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February 20, 2017 Georgia Tech’s Faculty/Staff Newspaper • Vol. 42, No. 4 • whistle.gatech.edu President to Host Leadership Town Halls A series of three town hall events this spring will afford the campus community the opportunity to hear from and ask questions of not just the president, but several campus leaders. President G.P. “Bud” Peterson will be at all three events in the Conversations with Senior Leadership series, co-hosting with other senior leaders on various topics affecting Georgia Tech and higher education. All faculty, staff, and students are invited to attend. Each session will begin with a brief presentation, followed by a question and answer session. Questions may also be submitted online in advance at president.gatech.edu. The Future of Higher Research Priorities and Georgia Tech’s Campus Master Education and Georgia Funding Opportunities in the Plan and Capital Improvements Tech New Federal Administration Thursday, April 6 Wednesday, March 1 Thursday, March 16 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. 11 a.m. to noon 11 a.m. to noon Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Student Center Theater Ferst Center Lobby Seminar Room, Engineered Guest speaker: Provost Guest speakers: Steve Cross, Biosystems Building and Executive Vice executive vice president for Guest speaker: Steve Swant, Photo by Fitrah Hamid President for Academic Research and Robert Knotts, executive vice president for An attendee at the 2016 town hall in Clough Commons Affairs Rafael L. Bras director of Federal Relations Administration and Finance poses a question to President G.P. “Bud” Peterson. A COUPLE WITH COURAGE Faculty Senate Discusses CIOS Changes, Leaves of Absence KRISTEN BAILEY INSTITUTE COMMUNICATIONS The majority of the Faculty Senate’s Feb. 14 meeting was devoted to student-related matters and business, with several student guest speakers in attendance. Two winners from the 2016 Three-Minute Thesis competi- tion, Tesca Fitzgerald in interactive computing and Bharath Hebbe Madhusudhana in physics, shared their winning 180-second presentations for the group. Nagela Nukuna, undergraduate Student Government Association (SGA) president, and Lindsey Eidson, undergraduate SGA’s vice president for academic affairs, shared a presentation that proposed changes to the release of data from the Course Instructor Opinion Survey (CIOS). SGA would like to have CIOS data appended to the SGA-maintained Course Critique portal, which students use to review information about courses and instructors when registering for classes. They would also like to have qualita- tive comments from the surveys shared with faculty supervi- sors. Course Critique currently includes GPA distribution, class size, and instructor names. SGA would like to add averages from CIOS for the number of hours spent on a course, how prepared students were for the course, whether they felt the course’s activities facilitated learning, and whether they felt the course was effective. Nukuna and Eidson noted that Photos by Christopher Moore several peer institutions already share this information with Former President Jimmy Carter and first lady Rosalynn Carter accept the Ivan Allen Jr. Prize for Social students and faculty supervisors, with some universities Courage on Friday, Feb. 17, with Tricia and Inman Allen, son of the award’s namesake. The Carters participated in a student town hall event following the ceremony. Learn more at ivanallenprize.gatech.edu. see SENATE, page 4 Tech Honored for Campus Campus Community IN THIS ISSUE NEWS Tree Program Mourns Loss of Lux The Arbor Day Foundation Renowned and acclaimed poet Staff, Faculty Committees named Georgia Tech a Tree Thomas Lux, who anchored Poetry@ Recruiting New Members | 2 BRIEFS Campus USA for 2016. TECH for 15 years, died Feb. 5 after Melody Foster: Finding Tech’s latest tree projects a lengthy illness. He was 70. Read more about his Fulfillment in Giving Back | 3 include recycling trees and life and work, as well as tributes from members of Faculty Satisfaction updating the campus tree inventory. the Tech and poetry communities: Survey Upcoming | 4 c.gatech.edu/treecampus c.gatech.edu/lux PAGE 2 • February 20, 2017 whistle.gatech.edu • THE WHISTLE EVENTS Faculty Governance Elections Upcoming Members ELENA GARCIA through August 2020. Nominations or sugges- FACULTY GOVERNANCE tions can be submitted to nominations2017@ Sought for lists.gatech.edu. HEALTH & Faculty members of all levels are The faculty committees include: WELLNESS wanted to serve on committees as part General Faculty Standing Committees Staff Council of Georgia Tech’s Faculty Governance. • Faculty Benefits Through April • Faculty Honors Committees Employees can use their insurance to Vacancies are currently available on all but • Faculty Status and Grievance CARA-JOY WONG get a flu shot without an appointment • Statutes one committee. Committees are considered the STAFF COUNCIL every Monday, Tuesday, and crux of faculty governance and are where many • Faculty Services Wednesday from 8 to 10 a.m. at the initiatives and new programs originate. • Welfare and Security Stamps Health Services Pharmacy. The Staff Council is looking health.gatech.edu “This is representative governance, and to Academic Faculty Standing Committees be successful it needs representation,” said • Undergraduate Curriculum (all colleges) to fill positions on all five of its President G.P. “Bud” Peterson at the Faculty • Graduate Curriculum (all colleges) standing committees, covering Senate’s Feb. 14 meeting. • Student Regulations the areas of campus physical TRAINING Potential committee members should apply • Student Academic and Financial Affairs environment; communica- by Friday, Feb. 24. The Faculty Nominations • Student Activities tion; compensation and Committee will attempt to honor all requests, • Student Grievance and Appeals March 3 but some elections are limited by specific • Student Honor benefits; employee engage- The Center for Teaching and requirements, such as membership in a partic- • Student Computer Ownership ment; and employee health and Learning hosts a session on ular college. Those who are selected by the • Academic Integrity (no election needed) well-being. Evidence-Based Teaching for Future Faculty from 10:30 a.m. to noon in Faculty Nominations Committee for the final the Piedmont Room, Student Center. ballot will be notified, and those eventually For a description of the committees’ work, “The success of Staff Council Register to attend at: elected are expected to serve from August 2017 visit c.gatech.edu/fac-committees. hinges on the breadth and depth of c.gatech.edu/evidenceteaching its committee members,” said Laura Pusateri, special events manager in Institute Communications and Staff March 9 The Counseling Center and LGBTQIA THE ART OF STORYTELLING Council chair. “This year, we are Resource Center host an LGBTQIA- excited for committee members to join focused session of the Question, Staff Council to not only guide the Persuade, Refer suicide prevention organization toward areas of focus, but training, from 6 to 8 p.m. in Room 102, also to become active, engaged partici- College of Computing. RSVP at: c.gatech.edu/qpr pants for their eight-month term.” Interested staff members should apply online by Friday, March 3. To be qualified to serve, staff should: • Be a full-time or part-time (at least SEMINARS & 20 hours per week) staff member. LECTURES • Have completed six months of service to Georgia Tech as of March 3, 2017. Feb. 21 The School of Civil and • Be employed with an eligible Environmental Engineering hosts staff title. (The following staff alumna Suzanne Shank for its Hyatt titles are ineligible to serve on the Distinguished Alumni Lecture. Council and, thereby, ineligible Shank has been called “Wall Street’s to serve on committees: Institute $2 trillion woman.” The event takes president, executive vice presidents, place from 11 a.m. to noon in Room 1133, Mason Building. provost, vice presidents, associate ce.gatech.edu/hyatt vice presidents, dean of students, academic faculty, research faculty, Photo by Christopher Moore and retirees.) Feb. 24 The Race and Gender Colloquium During Georgia Tech’s Fourth Annual Black History Month Lecture on Feb. 15, Janet Mock, an activist, • Have support of his or her Series will discuss The Golden author, and media personality, discussed the rewards, challenges, and implications of being black and supervisor. Arches in Black America: Fast, Food, transgender. She emphasized the importance of storytelling, saying that, “We must also remember • Be able to spend three to five that telling our stories can be met with love, understanding, transcendence, and community, which has Gender, and Race in an Age of Crisis hours per month on committee brought all of us here.” Read more about the event at c.gatech.edu/mock. from noon to 1:30 p.m. in Room 104, work. Committee membership Old Civil Engineering Building. will begin in April 2017 and end hsoc.gatech.edu in December 2017. HR UPDATES Each committee will have up to 13 Feb. 28 members, including the committee The Center for the Study of Women, Performance Management Process • March 31: Manager completes all Annual chair. Because there are a limited Science, and Technology presents its Evaluation conversations and provides a signed number of spaces on the committees, 2017 Distinguished Lecture with Alice The annual performance review cycle for 2016 copy of the evaluation to their HR representa- interested staff should be specific in M. Agogino, Roscoe and Elizabeth is underway, and employee evaluations should Hughes Chair in Mechanical tive to be included in employee file. explaining their skills and desires for Engineering at the University of be completed and delivered to each employee by committee membership. California, Berkeley. Agogino will Friday, March 31. This applies to all employees — Recommended Timeline for 2017 Goal Setting: Even though staff members may discuss Design for Social Impact: staff, academic, and research faculty, including but only serve on one committee, staff are Gender and Ethnic Participation in not limited to those in part-time and temporary • Feb. 28: Manager disseminates overall goals STEM at 4 p.m.