1215 Patterson Office Tower
Lexington, KY, USA, 40506-0027
http://www.uky.edu/~tmclay/
Newsletter, 16 October 2007
I’m sure everyone is busy at this time of the semester, but please take a moment to read through the newsletter and attend (and attend to) the events and deadlines of the week.
1. Mid-Term Grade Entry
By this Wednesday, 17 October, we must enter our own midterm grades. Everyone, please check and make sure you can log into your class account at the myUK portal (https://myuk.uky.edu/irj/portal). Click “faculty services,” then “grading.” For a tutorial, see http://myhelp.uky.edu/rwd/HTML/CM/Mid-Term_Grading.html.
If you cannot get into this system, write Jennifer Walton immediately, so we can get the problem fixed.
2. Tenure and Promotion Meeting
Full professors, please remember Lisa Zunshine’s meeting on 17 October, 2PM, Room A, 18th Floor of POT.
3. Friday Colloquium Series
The first two talks in the Friday Colloquium series were very successful. Please remember Rusty Barrett’s talk this Friday, and George Phillips’ the following Friday (all events are in 205 NSC and begin at 2PM, unless otherwise noted):
October 19: Rusty Barrett, “The politics of grammar and form in contemporary K’iche’ Maya poetry”
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October 26: George Philips, “All the sins you have never had the courage to commit: Oscar Wilde, ethics, and representation” (colloquium will begin at 3:00pm)
4. Meeting with Provost Subbaswamy and Dean Hoch
24 October, 2:00–3:30 PM, 245 POT
The Provost and the Dean have requested this meeting in order to brief us on developments in the College and the University. Of course, there will be ample opportunity for us to ask questions, raise concerns, etc. This is a great opportunity for us to impress the Provost and Dean with our clear and dispassionate articulation of Department goals and needs.
5. Graduate Affiliate Program News
Remember Susan Griffin’s lecture on Mary Wilkins Freeman, titled “Understudies: Drawing the Animal, Performing the Human” (Thursday, November 1st, at 2:00, Niles Gallery).
Remember that you can find the Dean’s letter responding to our response to the External Review Committee report on my website (along with all other External Review documents; see http://www.uky.edu/~tmclay/Thomas%20Clayton.htm). Please occasionally scan our implementation plan, which I update frequently.
Here are developments in our implementation plan since the last newsletter.
Relative to Requirement #2, on recruiting diverse faculty:
10.8.07: We signed on as an institutional member of the College Language Association (http://www.clascholars.org/) and have posted our job adverts to their website.
10.11.07 Meeting of search committee chairs and Tom.
Jeff Clymer reported that the search committee on the African American literature search had:
· Written 20 scholars at strong schools asking for recommendations on advanced Ph.D. students we could approach.
· Received 15 specific recommendations in reply.
· Written the 15 to solicit their applications.
· Trolled the websites of schools in the southeast and midwest for promising, young professors who might want to transfer to UK, and solicited applications for 8 of them.
Relative to Requirement #3, on appointing full professors as program directors
10.9.07: Meeting of Steve Hoch and Tom.
· The service policy is not firm yet. The final policy will be announced soon, and will inform DOEs for AY 2009.
· The Dean agrees that Michael Trask finish his three-year term as DGS, through the 2008–2009 academic year.
· The Dean considers the Graduate Affiliate Program a program that should be directed by a full professor.
· The Dean opposes providing a course release or TA as incentive for directing the Graduate Affiliate Program.
That all for now. I hope to see you at meetings and events later in the week. Please write or stop by with questions.
Tom Clayton
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