Transgender Inclusion in the Classroom

The LGBT Center will be hosting a faculty and student panel titled:
Transgender Inclusion: Policies and Practice in the Classroom

The panel will include faculty, student, and staff perspectives on practices in the classroom that lead to transgender inclusion. The panel will discuss new guidelines on preferred name use.
See the event description provided by the LGBT Center below.


Transgender Inclusion: Policies and Practice in the Classroom
Faculty, staff and students are invited to a panel discussion about policies and practices that create an inclusive campus for transgender students. Topics will include best practices in the classroom, the experiences of current transgender students, and an introduction to the new UNF Preferred Name Policy. Panelists include Dr. Nick de Villiers (College of Arts & Sciences), Andrea Adams-Manning (Student Ombuds and Assistant Dean of Students), and student Bane Campos. Kaitlin Legg (LGBT Resource Center) will facilitate the discussion.
More information: see the event facebook page.

TurnItIn Provides a Valuable Service, But Jeopardizes Students' Rights

Realistically, if you're a professor who needs to ensure students aren't cheating on their papers, TurnItIn.com is a true time-saver with few alternatives. TurnItIn is a tremendous boon for professors who simply do not have time to painstakingly check their students' written work for plagiarism against the millions of other scholastic documents on the internet. In an insightful article published last month, one professor praises TurnItIn for its incredible efficiency and criticizes it for its monopolistic hold on students' original works.

The issue hinges on what TurnItIn does with all of those student papers it receives. It keeps them, archives them, and continues to use them for plagiarism checking. Whereas this is more of an issue in principle rather than reality, the fact remains that students are required to give over their intellectual products to a company that will use them to make a profit. Some may find that to be a bit unsettling, although there is no apparent harm that comes from it. After a 2007 lawsuit, a district court determined that TurnItIn is not breaking any copyright laws in their practices. Despite the fact that it is not technically unlawful, TurnItIn does influence the rights of students to be in control of their intellectual property.

As term papers, research manuscripts, and other long written assignments pile up, it is hard to argue against the benefits of using a site like TurnItIn to protect academic integrity and ensure the quality of students' educations. But there is a hidden cost of student ownership that, although practically innocuous (for now), may trouble the ethical constitutions of some.

Frankly Friday Event - Academic Free Speech?

Frank Conversation about Faculty Issues

Topic: Is Academic Speech Free?

Friday, February 7^th, 9:30-10:30 AM, Osprey Commons Faculty Lounge (Building 16, 4^th Floor)

Let us know you will be there: ofe@unf.edu

The United States of America provides and supports free speech among its citizens. College campuses are known for the free exchange of ideas. One would imagine that college campuses in the United States would be places where free speech would be encouraged, even celebrated. Recent cases across the country (see Chronicle Article), including incidents in Florida, however, have identified boundaries of free speech on college campuses. The immediacy of social media has amplified the challenges of unfettered free speech on college campuses leading to national dialogues and some embarrassment for university administrators and leaders. To address these concerns many college campuses are passing new policies to address communication online. The University of North Florida recently revised an existing policy on online communication to more fully address both official and unofficial online communication. With new technologies, faculty are considering how their communications online might be affected, including statements and posts that up until recently have been imagined as personal.

Come discuss how these issues impact UNF and faculty in Florida.

We will meet in the Faculty Lounge on the 4^th floor of the Osprey Commons.

OFE will provide the coffee and pastries.

Let us know you will be there: ofe@unf.edu

Export Control Expert on Campus Oct 29th

In order to control top priority research and innovations, the Federal Government has provided laws that limit the flow of information and technology across boarders. The details of these laws can be quite complex. Faculty with good intentions can inadvertantly break these laws and put sensitive data at risk. Please see then notice below from Provost Earle Traynham regarding an expert in Export Control laws who will be on the UNF campus in October.  

We are pleased to host Mr. Steve Brotherton, our outside counsel for export control, on Tuesday, October 29 for his annual visit. Export control laws and regulations are complex, especially in the University setting.  Steve is one of the leading export control attorneys in the country and we are fortunate that he is willing to share his knowledge of this ever changing field of law with us. 

Such laws and regulations impose restrictions on the release or transfer of certain kinds of information, technology and physical items to foreign nationals, even when the release occurs entirely within the United States.  The laws and regulations also address issues involving international travel, international shipping, and the hiring of foreign nationals.  Since many of you are either directly or indirectly involved in one or more of these areas, your participation in this workshop is encouraged.  

It is especially important that faculty and staff whose assignment includes work on a sponsored project (i.e., a contract or grant), and your supervisor(s), become familiar with these issues because penalties for violation of export control laws are significant, and apply not only to UNF administrators but also to individual faculty and staff members. 

Please join us on Tuesday, October 29 from 9:00-10:30 in Room 3804 of the Student Union for our conversation with Steve.  Hope to see you there. 

Thanks

Earle

Online Lecture Prompts Lawsuit

As faculty move toward more online forms of teaching and learning, various forms of online lecture delivery Chronicle article.
http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/harvard-professors-online-lecture-prompts-fight-with-record-company/65261
have been explored. A Harvard law professor found himself in a battle for copyrights when he used a video clip of a band in his lecture. The professor claims fair use, whereas the band claims he misused their work. A legal battle was initiated over the professor's use of the material. Read more about the issues in this

To read more about UNF's Copyright Guidelines, visit this guide provided by UNF's General Counsel's Office.
http://www.unf.edu/uploadedFiles/president/general_counsel/Copyright%20Policy.pdf

The Thomas G. Carpenter Library at UNF has published a decision tree guide for identifying copyrighted material that might be useful to faculty.
http://lgdata.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com/docs/1652/243453/task_force_processes_copy.jpg

Treatment or Research? The Government Decides

Two neurosurgeons at the University of California - Davis (UCD) have resigned over an investigation into their activities at the university. The two neurosurgeons reportedly injected bacteria into the brains of patients in hopes that the bacteria would induce an immune reaction that would fight cancer. UCD launched an investigation and found that that the surgeons were conducting research without the proper ethical protocols. The surgeons argue that they were providing treatment, not conducting research.
Read more about the case at the website:
http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/2-neurosurgeons-who-were-accused-of-misconduct-at-uc-davis-resign/65193

The Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP) under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Safety (http://www.hhs.gov/) provides a definition of human subject research on their website.
http://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/humansubjects/guidance/45cfr46.html#46.102
The definition indicates that activities might be considered research even if the activities are not "conducted or supported under a program which is considered research for other purposes."

The moral of the story -- caveat scolaris (scholar beware).

Full-time Faculty Argue with Part-Time Faculty over More Work?

As difficult financial times put a strain on individual budgets, full-time faculty are supplementing their salary by securing "overload" work. Faculty will teach additional courses or provide some sort of service work that adds to their workload during a regular semester.

In a recent article in the Chronicle, Peter Schmidt outlines the debate over restricting full-time faculty from pursuing overload assignments in order to prevent part-time faculty from experiencing a reduction in their opportunities. In California, full-time and part-time faculty unions are battling over the issue. As tough economic realities persist, one wonders if this debate will spread to many other states as well. With shrinking budgets and greater need for supplementary income, the discussions of overloads and faculty assignments will become prevalent. To read the full article, visit the website.
http://chronicle.com/article/Overtime-Teaching-Dispute-Pits/141255

Open Door Policies

As teachers engage students and become more familiar with students over the semester, the desire to extend the learning outside of the classroom seems natural. Some of the most rewarding conversations between teachers and students can happen outside of the classroom, during office hours, when the student has shown enough interest to discuss ideas further in a more direct way.

One informal policy I have adopted over the years is to have an "open door" before the student arrives and after the student arrives. Closing the door when only the teacher and student are in the office can send the wrong signals and can lead to misinterpretation.

Perhaps it was not misinterpretation when a Communication faculty member at Pasadena City College asked a student to come by the office to look at vacation photos, then closed the office door. Among the photos was a nude image of the faculty member on his boat during the vacation. The student showed minimal interest in the nude photos. The student later reported to officials that his grades suffered because he did not show interest in the instructors photos. The faculty member denies any wrongdoing.

This case brings up a number of issues, let alone policies related to sexual harassment. There are times when, based on the need for student privacy, discretion is the order of the day. I have had students ask, as they want to discus details of their grade and standing in the class, that I close my office door for the sake of confidentiality. If there is something I need to say to a student with my office door closed, I think twice about what I am about to say and question whether a closed door is necessary (often, it is not). I always I make it a policy that anything I need to say to a student should be said behind "open doors."

Annual Teaching Evaluations at UNF

Please see the message below by United Faculty of Florida-UNF Union President, Dr. Cheryl Frohlich.
The note indicates that if your annual evaluation only addresses the student satisfaction ratings from your courses, you should look into remedying the situation. Excellence in teaching should be evaluated by using information beyond student assessments of teaching.
If you would like additional ideas on providing evidence of excellence in teaching, see the resources available on the OFE website.
http://www.unf.edu/ofe/teaching_learning/Assessment.aspx

Message from Cheryl J. Frohlich, Ph.D
Annual Evaluations

Please note that student evaluations cannot be used as the determining factor on any teaching portion of your annual performance evaluation.  If your teaching performance segment refers to how student’s rated you in the student evaluation of your class and that is the main determinate of your teaching evaluation, then your evaluation is grievable.  See below from our Contract.

₁₄ The use of student evaluations in the annual evaluation process is governed by Article 18.6 (3) of the CBA. Student evaluations ―are one useful tool‖ and, except as expressly provided in the CBA, the annual evaluation ―shall not be based solely on student evaluations‖. When using the student evaluations, the evaluator shall take into account results on a range of questions appropriate to the course.  (pg. 159)

Thank You

Cheryl J. Frohlich, Ph.D.

Department of Accounting and Finance

Guns May Become More Common On Campus

There is a battle going on right now between university officials who want to keep guns off campus to protect students, faculty, and staff and others (mostly students) who want to exercise their right to bear arms.A UNF student and member of a gun rights group has filed a lawsuit against UNF (read more). The issue rests on whether colleges have the right to regulate gun use.

As a signal of things to come, an Oregon Appeals Court recently ruled that the State University System did not have the right to regulate gun use. Students may begin to exercise their right to carry loaded guns on campus.