12/7/2001

Congratulations to December Graduates. There will be a Department Reception for students graduating in December at 11:30 AM, December 19, in the Patty room, 200 Daniels Hall.

December Graduates include:

Duane Deardorff
Kristy Dyer
Suzanne Huerth
Eugene Li
Mohammed Abdel Maksoud
Jaeh Wan Oh

The Department Holiday Party, sponsored by the Graduate Students, will be Friday, December 7, at 3:00 PM in the Patty Room, Daniels 200.

Emerging Issues Forum. Undergraduate and graduate students who would be interested in attending the Emerging Issues Forum at McKimmon Center, February 11 and 12, should let Becky Savage know of their interest by January 12. The Dean's Office will underwrite student tickets.

The topic this year is "Biotechnology and Humanity at the Crossroads of a New Era" More information about the Forum is available at www.ncsu.edu/eif.

Changes in Housekeeping Schedule. Starting November 26, and phased in over several weeks, NC State Housekeeping will be implementing major changes in the way they operate.

1) Offices will be "detail" cleaned (swept, shelves dusted, carpets cleaned) once a week.

2) Office trash will now be picked up only once a week, 3 days after the office is cleaned.

3) Desk-side recycling containers will be placed in every office, one for white paper and one for mixed paper. These will be emptied once a week, on the day that trash is picked up.

4) Every office will be have a door hanger (like hotel "do not disturb" signs) hung on the inside doorknob that will show the day the office will be cleaned and the day the trash will be emptied. If there is a need for a special cleaning, (for example after a Christmas party), hang the sign on the outside of the door with a sticky note attached, and housekeeping will try to clean that room sooner than its scheduled day.

5) Restrooms will be cleaned daily, and detail cleaned once a week. Restroom trash will be emptied every day.

6) Classrooms will be cleaned daily.

Please inform Robert Egler of any housekeeping problems that arise. He will get in touch with the Housekeeping Zone Manager.

2000 National Doctoral Program Survey. The results of the NAGPS (National Association of Graduate Professional Students) survey for 2000 are now available. Thanks to all the Physics graduate students who participated. Please respond again for next year so that we have enough to exceed the ten minimum needed for inclusion. The survey results are available at survey.nagps.org, and cover all disciplines offering PhDs. You can view results for 48 different physics programs and for 237 different physical science programs throughout the U.S. NC State Physics scored at or above the physics averages for 9 of the 10 categories (Overall satisfaction, program climate, mentoring, etc..) Six other programs on campus were rated (psychology, chemical engineering, economics, toxicology, sociology, entomology) along with many programs at UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke. One comment posted referred to the grad student stipend as low; we have been trying to address this. As always, if there are concerns see Michael Paesler or Chris Gould.

No Hazardous Materials accepted in Department Main Office. Please note that deliveries of hazardous materials will not be accepted in the Department Main Office. Arrangements for delivery of hazardous materials directly to the lab where there are needed should be made.

John Hubisz: To San Diego, CA, for the American Physical Society Council Meeting.

Academic Regulations - Beginning of Semester Reminders:

More details are available on-line at: www.ncsu.edu/provost/academic_regulations/beg_of_semester.html

COURSE SYLLABUS

Teachers are to provide students with a course syllabus (electronically or hardcopy) on the first day of class, which will help prevent misunderstandings and allow both instructor and student the opportunity for advance planning.

TEACHER OFFICE HOURS

All teachers should schedule time during each week when they are available to meet with students.

ATTENDANCE REGULATIONS

Teachers in 100- and 200-level courses must prescribe to the university's attendance regulation. Please be reminded that the attendance regulations provide the expectation that students be granted reasonable excused absences and attendant opportunities to make up missed work. In doing so, we should be sensitive to the variety of legitimate conflicts for which allowing excused absences are respectful of students' situations. These types of situations are described in item 1 of the attendance regulation.

CLASS ROLLS

Faculty are reminded to check class rolls to make sure all students are properly registered.

Up-to-date rolls are available on line at: www2.ncsu.edu/ncsu/reg_records/adm_frnt.html

GRADING SCALE

All courses and all students in courses are subject to the use of the +/- grading scale. Teachers are responsible to determine the performance recognizable by each grade.

EARLY EVALUATIVE FEEDBACK TO STUDENTS

Consistent with the 6 week course drop policy, teachers are urged to provide evaluative feedback to students before the end of the drop period.

NO MAJOR TESTS IN FINAL WEEK OF CLASSES

Regular tests and quizzes should not be held during this week, nor should assignments be added which must be done during this week. Term assignments identified at the beginning of the semester to be turned in during this week and scheduled lab tests are appropriate. The principle is for students to be able to plan time for final examination preparation during this week and to have time to complete scheduled assignments such as semester term projects and lab examinations during this week. Exceptions must be approved in advance by the Department Head and the Dean of the college in which the course is taught.

ADDING AND DROPPING COURSES

Courses may be added during the first week of a semester and during the second week with permission of the instructor. All courses may be dropped without regard to course load during the first two weeks of a semester. After the first two weeks, students wishing to drop below 12 hours may do so only by complying with the regulation's 'Exceptions.'

(Students wishing to add a Physics course should see Robert Egler, in person, in the Physics main office.)

Back to Physics Department home page.