Expect anything
Department chairs champion faculty concerns,
guide progress |
 |
|
Photo
by Andrew Shurtleff
|
| Building
consensus within the department is very important, says Larry
Goedde, chairman of the art department. |
By Anne Bromley
The
skeleton leered at her from the couch in her office.
This
was no Halloween trick. Art professor Megan Marlatt shrieked as
she stumbled into the furniture and then heaved a sigh as she picked
up the phone to call Larry Goedde, her department chair.
It
happened again. The skeleton used for drawing classes was out of
the closet. After she’d cooled down, Marlatt could see the
humor in it and shot off a memo to her colleagues, asking them to
move it or “The next time I find a skeleton on my couch, I’m
throwing it off the roof of Brooks Hall!”
It
was just another day for Goedde, who has chaired the art department
since 1994. He and other faculty who have taken on the job in various
departments say they learn to expect the unexpected.
Like
the unexpected pleasures of getting closer to their colleagues,
of having the chance to understand their work better, of helping
them solve problems.
Regardless
of a department’s size, the chair should be there to help faculty
members in any way possible, from breaking through a stumbling block
in research to finding additional funds. Full
story.
Benefits reminders
By
Anne Bromley
From
time-off to fee hikes, several facets of benefits are affecting
U.Va. employees.
Employees
will get an extra eight hours off, with the “float time”
added to compensatory leave, as a result of Gov. Mark R. Warner
giving state employees Christmas Eve day off. The University had
already scheduled that day as a holiday.
In
another matter, the open enrollment period ends Dec. 6 for those
employees who would like to make changes to certain benefits, such
as flexible spending accounts and family insurance coverage. Full
story.
|
