Department of Biological Sciences

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Department of Biological Sciences Old Dominion
University Retreat 27 March 2004
State of the Department
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The Numbers Enrollment, Budget, Faculty
Positions
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Enrollments
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Budget
Commonwealth Funding
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Budget 1999
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Budget 2000
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Budget 2001
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Budget 2002
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Budget 2003
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Budget 2004
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Budget
Research Funding
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Research Funding
2, 735, 350
2000
2, 776, 030
2001
2, 628, 967
2002
2, 002, 453
2003
984, 153
2004
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Research Funding
Overhead Account
Having a bare bones budget for operating the
department, I have had to turn increasingly to
our overhead account to pay for emergency
repairs, computers, supplies, faculty and
student travel, and other expenses. While
keeping some reserve for emergencies, I intend
to use as much of these monies as necessary to
help faculty.
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Research Funding
Overhead Account
Do we need to establish guidelines for the use
of these monies? The only committed use of the
funds is for publication and reprint costs. Do
we want to designate a portion for large
purchases?
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Budget Summary
Our budget has been static the past
several years and will likely remain so unless it
is decreased for additional state exigencies.
We need to be articulate voices in the
College of Sciences and the university as a
whole, actively lobbying for any dollars we can
obtain. In this regard we have been successful
in obtaining additional funding for some
course budgets.
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Budget Changes

Do we want to change some of our
budget allocations? For example, do we want to
reconsider the expenses of the
transmission electron microscope and reallocate
those funds to maintaining a larger
sequencer? How should course budgets be
determined?
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Faculty Positions
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Faculty Positions
Lost--Rose position to budget cuts. Approved--Wol
finbarger (Stiffler) Approved--Slate (current
search) Pending approval--Jones position.
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Personal Goals as Department Chair
Communication and work environment Resources Adv
ocacyworking to obtain resources for our
department recognizing faculty and students
for awards and promotion. Directionbuilding a
consensus through clear communication and mutual
confidence on where we should be moving as a
department.
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Personal Goals as Department Chair
Communication-Our department has a wonderful
diversity of research projects, teaching
emphases, clientele, and--though
limited--resources. To utilize strengths, clear
and frequent communication is essential. In
order to facilitate communication, the following
have been initiated
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Personal Goals as Department Chair
Communication
Monthly faculty meetings with open invited
agendas. Weekly coffees. Frequent meetings
with classified and office staff. Yearly
department party. Our annual holiday party has
been continued.
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Personal Goals as Department Chair
Communication
Mentoring of new faculty. Meeting with
graduate students at least once or twice a
semester. Faculty input into budgetary matters.
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Personal Goals as Department Chair
Communication
Web presence
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Personal Goals as Department Chair
Communication
Web presence
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Personal Goals as Department Chair
Work Environment
Work environment/public interfaceI believe that
the quality of our public space is a reflection
on the quality of our operations. Some of the
ways I am addressing this are
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Personal Goals as Department Chair
Work Environment
Remodeling front office. With the help of staff,
we are working on improving the appearance and
utility of our front office. Department
directory. I have replaced the archaic
directory in the foyer of MGB (it always
reminded me of the directories I saw in medical
buildings as a boy) with a poster which I plan
to update each semester.
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Personal Goals as Department Chair
Resources
We are short on human, building, and financial
resources.
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Personal Goals as Department Chair
Resources-Financial
Financial resources -Virginia is in a fiscal
crisis and there is little hope of any
increased funding from the state. For this
reason, it is essential that non-state sources
of funds be identified and aggressively pursued.

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Personal Goals as Department Chair
Resources-Financial
Private Endowments I have initiated several
projects with private funds and am actively
working on others, this work is in the silent
phase. Successful projects to date include
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Personal Goals as Department Chair
Resources-Financial
J. Robert Stiffler Distinguished Professor of
Horticulture and Botany. To date, approximately
1.05 million has been raised.
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Personal Goals as Department Chair
Resources-Financial
Due to the small number of applicants, the
search will be reopened with interviews
scheduled for fall semester 2004. Two people
will be hired temporarily for the fall semester.
Kushan Tennakoon
Diana Williams
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Personal Goals as Department Chair
Resources-Financial
Private Endowments Endowed Natural History
Seminar Series. The inaugural lecture will be
15 April. To date, approximately 75 thousand
has been raised. Once this series is
established, I hope to begin a program for a
Natural History Museum.
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Personal Goals as Department Chair
Resources-Financial
Natural History Seminar Series
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Personal Goals as Department Chair
Resources-Financial
Private Gifts Each year our department receives
between 10-12 thousand dollars as part of the
annual gift program. Several faculty and staff
members have been generous givers to the
department through this program. This fund is
the ultimate discretionary account.
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Personal Goals as Department Chair
Resources-Financial
Private Gifts The chief use of these funds are
for department activities which can not be
funded from any other sources. In addition, our
weekly seminars as well as some student travel
are paid from this account.
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Personal Goals as Department Chair
Resources-Space
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Personal Goals as Department Chair
Resources-Space
Size of Mills Godwin Building 1981
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Personal Goals as Department Chair
Resources-Space
Size of Mills Godwin Building 2004
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Personal Goals as Department Chair
Resources-Space
Proposed New Building
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Personal Goals as Department Chair
Resources-Space
Proposed New Building
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Personal Goals as Department Chair
Resources-Space
Finding alternative space wherever we can--
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Personal Goals as Department Chair
Resources-Space
Space-If financial resources are a headache,
space concerns are a nightmare. We have no more
room in MGB and I will have to reallocate space
soon to accommodate our new hire. This is a
difficult task which I will pursue in accordance
with College of Sciences guidelines.
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Personal Goals as Department Chair
Resources-Space
Space-Not only research but also teaching faculty
need space and I am committed to developing as
much new space on the first floor as possible
for teaching faculty. I will ask the department
to develop guidelines for the assignment of
space to emeritus faculty, both those active in
research and those who do not maintain an active
research program.
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Department Objectives AY 2003-2004
1. Pursue lost positions. 2. Identify additional
lab and office space in another building. 3.
Determine if department wants to rename PhD in
Ecological Sciences. 4. Revamp undergraduate
curriculum.
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Department Objectives AY 2003-2004
5. Increase communication within department. 6.
Establish (or verify) research emphasis. 7. Try
to address salary compression. 8. Promotion of
associate professors.
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Department Objectives AY 2003-2004

• Faculty productivitybalancing active researchers
  
• teachers load.
• 10. Produce a strategic plan.

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Department Milestones AY 2003-2004

• 1. Enrollments have remained steady.
• 2. Satisfactory research funding continues.
• Two new tenure-track assistant professors have
• been hired.

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Department Milestones AY 2003-2004
4. A new office/fiscal manager has come on
board. 5. Mary Hayward won the HACE Employee
of the Year award.
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Department Milestones AY 2003-2004
6. Renovation of MGB 112 is completed. 7.
Rearrangement/renovation of MGB 110 is
ongoing. 8. Renovation of MGB 125 is almost
complete. 9. The Stiffler Professorship was
approved at the full professor level. The
current endowment is about 1.05 million.
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Department Milestones AY 2003-2004
10. The Department of Biological Sciences Endowed
Natural History Seminar Series is funded at 75
thousand. The first event is 15 April. The
series will be part of the Presidents Lecture
Series. 11. We have a new dean. 12. Marla
Harvey won the University Employee of the Year
Award.
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Department Milestones AY 2003-2004
13. The Zuni Pine Barrens Natural Area, which
includes our Blackwater Preserve, is being
expanded. 14. Denise (Wadsworth) Sliter
resigned. Paula Sicurello will join us on 10
May as our new EM/Ecology Technician.
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Department Milestones AY 2003-2004
15. Ralph Stevens has received yet another Most
Inspiring Faculty Member award. 16. Larry
Boles research was cited as one of the 100 most
significant papers in 2003 by both ENDEAVOR and
SCIENCE NEWS.
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Department Milestones AY 2003-2004
17. Cynthia Jones requested transfer to OEAS.
18. New faculty evaluation procedures have
been established.
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College of Sciences Guidelines for Annual Faculty
Performance Rating
Notes 1.       A rating of Good reflects solid
performance in assigned duties and established
goals. An individual rated Good is an asset to
the department. 2.       Other assigned duties
may require substitution for one or more of the
criteria in each category. Such assignments
include unusual service to the department,
college, or University beyond the faculty norm or
may represent activities during sabbatical leave.
They must be agreed and approved in the Annual
Goals. 3.       The rating of Excellent is
unusual. It will be given for exceptional work
over the course of a year. No expectation for a
rating of Excellent for the current year should
be based on a rating of Excellent in the
previous year.
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Department Milestones AY 2003-2004
This new system of evaluation requires the
establishment of goals agreed upon between the
department chair and the faculty member. I will
provide some guidelines and dates for this
process.
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You are the reason we have a great department!!