May 2014

Maharishi International University

FACULTY DOCKET

May 1, 2014

Calendar

Thursday, May 1

Faculty Personnel Committee, 3:15 pm, Dreier Boardroom

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Saturday, May 3

Supaya Wenuganen, Doctoral Dissertation Defense, 1:00 pm, Maharishi Veda Bhavan room 211

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Tuesday, May 6

Academic Council, Special meeting, 3:15, Dreier Room 3

Agenda: DC grading proposal

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Wednesday, May 7

Leslee Goldstein, Doctoral Dissertation Defense, 1:30, Dreier Room 12

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Thursday, May 8, 2014

Teacher/Student Appreciation 1pm – 3:15 pm in Dalby Hall

All teaching faculty should bring their classes to this event and take attendance.

Faculty Personnel Committee, 3:15 pm, Dreier Boardroom

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Thursday, May 15

Academic Council, Special meeting, 3:15, Dreier Room 3

Agenda: to be announced

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Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Knowledge Fair, 1 pm – 3:15 pm in Dalby Hall.

All faculty who are teaching undergraduate classes (including classes that combine undergraduate and graduate students) should bring their classes to this even and take attendance.

Annual Faculty/Trustee Dinner

All faculty and spouses are invited to dinner with the Trustees in the north dining hall followed by a presentation of achievements in Festival Hall. You should get your meal in the main serving line.

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Friday, May 23, 2014

Assessment Day, all day, meet by departments to write yearly assessment reports

Saturday, May 24, 2014

Commencement, Details to be announced

Monday, June 30 to Thursday July 25

Consciousness Based Education Workshop for faculty, by invitation only, details to be announced later.

Monday, August 11, 2014 to Thursday August 14, 2014

Faculty Development Seminar

All faculty are required to attend; 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 Facultycgorini@miu.edu. Please see additional information regarding Academic Council decisions.

Special Announcements

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.

Wifi in Classrooms We now have the ability to put Wifi in classrooms, but Wifi in one classroom can overlap into other classrooms. It can also be turned on and off. Please let Tom Hirsch know if you want Wifi 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 LifeServices). 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 website

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://portals.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://portals.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