Reference Book

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F

Facilities

Service Facilities
  • Machine shop
  • Student machine shop
  • Computer labs -- 201 and 665 Van Allen Hall
  • Teaching labs
  • Lecture demonstration
  • Automated observatories
  • Placement office -- 211 Van Allen Hall
  • Video conference facility -- 254 Van Allen Hall
  • Darkroom
Services
  • Drafting
  • Technical typing
  • Proposal preparation / FastLane

Faculty Development Programs
The Office of the Provost provides an informational web site of Faculty Development Programs that are available. Also information on the Ida Cordelia Beam Distinguished Visiting Professorships Program can be found here.

Faculty Handbook
The University of Iowa Faculty Handbook is available on the web at http://www.uiowa.edu/~provost/fachandbk/. The handbook provides information on University policies, procedures, services, and resources related to teaching, research, and professional service, as well as cultural and recreational opportunities and other items of interest to faculty. It no longer exists in printed form.

Faculty Meetings
First Tuesday of every month in 309 Van Allen Hall at 3:30 p.m. Faculty meeting minutes are posted on the web at http://www.physics.uiowa.edu/department/FacultyMinutes/.

Faculty Portfolios
Generally, the allocation of effort devoted to each of the three areas of the department's mission for Physics and Astronomy is 40% Teaching, 40% Research, and 20% Service. The DEO must approve special portfolios as part of the PTEA (Post-tenure Effort Allocation) process.

Faculty Scholars
Applications are due in October. See http://www.uiowa.edu/~provost/facdev/ for more information on faculty scholars.

Faculty Sick Leave Reports (faculty)
All full-time faculty members accrue sick leave at the rate of 144 hours or 18 days per year. The monthly accrual rate is 12 hours or 1 1/2 days. Academic year faculty who are employed during the summer accrue 1 1/2 days of sick leave for each month of employment.

Reporting sick leave:

Faculty will need to go to a self-service website each month, enter any sick leave taken (or affirm that none has been taken), and click to submit the information.

The University has moved to online reporting partly to try to reduce the very large accumulation of sick leave by faculty over the course of their careers. When a faculty member develops a long-term illness, s/he must exhaust all sick leave before being eligible for disability. In many cases, this can be a period of over 2 years. The home department bears the brunt of the cost.

To introduce the new process, the Provost will

(a) send an e-mail introducing and explaining the change this summer and resend it at the beginning of the academic year;
(b) have links to instructions on the self-service website, and
(c) provide a link to an FAQ page that explains the sick leave policy in more detail and explains the rationale behind sick-leave reporting more thoroughly.

The HRIS processes entries once a month; faculty will receive two e-mail reminders if no entry has been made shortly before the system processes the prior month's information (~the 18th of each month; thus, the "cutoff" for submitting September sick leave information is ~October 18).

Faculty Trip Notification Form
The Faculty Trip Notification Form is a departmental form which all physics and astronomy faculty must fill out anytime they are going to be away, whether it is for personal or business related travel. The purpose of this form is to keep the general office informed of when faculty are gone as people will often contact the general office needing to contact a faculty member at many different times throughout the year. (As an alternative, you may email Aaron Votroubek this information.)

Fax Machine
Located in Room 210-C. The fax number is 335-1753 (used for University business only).

First Year Seminar
Seminars are offered for one or two semester hours of credit, depending on the amount of time spent in class and the amount of outside work required by the instructor. Credit from First-Year Seminars counts toward graduation as elective hours. To encourage students' active participation, instructors agree not to evaluate student performance by examinations or quizzes, but to rely instead on classroom participation, papers, projects, and other assignments. First-Year Seminars are graded with letter grades, and the College's rules for adding, dropping, and withdrawal apply, with the exception that the second grade only option may not be used. Students may only enroll in a first-year seminar during their first or second semester at the UI. Stipends for the first-year seminar are taxable unless they are donated to the department.

Fleet Safety Program
Compliance with Iowa law and The University of Iowa Fleet Safety Program is required for any driver to be allowed to use a University vehicle.

FMLA
The Family Medical Leave Act is a federal law that provides 12 weeks of leave for For more details, see the University's online FMLA Reference Guide and Procedures.

Food/Beverage Expense
The College policy on the purchases of food and beverage can be found on the following web site: http://www.clas.uiowa.edu/deos/admin_manual/budget/3.shtml.
This site also links you to the University policy on the purchases of food and beverage (http://www.uiowa.edu/%7Eour/opmanual/v/11.htm - Section 11.22 letter "f").
One common misunderstanding is that departments need written approval to purchase food irregardless of the source of funds! This policy does not relate just to Fund 050! For example, if the expense hits a Fund 520-UI Foundation account you still need to have the letter of approval from Central Administration. The only time a letter of approval is not required is if the expense comes directly from the UI Foundation and NEVER hits a UI MFK account.

Foreign Universities, Agreements with
University of Iowa policy requires that all new or renewing agreements with foreign universities and institutions of higher education will be reviewed and approved by the Associate Provost for International Programs prior to obtaining University administrative signature. This pertains only to formal, written agreements Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) or protocols for specific activities attendant to MOUs. All MOUs that involve student or faculty exchanges, research, training activities, or study abroad and internship opportunities require this approval. All sponsored agreements with foreign universities or institutions of higher education (i.e. agreements funded by grants or contracts from external sources) should be processed through the Division of Sponsored Programs. View this link for more details.

Furlough Policy
P&S staff members with career status will receive furlough notice if there is a lack of funding to support their position. See the University's Operations Manual III-3.1 for more information. For merit staff refer to the union contract.

Last updated February 15, 2006.
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