla.umn.edu/intranet/hr/PromotionGuidelines.html

Please contact Angie Plambeck at plambeck@umn.edu or 4-0098 with any questions.

Faculty and Research - 2008 Annual Review Submission Deadlines:

• Annual Reviews of Faculty Performance - 24 March 2008
  
  Effective spring 2008, all faculty activity reports and curricula vitae must be submitted electronically.
  
  FARs and CVs should be submitted as separate files; pdf attachments strongly preferred.
  
  Contact Gayle Gabrielski (gabr0074@umn.edu; 5-1805) with questions.
  
  Submit all documents to clafclty@umn.edu.
  
  
• Annual Reviews of P/A Staff - 24 March 2008 (direct to Angie Plambeck in 212 JohH)
• Annual Reviews of Chairs/Directors - 31 March 2008 (direct to Gayle Gabrielski in 212 JohH)

http://www.cla.umn.edu/intranet/faculty/annualReviews.html

Mar 7
CLA Payroll cutoff for the 03/03/08 - 03/16/08 pay period, 4:30 pm.

Mar 10
Deadline for Spring IRIS entry

Mar 11
The deadline for P&A Promotions has been extended to March 11, 2008.
(This is an extension of the previously published deadline of February 1st.)

Mar 21
CLA Payroll cutoff for the 03/17/08 - 03/30/08 pay period, 4:30 pm.

Mar 24
Deadline for Annual Reviews of Faculty Performance

Mar 24
Deadline for Annual Reviews of P/A Staff

Mar 27
Financial / Human Resources Meeting, 101 Fraser Hall, 9:00 am

Mar 31
Deadline for Annual Reviews of Chairs / Directors

April 5
CLA Open House, 7:15 am - 5:00 pm