1/16/19
Folks:
I hope all is well in the midst of this epic winter break! Here is a Friday email even if it isn’t Friday.
Mostly I want to touch base as we start the semester. We have, as we always do, lots on tap for this spring semester.
On January 21, the Monday before classes begin, you can observe MLK day with the Fort Collins and CSU community at the annual MLK March from Old Town Square to the Lory Student Center. If you plan to March and would like to volunteer to hand out ACT postcards and stickers as marchers assemble (approximately 10-11 a.m.), please email Carol. She’s looking for a handful more volunteers.
Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday February 3-5 Cara Finnegan and Kevin Barge will be here as our external, self-study reviewers. I think most of you who are involved have received emails from Eliza detailing when you are scheduled for a meeting with them. Check with her if you have questions.
February 7 ACT is hosting a screening of TransMilitary at The Lyric. This screening will help kickoff our build up to the 4th annual festival (see dates below) and is our first “ACT Year Round” event.
February 13 is the Gravlee lecture with Daena J. Goldsmith. She is likely to arrive on the 12th and there will be lots of chances to interact with her on the 13th so keep that day free.
End of the month many of us (about 20, if my count is correct) will be in Seattle for WSCA. March sees a bunch of us head back to Seattle for SCMS.
In fact, March is fully of great stuff. March 5 is the ACT Human Rights Film Festival kick-off at Odell’s. And then the first two weekends of April are the festival itself. Opening night is April 5 and we will have films all weekend through the 7th. Closing weekend is Friday April 12 and Saturday April 13. In between, encore screenings from the first weekend happen at The Lyric.
Wow. Just looking at those dates and what they mean for us, reminds me what a rich and vibrant community we have created.
ACTION ITEMS
All faculty need to send their evaluation materials to Eliza by Friday, the 18th. Here is a link to our SharePoint faculty resources folder. NTT faculty, please use the form in the NTT folder in Faculty Resources folder to complete your annual activities reports. You will also find a document that comes from the department’s Policy and Procedures Manual detailing required documentation.
TTT faculty please run an Annual Activities Report from FSAS. You will note that your downloaded document is in the same format at the Annual Activities report form. Edit it in word, then send that report plus supporting materials to Eliza. Even though the form may have hyperlinks to the materials you have uploaded, it will work better for us if you send us those documents. Clear as mud?
We will hold our annual end-of-year celebration at Café Vino on Friday, May 10 the last day of classes. Family—however you define that—is invited, food and drink is provided. Wee hoo!
Here are the faculty meeting dates for the semester:
January 23, LSC 300 (a week from today)
February 13, LSC 300
March 6, LSC 300
April 10, NRS Room 345 (Note the different location)
May 8, LSC 324 (Note different location
I have attached the faculty meeting agenda and some supporting documents to this email. The most important thing is the discussion on NTT appointments, rank, and changes in governance. As I note in that document, we are required to address the changes to the Faculty and Academic Professionals Manual on section E. These changes include new ranks, new appointment types that impact all faculty. I have drawn on the excellent work of an ad hoc committee for the proposed changes. The committee was made up of the current NTT representatives (Heather and Elizabeth S), the Executive Committee (Katie G and Hye Seung Chung), and an additional Senior Teaching Appointment faculty Kristen Slattery. The changes proposed here are important and will offer our NTT faculty greater professionalization, access to additional compensation upon promotion, while also asking more of the NTT faculty in service and administration. All around, these changes recognize the central role NTT faculty play in the department’s, college’s, and university’s success.
I really do hope you all had the breaks you wanted and deserved. We worked hard to get through fall semester. We have amazing opportunities in front of us.
As for me, I had a wonderful break. Elizabeth and I had good meals together on the official holiday days. I spent time petting Panda and baking bread. And I pretended I was a faculty member rather than chair, devoting days on end to writing. Man that felt good!  And I took the time to go to Denver and experience some wonderful art including seeing and hearing my boyhood hero Itzhak Perlman perform the Beethoven violin concerto with the Colorado Symphony. Wow! And then over this coming weekend, Elizabeth and I will be in San Diego for a brief, pre-semester break.
Take a bit of time for yourself as one last deep breath before we dig into the semester. I wrote this morning to a graduate student: “Take a good break today. Go running, go for a hike. Go to Denver to see some art. Start a meditation practice. Let your mind rest a little.”