November 20, 2009
Dear Adjunct Faculty,
I hope the 12th week of the semester is finding you well! The end of the semester will be here before we know it! Here are a few reminders as we get set to wind down:
Campus Closed for Thanksgiving Holiday: The campus will be closed on November 26 and 27 for Thanksgiving!
LOA Reminders: If you have received a Letter of Appointment for spring semester, please remember to return it by the printed deadline. This will ensure that you can be attached to the course in our Banner system and have access to your course shell in D2L (for those teaching online or using an online component). If you have questions about your Letter of Appointment, please contact your Division’s Administrative Assistant.
Holiday Luncheon: The annual holiday luncheon will be held on Dec 18 in Heritage Hall. All are welcome to attend. Our Human Resources Office has sent out an email flier, with more information.
Thank You all for participating in the adjunct faculty development training this semester! I’ll be working on a few new options for spring semester and will also be offering the same modules again in case you wanted to attend any that you weren’t able to last semester. All modules remain posted and available as a resource to you in the D2L “Success Strategies” course shell. If you have had difficulty finding the area in D2L where the information is posted, please let me know. There is also a discussion/blog area where you can share information or ask questions of your peers at any time. I encourage you to use that area and get to know other adjunct faculty and also to share your ideas. I’ll be offering the Success Strategies 10- week course again in the spring. If you are interested in completing the 10-week course during the spring semester, please let me know and I’ll add your name to the waiting list that has already started to grow! 26 adjuncts and one Full-time faculty completed the 10- week course this semester! The cap for the spring semester course will be set at 30. Other options for completing the adjunct faculty development requirement for the spring semester will be sent to you in the Welcome spring semester letter. Stipends for completing training from this semester will be paid before Dec 25 (either Dec 4 or Dec 18). If you have questions about when you’ll receive it, please contact Kathy Haggart at 406- 771-4308.
Adjunct Advisory Committee: We had our first meeting at the end of October and it went well aside from a technical difficulty that kept several people from being able to attend (that will be fixed the next time around!). The minutes from the meeting will be posted (soon) under the “newsletters” area on the adjunct webpage if you’d like to see what was discussed. Please feel free to provide input regarding ideas you may have.
Adjunct Feedback Survey: Each year, I conduct an Adjunct Feedback Survey in order to gain input and feedback regarding the needs of our adjunct faculty. The information collected in this survey is very valuable and has been used in the past to drive new initiatives related to adjunct faculty. A new survey will be coming out within a month- the link will be sent to you via email. Please feel free to provide feedback on this survey. Your responses will be anonymous and greatly appreciated.
Adjunct Spotlight: I’m looking for an adjunct for each newsletter to volunteer to write something to share with other adjuncts about their experience at MSU – Great Falls. (If you’d like to be in the spotlight for an upcoming newsletter please let me know!). You could write about something related to your classroom experience, survival how-to’s, etc…The article would be short (a paragraph or two).
A note of thanks to all of you once more! I hope your semester winds down easily and you sail into a relaxing winter break!
Kim Schrenk
Director of Adjunct Instruction
MSU – Great Falls College of Technology
406-771-4422
kschrenk@msugf.edu