UFF-USF

The United Faculty of Florida Tenure and Promotion Workshop is back, with three sessions covering the same material the week before spring break! Don’t forget to sign up (e-mail Sherman Dorn) so we have a sense of how many people will come.
TENURE WORKSHOP
March 3, 2007, 8:00 am – 9:30 am, EDU 261 (Tampa)
March 4, 2007, 8:00 am – 9:30 am, EDU 258 (Tampa)
March 5, 2007, 8:00 am – 9:30 am, EDU 258 (Tampa)
UFF MEMBERS ONLY (we’ll make it easy to become one!)

Do YOU know insider secrets to making your tenure case?
Do YOU know how to address the unwritten expectations and navigate the ambiguous procedures in your department and college?
Do YOU know how to pick external reviewers who will seal the decision effectively?
Do YOU know your rights in the tenure process?

Topics to be addressed:

* Handling unwritten guidelines
* Annual reviews and third-year reviews
* Addressing weaknesses
* Identifying and winnowing the external reviewer pool
* Describing your publication/production cycle)
* Interpreting the USF (and NCF) promotion/tenure guidelines
* Research influence statistics
* Your contractual rights (though that will vary by university)
* Establishing an academic persona

If you are not currently members, you can register and then sign up as a member that day.

Refreshments will be served (tea, coffee, bagels, goodies)

A few years ago, Parking Services stopped using Social Security Numbers in managing its accounts. Last month, a faculty member was asked for her SSN to get a new ID card. She e-mailed the chapter, which asked the administration to look into it. The response today from Sandy Lovins, Associate Vice President of Human Resources:

We did find out that the Card Center was taking social security numbers in order to generate an ID card (it was a field required in the system that they are using). However, we’ve been able to configure a change in their system and feed required information in from the GEMS system so that social security numbers are no longer needed. The Employee ID number is now officially being used. No longer will the Card Center staff be asking for social security number.

The UFF membership form now gives the option of providing the employee ID instead of the SSN, but includes the SSN option because many faculty know their SSN but not their employee ID. One of the concerns about asking for Social Security Numbers in public situations (whether in parking services or at a card center) is that they are public: You’re in a line, and someone asks you for the SSN. Anyone else in line could overhear your name and SSN, and then they have what they need to generate a false identity. If you are asked for your SSN at USF in a public context, gently refuse to, explain why not, and insist on using your employee ID instead.