Pines Named Next UMD President
Darryll Pines, longtime UMD administrator, faculty member to become new university president.
The University System of Maryland (USM) Board of Regents has appointed Darryll J. Pines, dean of the A. James Clark School of Engineering, as the 34th president of the University of Maryland, effective July 1. Pines, who will succeed President Wallace D. Loh after a decade in the position, has spent 25 years on the College Park campus, serving as both dean and the Nariman Farvardin Professor of Aerospace Engineering since January 2009. He arrived in 1995 as an assistant professor and chaired the Department of Aerospace Engineering from 2006 to 2009. Read more.
Article courtesy of Maryland Today; photo by Mike Morgan.
Data & Reporting
COACHE Faculty Satisfaction Survey
This month, all faculty members will have an opportunity to communicate specific information about their work experiences by completing the COACHE Faculty Satisfaction Survey which will be administered at a number of institutions for higher education, including UMD, by Harvard University. This survey is specifically designed to collect workable data for developing actionable future policies related to the work lives of faculty. The COACHE survey should take 20-25 minutes to complete. Learn more about the survey and look for it soon in your inbox.
Updates on Implementation & Upcoming Workshops
The University of Maryland launched Activity Insight by Digital Measures/Watermark as our faculty activities system. This system enables individual faculty members and the University as a whole to promote and report accomplishments and activities. We began using the platform for annual reporting with tenured/tenure-track faculty members in early 2020. Use of the platform will be expanded to all faculty members in 2021.
Tenured/tenure-track faculty members are using the platform now to submit 2019 annual activity reports. Reports are due to unit approvers by Friday March 13, 2020.
How to submit your Activity Insight report:
Head to the Faculty Affairs Activity Insight portal to log in. When you access the platform, you'll notice that some activities have already been loaded for you. In September, we shared information on the campus integrations in place that automatically load your information, including data from the legacy Lyterati system. In October, we provided an overview of the publication import feature. In November, we shared some useful features for streamlining your Activity Insight experience. In December, we covered how you will submit your 2019 annual activity report. Last month, we shared some timesaving data entry tips.
When you log in, you should see 2019 SIS course information, 2019 CourseEvalUM data and 2019 calendar year activity from Kuali Research in the ORA-Managed Awards and ORA-Managed Proposals screens.
We have recognized that there are gaps in the data on faculty participation in thesis/dissertation committees for 2019 graduates. Therefore we have unlocked this data screen so you can manually enter this information. We have also discovered that there are issues with the 2010-2017 ORA-Managed Award data with respect to the order of investigators; this will be corrected later this Spring.
While you are welcome to add as much information as you want, please note that you only need to complete the 2019 annual activity report for the current March deadline. The platform also includes a UMD CV report generation feature, but this remains a work in progress. It is not yet finalized. We welcome feedback on the UMD CV generation in Activity Insight.
Please contact our support services (see below) for more information and assistance, and to report any issues using the system. Your feedback will help us work to improve your overall experience.
Note: you will receive weekly reminders directly from the vendor (sent from Digital Measures by Watermark dmworkflow@watermarkinsights.com) until March 13, 2020 or until you complete and submit your annual report, whichever comes first.
Time Saving Tips
Here are a few key reminders as you tackle documenting your activity in 2019:
- Remember to save before leaving an activity data screen.
- Use the Import Publications feature to pull in your recent publications.
- Rapid Reports (button at the top right of the screen) lets you check how an update looks on a report.
- Before submitted your Annual Report in Workflow, be sure to use the Refresh Report button to get the latest version.
- The Duplicate feature is useful when there are nearly identical activities.
- PasteBoard (button at the top right, next to Rapid Reports) allows you to add activities from one of your existing documents, such as a CV, without having to switch back and forth between the document and Activity Insight.
For more information and assistance, the Faculty Activities Data Portal on the Faculty Affairs websitehas self-service support materials, including a submission guide.
Additional in-person training sessions are available:
- Friday, February 21 12-1:30pm - 1121 Plant Sciences Building
- Tuesday, March 3 12-1pm - 6103 McKeldin Library
- Monday, March 9 12-1pm - 6103 McKeldin Library
Our team is available by phone (301.405.7681) or email (ai-help@umd.edu) to provide assistance as needed.
Fully implementing and realizing our vision for the new faculty reporting system will take time and will require continued collaboration. We look forward to working with you as we seek to enhance the system’s features and capabilities.
Faculty Development
Mentoring Workshops
Sign up for a mentor training cohort organized by Jeff Franke, Assistant Dean in the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences (BSOS). These workshops are being sponsored by BSOS and a National Science Foundation grant: AGEP CIRTL: Improved Academic Climate for STEM Dissertators and Postdocs to Increase Interest in Faculty Careers (NSF HRD-1647021). Contact Jeff Franke with any questions.
Join the 2020 PTK Symposium Organizing Committee
The PTK Symposium has traditionally been organized by PTK faculty members with the support of the Office of Faculty Affairs. The committee will meet in person and virtually from the beginning of April to early November. The first meeting will convene right after Spring Break. Click here to join the committee.
University of Maryland Emeritus/Emerita Association (UMEEA)
New Website to Promote UMEEA, Initiatives
The UMEEA Steering Committee recently launched a new website to promote and bring more awareness to their Association. UMEEA encourages and facilitates the continued involvement of retired faculty with the university, identifies and advances the continuing intellectual interests and scholarly activities of UMEEA members, offers a range of programs on topics of interest, provides information about issues of concern, and acts as focal point for social interaction, intellectual exchange, and the cultural enrichment among their members. For additional information or to become a member email umeeaumd@gmail.com.
Register to attend their upcoming event on March 2: Maintaining and Improving the Quality of Life after Retirement (and planning for it!).
ADVANCE
ADVANCE Firsts and 10th Anniversary Celebration
For the past 10 years, the ADVANCE Program for Inclusive Excellence has worked to support the recruitment, retention, advancement and professional growth of women and under-represented minority faculty at the University of Maryland. ADVANCE has helped faculty create cross-campus connections, find opportunities to keep growing as learners, leaders, and mentors, create safe spaces to acknowledge and find allies in the face of biases, improve our faculty hiring practices, and track progress toward equity for all faculty.
On March 25, faculty and academic leaders will come together at a reception to commemorate the ADVANCE program’s 10-year anniversary and celebrate women faculty during Women’s History Month. The celebration will also include the second annual “First to ADVANCE” photo exhibit honoring UMD women faculty who were the first to achieve major professional milestones within their fields or disciplines.
If you have participated in ADVANCE and want to join us to celebrate, please RSVP.
Wednesday, March 25, 2020
8:00 am – 10:00 am | Stamp Student Union, Atrium
Breakfast will be served
RSVP to Lindley Dahners (lindley@umd.edu) by March 18, 2020
Teaching & Learning Transformation Center
SAVE THE DATE - ITL 2020 - Fostering Inclusive Learning & Teaching
Please join us for the 26th annual Innovations in Teaching and Learning Conference on Wednesday, May 13th. Co-hosted by the Teaching and Learning Transformation Center and Academic Technology and Innovation, the conference will be held in the Edward St. John Center for Learning and Teaching. We welcome the Maryland community of educators and learners to explore this year's theme, "Fostering Inclusive Learning and Teaching." Please submit a proposal by March 23rd to share your contributions to teaching and learning at Maryland. If you'd like to meet with any of us to discuss your proposal, please contact us at itl-coords@umd.edu. Conference themes, presentation formats, and proposal form access are available on the conference website.
Tips & Resources
Dos and Don’ts When Working with International Students in the Classroom
Many international students go to great lengths to accomplish their goals and fill voids in the job market, and several Nobel laureates were once international students. In response, it is crucial to acknowledge mistakes professors make and how to best avoid these to both welcome and support international students. Read morefrom Faculty Focus.
Black History Month at UMD
As the nation celebrates Black History Month, learn more about the various events, concerts, film screenings and forums held by various organizations on campus.
Events
All Faculty Workshops
February 26 - Faculty Open House: Meet the Offices of Diversity & Inclusion
March 2 - Maintaining and Improving the Quality of Life after Retirement (and planning for it!)
March 10 - Better Letters: Writing, Reading, and Soliciting Letters of Recommendation for Equity (organized by The Graduate School)
March 11 - Faculty Forum: Target on Y(Our) Back: Weaponizing Freedom of Information Requests
March 26 - Faculty Open House: Community and External Engagement
April 30 - Faculty Forum: Academic Freedom & Free Speech
Appointment, Promotion & Tenure Workshops
February 26 - APT Workshop: Pre-3rd Year Review
February 28 - APT Workshop: Post-3rd Year Review
March 2 - APT Workshop: Associate to Full
March 4 - APT Workshop: Academic Administrators
Administrator Workshops*
March 4 - Chair Workshop: Conflict at Work
March 25 - Chair Workshop: Lunch with Georgina Dodge, Chief Diversity Officer
March 31 - Academic Leadership Forum
April 22 - Chair Workshop: Sexual Misconduct & Bullying
April 28 - Academic Leadership Forum
*Registration details will be sent via email.
Register to attend a NCFDD writing challenge, webinar or core curriculum workshop.
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