Dear Faculty,
I hope you have been enjoying your summer. I am picking up departmental matters after a busy summer teaching in Rome.
1. Fall Retreat
Tuesday, September 18 from 8:30am to 3:45pm
Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art’s Papé Reception Hall.
This year we need to articulate our mission so we can build our reputation and develop effective partnerships inside and outside of the university. Our Fall retreat will focus on finding key themes in our design and research passions. It will kick-off a Fall term of Gathering Ideas, followed by Winter term of Refining the Message, and Spring term of Spreading the word.
What is our dream school, our ideal intellectual workplace? What tools and support are needed to make it happen? Defining key focus areas can help us clarify our identity, build research and teaching cohorts and attract the resources needed for a top-flight endeavor.
All tenure-related faculty are expected to attend, pro-tempore instructors are welcome to join. Please RSVP to Lydia Hawkins at archinfo@uoregon.edu before September 10. It will be followed by a 4-6pm SAE Meeting and Happy Hour.
2. Activity Reports due Oct 1 for Merit Raises
For Merit raises, all faculty need to submit an Activity Report using the Word Template along with an updated CV to Nancy Cheng and Julie Gray.
To share faculty updates among ourselves and our community, please describe a recent activity, project or achievement. Each person can take 5 minutes)at the Fall retreat and we will look for ways to communicate these to a larger audience. Please email Nancy an image (~700 high x 1000 pixels wide) with a slide title and <50 word description, Subject: Faculty Activity.
3. Call for Director of Graduate Studies
Interested in joining the Administrative leadership? We need an energetic faculty member to cultivate excellence in our graduate programs, and collaborate with SAE colleagues and staff on recruiting and community building. See the DGS Position Description and submit an application with CV to Nancy Cheng and Julie Gray by email. Deadline: September 10.
4. Last Call for Studio Funding
Because the 2018-19 Call for Studio Awards has been poorly distributed, the deadline has been extended to September 10. Please email your proposals to Nancy Cheng and Julie Gray. Those who have already submitted, we appreciate your patience.
5. Voting Survey
Following up from the June 12, 2018 faculty meeting, these items require your vote by September 15 through a Qualtrics anonymous survey.
A. Our Promotion and Tenure Guidelines 2018 have been lightly revised to include friendly amendments. Please vote whether to accept this version and then it will be forwarded up the pipeline for approvals.
B. You will also be asked whether you support this Motion: Ad Hoc Committee Renewal
This motion proposes that a new Ad Hoc Committee will be elected at the Fall Faculty Retreat to serve for the 2018-19 academic year. The committee’s charge is to work with faculty to develop a new departmental governance structure in relationship to the School of Architecture and Environment, and to articulate these changes in a revised Internal Governance Policy. The group will also act in an advisory capacity to the Department Head. All tenure-related faculty and career instructors are eligible to serve.
Voting for this initial motion will take place via a Qualtrics anonymous survey supervised by the SAE staff. If this online vote passes, new members will be elected in a second ballot at the faculty retreat.
The survey will also include optional questions about key design and research themes and suggestions for an external Advisory Council.
6. Information Sharing
I am developing a private informal website for sharing information between faculty and staff: https://blogs.uoregon.edu/archfaculty It can be a central place to access meeting notes, opportunity notices and non-confidential departmental documents.
A password will be sent to you separately and if you have registered onto the http://blogs.uoregon.edu system, you will receive an invitation to edit.
Making information more accessible should help make processes more transparent.
Best,
Nancy Cheng
Head, Department of Architecture