Brief Guide for New Faculty
Essentials
Benefits: It helps to become familiar with CALPERS (the California state retirement system) benefits and your choice health insurance plans before New Faculty Orientation. Although benefits for those beginning employment in fall do not become effective until October 1, the benefits office will need your choice of health plan and other information by early September to make sure that your coverage begins smoothly. An overview of the benefits available to faculty can be found at http://www.humboldt.edu/hsuhr/employee/benefits/. The office of Human Resources (Siemens Hall 211) can provide you with information to use in making your benefits decisions.
Commuting/Transportation: Parking is scarce on the HSU campus and many faculty members elect to commute to campus via bike or bus rather than drive. Parking and Commuting Services has links on the following Web page regarding a range of options for commuting http://humboldt.edu/parking/alt_transportation.html. See Parking (below) for information on obtaining a parking permit.
The Healthy U Fitness Program: Looking for a great way to improve fitness and reduce the effects of stress? Join the new Healthy U program sponsored by the Department of Kinesiology and Recreation Administration in HSU’s new on-campus facilities. For more information call 707-826-4979.
Holidays: Academic workdays do not correspond exactly with the academic calendar. Faculty members are often expected to report to work before the first day of instruction. Faculty “green days” are expected work days; other days may be highly encouraged as a workday (e.g., some professional development opportunities). To understand different dates, including university holidays, refer to the “Green and Gold” calendar, which you can find under “Calendars” on the HSU homepage http://www.humboldt.edu/humboldt/calendars
Housing: Finding rental housing in Arcata can be a challenge because there are more students who want to live close to HSU than there are places for them to rent. If you want to rent an apartment or house in Arcata, the best time to look for housing is when the students are about to leave at the end of Spring semester (rental housing in Arcata is typically more expensive than in Eureka or McKinleyville, but the trade-off is a longer commute if you live outside Arcata). The off-campus housing guide (http://www.humboldt.edu/housing/offcampus/) prepared by HSU’s Housing and Dining Services to be helpful in locating available rentals.
Contact the Provost’s Office at (707) 826-3722 to obtain a list of some rentals which are available exclusively to faculty members. You can also check with department and dean’s office staff and administrators for leads on housing—these insiders typically know of established faculty who are going on leave and may be looking for incoming faculty to rent their houses.
Identification: To purchase a parking permit, collect your paycheck if you do not have direct deposit, or to check out items from the library, you will need an HSU faculty identification card with your picture on it. Arrange to have your picture taken at the Library. You must bring a signed faculty ID authorization form (obtained in Human Resources when you fill out your new employee paperwork). Try to get your ID at least two weeks before classes begin. If you wait until closer to when the semester begins, you may find yourself standing in line for an hour or more during the student rush.
Keys/Key Card for Building Access: Your department administrator should provide you with an authorization slip for your keys and/or key card needed to gain access to your building and office. You will take this slip to the Plant Operations Administration building to get your keys or your key card coded. Plant Ops is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The key distribution phone number is 707-826-3646. You will need your photo ID to get a key.
Parking: After you have successfully obtained your faculty ID card, you may purchase a faculty parking permit by showing your ID card at the Student Financial Services window in the Student Business Services Building (SBS 285). Faculty permits typically cost about $60 a semester, which is about one third of what students pay. You will need to know your timebase (full-time, half time, etc.) to obtain a permit. For faculty working half-time or more, a staff permit will be issued. For faculty working less than half-time, a general permit will be issued. (Both permits cost the same but allow parking in different lots.) There are fewer parking spaces than there are permits, even for staff and faculty. So if you drive, you may need to adjust your commuting schedule to arrive at non-peak times. Depending on your lot preference, it is usually best to get to campus by 9 a.m. or at noon when staff leave for lunch.
Pay: Direct Deposit is the preferred method for receiving a paycheck for most faculty members; however, for new faculty, direct deposit can take one month or longer because the direct deposit form must be cleared by a centralized CSU payroll office, which includes testing the bank account that you designate on the form. Even though new faculty wait until October 1 for their first pay check, turn in your direct deposit form by the first week of the semester if you want direct deposit beginning October 1. In some cases, direct deposit may not issue for the first paycheck. If this is the case, and/or if you miss this deadline, pick up your check (sometimes referred to as a “paper warrant”) at the Student Financial Services window in the Student & Business Services building (SBS 285). Further explanation of the pay system and a link to a direct deposit form can be found at http://www.humboldt.edu/hsuhr/payroll/direct_deposit.html
RTP (Retention, Tenure, Promotion): All probationary (i.e., not fully tenured) faculty should learn about the RTP process as soon as they can. Colleen Mullery, Associate Vice President for Faculty Affairs, will provide an overview of the RTP process at New Faculty Orientation. To enhance your understanding of RTP, be sure to review Appendix J before her presentation. Since RTP can come upon new faculty suddenly, it is in your best interest to inquire at the beginning of the semester regarding dates that your file will be reviewed (your dean’s office should have this information). See http://www.humboldt.edu/aps/faculty/retention.html for more information.
Instructional (Non-Technical) Resources
Advising: Advising students is a professional responsibility of faculty. Ask your department chair about when you will begin student advising duties and the expectations for advising. Because some of your collateral duties will be dedicated to the New Faculty Orientation Seminar, you may not be asked to advise, or have a reduced advising load, this first semester. It is a good idea to schedule an advising training session with the campus Advising Center before you begin advising (707-826-5224). See an overview of HSU student degree requirements and advising tools at http://www.humboldt.edu/advise/faculty.html. You will also need to become familiar with your department’s major and minor (if applicable) requirements.
Accessible Technology Initiative (ATI): ATI (http://www.humboldt.edu/~ati/) is a CSU-wide mandate which requires accessibility for all students, staff, and faculty. It is HSU policy to provide equal access and reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities to participate in any program, service, or opportunity provided by the campus, including access to the content and services of web pages authored by the University. All new courses must use only accessible documents and instruction; all new instructional materials prepared for existing courses must be in accessible formats. All instructional materials in existing courses or existing materials transferred to other courses are encouraged to be accessible as soon as possible and must comply by fall 2012.
Book orders: Book orders are due March 10 for fall semester and October 25 for spring semester. It is important for you to meet the book order deadlines so that students who need texts in accessible formats have opportunity to get them in a timely manner. The HSU Bookstore does not order desk copies for faculty, so you should plan on ordering desk copies from the publisher yourself after you place your bookstore order. Some department administrators will contact the publishers for you provided you give them the required information for ordering. Information on how faculty should submit book orders can be found at this site http://www.humboldt.edu/bookstore/texts/. Students often expect a desk copy to be put on reserve at the library so you may want to try to get two desk copies if you do not have an extra.
Permission Numbers: Permission numbers are registration codes, also known as “add codes” (and formerly known as “magic numbers”). These codes are generally used to override enrollment and/or prerequisite requirements, allowing a student to enroll in a course. Ask your department faculty and staff about when a faculty member is expected to give one to a student (e.g., for graduating seniors) and how many of these codes are given on average to students for a particular class. If you decide to give a student a permission number, you can generate a set of permission numbers for a specific class through your Faculty Center account (see below).
ONCORES: The HSU Library provides a web-based course reserve system, called ONCORES (ONline COurse REServes), for use by the campus community. Through ONCORES, students in participating classes have 24/7 access via the HSU Library Catalog and, optionally, Moodle to materials that an instructor has placed on reserve for outside reading. For example, if you wanted your students to read four articles from different journals and a chapter from two different books, in addition to the books or reading packets they were purchasing, you could make those readings available through this system. Each ONCORES reading is posted in compliance with established U.S. Copyright Fair Use guidelines, and is generally restricted to no more than one chapter of a book or one article from an issue of a periodical.
ONCORES readings are searchable by instructor name, department, and/or course number using the ONCORES/Reserves module of the HSU Library Catalog, and can also be made available via a direct link in Moodle. If you think that you might want to post readings to ONCORES for your Fall 2009 classes, the earlier that you submit your requests the better (e.g., now!), so that ONCORES will have adequate lead time to process your readings; an online request form is available at http://library.humboldt.edu/~wrp/oncores_request_form.html. Be sure that any readings you give to ONCORES for scanning are clean copies free of underlining or notes. If you have questions about the process, contact ONCORES Coordinator Keith Reagan at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or ext. 4401. To learn more about ONCORES, visit http://library.humboldt.edu/ and select the ONCORES/Reserves link on the Quick Links menu.
Syllabi: You’ll need to follow the HSU policy on content of syllabi and put your syllabus into an accessible format. Guidelines for accessible syllabi can be found at the HSU Training & Professional Development website http://training.humboldt.edu/doccenter/HSUAccessible%20SyllabusFormatGuidance.doc. The syllabus policy can be found at http://www.humboldt.edu/aavp/AdminMemo/HSUPolicyonContentofSyllabi.pdf.
Technology Resources
HSU User Name: You will be assigned an HSU User Name by the university soon after your hire has been completed. You should receive information regarding your new HSU account from Information Technology Services via your current email account. You will use your HSU User Name to access all campus-wide computing services: email, wireless networking, interdisciplinary lab computers, smart classroom instructor stations, inter-library loan, personal web space, calendaring, learning management system, etc. Visit http://www.humboldt.edu/its/faculty if you have not received this information and want to activate and access your email or other campus network services. NOTE: Campus support personnel will NEVER solicit your user name and password by email, so NEVER provide your user name and password to anyone by email.
Faculty Center (formerly known as “WebReg”) is an internal website that allows you to access your class lists and information about your students (including their transcripts); send email to an entire class, generate permission numbers, and submit grades. You can also adjust your personal information on this site, including your HSU User Name Password. You should receive a letter containing your log-in not too long after your hire has been completed. The letter should include instructions regarding how to choose a password. If your log-in has not arrived or is not working, contact Academic Personnel Services (707-826-5086) or the Help Desk (see below).
Classroom Technology: If you are teaching a class in a “smart classroom” (i.e., one that has a permanent computer console with a projector), you may need a key to access the equipment. Media Distribution oversees the smart classrooms (http://www.humboldt.edu/its/smartclassrooms). To arrange training on the classroom equipment, and/or get a key for the console call 707-826-3177.
Course Management System: Moodle is the course management system adopted at HSU to support student learning, like Blackboard or WebCT. Every course in the schedule is assigned a Moodle page. The class Moodle site can be viewed by students even if there is no content posted to the page, unless the faculty member makes the page invisible. Log in using your HSU user name and password at https://learn.humboldt.edu/. Moodle training is available frequently (http://training.humboldt.edu) and will also be included as part of New Faculty Orientation.
Help Desk: The Help Desk (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) and 707-826-4357) serves as a first point of contact for faculty, students, and staff for either immediate assistance or information on whom to contact for on-site or higher-level support. Find self-help guides, links to downloadable resources, and information about new projects at HOWEVER, an announcement has been made that these services are going to be transitioned to a centralized point of service via Information Technology Services (ITS). Until this transition is completed (dates still being determined), you should contact the existing College support staff for any computer issues requiring hands-on intervention. In most cases, email contact (when offered) will result in the most expedient service.
- College of Natural Resources and Sciences: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or 707-826-3535
- College of Professional Studies: David Pearson, 707-826-5874
- College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or 707-826-4773
Wireless Network Access: To register and download a Client Security Agent to authorize your access to the campus wireless network, visit http://miso.humboldt.edu.
Email: You will use your HSU User Name and password to access your email at https://mail.google.com/a/humboldt.edu. As soon as your email account is established, faculty, staff, and students may send you email, so you should be sure to check your email account regularly before the semester begins.
Calendaring: The campus uses Google as its integrated calendaring and email program. https://mail.google.com/a/humboldt.edu.
Interdisciplinary Computer Labs: There are several centrally-managed computer labs used for teaching, in addition to department-managed computer labs. In addition, there is a conveniently located computer lab in Nelson Hall West 244 (just across the hall from the Center for Excellence in Learning & Teaching), where campus educators can find an environment mirroring that found in interdisciplinary teaching computer labs to prepare for their courses, test presentations, meet one-on-one with a member from CELT, and even advance expertise by attending workshops held in the facility. Check for scheduled events at: training.humboldt.edu.
Videoconference Facilities: Media Production maintains two rooms capable of point to point or multi-point, bi-directional videoconferencing. The smaller room, Gist Hall 205, is designed for conferences with up to six participants. Gist Hall 225 is designed as a classroom with seating for up to 30 students plus a lecturer. For more information call 707-826-3169.