University of Pennsylvania College of Arts and Sciences

Orientation for New Undergraduate Chairs and Program Directors August 5 or 20, 2015

Agenda

A. Introductions B. The position of Undergraduate Chair within the department C. Five key web resources

1. College Web Site www.college.upenn.edu

2. Web Site for Undergraduate Chairs and Program Directors http://www.sas.upenn.edu/ugrad/hdbk

3. Undergraduate Affairs Web Site for Faculty http://www.sas.upenn.edu/ugrad/faculty

4. Curriculum Manager http://www.sas.upenn.edu/curriculum/

5. Advisor InTouch (Penn InTouch) https://medley.isc-seo.upenn.edu/pennInTouch/jsp/fast.do?access=advisor

D. Three goals for this session are to impart an understanding of your responsibilities as Undergraduate Chair or Program Director in these areas:

1. Overseeing, organizing, and producing the undergraduate program

2. Arranging for and doing advising of students

3. Serving as spokesperson for your program and ensuring effective communication about it to students and other constituencies through various media

E. Areas for Discussion

1. Overseeing, organizing, and producing the undergraduate program

a. Oversight

(1) Course Review

(2) Major program

(3) General Education -- locating courses within the College curriculum (4) Curriculum Manager http://www.sas.upenn.edu/curriculum/

- Interacting with the Curriculum Committee – New courses or changes to the major

- Interacting with Committees that oversee the General Education Curriculum (Sectors, CCA, CDUS, QDA)

- Publicizing Freshman Seminars

b. Major Goals Project

c. Operations

(1) Curriculum Planning and the Curriculum Planner https://fission.sas.upenn.edu/sso/faculty/planner/

(2) Preparing roster of courses for each semester (SRS)

- Courses needed by your majors

- Courses for interdisciplinary majors that depend on your faculty

- General Education

- Specific constituencies – freshmen, more intellectually ambitious students

(3) Other tasks

- Students with questions about grades http://www.college.upenn.edu/grade-review-policy

- Approving external credit for inclusion on the Penn transcript (XCAT) http://www.college.upenn.edu/xcat

- Receiving and responding to students – in person, via email or phone

- Supervising departmental staff

(3) Analysis

- IRQDB (Institutional Research Query Database) http://www.sas.upenn.edu/ugrad/hdbk/irqdb.html

Page 2 - DTA (Departmental Teaching Analysis) http://www.sas.upenn.edu/ugrad/hdbk/dta.html

d. Supporting your faculty – Center for Teaching and Learning http://www.upenn.edu/ctl/ 2. Advising and supporting students

a. Life cycle of students in the major

(1) Informing and advising prospective majors about your program

(2) Major declaration process

(3) Advising and tracking declared majors

(4) Supporting most talented and ambitious students

(5) Certifying completion of the major (Junior and Final Audits)

(6) Handling students who drop your major

b. Resources for supporting and helping students (See also main section C above) http://www.college.upenn.edu/support

(1) Course Problem Notices (CPNs) http://www.sas.upenn.edu/ugrad/hdbk/cpn.html

(2) Course Absence Reports (CAR)

(3) Weingarten Learning Resources Center http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/lrc/index.php

(4) Tutoring Center http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/tutoring/index.php

(5) Writing Center http://writing.upenn.edu/critical/writing_center/

(6) CaseNet – Academic Support Team in College Office Call 8-6341 http://www.college.upenn.edu/casenet

(7) Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS)/Student Health http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/caps/ http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/shs/

Page 3 (8) Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships http://www.upenn.edu/curf/

(9) Career Services http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices/

(10) Student Financial Services (SFS) Students should be directed to the Associate Directors listed at the bottom of this page: http://www.sfs.upenn.edu/contacts/index.htm 3. Serving as spokesperson for your program and ensuring effective communication about it to students and other constituencies through various media

a. Department or Program website http://www.sas.upenn.edu/ugrad/hdbk/webst_rev_deptsassent.html

b. Major Dinners http://www.college.upenn.edu/dinners

c. MAP (Major Advising Program) http://www.college.upenn.edu/map/

d. Listserv for your majors

e. UAB (Undergraduate Advisory Board) http://www.sas.upenn.edu/ugrad/hdbk/undergrad_advisory_board.html

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