Adjunct Newsletter-Webster University School of Communications


Adjunct Faculty Newsletter
Volume 1, Number 5 ~ Spring 2005

In This Issue SOC Launches Alumni Program 2005 Commencement At Dome May 14 New Catalog Has Curriculum Changes Program Facilitators Named by SOC Incomplete Policy Change Approved Judges Sought For Tournament Change of Grade Form Procedures Ground Breaking For Residence Halls Faculty Present Brown Bag Events Recommend Books For Emerson Library Full-Time Faculty Personnel News Copy Center Extends Hours Library Usage Takes Jump Copyright Law Brings Confusion Calendars SOC Calendar Film Series Calendar SOC Adjunct Newsletters Fall 03 Edition Spring 04 Edition Summer 04 Edition Fall 04 Edition Webster News Links Inside Webster January Edition January Edition December Edition October Edition September Edition
		Note From The Dean Dear Colleagues: In the School of Communications, many of us are reading the book referred to in the following article about the new alumni outreach program. Its title tells the story: Ready or Not; Here Life Comes by Mel Levine. In this text, Levine talks about how many young adults our students' ages do not feel ready to become self-sufficient. He says, "Motivation takes courage and courage takes encouragement." Sally Lorino and I were just in my office talking about the importance of you teachers as daily motivating forces for our students. Sometimes all it takes is a question from a respected teacher or a comment on a paper to fan the fire of achievement in a student. And sometimes you don't even know when your words are serving this important purpose. It can be years later that you hear from a student about what your words meant to him. Many times, you never hear. For instance, I doubt I ever told my fourth grade teacher Mrs. Miller in Pittsburg, Kansas that I only assumed I'd go on to college because of her assumption of this fact when I was 10 years old. Not many of the girls in my class did go on, but I never doubted that I would because of the encouragement of this one teacher. Since I didn't get around to thanking Mrs. Miller, let me play my appreciation forward to you, the adjuncts of the School of Communications. Thank you for all the cheerleading and teaching you do here at Webster. Your encouragement changes lives. Debra School of Communications Launches Program To Help Alumni With Transition Students complete all of their course work, participate in graduation, have a shiny diploma to put on their walls, and too often, have to ask: “Now what?” It’s a tough world out there for many of them. Jobs are scarce in some professions and the competition for the jobs that do open is fierce. With their college experience and friendly faculty in the distance behind them, many students feel lost after successfully completing their degrees. The School of Communications is working to bridge that gap for their recent graduates. This spring a new alumni initiative was begun to keep the ties in place between the school and its alumni. FULL STORY Commencement At Dome May 14; Adjunct Instructors Can Join Ceremony The school year isn’t complete without commencement, and a Webster University commencement isn’t complete without all of the faculty participating – that means adjuncts, too. If your cap, gown and hood are lost, or buried in the bottom of a box of old books, we’ll purchase a new one for you. FULL STORY New University Catalog Due in July Will Contain Several Curriculum Changes Every three years, the official Webster University catalog is published and usually contains a number of changes in program curriculum. The new catalog due out this July is no exception -- it will contain several changes to School of Communications programs. They include a new media literacy emphasis for graduate students and changes in the media literacy program for undergraduates, a complete revised program for undergraduate public relations majors, additional courses for speech communications majors, and changes and new courses for the undergraduate advertising program. FULL STORY Facility Facilitators Are Named For School of Communications Programs To better manage academic programs in the School of Communications, Dean Debra Carpenter recently announced the creation of Program Facilitators who will supervise curriculum and faculty assignments in specific majors or programs. The new position formalizes the role that had been filled by faculty for sometime. In addition to majors and program areas, facilitators were also named for core courses offered to all students in the school, regardless of major. FULL STORY New "Incomplete" Grade Policy Approved by Faculty Assembly It’s the final week of class. Your students are busy finishing projects and turning in exams. But, one student comes up to you and reluctantly reports that he or she can’t get work finished by the end of the course. The student looks at you seriously and says: “Can I get an Incomplete because _____________.” You can fill in your choice of reasons or excuses: pneumonia, surgery, relative’s funeral, nervous breakdown, divorce, birth of child, job transfer, serious injury, broken bone, eviction, computer failure, visa ran out, arrest, parole violation, layoff or job termination. So what’s a college instructor to do? FULL STORY We're Looking For a Few Good Judges For National Forensics Tournament Ever wonder what it would be like to be a judge at the Olympics? Or maybe a debate tournament? Here’s your chance. During spring break the Webster University Forensics and Debate Team is hosting the national convention and tournament of Pi Kappa Delta, America’s largest and oldest forensic honor society. Tournament events are scheduled on campus March 16 through 19. Between 600 and 800 students from most U.S. universities will be at Webster for the competition. FULL STORY Students Should Not Handle Change of Grade Forms It’s not good business to give a blank check to someone and the same principle applies to Change of Grade forms. Although it may be hard to believe, on at least three recent occasions, Change of Grade forms were carried to Academic Advising by students. These forms are internal documents and should not be seen by students, much less handled by them. The proper procedure is to turn Change of Grade forms into your department for processing. Although improper handling of these forms has not been a problem so far, the University wants to maintain the integrity of the grading system and asks faculty for their help. FULL STORY April Ground Breaking Planned For New Residence Halls Ground will be broken in April for two new residence halls to provide on-campus housing for 310 students. The two residence hall buildings, to be open in the fall of 2006, will be constructed south of the existing Webster Village apartment complex south of Garden Avenue along Edgar Road. The new residence halls will bring the University’s total on-campus housing inventory to 810 beds. The long-term goal is on-campus housing for 1,000 students. FULL STORY You're Invited To Faculty Presentations Twice each month, School of Communications faculty are featured during Focus on Faculty “Brown Bag” presentations. They’re schedule between noon and 1 p.m. in the University Center Presentation Room and all adjunct instructors are invited. FULL STORY Add Books To University Library For Your Class and Students Ever think to yourself, “My students would certainly benefit if this book was in the campus library” and assume it will never be available there? Well, there’s money available to add resources to the Emerson Library for your classes and it’s up to you to help us get the books on the shelf. If you know of specific books you’d like to see added to the Emerson Library for your students, contact your program facilitator or department chair. Money to add resources is available and library staff are anxious to make the campus library even more valuable to your students. FULL STORY Full-Time Faculty Personnel News You may have discovered during recent months that phone calls and email messages to some of the School of Communications full-time faculty may have gone unanswered. Here is some personnel news that may account for that. FULL STORY University Copy Center Extends Hours For Evening Faculty and Students You’re only on campus evenings and you need to place a large copy order, get booklets bound or need a short-run of copies for your class. The University’s Mail & Copy Solutions center has expanded its window hours to better accommodate our evening students and faculty. FULL STORY Emerson Library Database Usage Scores Big Jump Last Year Build a brand new library and you’ll increase the number of people walking through the door. But, it’s not just the building that is driving an increase in usage for Webster’s Emerson Library. Access to the library’s numerous database resources was also up by 25 percent during the past year and students from the School of Communications were among the top contributors to the increase. FULL STORY New Copyright Law Brings Confusion To Using Materials A new federal law attempting to clarify rules for using copyrighted materials in the classroom has proven to be of little help in determining what materials my be used and udner what circumstances. FULL STORY Adjunct Faculty Newsletter Webster University School of Communications Adjunct Faculty Newsletter is published throughout the school year for the SOC Adjunct Faculty. Our goal is to keep the school's Adjunct Faculty informed. Do you have accomplishments in your academic or professional life you'd like to share with your fellow adjunct faculty members? Contact Gary Ford, newsletter editor, at fordg@webster.edu or call 314-961-2660 ex. 8632. Note: If your email changes, please provided it so that we may update our lists to make sure you get the latest information from the school.