Section 7: Faculty Support Services

• 7.1 Faculty Travel
• 7.2 Library Services
• 7.3 Instructional Technology
• 7.4 The Maytum Learning Commons
• 7.5 Printing Services
• 7.6 Student Assistants
• 7.7 Pre-Tenure and Sabbatical Leaves
• 7.8 Guidelines for Applying for Academic Support Committee Grants and Pre-Tenure and Sabbatical Leaves
• 7.9 Guidelines for Supplelmental Research Fund Grants (SRFs)
• 7.10 Institutional Mentors
• 7.11 Course Releases for Advising Senior Projects

7.1 Faculty Travel 

Limited funding for professional travel is typically available through four sources: 

1. Faculty travel allowance. All continuing faculty receive a travel allowance to be used for conference travel and some forms of professional development. 
2. Academic Support Committee. Funds may be obtained from the Academic Support Committee to support travel associated with a specific project related to a faculty member’s research or teaching. See Section 7.8 for details and application procedures. 
3. External grants. Faculty who are able to obtain external funding to support travel expenses are encouraged to do so. Likewise, faculty whose travel plans are consistent with the purposes of existing grants are encouraged to use these funds. 
4. The Provost’s Office also has limited funding to support faculty travel to conferences and workshops about trends and debates in higher education generally. The Provost encourages faculty to participate in such opportunities through presentations, publications in journals such as Peer Review, service on national boards, etc. and will fund these opportunities, as budget permits, above and beyond the faculty member’s travel allowance and traditional disciplinary- focused support from the Academic Support Committee. 

For travel expenses to be paid through the faculty travel allowance or as part of an Academic Support Committee grant, a faculty member should complete an online Faculty Travel Authorization Form.

Upon returning from the trip, a detailed travel expense report, with receipts, must be filed with either the Associate Provost’s Office or the appropriate administrative supervisor. 

Faculty are reminded that Allegheny’s first priority is teaching. Care should be taken to limit travel which interferes with the faculty member’s teaching schedule, and to make up classes which are unavoidably missed. 

Allegheny’s general policy on travel is available in Employee Handbook, Employee Travel 1100. Specific guidelines for travel expenses and a link to the form for reimbursement are available at this link. 

7.2 Library Services 

Please visit Library Services for an up-to-date list of library faculty services. 

The Library’s staff collaborates with faculty in support of the academic programs and curriculum of Allegheny College. We urge all faculty to share any suggestions they may have about our collections, policies, services, or procedures. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Rick Holmgren (x2898 rholmgre@allegheny.edu) or talk with any library staff member. 

7.3 Instructional Technology 

Please visit Allegheny’s Instructional Technology site for up-to-date information and details about instructional technology services.

7.4 The Maytum Learning Commons 

Located in Pelletier Library, the Maytum Learning Commons provides a variety of support services for students and resources for faculty. Learning Commons staff and peer consultants can help students improve their skills in writing, speaking, time management, study strategies, and general transition to college. Tutoring is also coordinated through the Learning Commons, as is the Navigator program; please visit the Learning Commons website to learn more about services available to students. As of Spring 2016, the Learning Commons is a nationally certified tutoring center. 

In addition, the Directors of Speech and Writing in the Learning Commons maintain a number of faculty resources related to advising and teaching, especially teaching in the FS program. 

Academic Performance Reports 

Academic Performance Reports (“APRs”) submitted through WebAdvisor are an effective way for instructors and advisors to communicate with the Learning Commons about students who are experiencing difficulty in class. Copies of the APR are also sent to the student’s Academic Advisor and (when applicable) Athletic Coach and/or Co-Advisor. 

Faculty are encouraged to complete an APR whenever they are concerned about a student’s performance. APRs are particularly important early in the semester because students have time to make adjustments while their efforts can still make a difference. 

The Learning Commons requests faculty to submit an APR if they observe any of the following behaviors: 

• Two or more class absences within the space of two or three weeks. Failure to attend class for ill-defined reasons (e.g., “I didn’t feel well so stayed in bed”) is frequently an indication that a student is having other difficulties; 
• Poor performance on tests, essays, assignments, or in class activities; 
• Sudden negative changes in the quality of a student’s work ; 
• Disengagement from the course or other behaviors suggesting that the student may be in need of assistance. 

Faculty can submit more than one APR for the same student if they have further reason for concern (for example, failure of a second major examination or continued class absences). Multiple submissions when warranted are very helpful in our efforts to retain students and support student success at Allegheny. 

A Learning Commons staff member reads all submitted APRs and determines if contact with the student should be made and, if so, who is the best person to make the contact (e.g. Learning Commons, Residential Life, coach, or the Dean of Students Office). The assigned staff member may email, meet with, or call the student. Staff members often consult with the faculty member to determine the best course of action. If you do not want outreach to the student by a Learning Commons staff member, please select “FYI ONLY: Please take no action at this time. I am working with the student.” on the APR form. If you choose the “FYI” option, the box labelled “An email was sent to the student indicating poor academic performance” will be disabled. 

If you have questions about APRs or how the Learning Commons can help your students, please contact a member of the Learning Commons staff at 814-332-2898.

7.5 Printing Services 

Allegheny’s Printing Services, now part of Gator Post and Print, powered by Ricoh, provides high-quality printing, copying, and finishing at reasonable prices. 

Copyright Information. The College—as well as its faculty, staff, and students—may be liable for damages if copyrighted materials are reproduced without permission or are in violation of the law. Guidelines for copying classroom materials can be found online at.

Copying. Printing Services is equipped with two high-quality, high-production copiers capable of printing 65 pages per minute in color and 90 pages per minute in black and white. All machines are capable of producing 12”x18”. Printing Services also offers envelope printing of sizes up to 10”x13” in full-color. 

The department’s services, which provide quick turnaround at a low cost, are popular with students, who order copies of term papers and Senior Comps, among other projects. Students’ resumes can be copied on quality bond paper with matching envelopes. The copiers are also equipped to produce transparencies, and tabs. 

Wide-Format Printing. Large posters can be printed on our wide-format printer and can also be laminated/mounted on foam core. Maximum size of lamination is 25” wide and foam mounting material is 36”x48”. 

Finishing. Finished orders can be stapled, punched, folded, numbered, cut to size, and shrink-wrapped. Printing Services offers three types of binding: saddle-stitched, spiral or comb, and thermal. Laminating is offered up to 25” wide 

Other Services. The Printing Services department also provides the following copying, publishing, and designing services: 

Paper Choices. The department stocks many colors and weights of paper, from 20# bond to heavyweight card stocks. They also have access to specialty papers; however, preference is to select from on-campus paper stock offerings. Many of the papers they use are Sustainable Forestry Initiative certified and contain at least 30 percent post-consumer waste. They also carry papers that are 100 percent recycled. 

Submitting Files. PDF is the preferred file format to submit projects to Gator Post & Print. Various file formats such as Publisher, Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and Photoshop are also accepted. Printing Services can also scan and resize files for printing reproduction. Call Gator Post and Print at 814-332-2375 or email p2xprint@allegheny.edu if you have questions. 

Desktop Publishing and Design. Desktop publishing services including layout, design and creative concepts are not offered through Printing Services. For design services such as layout and creative concepts, contact the Office of College Relations. 

Timelines for Printing and the Order Form. A print-ready PDF is the preferred file format and will ensure the quickest turnaround and delivery time. Other file formats and adjustments that must be made will add to the time required to complete the job. Please note a longer turn around time will result if a proof is required.

When completing the print request form, a completion date for the job must be entered on the form. Same day requests are not guaranteed given print request volumes at any given time. 

There is a downloadable/printable Order Form available online.  

(Updated Fall 2018) 

7.6 Student Assistants 

Faculty members who wish to employ students must complete the FA Job Posting Database Form for both filled positions and positions to advertise. 

Open positions will be posted to the Student Job Database where students searching for employment will be directed. If faculty members have an open position, but cannot post the position because of the specific skill set needed from the student worker, please still complete the FA Job Posting Database Form, but indicate zero vacant positions on the form. 

The Financial Aid Office will create and send back to the faculty member their section of the Student Employment Form as the supervisor. When combined and returned to the Financial Aid Office with the student section of the Student Employment Form, time sheets are created on WebAdvisor to generate the student’s payment. 

Please hire students based on your department’s student wage allotment and directives from the Accounting Office. For additional information, please visit the Student Employment website.

7.7 Pre-Tenure and Sabbatical Leaves 

Pre-Tenure Leaves 

Tenure-track faculty may apply through the department chairperson and the Academic Support Committee for a pre-tenure leave for professional development. Pre-tenure leaves provide for a one-semester leave at full pay with no responsibilities on campus to allow the faculty member extended time for conducting research or working on course development. Tenure-track faculty members are eligible for the pre-tenure leave after a successful pre-tenure review and after having served at least three years. This means that faculty members on a normal tenure clock are eligible to apply for a pre-tenure leave in the fall of their fourth year of service for the following (fifth) year. Likewise, faculty members in their fifth year are eligible to apply for their sixth year. Faculty members on an accelerated tenure clock due to prior service are eligible to apply for the leave in the fall of their third year of service for the following (fourth) year. 

If combined with a personal or professional leave of absence from the institution, the faculty member may choose to postpone the tenure clock by one year. Full-time non-tenure-track faculty members are not eligible for a pre-tenure leave. Faculty members who take a pre-tenure leave are eligible to receive their first regular sabbatical leave after an additional six academic years of full-time teaching. 

Sabbatical Leaves 

Sabbatical leaves, like pre-tenure leaves, provide the faculty member time for professional development. Faculty members who do not take a pre-tenure leave are eligible for their first regular sabbatical after receiving tenure and having served for at least six academic years. This means that faculty members on a normal tenure clock are eligible to apply for their first sabbatical leave in the seventh year of service for the following (eighth) year. Faculty members on an accelerated tenure clock due to prior service are eligible to apply for their first sabbatical leave in the sixth year of service for the following (seventh) year. Faculty members are eligible for their next sabbatical leave after an additional six academic years of full- time teaching. For example, a faculty member taking a sabbatical leave in the fall of 2010 and/or spring of 2011 is eligible to take their next sabbatical leave during the 2017-18 academic year. 

Unlike the pre-tenure leave, a sabbatical leave provides the option of either a one-semester leave at full pay or a two- semester leave at five-eighths pay. 

Full-time non-tenure-track faculty members with faculty rank are eligible to apply for their first sabbatical leave in their seventh consecutive year of service for the following (eighth) year. They are eligible for their next sabbatical leave after an additional six academic years of full-time teaching. 

Conditions for Pre-Tenure and Sabbatical Leaves 

Applications for pre-tenure and sabbatical leaves are due on November 1 of the year prior to the academic year in which the leave is to take place. Note that for most faculty applying for their first sabbatical leave or a pre-tenure leave this schedule may mean submitting a leave request before receiving a decision on their tenure or pre-tenure review. Final approval of the leave request will be contingent upon a positive decision in the tenure or pre-tenure review. 

Pre-tenure and sabbatical leaves also are contingent upon the ability of the College to meet its teaching needs during the faculty member’s absence. The Provost’s Office, in consultation with the Academic Support Committee, will make the awards and notify faculty. It is understood that a faculty member will continue in the College for at least one regular academic year after the leave unless granted a transitional leave. 

Leaves may not be accumulated. That is, faculty members are not eligible for leaves at less than seven-year intervals. If, however, the Provost approves delaying the leave for one academic year for institutional reasons, the faculty member is eligible for the next leave one academic year earlier than would otherwise have been the case. 

(Revised 14 October 2013) 

7.8 Guidelines for Applying for Academic Support Committee Grants and Pre-Tenure and Sabbatical Leaves 

Introduction and Funding Guidelines

The Academic Support Committee is charged with granting funds for faculty development in areas related to research and teaching. Funding is available for sabbatical projects and those that occur during summers and throughout the academic year. Funds are available to all full-time continuing faculty: those in the process of establishing a career as well as those sustaining their professional development. The Committee is most likely to fund well defined projects that can be carried out, or significantly advanced, in the time available to the applicant. The term “project” is used to encompass traditional research, the visual and performing arts, and teaching. Funds from ASC are distributed on the basis of the fiscal year (July 1-June 30). The ASC sets yearly and five-year limits (current limits indicated on the ASC website) on funding for all faculty members.

Examples of proposals the Committee has approved

1. Travel, lodging, meals and out-of-pocket expenses associated with a short term trip to develop a specific project. 
2. Photocopying, acquisition of documents, slides and microfiche necessary for the development or completion of a project when other sources of funds are not available. 
3. The development of on-campus workshops, conferences or seminars related to teaching or scholarship. Where appropriate, the Committee will support small groups of faculty working on a common disciplinary or multi-disciplinary project. 
4. Necessary supplies or small equipment purchases that cannot be obtained through other sources of funding (e.g. departmental budget, grants, etc.). 
5. Attendance at conferences and workshops related to development of a specific project or to teaching. 
6. Hiring of temporary student research assistants when other sources of funds (e.g., departmental budgets) are not available. 
7. Supplemental living grants where the project requires the faculty member to live for an extended period away from campus. Such grants are most likely to be considered when the faculty member is on sabbatical.

If there are any questions concerning the appropriateness of a specific project, faculty members are encouraged to consult with the Committee chair, a Committee member, or the Associate Provost prior to submitting an application.

Proposals the Committee usually does not fund

In unusual cases and circumstances, the Committee will consider requests in these areas; however, a rationale for asking for support in these areas must be provided by the applicant making the request. 

1. Requests for assistance with expenses normally incurred in obtaining advanced degrees. 
2. Requests which are primarily for equipment. 
3. Requests for funding of projects which already have been completed. 
4. Requests for funding while on leave of absence. 
5. Requests for supplies and services that are usually available from departments. 
6. Requests for publication page charges, reprints, offprints, or preprints. 
7. Requests for stipends. 

Proposals approved and/or funded directly by the Provost’s Office or the Associate Provost, not by the ASC

1. Requests for funding for travel to present scholarly work. 
2. Requests for released time. (Released time is negotiated among the faculty member, the department chair, and the Provost.) 
3. Requests for leave of absence.
4. Proposals specifically concerning department or College-wide curriculum development. 

How to Apply for Academic Support Committee Grants, Pre-Tenure and Sabbatical Leaves

All requests for funding from the Academic Support Committee should be submitted via the ASC online application form found on the Committee web page. The online application requires the following information: 

1. A brief statement (1-2 single-spaced pages) that clearly defines the project to be pursued and related activities. The statement should include a rationale for the project and its relevance to the applicant’s professional development. Please remember that the members of the Committee may not have expertise in your area of interest. Avoid jargon, and explain the project as clearly as possible. 
2. A budget of all anticipated expenses, divided into appropriate categories: transportation, lodging, food, photocopying, library fees, materials, etc. Faculty members are asked to request full funding. The Committee may not be able to award full funding, but the Committee feels it is fairer to all applicants if all anticipated expenses are listed in the proposal. All requests should clearly indicate the fiscal year in which funding is needed. The fiscal year ends on June 30. Funds provided for expenditure in one fiscal year cannot be carried into the next fiscal year.
3. A listing of previous Academic Support Committee grants and a brief description of outcomes resulting from the funded work and a copy of the report from that leave. 
4. A list of other sources from which the applicant has requested funding and the likely date of notification from those sources. The Associate Provost’s office should be informed immediately if alternate sources of funding are obtained. 
5. A recent curriculum vitae. C.V.’s should be at most four pages in length. Applicants should select for inclusion those items judged to be of most relevance to the committee in deciding the merits of the applicant’s request. Only the most recent publications and presentations need be included unless there is older work that is relevant to the present request. Applicants may wish to indicate the number of items that have not been included (e.g., twelve presentations at disciplinary meetings between 1990 and 1998).
6. For sabbatical requests: a statement indicating when the applicant last received a sabbatical leave.
7. For pre-tenure and sabbatical requests: a letter of support from the department chair, unless the applicant is a department chair. In addition, in all cases, a brief letter indicating how the department intends to cover the applicant’s absence should be provided and copied to the Provost’s office.
8. Any additional information that may assist the Committee in evaluating the request. 

Applications for pre-tenure and sabbatical leaves that do not include a request for funding should exclude items #2 (budget) and #4 (other sources of funding) from the above list.  

Recipient Responsibilities

1. Receipts for reimbursements or receipts indicating how a funding advance was spent must be submitted to the Associate Provost’s Office (Box Z).
2. Pre-tenure and sabbatical leave reports that outline the outcome of the leave should be filed with the Provost, the Associate Provost, and the Chair of the Academic Support Committee within three months of the completion of the leave.
3. Short reports (1-2 paragraphs) that summarize the outcome of ASC grants are also required, and should be filed with the Associate Provost and the Chair of the Academic Support Committee. These reports will be posted to the Committee web page to provide a record of the kinds of activities funded by the ASC and to celebrate the accomplishments of faculty receiving grants.
4. Failure to submit leave or ASC grant reports could negatively affect future funding decisions by the Committee.
5. Support from the Allegheny College Academic Support Committee should be acknowledged in publications. 
6. If a faculty member does not intend to use all of the approved funds, the Committee should be notified as soon as possible. 
7. Grant monies may be used only for the purpose outlined in the proposal. Should circumstances necessitate a significant change in the use of the funds, permission must be obtained from the Committee or the Associate Provost of the College. 

Application Deadlines

1. November 1 of the year prior to the requested pre-tenure or sabbatical leave is the deadline for submitting requests. The Committee will consider these requests during the month of November. 
2. November 1 is the first deadline for Committee grants and pre-tenure and sabbatical leave funding. Requests received after that date will be considered during the February review. 
3. February 15 is the final deadline for both Committee grants and sabbatical leave funding grants. Requests received after that date will be considered only if funds are still available.   

(Revised 24 October 2013)

7.9 Guidelines for Supplemental Research Fund Grants (SRFs)

Short-term research opportunities sometimes arise at times that make Academic Support Committee applications impractical. For these occasions, full-time continuing faculty at Allegheny can apply to the Academic Support Committee for Supplemental Research Funds for support at a modest level.

These requests are evaluated by the same standards that obtain with conventional ASC funding applications. Faculty should therefore consult the funding guidelines and recipient responsibilities described in Section 7.8 when applying for SRF funding.

Requests for Supplemental Research Funds should be submitted via the online SRF application form on the Academic Support Committee web page. The online application asks for the following information:

• A brief (1-page) narrative description and rationale for the project for which the faculty member seeks SRF funding;
• A brief (1-paragraph) description of the circumstances that require SRF funding, as opposed to a conventional ASC grant application
• An itemized and totaled estimated budget
• A list of previous funding support from ASC
• A brief description of the outcomes of previous work funded by the Committee

The Associate Provost, in consultation with the Committee, will evaluate SRF applications and will typically inform the applicant of their decision within 10 days of the application.

Please note: SRF awards are included in the accounting of an individual faculty member’s cumulative ASC allocation (not to exceed the yearly and five-year limits). Also, in any given fiscal year, the Committee may exhaust its entire budget on conventional ASC grant applications, in which case SRF funds will not be available. Faculty are encouraged to check with the Chair of the Committee or the Associate Provost before completing an application to ensure that funds are still available to support an SRF request.

7.10 Institutional Mentors

At the beginning of their first year at Allegheny, all tenure-track faculty members are eligible for, but are not required to have, an institutional mentor, a tenured colleague from a department or program other than that of the new faculty member. A candidate post-multi-year review can also request an institutional mentor. Institutional mentors working with first-year colleagues both participate in the New Faculty Orientation program and meet with their mentees individually and routinely, offering confidential, formative feedback about teaching and professional development in a fashion and at a frequency determined by the mentor and mentee in question. Institutional mentors are expected to work with new-faculty mentees for two consecutive years and typically have two mentees from the same cohort of new faculty.

Given the formative, confidential, and supportive nature of this relationship, institutional mentors will not participate in the summative evaluation of their mentees. For this reason, such mentors who also serve on the Faculty Review Committee must recuse themselves from deliberations whenever that person’s mentee is up for discussion for pre-tenure review. Since institutional mentoring is most often confined to a mentee’s first two years on the tenure track, faculty members who have been institutional mentors and currently serve on FRC will not recuse themselves from FRC discussions of their (former) mentees in years subsequent to the pre-tenure review, including during the time period when their mentees are scheduled for tenure review. On the other hand, an FRC member must recuse him- or herself during a tenure review case if it concerns a colleague who is currently that FRC member’s institutional mentee or has been such a mentee within the past two years (i.e., after the mentee’s pre-tenure review).

All institutional mentors are remunerated by the Provost and are asked to serve in this role by the Associate Provost of the Faculty.

Faculty members typically entitled to have an institutional mentor:

• Any first-year tenure-track faculty member who wants one
• Any other pre-tenure tenure-track faculty member who either requests one or has one recommended for him or her by the Provost
• Non-tenure track faculty cannot have institutional mentors for resource reasons
• In any one year the availability of institutional mentors is contingent on budgetary considerations

Faculty members qualified to be an institutional mentor (all three criteria must apply):

• Tenured faculty not in the department of the mentee
• Faculty members with considerable institutional experience
• Faculty who want to mentor

Expectations for the mentoring arrangement:

• For first-year mentees, a four-semester arrangement
• For mentees farther along the tenure track, the length of the arrangement will vary, depending on the imminence of contract or tenure review and other contingencies
• Mentors will receive a stipend for their work
• What specific activities the mentoring relationship consists of are determined by the mentee/mentor pair
• To assure a mentoring relationship founded on trust and candor, the nature of the mentoring will be exclusively formative; no observations, suggestions, or results connected to this relationship will be used in the evaluation of the mentee
• To assure a mentoring relationship founded on trust and candor, no member of the mentee’s department(s)/program(s), including his or her department/program chair(s), will be privy to any of the details of the mentoring work
• The Associate Provost, while facilitating the arrangement at the onset, will not be privy to the substance of the mentoring work
• At the end of each semester during the mentoring arrangement, the mentor will send to the Associate Provost a brief summary describing that semester’s mentoring work; it will include no details about how the mentee is “doing;” it will simply describe what sorts of interactions the two had (e.g., a half-dozen classroom exchanges, two meetings a month over coffee, the sharing of institutional c.v.s, etc.)
• The fact that a faculty member has a mentor does not imply that he or she is “guaranteed” tenure; nor does a mentee’s failure to attain tenure or a positive review imply that the mentor has not fulfilled his or her obligations as a mentor

A faculty member’s decision not to have an institutional mentor will hold no evaluative significance during any of his or her contract reviews. 

7.11 Course Releases for Advising Senior Projects

Senior projects are the capstone of an Allegheny education, and directing senior projects is a vital component of the teaching done by Allegheny faculty. To recognize the energy and effort that faculty devote to this work, eligible faculty members receive teaching credit for their work on senior projects in one of two ways:

• Teaching a senior project seminar class, in the course of which the enrolled students complete their projects, or
• Receiving “senior project points,” which are awarded and used according to the following system:

1. If students complete their projects as part of a senior project seminar class for which the instructor receives teaching credit, no points are awarded to the first readers for those students’ projects (i.e. to the seminar instructors). However, second readers from departments other than the department in which the seminar is taught may receive the usual points awarded to second readers for their work with these students.
2. Each senior project may earn a maximum of four points, regardless of the length of the project (one vs. two semesters) or the number of departments or faculty involved.
3. If a student fails a senior project in which faculty have invested significant time and effort and must enroll for the final semester of senior project a second time, points may be awarded for each of the student’s attempts. Requests for points for failed senior projects must be approved by the Provost.
4. ​For departmental projects, the first reader typically receives three points and the second reader one point. Alternative arrangements may be made with the approval of the Registrar, though the total points awarded for the project must not exceed four.
5. For interdisciplinary projects, the primary reader from each department or program typically receives two points. Alternative arrangements may be made with the approval of the Registrar, though the total points awarded for the project must not exceed four.
6. The distribution of points awarded for a project should reflect, as accurately as possible, the relative contributions of the supervising faculty. Points may not be “given” by one faculty member to another.
7. Point allocations must be made in units of whole or half points.
8. Faculty who have accumulated 44 senior project points are eligible for a course release. Such releases must be approved in advance by the Department or Program Chair, who will consider staffing needs in determining the timing of the release, and by the Provost. Faculty should apply for releases using the Senior Project Points (SPP) Course Release Request Form, which is available from the Provost’s Office.
9. Course releases should be used as they are earned and may not be accumulated. Under no circumstances may faculty take three senior project point course releases in a single semester.
10. Senior project points are tracked by the Registrar, who will provide a compilation of points earned and used to Chairs twice yearly. Chairs are responsible for providing this information to individual faculty members, who are responsible for identifying inaccuracies in their records and working with the Registrar to correct them. No adjustments will be made for senior projects completed more than two years prior to the most recent distribution of data.