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English Department Meeting: Oct. 11, 2018

English Department Meeting Agenda

  • Meeting Date: 10/11/18
  • Meeting Location: B03 Humanities and Social Sciences Building

“Go forth! Be brave! Be proud! Be true!”

  • IUP English Professor Jane Leonard (1840-1925)

Thanks

  • To Tanya Heflin and Todd Thompson for helping advise new international English majors on the Thursday before the Fall 2018 semester started
  • To Chauna Craig, Melanie Holm, Dan Weinstein, and Todd for helping at the New English Major Orientation on the Sunday before the Fall 2018 semester started as part of IUP’s Welcome Weekend
  • To Dawnette Shellhammer who assembled gift bags and other materials for both of these important events
  • To Ken Sherwood who served for several years as the L&C Mentor Coordinator along with Dana Driscoll who serves as the CAL Mentor Coordinator
  • To Dawnette Shellhammer who helped Gian plan for the English Ice Cream Social
  • Thanks to Laurel Black, John Branscum, Chauna Craig, Brittany Hull, Gian, Rod Taylor, Todd Thompson, and Dan Weinstein for attending the Ice Cream Social
    • About 50 students attended the Ice Cream Social
  • Thanks to John Branscum, Julia Galm, Gian, Sukanto Roy, Loren Stephenson, Rod Taylor, Todd Thompson, Dan Weinstein, and Yi Yu for talking to English majors and other CHSS students at IUP’s reboot of Family Fun Weekend

Congratulations

  • To Chauna Craig and Cristina Sánchez-Martín for receiving University Senate Research Awards

Program News

  • New Literature and Criticism Mentor Coordinator: Mike Sell
  • New Writing Plan Coordinator: Chauna Craig
  • English Pre-Law curriculum revisions being processed
    • Thanks to Heather Powers who worked on this
  • English 349: Bible as Literature has been submitted for distance education (DE) delivery
    • Thanks to Chris Kuipers who worked on this
    • As per English Department policy, Chris will be eligible to teach ENGL 349 the first times it is offered online once the course is approved for online delivery
    • We are hoping to offer ENGL 349 for Winter 2018 if it is approved in time

Approval of Department Meeting Minutes

We will vote to approve Minutes from the English Department meeting held on:

  • 8/24/18

The minutes were circulated by email and will be shown at the meeting using the classroom instructor projection station. A limited set of copies will be printed, but please bring your own copy or review the minutes ahead of time so we can limit paper usage and printing costs. Thanks.

Agenda Items

1. Title IX Training is due TODAY!

  • Look for email from PASSHE with subject: mandatory training

2. Important Service Positions Needed

  • University Wide Promotions Committee (UWPC)
    • Please strongly consider voting for whomever steps forward from our department
  • Internship Coordinator
  • Crimson Quill Coordinator

3. * Grades

  • The Provost’s Offices is charging department’s $100 for every * grade entered
  • Our department bill from Spring 2018 was $3600
  • It turns out the Provost refused to waive this bill, so we did get charged $3600 in Spring 2018 and the money will not be returned to us

4. English Assessment Update

5. Department Retreat Follow-up

  • Thanks to all of those who attended the retreat
  • Thanks to David Piper who served as our consultant at the retreat
  • We identified 3 areas of need for the department during the retreat:
    • Clarifying Workload Distribution/Equity
    • Defining and Weighing Department Priorities
    • Improving Department Climate
  • I am listing these issues in a separate area on this agenda so we can work on them throughout the year

6. Department Meeting Time

  • Vote Results
    • 23 votes: TR 2:00-3:15
    • 3 votes: MWF 12:20-1:10
    • 2 votes: TR 8:00-9:15
    • 1 vote: MWF 2:30-3:20
    • 1 vote: TR 12:30-1:45
    • 1 abstention
  • Discussion

7. Health Issues

  • If you are facing a health issue that will effect your ability to do your IUP work, please let Gian know
  • Gian keeps all health related information confidential to the greatest extent possible; often health related issues do need to be shared with the dean, Human Resources, and the secretarial staff; this sharing is always done on a need-to-know basis
  • Sometimes Human Resources hassles people about health related issues; if you are encountering problems, please let Gian know so he can work on getting the problem resolved

8. Social Media Issues

  • You are welcome to express your views freely on social media
  • If you have concerns, please share them with Gian and/or Todd so we can talk them over and see what can be done to address the issue
  • If an issue from social media comes to my attention, I will ask if the poster would like to discuss it

9. English Newsletter

  • English Newsletter available today
  • Thanks to Todd Thompson for producing this newsletter

10. English Speaker Series

English Department Foci

Clarifying Workload Distribution/Equity

  • Gian and Todd have been revising the English Service Policy
  • We will bring that policy proposal to the November ELC meeting for discussion
  • We will discuss department service at the November department meeting
  • This discussion will include considering combining/eliminating some committees
  • Please send a list of all of your university/local/national/professional service to Todd for collection
  • The ELC will discuss how to make faculty labor more visible and valued
  • Goal 1: To have a revised Service Policy approved in Spring 2019
  • Goal 2: To identify new methods for valuing faculty work in Spring 2019 that could be implemented starting in Fall 2019

Defining and Weighing Department Priorities

  • English Education is our top hiring need as determined by faculty at the retreat
  • Emily Wender and Chauna Craig have met and will continue to meet to discuss curriculum revisions to help meet enrollment needs of both B.A. and B.S. English students
  • We will use our first spring department meeting to identify other departmental priorities including curriculum reform needs and other hiring needs
  • Goal 3: To have a list of department priorities identified by the end of Spring 2019

Improving Department Climate

  • Gian will hold a lunch with probationary faculty to discuss promotion/tenure expectations
  • Create an IUP English Faculty Success Guide
  • Identify mentors for probationary faculty
  • IUP English Speaker Series–coordinate attendance at these limited events
  • Consider having a group of English faculty attend campus events
  • Clarify promotion guidelines for the department
  • Use an online survey to identify a list of items for which people desire more communication/transparency
    • Have the summer school committee review the rotation process for summer/winter classes
  • Goal 4: Create documents in Spring 2019 and disseminate these documents for the 2019-2020 academic year

English Department 2018-2019 Goals

  • Strengthen Department Collegiality
  • Strengthen the public image of IUP’s English Department

English Department Reports

English Program Reports

  • Liberal Studies English (Director: Bryna Siegel Finer)
    • Assessment (Coordinator: Mary Stewart)
  • Bachelor of Arts in English (Interim Director: Chauna Craig)
    • Literature and Culture Track (Coordinator: John Marsden)
    • Pre-Law Track (Coordinator: Tim Hibsman)
    • Writing Studies Track (Coordinator: Tony Farrington)
    • Film Focus (Coordinator: Tom Slater)
    • Internships (Coordinator: ???)
  • Bachelor of Arts in English Education (Director: Jo-Anne Kerr)
  • Post Baccalaureate in English Education (Director: Linda Norris)
  • Master of Arts Composition and Literature/MA Literature (Director: Mike Williamson)
  • Master of Arts TESOL – Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (Director: Gloria Park)
  • ESL Program Specialist Certification (Director: Brian Carpenter)
  • GCORE – Graduate Certificate Program in TESOL (Director: Gloria Park)
  • Graduate Studies in Composition and TESOL (Director: Gloria Park)
  • Graduate Studies in Literature and Criticism (Director: Veronica Watson)

English Committee Reports

  • Department Elections Committee (Chair: Resa Crane Bizzaro)
  • DEC – Department Evaluations Committee (Co-Chairs: Bryna Siegel Finer and Mike Williamson)
  • DPC – Department Promotions Committee (Co-Chairs: John Branscum and Jean Nienkamp)
  • DTC – Department Tenure Committee (Co-Chairs Jo-Anne Kerr and Judith Villa)
  • Summer School Committee (Chair Ben Rafoth)

English Organizations

  • IUP NCTE – IUP National Council of Teachers of English (Advisor: Jo-Anne Kerr)
  • Sigma Tau Delta (Advisor: Dan Weinstein)

English Publications

  • Crimson Quill (Coordinator: ???)
  • NGAR – New Growth Arts Review (Advisor: Chauna Craig)
  • Studies in the Humanities (Editor-in-Chief: Reena Dube)
  • Works & Days (Editor-in-Chief: David Downing)

English Department Initiatives

  • Alumni Newsletter – The Word (Editor-in-Chief: Todd Thompson)
  • Banned Books Week (Coordinators: Tanya Heflin)
  • Graduation (Coordinator: Jo-Anne Kerr)
  • Honors Ceremony (Coordinators: Jo-Anne Kerr, Jean Nienkamp, and Heather Powers)
    • Writing Contest (Coordinator: Reena Dube)
  • Mentoring Program (Coordinators: Dana Driscoll and Mike Sell)
  • Placement (Coordinators: Dana Driscoll and Melanie Holm)
  • Web Site (Director: Dan Weinstein)
  • Writing Plan (Coordinator: Chauna Craig)

CHSS and University Organization Reports

  • APSCUF (Department Representatives: Resa Crane Bizzaro, Tanya Heflin,Mary Stewart, and Todd Thompson; Legislative Assembly: John Marsden)
  • Center for Film Studies (Director: Tom Slater)
  • DHC – Center for Digital Humanities and Culture (Co-Directors: Ken Sherwood, Dan Weinstein, and Gian Pagnucci)
  • IUP Senate (Department Representative: Tim Hibsman)
  • Writing Across the Curriculum (Director: Bryna Siegel Finer)
  • Writing Center (Director: Ben Rafoth)

State Organization Reports

  • English Association of Pennsylvania State Universities – EAPSU (Vice President, Conference Representative, and Writing Contest Coordinator: John Branscum)
  • Pennsylvania College English Association – PCEA (Web Site Director: Gian Pagnucci; Board Members: John Marsden and Oriana Gatta)
  • This category needs more information, so please send Gian the name of any organization for which you are an officer as well as your title.

National Organization Reports

  • This category needs more information, so please send Gian the name of any organization for which you are an officer as well as your title.

Upcoming Events

Author and IUP English Alum Eric Bell

  • Tue. Oct. 23
  • Writer Visit Coordinated by Chauna Craig
  • At 9:30 a.m. in HSS 216 Eric will discuss pitching books to publishers
  • 12:30 p.m. in McElhaney 101 Eric will discuss writing for the Young Adult market
  • Please encourage all English Majors and Minors to attend
  • This is a great event to which you can bring potential majors
  • Please join us yourself!
  • The more faculty who attend, the better impression of our department students will get

Announcements

APSCUF Membership

It is very important for all tenure track and temporary faculty to join the union. The cost is minimal as all faculty already pay roughly 90% of the membership due. But a strong union helps protect both temporary and permanent faculty. If you are not a member, please join as soon as possible.

In addition, please consider joining APSCUF CAP which does lobbying for the union. This is the best way to influence legislators to support our concerns.

IUP English Google Calendar

  • Please remember to email Dawnette to get all English Department events and key meetings added to the department web calendar
  • Please check the calendar before scheduling meetings to help limit conflicts
  • TR from 2:00-4:00 p.m. is a common open time for tenure track faculty members to use for meetings

Additional Announcements

  • If anyone has an important announcement, we’ll use the last few minutes of the meeting to cover this