Movie: Creation

After a friend of mine suggested me to watch this movie on Netflix, I wanted to write down some of my thoughts while I watched the movie "Creation", about the life of the scientist that challenged the very existence of God through his theory of evolution. Of course, his theory can never be proved to be true, perhaps, can only be accepted to have overwhelming evidence of being possible.

At the first time when few colleagues of Darwin urge him to publish his findings on the possibility of evolution, the fear in the face of actor Paul Bettany, was perhaps very close to that of any person who is faced with the challenge of may be contradicting the long-prevalent thought on the "belief-based" philosophy. As the protagonist says, we live in a society and it is bound together by the belief system that while might be improbable, but certainly floats and manages to keep the fabric of society together. It is very difficult to build plank by plank the very vessel in which the entire society sails. I image such are the thoughts of many world-changing ideas. It does take some mettle to stand for such thoughts.

Our behavior, similar to our physical forms evolves according to our needs and thus in times we loose the the parts that we do not need. Perhaps in time thought philosophies also get lost if not needed. Initially, in the movie Darwin is shown to have very difficulty to propose his evolution-theory to the world. Perhaps the after-death of his daughter also was responsible in having him hold back his thoughts. He seems to imagine his lost daughter Annie being present in his office/lab. Talks to her lost baby girl, perhaps a human side of every person cannot be just taken apart, even if the the person in question is all rational and logical scientist (Darwin in this case).

All of nature is a battle field, survival of the fittest is a thought that is new to the world. "What are you so scared of?, asks Annie to Darwin. Only brutal survival was only a theory. The imagery of Darwin's daughter was perhaps his own contradiction in mind trying to give him the courage to speak his thoughts to the world.

As a scientist, Darwin's character mentions that he has been holding back his thoughts and has been living in a limbo. What if the then persistent ( and still persistent) faith belief creator existed and what if he faces the consequences of not believing in it. Perhaps he didn't want to take a chance of being away from his family (in heaven).

At one point in his life, Darwin gets strong of opinion that he will tell the world about his thoughts on evolution when one of the faith-based teacher punishes his daughter Annie when she expresses her father's findings of dinosaurs (based on theory of evolution). There happens a silent struggle within Darwin about accepting the validity of his theory of evolution.

In the movie, there is a scene where the fox hunts the rabbit. Darwin's daughter Annie explains her thoughts that the hunt has to happen for the survival of the fox and its babies. In nature, things might seem unfair, but they have to happen to keep the balance and equilibrium. Various thoughts of Darwin's recollection of his daughter Annie give him courage to take the responsibility to publish his evolution based findings, for the sake of his children. "On the origin of Species" is the chosen title of Darwin's book. It is mentioned in the movie, Darwin takes personal attention to keep the creator out of his book.

"Logic isn't everything" was the statement that the protagonist mentions in the movie. I am personally confused at this statement of the character of Darwin. Himself being a scientist, why does he say so? perhaps the reality that his daughter Annie was diagnosed with some unknown ailment (that takes her life eventually) makes him think that logic isn't everything? The reality of being human cannot be neglected ever. After all we are humans.

Wallace, another scientist from another country (not UK) publishes a 20 paged paper about his independent findings on evolution theory. Darwin sees that paper and feels a little dejected as his 250 paged book is not complete and because of his procrastination in publishing his findings. Darwin's procrastination in publishing his book is perceived as a failure by him. He almost gives up the hope of writing, but Darwin's friend visits him and encourages him to complete his book. This scene of the movie highlights the human limitations of the mind, sometimes feeling elated at new scientific findings and sometimes being worried of social relations/consequences.

As portrayed in the movie, after the death of his daughter Annie, Darwin seems to have lost belief on faith-based thoughts. Perhaps this event gives him the impetus to finish his book.

"Taking comfort from faith-based thoughts", is it necessary to live in the world peacefully-in-mind? The dreadful alternation of hope and no-hope sickens the soul.

Mentoring Senior Students

Professional development workshop on Sept 20th.

Presented by: Celina (office of registrar)

*) Students must have 9o hours or more in program of study
*) Should apply for graduation at least 2 semesters before expected graduation term
*) Application for graduation can be found in my.GGC.edu under registrar's office
*) Application is a writable pdf which must be printed and signed
*) Students submit application in building D.

Graduation Audit
*) New degree evaluation is generated
*) Each area checked for completion of requirements
*) Graduation audit letter created listing outstanding requirements and/or courses in progress
*)

Academic Requirements
*) Be in good academic standing not in warning or proba
*) CGPA of 2.0 overall, may differ with major
*) Honors:
*) Grade of C or higher in all major courses, in areas A-F, general electives
*) Minimum CGPA of 2.25 in Business concentration courses


Residence/Credit Requirements
*) At least 123 credit hours reqd in most programs of study
*) 128 credit hours required for teacher certification Majors (Not BS Ed majors)

Additional Requirements
*) Required high school curriculum (RHSC formerly CPC)
math (4 yrs) , Science (3 yrs), social science (3 yrs), Foreign Language (2 yrs) English: 4 years

*) Legislative: US and GA constitution,
US and GA history

*) GGC Competency (through testing center)
Exemptions: ENGL 1101, 1102 from GGC
Regents tests passed at other USG institutions
SAT Critical Reading 510 or higher and SAT writing 560 or higher

*) Students must have ITEC 1001, ITEC 2110, or ITEC 2120 in their program

*) At least 39 credit hrs of 3000/4000 level

*) Physical Education:
3 credits required
at least 1 credit hour must be PHED 1101 - Choices for life
Associate's degree from USG does not satisfy PE requirement

*) English majors must show 2001 level or higher


Career Center Resources (Andrea Holyfield)
*) Internship Assistance
*) Choosing a Major
*) Grad School Preparation
*) Personality Assessments
*) Career Exploration


Representative of Academic Internships for SST (Dr. Lisa Elias)
*) Responsible for developing a process of running internships



US History requirements
Pass US history course in Area E
Pass GA history at USG school or pass the GA history exam

Required courses at GGC
HIST 2111 (US history-1)
HIST 2112 (US hostory-2)
HIST 3265 (Georgia history)
US history survey course while completing area E


Alternate ways of completing the history requirements
US history and GA history courses are requirements for graduation

If students take above courses and did not pass with at least C, they can take below exams to complete the requirements.

US test is very rigorous final exam of entire year of US history
GA test is a video based study guide

Political Science Requirements
GA constitution is also a requirement
*) POLS 1101 course from any USG,
*) The POLS 1101 course has to be taken at USG, private schools, non-USG schools are not considered to be eligible for this requirement
*) If a transfer student doesnot have the POLS 1101 requirement, they are encouraged to buy and read a text book from book store. Then have to take a online test at GGC testing center. "GA Government Exam Study Guide" . There is only one chance to take this test.

Convocation at GGC: Sept 15th 2011

The convocation procession started at 2:00pm on Sept 15th 2011. The procession included all the faculty members in their regalia followed by senior administrators of the college. The procession was lead by faculty holding the four staffs of GGC symbolizing Leadership, Scholarship, Creativity, and Service.

The opening talk given by Dr. Lois Richardson, the acting VP is Student and Academic Affairs. Dr. Kaufman (GGC president) was introduced by Dr. Richardson. At the beginning the honor students were felicitated by the gathering.

Convocation Awards
The annual awards were presented to the recipients. The awards included, student service awarded to Tyler Henry. Student creativity award winner was Ms. Heather Interholzinger. Outstanding Student Leadership was given to Jonelle Faal.

Student Awards:

School of Business: Michail Jamison
School of Education: Erica Wagoner
School of Liberal Arts: Ryan Porter
School of Science and Technology: Chai-Tse Lee
School of Transitional Studies (Student Success): Homa Ayati
Outstanding Freshman: Arnoldo Gonzalez
Student Employee: Katelynn Bell

Faculty Awards:
Teaching: Jessica Damian
Scholarship and Creativity: Steven Platek
Service: C. Douglas Johnson

Staff Awards:
Slavica Ahmetspahic
Jessica Thompson

Awards ceremony was followed by faculty promotion announcements. There was 1 promotion from Associate to Full, 7 from Assistant to Associate, 1 from instructor to Assistant Professor. There were a total of 9 promotions in this convocation.


Chief Guest of the Convocation at GGC 2011

Dr. David Morgan, executive vice chancellor/chief academic officer, University System of Georgia.


There was a special award acceptance speech by one of the faculty Jessica Damian of GGC, she was the recipient of one of the USG awards.

It was followed by the speech by the president of the student government association, GGC.

This followed a brief talk by the president Dr. Kaufman and the covenant and pledge.


Covenant at GGC

"As members of Georgia Gwinnett College, we declare our commitment to these principles and values:

We will build a community where each member recognizes the dignity and essential worth of all people. We will prepare our students for a lifetime of learning and civic engagement. We will ensure the honesty and integrity of our academic endeavors, hold ourselves accountable, and expect others to do the same. We will promote and cultivate critical thought and an open, scholarly exchange of ideas. We will dedicate ourselves to the highest academic standards. We will lead with our hearts and our minds and be driving forces for change in the global community."


Closing Ceremony
The convocation ended around 3:15pm as the procession of academicians left the hall.

State of GGC: Update by the President

This is a summary of the talk given by Dr. Kaufman at today's talk (Sept 13th 2011)


Agenda:

*) Faculty engegement in teaching and mentoring
*) Model for innovative approaches to education and administration
*) Driving force for change in student success

Cabinet Strategic Priorities for AY 11-12:

*) Enrollment Management/Growth
*) Resource Preservation/Growth
*) Private Fund Raising
*) Facilities and Infrastructure
*) QEP/Reaffirmation
*) International Students
*) Technology
*) Internal communication
*) Inculcate and grow GGC culture
*) Residence Halls
*) Athletics

Enrollment Projections

2012 enrollment raises to 11,000 students.
In August 2006, the enrollment was 118.


As of Sept 6th 2011, there were a total of 7780 students, 304 full-time faculty, and 210 part-time faculty, full-time staff of 169

First Year Matters
The right start for a life of scholarship, creativity, service, and leadership.

GGC's commitment to student success

GGC Budget FY 2012

State Appropriation: $33.5 million
Tuition: $23.5 million
Institutional Fees: $5.5 million
Total: $62.5 million
Bond Package: $7.1 million


Future Construction Schedule

Allied Health/Science: Design: FY 2012

Teaching Unprepared Students

Excerpts from Dr. Sauder's presentation on Aug 30th 2011.


Guiding principles for teaching unprepared students

*) All students can become lifelong learners
*) Significant change requires commitment and time
*) Struggle is a necessary and important part of life
*) Students must accept responsibility for their learning progress
*) Professors should never do for students what students can do for themselves


Laboratory classes guidelines

*) Clean up the lab-related things after class gets done

Why Students Complain?

*) A professor does not do what he/she mentioned earlier
*) A student is not doing well in a course
*) Professor is too hard to follow
*) Professor is unreachable by student
*) Professor does not show up for the class
*) Instructor does not care about if students are following or not
*) Instructor is not fair in grading
*) Instructor does not tell students what is the content/syllabus of the test
*) Talks too fast,slow, accent is hard to follow

SST Dean Presentation Before Class Start

Priorities of SST for academic year 2011-2012

*) Communication between the Dean and individual faculty, hopefully the disciplinary council will act as an effective mediator to ease good communication

*) Organization

*) Assessment


From next year, the student success enrollment will reduce and the selection of new students will follow the criteria of GPC.

Promotion and Credentialing at GGC

Aims

*) Academic/professional qualifications
*) Quality of teaching
*) Service
*) Student Engagement
*) Scholarship and creative activities
*) Collegiality


Minimum Years in Rank (Minimum Years at GGC)

Instructor to Assistant Professor: 3(3)
From Assistant to Associate Professor:6(4)
From Associate to Full Professor:6(5)

Promotion Process

*) Faculty submit applications to chair of their P&C School Review Committee
*) Review is made by P&C School Review Committee and a written recommendation is submitted to Dean
*) Dean also makes a written recommendation which, along with School Review Committee's written recommendation, is forwarded to VPASA
*) VPASA approves or denies promotion
*) VPASA forwards to President for final review and signature

Vice-President for Academic Affairs Talk

The Q/A session with VP of academic affairs at GGC

This is a compilation of the Q?A session held at Bldg B atrium.

Academic Freedom
It is important to have a freedom in academia, in the classroom. Faculty is free to design, deliver their course in a subjective way depending on their student-audience.

What are the concerns relating to not having tenure?
Faculty are given appointments of 3/5 years. All faculty at the University System of Georgia have yearly renewable annual contracts. A period on 9 months is given to each faculty before a decision is made by GGC not to renew the yearly contract.

On Friday, Aug 5th at 4:00pm the 8000th student was registered at GGC.

Master plan for future student enrollment, building, developmental at GGC
The new SST lab facility is being built for about 10,000 students. GGC has a plan of getting about 9000 students for academic year 2011-2012 to get a student/faculty ratio of 20:1. After 9000 student enrollment, there will be a pause in student enrollment

There is another building being planned to be built in 2014 for a total student enrollment of 15,000 teaching space.

The quality of education at GGC?
About faculty hiring, last year there were about 6000 applications for year 20110-2012, out of these applications, about 120 new faculty were hired. This shows selectivity in faculty hiring process. Center for Teaching Excellence adds to teaching skills of faculty. The student retaining rates at GGC is around 80% which is competent with UGA, GATech, GSU. Tutoring center aids student learning at GGC.

Preparedness towards student transition from high school to college graduation at GGC
School of Transitional studies at GGC started in Aug 1st. Its focus is on 1st year college students that includes tutoring, student mentoring, GA state received a 1 million grant from Melinda and Gates Foundation and GGC will have its share in improving college education.

Will there be an increase in usage of online teaching pedagogy?
Impact of online hybrid courses is being studied at GGC and GGC is flexible in increasing the online component of teaching pedagogy. However, SACS paper work did not have any proposal for only online courses.

Prospects of increase in support/office staff at GGC
Until now, GGC has used the monies allotted for hiring support staff for hiring new faculty. In future, GGC considers improving the support staff to help smooth functioning of college.

Committees for new faculty
School related committees
Discipline related committees


Faculty evaluation at GGC
Faculty evaluation is done annually. On 2nd Monday in April, the faculty give their portfolio to the school dean.

The four areas of portfolio are:

Teaching: new pedagogy, assessment tools used

Student engagement: Volunteering at GGC events, student mentoring, outside-class events

Scholarship: relating to faculty discipline

Service:

Student surveys/feedback:
After the portfolio is turned-in the school dean will speak to each faculty to let them know their future job at GGC.

Long-term commitment to Open-Access at GGC
GGC is the only school at USG to adopt open-access. GGC believes in this open-access admissions in future.


Plans for internationalization
In January, new international students are planned to be admitted, GGC has started the paperwork and is looking forward to hear from SEVIS, USCIS.

QEP: Quality Enhancement Plan
GGC has identified "Internationalization" as its agenda for QEP. An effort is made by GGC to internationalize its curriculum.


Faculty development initiatives at GGC

Mentoring Students

Presentation by:
Anna Jackson Student Success Jackson, School of Transition Studies, Rm B2320


Course Placement at GGC

Must take MATH COMPASS if

SAT Math < 450
ACT Math < 19

Must take the English and Reading COMPASS if

SAT Critical Reading < 480
ACT English < 21


Academic Status Situations

(*) Warning: GPA falls below the minimum cumulative for the credit hours enrolled. They receive a letter of warning.

(*) Probation: After warning did not raise their GPA to minimum, they are restricted to register for 14 hours, cant represent GGC in official capacity in clubs and athletics.

(*) Continued Academic Probation:: because they at least made a 2.0 GPA for the semester


Student Success Courses at GGC

(*) ENGL 0098 and ENG 0099
(*) READ 0098
(*) MATH 0099
(*) English for Academic Purposes EAP (two levels) 80's and 90's, 3 courses of 11 credits

Exiting Student Success

(*) SS ENGL: Pass the course, pass a writing sample, and score 60 or above on the COMPASS exit exam

(*) SS READ: Pass the course and score 74% or above on the COMPASS exit exam

(*) SS MATH: Pass the course and score 37 or above on the COMPASS exit exam

(*) EAP students: Pass courses with 70% and also the exit tests (Reading or Writing)

Policies from Board of Regeants

(*) 3 attempts in each area then appeal for a 4th in reading and 5th in Math.

(*) An appeal can only be granted if in only one area of SS and in top level

(*) These are BofRegeants policies and grades and COMPASS scores are tracked on transcripts and in Banner

(*) Students cannot withdraw and should speak with Student Success Office if they want to withdraw

Mentoring At Risk Students

(*) Academically unprepared
(*) Individual risk factors (health wise)
(*) Family risk factors including financial status
(*) Social Risk factors (conflicting cultural values, stressful peer or social interactions)

Mentoring Students with Academic Status Issues

(*) Contact student upon notice of academic status from enrollment office

(*) Explain GGC policies for academic standing and the chart. Show the GPA calculator:http://www.gsu.edu/es/gpa_calculator.html

(*) Help student through guided discussion and identify the possible reasons of situations that led to the academic status.

(*) Attendance, coursework too difficult, time management issues, personal or family concerns, financial issues, unclear college or career goals, balancing work with school, relationship issues, health concerns, health concerns, basic skills development


Mentoring Techniques

(*) Identify student strengths and skill deficits

(*) Be direct, emphatic, and perspective when designing a plan to overcome defecits

(*) Recommend courses appropriately to students current skill level mixed with course options in areas of previous success

(*) Math student learning styles with appropriate instructors/teaching styles used in the course

(*) Set short and long term goals with student and develop action plans to meet those goals. Follow up with student

(*) Introduce student to other GGC support services, resources and groups

(*) Teach students how to become active participant in their learning


Referrals to other areas at GGC

(*) Financial aid office
(*) Career center
(*) Academic enhancement center for regular tutoring plan
(*) GGC workshops for study skills, time management, etc
(*) One on One meetings with student success advisor for more focused life/study skills training
(*) Counseling office: stress, anxiety, family issues, etc.
(*) Disability services

Anatomy of a GGC degree

(*) To graduate with BS degree every student needs to complete 123-128 credit hours

(*) ENG1101/2, MATH 1111, MATH 1113/2200, American Government course, History US + choices



Mentoring Resources

(*) Program plans at GGC

(*) Mentee Pictures/Information book

(*) Presentation home page has all ppt files used.

Disability Services Location: Bldg A



Student Conduct

(*) Academic dishonesty: academic misconduct, cheating, plagiarism, unauthorized use

(*) Call Office of Student Conduct at 678-407-5760 (Student center Suite #2130) to report the academic misconduct. Fill in a "Faculty Adjudication Form" given in the NFO packet.

(*) First time violations witnessed by a faculty can be handled by the faculty after informing the above office


Signs of Distress

(*) Depression
(*) Agitation
(*) Violence and aggregation
(*) Suicidal thoughts
(*) All signs of suicide, violence, and aggregation should be taken seriously

How to refer a student to counseling

(*) Speak to student privately
(*) Share faculty's concern with student
(*) Empathize with student's condition
(*) Let students know about counseling center

Services at Wellness and Recreation Center Ph:678-407-5592

(*) Individual assessment
(*) Limited short-time counseling
(*) group counseling
(*) Referrals to community counselors

Career Development and Advising Center

Services provided include:

(*) Resume creation
(*) Cover letter assistance
(*) Internship assistance
(*) Choosing major
(*) Personal assessment
(*) Interest assessment
(*) Career exploration
(*) 3 Professional networking events (free)
(*) Company and/or Industry research
(*) Personal statement preparation
(*) Letters of interest
(*) Register for gold link program
(*) Professional etiquette
(*) Industry night event first Wednesday every month at Lincoln room
(*) Facebook page available
(*) Accouncements in Campus Life

Contact: Andrea H Scott 678-407-5702
careerservices@ggc.edu

Academic Year Fall 2011 Class Information at GGC

This presentation was given by Dr. Napier from the IT department. Specifically, the first time first year student distribution is given below.

1. Age's Mean: 19.33 and 97%<=24

2. Gender distribution: 53.4% Females

3. Ethnicity: 41.9% White

Academic Preparation of students:

1. High School GPA Mean=2.69, Median=2.66, Min=1.36, and Max=4.0

2. Proportion required to take one or more learning support classes: 45%

3. Proportion required to take ALL learning support classes: 8%


Reflection

1. Learning occurrs in a diverse environment

2. Academic preparation varies widely.

3. For some student GGC is like a temporary college for those looking for transfer to other better colleges

4. For some students GGC is their graduating college.

SST Faculty Orientation Information

Georgia Gwinnette College

SST Faculty Orientation Information

Disability Services

If a student needs additional time in taking tests, they need to get a proper documentation from disability services at GGC.

CAFES: Cohorts for Academic and Faculty Excellence

Supports discussion of both faculty issues and college-wide issues (assigned membership)

Faculty Evaluations

For getting student evaluations faculty can use novel /their own ideas to get multiple student and faculty-peer inputs.

Outline of Committee structure

If a faculty is on a committee they are required to turn-in the goals of the committee and if the goals were achieved or not. Report is turned in to the dean of SST.

1. Disciplinary Search Committees include one out of discipline member

2. Program Goal Teams-Assessment

3. COPs (Council of Professors, are advisors to Dean Mundie)

4. SST Curriculum Committee

5. Lab Resources Committee

6. Internship Committees (BIOL and ITEC)

7. Mentoring Committee

-Pre-health subcommittee

8. Theme Committee (BIOL 1101-2, PSCI 1101-2)

9. STaRS Committee: STaRS is a science fare day to encourage science PR and to display science student projects.

College Committees

Admissions, AHSBC, Awards, Art, CTE Advisory, CLAW card, Convocation, EDTech, etc.

New SST building has a computational cluster machine contact: Michael

Educational Technology Notes

GGC Center for Excellence Teaching
Educational Technology Notes

Students expectation
1. Accurate, fresh, and organized content on blackboard
2. Prompt feedback on assignments on their blackboard courses
3. Accurate grade updates in their blackboard courses throughout the semester
4. Interactive content on blackboard

Recommendations for Better Use of Educational Technology
1. Establish grade book schema before class start
2. Create all numeric and calculated columns in grade book before class starts
3. Build an active learning community in the blackboard course during the first week of class.
4. Do not use your course primarily a placeholder for power points and other materials.

Recommended Tools on Blackboard
1. Announcement tools
2. Assignment tool
3. Calendar tool
4. Mail tool: Ask all students to use this blackboard internal mail tool to communicate with the instructor.
5. Roster tool
6. Learning modules tool

Chickering and Gamson Principles: Good practice in undergraduate education.
1. Encourages contact between students and faculty,
2. Develops reciprocity and cooperation among students,
3. Encourages active learning,
4. Gives prompt feedback,
5. Emphasizes time on task,
6. Communicates high expectations, and
7. Respects diverse talents and ways of learning.

Orientation Session on GGC Student Mentoring

GGC Student Mentoring

Dr. Napier

This log is a compilation of my understanding of the orientation talk on faculty mentoring at GGC. A sentence from the faculty manual of GGC mentions a line on student mentoring: “Formal and informal enrichment experiences that lead to the purposeful holistic development of students.”

Every student at GGC gets a faculty mentor whom can be approached by the student at any time during their study at GGC. The mentoring includes personal growth of individual students, help with career advising and suggestions with academic advising. During the meeting with mentees, the faculty are encouraged to talk with students about things that include their personal growth, career goals, and academic guidance.

There are other centers that cater to student counseling, student affairs, and co-curricular programs. Career development advising center, internship programs. Apart from faculty mentors there are other mentors referred to as school advisers.

Role of the Faculty Mentor

1. Prepare mentees for what lies ahead

2. Help students to learn about the registration process, registering for courses, grade requirements of graduating.

3. Help in successful graduation of student within 4 years.


Mentor Assignment

A mentor committee assigns students to faculty. Generally freshman are assigned to faculty and students are from faculty's class in general. In general faculty mentors are from the field of interest of the student. The mentoring assignment is done once a semester.

Below is a video compilation of faculty mentoring approach at GGC.


Social-Relational Outcomes

1. Interact productively with faculty and staff.

2. Socializing and developing connections with peers.

3. Co-curricular activities.

4. Civic engagement activities.

5. Adopting responsible patterns of behavior in one’s personal life.

First Five Encounters

1. Meet mentee students in first two weeks of semester.

2. Encourage student participation in workshops organized by GGC.

3. Encourage student participation in campus wide events.

4. Meet with mentee students for academic advising.

5. Participate in welcome back event in January that is planned by student affairs of GGC.

6. When a faculty takes students for field-trips there are liability-release forms that need to be signed before the trip. These forms are with the dean of SST.


Passport to Success

This is a booklet that is given to all GGC students. This booklet contains information about their mentors, and a list of things that all students are required to do during the semester.

Senior Mentor Contact Information

Lee Kurtz
lkurtz@ggc.edu
770-990-7992

Orientation at School of Science and Technology at Georgia Gwinnette College

The School of Science and Technology

Georgia Gwinnette College

This is a compilation of my understanding of the presentation given by the dean of SST at GGC during the new faculty orientation.

Aims of SST for 2011-12:

According to Dr. Mundie, the dean of SST at GGC, the things to be done this year are listed below. These are the goals of the school for next year 2011-12.

1. Getting a honors program in B.S.

2. Office of grants.

General distribution of new SST faculty:

Out of a total of 105 new GGC faculty hired this year, there were 45 new SST faculty. To give a general idea of the career-demographics of the new faculty of SST: there were around 12 faculty having about 10+ years of experience in either academic teaching or industry. There were about 6 fresh Ph.D’s in this group.

Orientation Presentation:

The following part of this document is taken from the ppt presentation of Dr. Mundie presented during the orientation of new SST faculty.

Team of SST at GGC:

2 Associate Deans are: Dr. Sauder and Dr. Taylor.

5 faculty administrators.

2 Administrative assistants.

4 Lab support personnel.

1 Health and Safety Environmental Specialist.

131 Full-time faculty (1:25 ratio across entire GGC 300 faculty).

80 Part-time faculty (30% of sections), Dean would like to reduce this to 15-20% of sections.

Mission of SST:

1. Innovative outcome-based learning experience for all students. The outcomes are the basis domains that determine the content and syllabus of any new course that is proposed and taught at GGC.

2. Offer disciplinary and interdisciplinary courses as well as practical and applied learning experiences.

3. The SST faculty are knowledgeable of methods of providing innovative active-learning environments.

4. As SST and liberal arts school are the two biggest schools at GGC, they provide courses to all students at GGC.

Vision:

1. SST is looking forwards to be recognized for providing an innovative courses and programs in science, math, and information technology.

2. All courses are characterized by active learning environment and innovative teaching methods.

Dr. Mundie’s Leadership Philosophy:

1. Hire good people and let them do their jobs, not a micro-manager.

2. Believe in selfless service.

3. Open door policy.

4. Committed to creating a positive and supportive work environment.

5. Open to suggestions.

6. Work in the best interests of the students, college and the faculty.

7. Two-way communication with all SST faculty.

8. If authority is exercised, it would be for supporting SST’s mission and vision.

9. Supporter of collaborative leadership.

10. A personality that “chews” on a given issue and make a decision after a good thought process.

11. Might take time in getting back with a reply/solution to a given situation.

Job of the dean of SST:

1. Focus of mission and vision of SST.

2. Work with consensus while making decisions.

3. Manage SST structure and organization.

4. Be dedicated to success of student and faculty.

Characteristics of SST:

1. No departments

2. Balance between disciplinary and interdisciplinary interactions

3. Leadership in place

4. Collaborative decision making.

Literature Review:

There was a mention of reading a peer-reviewed journal paper on following topics:

1. Literature on academic pedagogy

2. Leadership in place

3. What has happened to the professoriate?

Administrative Support Plan:

1. Administrative efficiency and productive

2. Using less paper, printing, copying

3. Help from administrative assistants

a. Support dean and associate dean

b. Liasion with bookstore

c. Walk-in with students

d. Faculty volunteer lists

e. Schedule meetings

f. Purchasing/budgets

g. Maintain faculty information

h. Support faculty and staff search committees

i. Prepare travel requests for all faculty

j. Faculty should maintain correct/updated MS outlook calendar

Thanks!