Reference Book

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

P

Parking
Parking Placard
PARs
Performance Appraisals
Personnel Files
Physics Laboratory Coordinator
Placement Office
Political Campaigns

Postdoctoral Scholars
Press Releases
Principal Investigator & Research Administrator Human Resources Management
Professional and Scientific Staff
Promotion and Tenure
Proposal Preparation
Proposal Preparation Costs, Requesting
Purchase Orders/Travel/Requisitions

Parking: Contact University Parking at 5-1475. Application forms are available in the General Office (Room 203).
Parking Placard: See Heather Mineart, 203 Van Allen Hall.
PARs: The University of Iowa Web-based Personnel Activity Report (PAR) is used to identify how faculty and selected staff effort is distributed to a broad variety of activities. Federal guidelines (primarily OMB Circular A-21) and Board of Regents directives govern who is surveyed, how frequently they are surveyed, allowable variances between federal salary and federal effort, and the time frame in which surveys must be distributed and completed. Data retrieved from effort reports are compiled, analyzed and used to prepare summary reports for the State Board of Regents, central, collegiate and departmental administrators. PARs are also used to certify individual effort on federally sponsored grants and contracts. Detailed instructions can be found here.
Performance Appraisals: The University requires all staff to have annual performance appraisals. This protocol ensures that each staff member is informed in writing at the outset of employment the criteria upon which the person's performance will be based. The appraisal will be conducted by the staff member's immediate supervisor, and must be done to entitle a staff member to receive July 1 pay increase. See Chris Stevens (214 Van Allen Hall, 5-1690) for departmental forms.
Personnel Files: Faculty and staff files are kept in 214 Van Allen Hall. The files are confidential. Faculty, P&S, and merit staff may access his/her own files. Letters written with the expectation of confidentiality may be reviewed provided the sender's identification has been removed. For more information see the UI Operations Manual section III-7.
Physics Laboratory Coordinator: Ron Vogel (250 Van Allen Hall, 5-1754) is responsible for setting up and maintaining the undergraduate teaching labs. He also maintains the lab manuals on disk. Faculty with lab sections should provide a copy of their syllabus to the lab coordinator at the beginning of the semester.
Placement Office: See Aaron Votroubek, Room 211. Also visit the Career Development web page.
Political Campaigns: Candidate and campaign activities that take place on the University of Iowa campus must be sponsored by a recognized UI student organization.
Postdoctoral Scholars: Benefits available for postdoctoral scholars are listed here.
Press Releases: Faculty who have made noteworthy discoveries in their research or received awards or contracts are encouraged to make press releases. Contact Marcia Rogers (210-D Van Allen Hall, 5-2756).
Principal Investigator & Research Administrator Human Resources Management: The University of Iowa Principal Investigator & Research Administrator Human Resources Management web site assists the PI and Research Administrator with the management of staff, budgeting and other related responsibilities of grant or contract projects.
Professional and Scientific Staff: Comprised of administrators, professionals and scientists, P&S staff are appointed to one of four different categories: career, probationary, at will, and term status. An Affirmative Action search is required to hire permanent P&S staff. For more information, see the UI Operations Manual section III-9.4. Also contact Chris Stevens (214 Van Allen Hall, 5-1690) if you'd like more information.
Promotion and Tenure: See College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Promotion and Tenure Guidelines web page and the Department's Addendum to these guidelines.
Proposal Preparation: See Marcia Rogers (210-D Van Allen Hall, 5-2756) for questions on preparing proposals. Also view this flow chart which shows the proposal submission process. The Office of the Vice President for Research also has a web site that gives assistance on proposal preparation and funding sources.
Proposal Preparation Costs, Requesting: Should departmental funds not be sufficient for the preparation of a proposal to a federal agency, the University has guidelines to follow requesting central support from the University. This information is provided by the Office of the Vice President for Research.
Purchase Orders/Travel/Requisitions: Joe Loria (Room 210) maintains the departmental procurement card, purchase order requests, fax machine, and the labor report.

Last updated February 9, 2006.
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The Department of Physics and Astronomy is a part of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences.