August 2014
Maharishi International University
FACULTY DOCKET
August 18, 2014
Here is this docket as a Downloadable Document
Calendar
Aug 18-29
Faculty Training Course; all faculty who have not taken this course are required to take it. See Jane Schmidt-Wilk for details.
Thursday, August 21, Faculty Personnel Committee, 3:15, Dean of Faculty Office
Friday, August 22, All-Campus Meeting, Dalby Hall, 2:00, New DC policy. All continuing students and faculty are required to attend.
Monday, September 1, Convocation, 1:00, Dalby Hall
Faculty line up in caps and gowns at 12:45; please contact the Dean of Faculty office, ext. 1161, if you do not have a cap and gown. All students and faculty are required to attend.
Friday Sept 26, Faculty Development Presentation, 10 am to noon, Dalby Hall
Presentation on Communication Skills, Jonathan Gordon, Communications Coach. All faculty are required to attend.
October 2–5
Research Conference with Maharaja, details to be announced.
Friday, November 21, 10 am to noon
Concurrent Workshops on Teaching for all faculty, details to be announced
Academic Decisions
Note: Academic Decisions are automatically considered approved if no faculty makes a request for re-consideration to the Dean of Faculty cgorini@miu.edu. Please see additional information regarding Academic Council decisions.
Faculty Personnel Committee, June 19, 2014
Appointed Leah Waller Assistant Professor of Creative Writing
Appointed Amine Kouider, Instructor of Media and Communications
Promoted Supaya Wenuganen to Assistant Professor of Biology
Appointed Peter Freund Assistant Professor of Maharishi Vedic Science
Approved the following job description for Program Director:
A program director is appointed by the Dean of Faculty in consultation with the Department Chair and Faculty Personnel Committee to oversee the integrity and educational quality of one or more academic programs. Specifically, the program director is responsible for setting the curriculum, coordinating, with the department chair, the teaching of courses in the program, ensuring the measurement of educational outcomes, and reporting on those outcomes to the chair. The director must be a full-time MIU faculty and have taken the initial two-week Faculty Training Course offered by the Education Department. If a program does not have a director named, then the Department Chair is de facto the program director.
Academic Council, July 24, 2014
Academic Council approved a new policy for Development of Consciousness grading; this policy will be sent to all faculty soon.
Faculty Personnel Committee, August 11, 2014
Appointed Leah Waller to the Library Board
Appointed Leslee Goldstein Assistant Research Professor
Appointed Donald Revolinski Lecturer of Media and Communication
Appointed Anthony Robinson Adjunct Instructor of Mathematics
Appointed Joseph Boxerman Adjunct Instructor of Management
Appointed David Weisman Adjunct Instructor of Management
Appointed Shafqat Ali Shad Assistant Professor of Computer Science
Appointed Obinna Kalu Instructor of Computer Science
Appointed Chamolie Thomson Instructor of Media and Communications
Appointed Steve Schott Instructor of Media and Communication
Appointed Cody Olivas Adjunct Instructor of Media and Communication
Special Announcements
MIU Press Now Open on Saturdays before Blocks Start
The MIU Press will now be open on the Saturdays before each block starts to accommodate the printing of syllabi
August 16
August 30
September 27
October 25
November 21
Academic Council Meetings Days Changed
Academic Council will now be meeting on the third and fourth Tuesdays of each academic block. Other committees can adjust their meeting schedules as appropriate.
Maharishi Global Family Chat
To learn about the most inspiring recent news about the Maharishi’s Movement, Dr. Bevan Morris recommended that all faculty receive the Global Family Chat summaries. You can sign up here to get the summaries and to view previous summaries: http://www.maharishichannel.in/econtact/signup_form2.php
Program Director
A program director is appointed by the Dean of Faculty in consultation with the Department Chair and Faculty Personnel Committee to oversee the integrity and educational quality of one or more academic programs. Specifically, the program director is responsible for setting the curriculum, coordinating, with the department chair, the teaching of courses in the program, ensuring the measurement of educational outcomes, and reporting on those outcomes to the chair. The director must be a full-time MIU faculty and have taken the initial two-week Faculty Training Course offered by the Education Department. If a program does not have a director named, then the Department Chair is de facto the program director.
Visiting Scholar
Visiting Scholars are invited and hosted by a department and approved by Faculty Personnel Committee. Visiting Scholars bring expertise in their discipline specialty to further the mutual interests of the department and the scholar. Visiting Scholars may give lectures, consult with the host department on research and curriculum, and collaborate with faculty and students on other scholarly activities.
Surveys
All surveys given out to students, faculty, or staff must be approved by Michael Farrer, Director of Evaluations. This will ensure that we will not have conflicting surveys sent out and that your survey will get the information that you want.
Maharishi’s Books as Class Readings
We should include reading by Maharishi in our academic courses whenever possible. Most books are available at the MIU Store, many at greatly reduced prices for students. Please have your students purchase these books, which they should have in their personal libraries anyway, rather than have them photocopied.
You may be eligible for a free cell phone.
Check out websites like
- http://governmentfreecellphoneprogram.com/iowa-free-government-cell-phone-providers/. You can see if you qualify here:
- http://governmentfreecellphoneprogram.com/do-you-qualify/. MIU staff who have received free cell phones in this way say that this is a great service.
Computers, cell phones, and pagers — Please turn off all cell phones and pagers at the start of class, so you will not inadvertently interrupt a lecture or class discussion. Evidence from a variety of studies indicates that by multitasking, you compromise your efforts to learn. Furthermore, carrying on extended texting conversations in class is both inappropriate and distracting to your classmates, so please avoid these kinds of behavior. We will discuss when and under what conditions classroom use of computers is encouraged.
Course Changes No department may add a course without approval from Chris Jones, Dean of Academic Programs. This is a new policy that has been adopted to give students a more reliable schedule to use when planning their year. Chris will be in touch with departments who have courses with low enrollment; such courses may have to be cancelled.
Wi-Fi in Classrooms We now have the ability to put Wife in classrooms, but Wi-Fi in one classroom can overlap into other classrooms. It can also be turned on and off. Please let Tom Hirsch know if you want Wife in your classroom.
Consulting Policy
Departments may not hire outside consultants or contractors to perform a service that is already being performed within the University or for which the University has a pre-existing contract (e.g. personal counseling with Optimae Life Services). This applies to all departments for all programs. This includes, but is not limited to, the following services:
Web design
Marketing
Personal counseling and therapy.
Any exceptions to this policy must be approved by Executive Committee. This policy is effective immediately.
Dockets are now archived on the new website http://www.miu.edu/RelId/617382/ISvars/default/default.aspx?RelId=617382
Special announcements, policies, and other information will also now be archived in a document titled Policies and Information stored on the docket webpage.
Committee Minutes ONLINE
Committee Minutes are now ready to be added and viewed on the Committee page of the website. If you do not see the minutes you are looking for please let the Chair of that Committee know.
http://www.miu.edu/RelId/621413/ISvars/default/Committees.htm
You must be signed in to view this page.
If your committee has not added the minutes to the site please let Amellia know who will edit your page and she will set it up. She also has a video tutorial to help you edit and format your minutes.
NEW: Textbook Wiki has moved onto mum website
We no longer use the Wikipages for Textbooks listings. They are viewable under Current Students > Academics > Textbooks. Department Admins continue to acquire your textbook information through email or forms (below). If you need to edit the pages yourself, please contact Amellia. dof@miu.edu
Please choose the correct Department Textbook Online Form for each of your courses below (links): Hover your cursor over the name:
- Art
- Business Administration / Management
- Computer Science – Listing textbooks on their own site as they were before.
- Education
- Literature & Writing
- Mathematics / Physics
- Maharishi Vedic Science
- Media and Communications
- Physiology and Health
- Sustainable Living – email lhays@miu.edu
A reminder will continue to be sent to you 4 weeks before your course.
If you have any questions, please contact your Dept. Admin.
Course Administrative Deadlines
Faculty can now see course administrative deadlines (grades, printing, etc.) per block on the Faculty Events Calendar. You can click on an event and add it to your own Google Calendar as a reminder for the block(s) you teach. http://www.miu.edu/faculty-staff
Guest Speaker Form
Guest Speaker Approvals are necessary every 6 months. Please allow 2 weeks for processing each request. The form is available on the private access area of the resources page. Here is the link: Guest Speaker Form.
Planning Events
Learn about the new procedures for planning events. New online forms and checklists help departments make sure they contact everyone involved in planning an event (guest speakers, housing reservation, A/V, venue reservation, etc.)
Maharishi International University Faculty Fraternization Policy
Maharishi International University provides students with a positive and nurturing environment. The University recognizes the very positive benefits to be gained from student interaction with faculty and staff. These interactions are encouraged and supported when they are kept at a professional level and promote healthy social, emotional, and intellectual development. All faculty and staff are expected to maintain the highest standards of professional conduct in their relationships with students. The following fraternization policy has been adopted to ensure that the human and legal rights of students must be respected at all times, both on and off campus. Any act of harassment, exploitation, or inappropriate fraternization will not be tolerated.
Relationships between individuals in inherently unequal positions may undermine the real or perceived integrity of the teaching, supervision, and evaluation process, as well as affect the trust inherent in the educational environment. It is the policy of Maharishi International University that persons in unequal positions do not conduct romantic or amorous relationships. The University considers it inappropriate for any member of the faculty to date or establish an intimate relationship with a student. Staff members are strongly discouraged from dating students. Furthermore, the University considers it inappropriate for any member of the faculty, administration, or staff to date or establish an intimate relationship with any subordinate or colleague upon whose work performance he or she currently makes professional judgments or can be expected to do so in the near future.
Teaching and research fellows, doctoral and graduate assistants are likewise not allowed to conduct romantic or amorous relationships with students. Tutors, interns, and any other students who perform work-related functions for the University are also not allowed to conduct romantic or amorous relationships with students for whom they act as supervisor.
Interns are treated as staff with respect to this policy with the exception of a relationship begun before the individual became an intern, unless the intern is in a supervisory role for the student or makes professional judgments or can be expected to do so in the near future.
Anyone who violates this policy is subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment. Formal disciplinary action may range from a reprimand to termination of employment or assignment. A faculty member or employee may be placed on administrative leave, suspended, or transferred while a case is being reviewed. Decisions regarding administrative leave, suspension, transfer or dismissal will take into consideration the nature of the appointment, the severity of the offense, any pattern or history of similar incidents, the possible duration of the investigation, and other factors.
If anyone feels than an exception should be made to this policy, he or she should submit a petition to the Dean of Faculty. The petition will be evaluated in consultation with the Dean of Student Life and the Legal Counsel.
This policy is not intended to discourage appropriate and professional interaction with students. Its purpose is to assure the safety and well being of all students of Maharishi International University. The guidelines and definitions in this policy may not be all inclusive. The University will, at all times, take whatever action is necessary to fulfill the intent of the policy and to comply with applicable laws and regulations.
Consent may not be considered a defense against a charge of sexual harassment in any proceeding conducted under this policy. The determination of what constitutes sexual harassment depends on the specific facts and the context within which the conduct occurs.
Program Attendance at Alternate Flying Halls If you do program at the Downtown Flying Hall or at the Maharishi Vedic City Peace Palaces, please fill out the attached attendance form each month and return it to the Dean of Faculty Office or email it to dof@miu.edu.
Medicare If you are 65 or older, it is to your advantage to switch to Medicare now. Those who have switched have found it to be very easy and can get better coverage. See your insurance agent or Maureen Jones for more details.
Virus Protection Please make sure you have virus protection on all of your computers. You can download free virus software here:
For Windows:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security-essentials-download
For Macs:
http://www.clamxav.com