Notes to Faculty and Staff #13
Monday, Dec. 3, 2007

Joseph B. Lightfoot: “There is no persuasiveness more effectual than the transparency of a single heart, of a sincere life.”

HHP Colleagues:

In this issue of the dean’s notes, I am sending responses to some questions I have had recently. Some of these questions are just rumors that are out there… others came to me from the FAC members and I have responded to them directly. I felt it important, however, in the spirit of transparency to let you all have these questions and answers as well.

As I have said to you from the very beginning I want to be as open and transparent as possible about decisions and how they are made. So here you go..... Please stop by if you would like to discuss any of these further… as always my door is open….

Thanks,

Steve

Question: Why was the BOT visiting the college? I hear they are thinking about dismantling the college and that is why they came over to see us.

Response: The BOT meets every quarter on the UF campus. And each quarter the president’s office asks a college to ‘host’ the board. In September, the College of Design, Construction and Planning was asked to host the Board. Prior to that Engineering was the host.
We should feel very pleased that we were asked to do this. And in fact, I think the Board and the President’s cabinet were very impressed with the hard work of the staff and faculty in this college.

I know of no attempts or thinking on campus to get rid of the college. Indeed, we have some of the highest faculty productivity metrics of any group on campus.

Question: There is some talk in the halls of increasing teaching loads to 12 contact hours per faculty member. Is this coming from University administration? Should we be concerned about increased teaching loads? Does mentoring graduate and undergraduate students count toward contact hours?

Response: This discussion may be a result of a call from the University Administration to do a more thorough job with effort tracking. There will be a new procedure for effort tracking which will begin this semester. We have been talking about this in our administrative committee and we are trying to understand the impact of this on the college right now. As you may know there is immense variability on campus and even in the college on use of the Faculty Activity Report. I would like to achieve consistency in the college if we could come to some agreement as to what is the acceptable load in each category for our faculty. I have asked other colleges to provide me with feedback on how they do this and only 2 colleges on campus seem to have a policy.

So, this is going to require more careful thought and specific accounting of what faculty members are doing. Regarding increasing the contact hours to 12 -- that is state law already. The discussion revolves around how we fulfill that objective. Regarding mentoring of graduate/undergraduate students -- that is a perfect example of one of the issues we are trying to understand. (ie. what percent of time should be given to these efforts... there is IMMENSE variability on this campus and in the college).

In addition, I have asked the department chairs to adjust faculty workloads for faculty who are not research productive to reflect more instruction in their workloads. Faculty should not be given state supported research time if they are not going to develop a research agenda and publish. For example we have had some faculty with substantial state supported research appointments who were not developing a research line and who had not published in several years. I have encouraged the department chairs to change the workloads of those faculty as I believe it is not fair nor are we being very good stewards of the state's funds when we give faculty support for something they are not doing. Consequently, some faculty members who have not been research productive have been asked to adjust their workload and teach more... and to their credit they are doing so.

Question: It also appears as if our budget will be cut again. Do we have a plan if/when this occurs? Will grad student funding be cut? Apparently, other units on campus are firing tenured faculty. As you can imagine, the faculty are uneasy.

Response: I don't have any directive that states that we will cut the budget again, but there are indicators that we may be headed in that direction. We are talking about this now in the administrative committee. I would be surprised if tenured faculty members are being fired on campus. I have no knowledge of that happening on campus. I can't imagine a budget scenario where that would happen in HHP.

It is hard to react to this question without knowing the level of cut. I think this is something that the administrative committee will have to consider if there is a decision made to cut. As you know the cut we took (~ $400,000) cost us in faculty lines, a staff line and in operating monies. Fortunately the lines were empty. Any future decisions about cuts will have to be made in light of the amount of the cut and the available monies that we have at the time, although the tenure/tenure track lines would be the last to be cut, I would think. The cut we took was absorbed mostly by the empty line money and by the expense funds from the dean's office. Faculty should have been shielded from most of this as we gave the departments all of the operating expense monies this year. The Dean's office retained no operating monies and we are living off of carry forward.

Remember that the cut came from recurring monies... so we will never see this money again and our next year's budget will reflect that. A future cut may or may not be recurring. We are considering what to do, but it is hard to make too many scenarios with out knowing the exact parameters.

Question: Although the departmental and college T & P votes have been completed, some faculty feel as though the make-up of the College T & P committee was unbalanced with too many representatives from APK in addition to having gender imbalance. Can this be addressed in the future?

Response: Since we were required to have half of the T&P committee elected by the faculty and since associate professors were allowed to be on the committee, that influenced the make up of the committee. We could have just had the total college faculty vote on half of the committee which may have led to a committee comprised of only one department. Instead, the decision was made that each department vote on one representative to the committee. That insured that there would be departmental representation on the committee. So, each department was represented on the T&P committee. Once the elected members were determined, then I had to make a decision as to who would comprise the remainder of the committee. Rather than deciding by department status – which would have been a purely political approach - I chose to focus on rank and scholarship. I believe each of these individuals has outstanding scholarship and each is eminently qualified to comment on the credentials of their colleagues -- regardless of their department.

There are vast differences, even within departments, in the disciplines in the college. Take for example APK -- exercise physiology, motor learning, athletic training, exercise psychology represent very different approaches to research and scholarship. Or in TRSM take sport management, recreation and tourism... three very different scholarly profiles -- but at some level we must rise above our discipline differences and trust that folks will rise above their departmental boundaries and determine the best scholarship. It will be difficult to develop a system that provides the perfect balance that this question seeks. Even last year, when all the full professors constituted the committee (I heard no complaints then) but, HEB was over represented on the committee and TRSM was vastly underrepresented.

The belief behind this question, seems to be the belief that one's department would influence their vote on the tenure and promotion committee. Can you imagine what a college like CLAS or Engineering would have to do if each department had to be represented or be represented equally on the college T&P committee? The academic personnel board at the university level, certainly has to rise above discipline boundaries and college boundaries. I would like to believe that our colleagues at the college level will rise to the level of being able to respond on the basis of scholarship, not on departmental or discipline (political) representation. In fact, I believe that is exactly what the committee did this year.

Bottom line: I don't have any evidence that the current T&P committee manifested any bias with regard to department or discipline. (I will tell you that if I was king of the world ALL of the full professors in the college would comprise the T&P committee - no election and no associate professors -- but alas, I am not king!). I am certainly open to talking about this more.

Question: What is going on with Sport and Fitness Program? Some faculty think that they were left out of the decision making process regarding the S & F program. Several faculty feel that the S & F program could be a revenue generator for the college.

Response: There has been no decision to totally cut the program, however, we have downsized the program this semester and will continue to do so in the Spring.
Sport and Fitness has been a strong SCH producer for the college. However, the courses in sport and fitness are not on a degree plan. Yet, for example, we have right now over 50 students on a waiting list for the physiology course for the spring. This course IS on degree plans and these students cannot progress without it. We could redirect some of these funds in that direction to help some students on campus and retain our SCH production.

I have said that I believe it is inappropriate to operate a program like this without academic supervision of a department. Therefore, for this and other reasons we will not continue its operation out of the dean's office. I have asked each department chair to submit ways they might use funds resulting in downsizing or redirecting the program. We will be looking at this in early spring.

Regarding faculty involvement in the process….We had a study committee composed of faculty last year to look at this issue. The study committee reported out their findings in a faculty meeting last year. The faculty have had since that time to review and comment on the report available in the dean’s office. So, faculty have been involved in the process – probably more so than any decisions made previously in the college. It seems that faculty has had great opportunity to get involved in helping to come to this decision.

Regarding the program being a revenue generator, we are looking at ways this might be possible under the current university constraints. However, the SCH generated from this program creates no direct funding to the college. But, I am certainly open to hearing about any ways folks think this could produce funds for graduate students, etc.

Bottom line: We are getting fewer resources from the state as noted in the question above. It may be that we are cut again. This means we cannot continue to do everything. Even though some things are good things to do, it might be that we decide not to do them, because we cannot do everything well on the limited resources we have. We simply do not have the funds to do everything well. We must decide what we are good at and focus on that -- be the best we can be on those things.

Question: Regarding the flow of information in the college, concerns were addressed regarding the policies recently approved at the College Council meeting because these policies were not provided to all departments for review/comments prior to the vote. Also regarding information flow, the FAC will do a better job of keeping members of each department up to date on the latest college policies

Response: I am so glad that you want to address information flow. That is great! When I came here last year the faculty was clear that they had not been involved in many decisions that were made in the college. The faculty were also concerned about the way decisions were made, that there were no polices or procedures. Indeed, when I stepped into the college there were no guidelines or policies for decision making. I think you know that I called for a college constitution and governing documents prior to the University Senate requiring this. We want faculty to be involved in the policy development so that they will have confidence in the decisions that are being made.

So, the college constitution and the college council is an attempt to provide input into decision making and policy making in the college. The college council has representation from all constituencies in the college -- faculty and staff. So when it operates right, everyone should be informed about polices and guidelines as they are being made. No policy can be made with one read to the college council. It requires that policy decisions have at least two reads before becoming rule and that all polices be posted on the college website. Ideally, each constituent representative will be addressing these policy changes with the groups they represent it the college. That process certainly may have fallen through the cracks as we are learning this new system.

However, I know we have posted each rule change on the web and that faculty have been notified about these changes. And I know that no policy has been made with out at least a double read from the college council. I also know that we have changed proposed rules and procedures based upon feedback from constituency groups in the college. So, the process is working.

I am glad you all are concerned about this and would welcome your involvement in helping all faculty know about this. We have this process so that it can be open and transparent. At least now we do have a process to generate policy and we do have a process for faculty and staff involvement. Prior to this it was not existent. So let's talk about ways to make that happen. We want involvement and knowledge about these policies. That is the whole idea!

Question: I understand that there is going to be some construction in the college. What’s going on?

Response: Yes, you are right! We have received a verbal commitment from administration to subdivide court 3 of the gym. The current plan is that this area will become a teaching lab area for anatomy and physiology.

Also in late spring and summer, CES is scheduled for renovation of the air conditioning system. This is something that has been planned by the university. We are adding some additional aspects to this project to accommodate our needs for laboratory space in that area as well.
Plans for all of this are developing now and we will keep the faculty involved in these areas aware as we have additional information.

These are good problems! They are problems associated with growth in the college and faculty productivity. I certainly appreciate everyone being flexible as we continue to transform.

End note…..
I hope my response to these questions has been helpful to you. Please don’t hesitate to stop by or send me a note if you have additional questions.

The end of the semester is right around the corner…exam time is upon us…. Time for grading all of those papers and projects that seemed like such a good thing to assign earlier in the semester! I know you are all also getting ready for the holiday rush…..

Thanks for your continued work and support.

Steve
Posted by Steve Dorman at 10:45 AM

 

Notes to Faculty and Staff #12
Monday, Oct. 22, 2007

“Listen with your eyes!” – Malcolm Gladwell in Blink

Hold the day – 1st HHP Spring Celebration
Please hold the evening of April 25, 2008 at 6:00 for our first “HHP Spring Celebration.” This evening will be a time to celebrate good things that have happened in the college this year and recognize outstanding faculty, staff and alumni accomplishments. We would like for all faculty & staff and their spouses/guests to attend.


College FAC Committee
The faculty voted for new members for the Faculty Advisory Council at the recent Welcome Back Breakfast. The follow will constitute the membership of the CHHP Faculty Advisory Council for 2007‐2008:
Dr. Christine Stopka (HEB; term: 2005‐2008)
Dr. Lori Pennington‐Gray (TRSM; term: 2006‐2009)
Dr. Jill Varnes (HEB; term: 2006‐2009)
Dr. Mark Tillman (APK; term: 2007‐2010)
Dr. J.O. Spengler (TRSM; term: 2007‐2010)
Dr. Mark Tillman was unanimously elected as the new chair of the FAC for this year

College Tenure and Promotion Committee
The following individuals were elected to the College Tenure and Promotion committee: Dr. Steve Dodd (APK), Dr. Robert Weiler (HEB) and Dr. Dan Connaughton (TRSM). In addition, the following individuals were selected by the dean for membership on the College Tenure and Promotion committee: Dr. Randy Braith, Dr. Scott Powers and Dr. Heather Hausenblas.

Homecoming class cancellation
In recognition of Homecoming, the University of Florida will be closed on Friday November 2. No classes will be held on that day.

Benefits Open Enrollment
This year’s benefits Open Enrollment period begins October 1 at 8:30 a.m. and ends October 26 at 5:30 p.m. (EST). Open enrollment is an annual window of time that provides an opportunity for UF employees to make plan changes without requiring a qualifying event (e.g., change in marital status, birth, adoption). During Open Enrollment, both state‐ and most UF‐sponsored plans will be available for changes. Be sure to make your elections early. All Open Enrollment transactions must be completed by the October 26 deadline. Any changes you make to your elections will be effective January 1, 2008.

2008 Research Opportunity Incentive Seed Fund Guidelines
The College has been allocated 2 nominations to the Opportunity Incentive program and all submissions will be evaluated by a University Committee and ranked according to merit. The goal of the program is to fund “new, facultyinitiated research programs that are multi‐/interdisciplinary and that have the expectation and a reasonable plan for becoming externally‐funded programs at the University of Florida.” The College will utilize an internal review process with the following deadlines:
• Friday, November 16: Brief summary (paragraph) of proposed research with list of collaborators and the title.
• Friday, December 7: Completed applications, following the University guidelines no later than Friday, December 14: Results of internal review conducted by the CPIs will be distributed along with comments from the Council.
• Monday, January 14, 5p: Deadline for submission to DSR

Please forward the material to: dorothea@hhp.ufl.edu, for distribution to the review committee

Orange and Blue Debut
The University Athletic Association has confirmed the spring game (Orange & Blue Debut) is set for Saturday, April 12. Earlier that morning, the Outstanding Young Alumni Breakfast will be held at Emerson Alumni Hall. The annual Alumni BBQ will be held prior to the game on the north lawn of the stadium. A kick‐off time for the game has yet to be announced.

Congratulations Dr. Powers!
Dr. Powers will be one of the Distinguished Lecturers at Emerson Hall later this semester. Dr. Powers will deliver a lecture entitled “Exercise‐induced Cardioprotection” as a part of the Phil Griffin Distinguished Lecture Series at Emerson Alumni Hall on November 27 at 6:30.

Web site upgrade in process
We are currently in the middle of a web site upgrade. Stay tuned for a new look and an easier navigation in the not to distant future! The new changes will make it easier to find information on the website and will reflect a new look for the college.

Dr. Hass – Graduate Faculty Representative
Dr. Chris Hass has been elected as the Graduate Faculty representative to the College Council and the Graduate Faculty Committee Chair. Thanks to Dr. Jill Varnes who has served in that role until an election could take place.

Congressional Appropriations Proposals
Thanks to everyone who participated in the proposals for congressional appropriations this year. Individual proposals went forward from the college from Drs. Clanton, V. Dodd, Holland, Pennington‐Gray, Beland and Gibson. In addition, Drs. Delp, Spengler and James participated in a group proposal along with researchers in other colleges on the topic of obesity prevention and intervention
research.

Goodbye and Thanks!
In the next few days we will be saying goodbye to Ms. Cher Harris as she and her family move to Houston. Cher will be working for the Houstonian Club. Thanks, Cher, for your dedication to the college, for your warm spirit and good work. We know good things are going to happen for you and your family in Texas! Cher’s last day will be Oct. 31, so be sure tell her how much you
appreciate her work.

End note….about time
Just a few reminders about stewardship of our staff members’ time: Staff must have pre‐approval before working and claiming “comp” or overtime. Employees cannot determine the hours of work ‐‐ that is determined by the job requirements. Unless otherwise authorized, staff should work the 8‐5 business hours of the university. Staff should not come in early/late, leave early/late, take half of a lunch and claim it as “comp time” or overtime without prior approval from their supervisor. Staff members should work within the 8‐5 business hours of the university unless there is some pre‐approved reason. Working outside of those hours should be the exception and not the rule. When working outside of those hours, employees should be offered “comp time” first rather than overtime. Thanks for your efforts to follow these guidelines.

Steve
Posted by Steve Dorman at 10:56 AM

 

Notes to Faculty and Staff #11
Tuesday, Aug. 7, 2007

Welcome Back Breakfast
The annual Welcome Back Breakfast will be held August 21P stP at the Hilton from 8:00‐12:00. Please make your plans to be present for this event.

New Department Chairs
The College will have three new department chairs as we begin the new academic year. TThe Department of TRSM will continue their department head search in early fall and Dr. James Zhang has agreed to serve as the Interim Department Chair while this search goes forward. Dr. Morgan Pigg has agreed to serve as Department Chair for HEB and Dr. Michael Delp will lead the APK faculty and staff. Dr. Delp joins our faculty from West Virginia Health Sciences Center.T I hope you will join me in thanking Drs. Steve Dodd, Bob Weiler and Steve Holland for their service to their departments and the college.

T&P Committee Vote At the welcome back breakfast the FAC will conduct a vote for the elected members of the College Tenure and Promotion committee. According to university guidelines this year, half of the committee must be elected. Each department will have one elected representative. The following will occur at the breakfast: • CHHP Tenured Faculty will get the appropriate department ballot attached to their name tag.
• The FAC Chair and designated members will announce the election, ask that faculty complete their ballots, and collect the ballots at the designated time on the agenda.
• FAC members will count the ballots, record the results and report the results to the Dean by the end of the meeting.
• The Dean or the FAC Chair will announce the three elected members of the College T & P committee to all faculty. According to the guidelines, in addition to the elected members of the committee, the remaining half of the committee will be appointed by the dean.

College Council Approves Guidelines Recently, the College Council approved several policy/guidelines which had been brought before it by committees in the college. The following guidelines were approved: Lecturer Promotion Guidelines; CHHP Tenure and Promotion Committee Operating Code 2007‐2008; FAC Operating Code; GA Appointment Guidelines; and the process for the Ph.D. Program review. These guidelines have been widely circulated in the college and are on the college website. The operating codes for the Council of PIs and the Graduate faculty are currently being constructed.

Budget Cuts
As you may have heard, we are being asked to return nearly $400,000 in line money as a result of the current budget cuts. We will be talking more about this at the Welcome Back Breakfast, but needless to say this is quite a hit on the vacant line money in the college. These cuts will be permanent, but the college leadership has constructed a plan that will have the least immediate impact on faculty and staff.

Use of Faculty Authored Texts If you use a text book you have authored in one of your University of Florida classes you MUST do the following: 1. file a conflict of interest form with Ms. Davis; 2. show that the text is adopted by other universities nation wide; 3 put copies of the text on hold in the library. Failure to do this will result in use of the text being out of compliance with university rules and guidelines.

New England Journal of Medicine Congratulations to Dr. Scott Powers who has just been notified that a manuscript he coauthored will appear in the future edition of the New England Journal of Medicine. NEJM holds the second highest impact factor of any journal on the ISI Science Index, so this is quite an accomplishment! Dr. Powers tells me that the work on and for this manuscript has taken four years! Congratulations Dr. Powers on this important accomplishment that brings honor to your work and to the college.


End note…..
Summer has flown by. Just a few more days and we will welcome a new group of students to the University of Florida…. But for now, take some time and squeeze the last few drops of fun from the summer.

Steve
Posted by Steve Dorman at 4:50 AM

 

Notes to Faculty and Staff #10
Saturday, June 9, 2007

“Learn to pause….. or nothing worthwhile will catch up to you.” – Doug King, Poet

Welcome Back Breakfast
Please hold August 21st for the annual HHP Faculty/Staff Welcome back breakfast. More to come on this at a later date……

Transitions
The College will experience several transitions of faculty this summer. Dr. Galen Trail, Associate Professor in Sport Management will depart Gainesville to work at The Ohio State University. Also, Dr. Steve Anderson has been granted a year’s leave of absence. Dr. Anderson has accepted the position of Associate Dean of the School of Human Performance and Leisure Sciences and Chair of the Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences at Barry University in Miami. Mr. Gary Nave, Director of the A.C. Moore Sport and Fitness Program, will assume a similar position on the faculty at the University of South Carolina

TRSM Department Chair Search
The Department of TRSM will continue their department head search in early fall. Dr. James Zhang has agreed to serve as the Interim Department Head while this search goes forward. Thanks to Dr. Steve Holland who has served the department with dedication and diligence these last four years.

HEB Department Chair Search
Dr. R. Morgan Pigg has agreed to serve as Chair of the Department of Health Education & Behavior. Dr. Bob Weiler will transition back to the faculty. Thanks to Bob for his hard work and attention during his four year stint as HEB department chair.

EFTI
Congratulations to Lori Pennington Gray and Brij Thapa for their recent award of $750,000 for the Eric Friedheim Tourism Institute. This award will enable the Tourism Center to pursue return on investment research approach and build an outstanding research enterprise in tourism research in the college.

Tillman gets tenure
Congratulations to Dr. Mark Tillman who has just been notified that his name has been submitted for tenure and promotion to the Board of Trustees. Congratulations Mark!

Faculty Senate
Dr. Jill Varnes and Dr. David Criswell have been elected to represent you in the faculty Senate. Jill and David will be filing regular updates on Senate business, but please do not hesitate to contact them if you have questions or concerns about things going on around the University.

Dr. Werch receives NIH funding
Congratulations to Dr. Chad Werch and the Addictive Health Behaviors Institute on notification of funding for the project titled “Brief Integrative Alcohol Interventions for Adolescents.” The project was funded for approximately $650,000 for five years. You will hear more about this in an upcoming Performance Magazine. Way to go Chad!

Outstanding Young Alumni
Each year the Alumni Association asks us to choose two outstanding young alumni to represent the college at the Orange and Blue activities in the spring. This year, Dr. Michele Moore (HEB) and Dr. Charles Hillman (APK) will represent the college at these functions. We have asked each of these folks to provide us with a seminar in their chosen areas during their visits here. I am sure you will look forward to seeing these very successful alums of the college.

Planning for the Future
The Provost recently asked the college administrative committee to submit a plan to guide the growth of the college for the next five years. The plan that was submitted sets forth to increase graduate enrollment in the college over the next few years. Current graduate enrollment constitutes about 9% of the total enrollment. The proposal plan calls for the college to move graduate enrollment to 19% by 2012-2013. This is quite a bold initiative and we will be talking more about it in the future.

Dr. DeMichele -- Acting Director
Thanks to Dr. Doug DeMichele who has agreed to serve as the Acting Director of the Sport and Fitness program for this year. Doug has an outstanding background and skills that will enable him to do well in this position. He will continue to be a Lecturer in the Department of Tourism, Recreation and Sport Management and will rejoin that faculty full time after May 08.

Campaign Goal for college increased
Current commitments for the seven year development campaign total nearly $2 million of a $4.5 million goal. Private giving increased significantly this year. The current success has led us in coordination with the Foundation to increase our seven year goal from $4.5 to $7 million.


End note…..
As I have read the story of Paul Farmer in the book Mountains Beyond Mountains I have been so impressed with the impact that one person can have on making a difference in the lives of others. Farmer, clearly on a mission, has made a difference through his dogged determination to pursue a life course that improves the life and health of the world’s poorest. I keep thinking of the difference that we too could make if we dedicated ourselves to such a task. Inspiring indeed….. I hope you also are inspired by Farmer this summer.

I hope you have made plans to “pause” a bit this summer. This past year has been quite busy and filled with changes and transition. We still have a lot of work to do next year. But for now, pause, take a breath and relax… .bask in the pleasures of friends, family and Florida!

Steve
Posted by Steve Dorman at 4:57 AM 0 comments

 

Notes to Faculty and Staff #9
Tuesday, April 10, 2007

“Sixty years ago I knew everything; now I know nothing. Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.” Will Durant, Author/Historian

Constitution ratified
The first official constitution of the College of Health and Human Performancewas ratified last Friday. The constitution represents the framework for sharedgovernance in the college. There is more work to follow to create the operating codes and guidelines required by the constitution. Thanks to the faculty committee consisting of Drs. Pigg, Pennington‐Gray, Hausenblas, DeMichele and Rienzo for their wisdom and guidance in development of this document.

March of Dimes!
This year the college raised over $5,000 for the March of Dimes initiative! Your personal donations, Bingo Night, Dime Wars and Trivia Night really paid off! In addition, at least 18 people from the college walked the nearly 9 miles, enduring sore knees, hips and blisters! And, the college T‐shirt designed by Michele Dye, won first place in the t‐shirt competition! Thanks to everyone who participated in any of the many events this year. I am continually impressed with the generosity of our staff and faculty!

Institute for Child Health Policy meeting
Researchers from the Child Health Policy Institute will visit with those in the college who are interested in child health research on April 12 in Conference Room 215. Lunch will be served. This is an excellent opportunity for our college to be involved in interdisciplinary research. Please contact Shari Mack if you are interested in attending this meeting.

Advising decentralized
College Undergraduate Advising: The Collegeʹs advising function will be decentralized (i.e., move the advisors to the departments) in the college while, at the same time, continue to have a strong centralized administration of advising. The actual move will take soon, at a time that is considered least disruptive for students and staff. We are working with the department chairs to plan space and personnel needs to accommodate this change. If you have questions, please contact Dr. Brown.

Congratulations Dr. Hass
Congratulations to Dr. Chris Hass who has been selected for the Emerson Alumni Hall Distinguished Lecturer Series. Dr. Hass will give his lecture titled ʺTreating Parkinsonʹs Disease: Pedaling Instead of Pillsʺ on April 26 at 6:30 in Emerson Alumni Hall. Please plan on attending this lecture to show our support of Dr. Hass.

Assignment of Graduate Students
The administrative committee is currently in discussion about the assignment of graduate assistantships. It is clear that some changes need to occur. The college will continue to support teaching assistantships in the departments where needed and appropriate. Graduate research assistantships must be limited to faculty who are engaged in and are productive in research activities. Drs. Brown and Cauraugh along with the department chairs are developing guidelines for research assistantships in the college.

Status of Physical Education Pedagogy Program
The College will retain the PE pedagogy courses, and, for the present, the College will not re‐populate the major nor rehire faculty for this program. The advising staff and Dr. Brown will develop materials for the departments that clearly provide a “road map” to teaching, via the alternative certificate model programs accessible throughout the state. This approach allows the college to continue to point students toward the public school classroom. This approach is in keeping with emerging practices in the preparation of teachers for the public schools in Florida and provides a more efficient means for students to acquire that certification.

Graduation
The College will hold graduation commencement ceremonies on Saturday, May 5 at 2:00 in the Phillips Performing Arts Center. Dr. AnaViamonte‐Ros, MPH, MD the first surgeon general and current Secretary for Health for the state of Florida will be our commencement speaker. Please make your plans to be present for this important occasion for our students and their families.

Outstanding Young Alumni
Each year the Alumni Association asks us to choose two outstanding young alumni to represent the college at the Orange and Blue activities next weekend. This year, Dr. Michele Moore (HEB) and Dr. Charles Hillman (APK) will represent the college at these functions. We have asked each of these folks to provide us with a seminar in their chosen areas during their visits here. I am sure you will look forward to seeing these very successful alums of the college.

Staff Retreat
The First Annual Staff retreat was held recently at Lake Wauburg. The Staff Advisory council planned a day of fun activities and development. Mr. Skip Everett led the group in a great workshop. Thanks to all who participated!

Parking!
All UF Parking Decals will expire on May 1, 2007. Please reorder your new decal by April 15, 2007 to assure receiving your new decal on time and avoid receiving parking citations.

Graduate Student Teaching Award
We have just been notified that Leslie Wakefield a graduate student teaching assistant in the Sport and Fitness program is a recipient of the Graduate Student Teaching Award this year. These awards are very competitive and limited to only the best graduate teaching assistants on campus. Congratulations to Leslie and to Mr. Nave for this outstanding honor.

Lecturer Promotion Committee
The Lecturer Promotion committee is putting the final touches on recommendations for promotion guidelines for lecturers in the college. They have talked with each department faculty and are discussing the processes involved in promotion. If you have questions or concerns please don’t hesitate to contact Dr. Sanders, chair of this committee.

Candidate Feedback Forms
Recently a candidate feedback form was developed that will be used in evaluation of all hires in the college. We are genuinely interested in receiving feedback from all who interact with candidates at every level. The feedback form is located on the college website. In addition, it should be made available by search committees. This direct feedback will go to the search committees and the hiring authority for each hire. Thanks for your efforts in helping us secure the best hires. Form: http://www.hhp.ufl.edu/about/pdf/apk_chair/Candidate%20Feedback%20Form.pdf)

End note…..
Currently, department chair and faculty interviews are going on in the college. Let me encourage you to attend the research presentations for these individuals. Also, please complete an evaluation form on all candidates you meet. We need your advice and opinions as we bring in new faculty and leaders for the college. The semester is slipping away. Exams are coming up. It won’t be long now… hang in there.

Steve
Posted by Steve Dorman at 5:00 AM 0 comments

 

Notes to Faculty and Staff #8
Friday, Feb. 16, 2007

“A Scholar is a candle which the love & desire of men will light. Let it not lie in a dark box.”
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

HHP Faculty Meeting
We will assemble for a college faculty meeting on Friday, February 23 from 3:00-4:30 in Room 235 . Please plan to be present if at all possible. Dr. Robert Armstrong, Distinguished Professor & Head of the Department of Health and Kinesiology at Texas A&M University will give a presentation and lead a discussion on “The Importance of High Impact Scholarship.”

Impressive!
I am so impressed with the hard work of our faculty/researchers in the college. So far in January and February of this year, at least thirteen research proposals have been submitted to 10 external funding agencies. The total amount of money requested in these proposals was $3,953,827 ! This is an impressive figure and it is clear that our faculty understand the importance of external funding in providing support for research programs and for graduate students. Way to go!

Institute for Child Health Policy meeting
We have been approached by the Institute for Child Health Policy to create a collaborative relationship around common research interests. If you are doing research with children and adolescents and would like to be involved in an exploratory meeting with researchers from the ICHP please contact me or Janice Douglas by Friday February 23.

Interested in Obesity Prevention/Intervention?
On March 23 there will be a research colloquium in the College of Journalism and Communication. The seminar will be delivered by Richard Johnson, MD from the College of Medicine and will be titled "New Insights into the Role of Sugar, and particularly Fructose, in the Epidemic of Obesity and Cardiorenal Disease." The seminar will be at 12:00 in Weimer 3032. A light lunch will be served. If you are interested in attending please contact Janice Douglas. The organizers hope we can create synergy on campus around this important research topic. If you are doing research in this area, please come and help support this emerging research study group.

Stanley Lecture
Please mark your calendars for the annual Stanley Lecture to be held on April 4 at Emerson Alumni Hall. Dr. Fay B. Horak, Senior Scientist and Director of the Balance Disorders Laboratory of the Neurological Sciences Institute at the Oregon Health & Sciences University will be our guest speaker. Dr. Horak is interested in improving therapies for movement disorders, particularly Parkinson’s disease. Please announce this to your classes and where appropriate encourage your students to be present for this showcase lecture series in the college.

Sabbaticals or Professional Development
Many of you recall that a recent note went out calling for those interested in sabbaticals. What was not clearly stated in the note is the fact that these sabbaticals are no longer funded at the university level. Funding for sabbaticals are therefore determined and funded by the colleges and departments. The Administrative committee in the college has determined to evolve the sabbatical program into a professional development leave program for faculty. This program would provide continued research & scholarship skill update for faculty. Deans Rienzo and Cauraugh will develop guidelines for professional development leave and we will have more information on this soon.

Faculty Senate
This year the UF Senate will conduct elections on-line, anonymously, for each college. CHHP has two senate representatives, both of whom (Dr. W. William Chen and Dr. Peter Giaccobi) are rotating off in 2007. We will conduct the process in accordance with the Senate constitution (www.Generalcounsel.ufl.edu/downloads/Constitution.pdf). All faculty were sent a list of faculty eligible to run for this position. Please review this list, solicit the permission of faculty candidates (you may self-nominate), and send your nomination(s) to Jeannie Malphurs (jmalphurs@hhp.ufl.edu) no later than February 21. A list of nominees will be compiled for the February 23rd CHHP Faculty Meeting. At that meeting, there will be opportunity to nominate faculty from the floor (pursuant to the Senate procedures). We need at least four (4) candidates to send to the Senate office for the election of our two representatives. The Senate election will open on April 2 and close on April 15. The Senate office will transmit the results of the election to Colleges by April 20th. Please make sure that individuals you nominate are aware of their nomination and have agreed to serve if elected.

Graduation
The College will hold graduation commencement ceremonies on Saturday, May 5 at 2:00 in Phillips Performing Arts Center. Dr. AnaViamonte-Ros, MPH, MD the first surgeon general and current Secretary for Health for the state of Florida will be our commencement speaker. Please make your plans to be present for this important occasion for our students and their families.

Outstanding Young Alumni
Each year the Alumni Association asks us to choose two outstanding young alumni to represent the college at the Orange and Blue activities in the spring. This year, Dr. Michele Moore (HEB) and Dr. Charles Hillman (APK) will represent the college at these functions. We have asked each of these folks to provide us with a seminar in their chosen areas during their visits here. I am sure you will look forward to seeing these very successful alums of the college.

March of Dimes
Some of our colleagues in the college are participating in the annual March of Dimes WalkAmerica 2007 on Saturday, March 24. As you know, proceeds from this walk are used to help with the fight against premature birth, which is the # 1 cause of newborn death in the United States. Several families in our college have been directly impacted by the work of the March of Dimes and this year our college ambassador is Kennedy Harris (Cher’s daughter). Last year, the college team raised over $3000 for this effort and our goal this year is $5000. If you would like to participate in the walk or donate to those who are walking please contact Shari Mack, Janice Douglas, DeEtta Hanssen, Michele Dye, Cher Harris or Morgan Eastman in the college.

Staff Retreat
The First Annual Staff retreat will be held on March 28 at Lake Wauburg. The Staff Advisory council is planning a day of fun activities and development. I have heard that there may be some singing involved! Please see your SAC representative or Ms. Susie Weldon if you want more information.

Performance evaluations
Performance evaluations are due to Employee Relations by March 30. The evaluation period is from March 1, 2006 through February 28, 2007 and forms are due by March 30. Non exempt employees must have the form completed, and exempt employees get a narrative format. If you evaluate employees please note these deadlines.

A note from Baghdad
Many of you participated in our Holiday gift boxes that were sent to the troops in Baghdad. Some of you have continued to provide gifts and supplies that we have sent over. Recently we received this picture from the unit that received our gifts with their thanks.

End note…..
This Friday we will begin a conversation about scholarship. While there may be differences in the research techniques and methodologies used among the various disciplines in the college, I hope we can all agree with the desire to enhance our own personal scholarship and the scholarship of our respective disciplines. It just makes sense.

Choosing to enhance our scholarship may require us to do things differently. Enhancing our scholarship may require us to think differently and set different goals for ourselves and for our units. Enhancing our scholarship may require us to approach our research in a different way. Enhancing scholarship my require us to organize our selves differently and reward our work differently.

I am looking forward to our discussions and hope that we all can agree to pursue excellence in research and scholarship for the college.

Steve
Posted by Steve Dorman at 5:09 AM