Keck Science Handbook Appendices

Appendix A. Keck Science Department Annual Faculty Report

Appendix B. Keck Science Form Letter for the RPT Process

Appendix C. Laboratory Trash and Excess Chemical Disposal

Appendix D. Process for Adopting the Keck Science Faculty Handbook

Appendix A. Keck Science Department Annual Faculty Report

Date:  ___________________

Name: ___________________

Assigned College:  ___________________

In years when they are not being reviewed by the RPT Committee for reappointment or tenure all Keck Science tenure-track faculty members are required to submit annual Activity Reports by the second Friday in April. These reports are to cover the faculty member’s performance since the previous review (or the date of hire) in the three areas listed as criteria for reappointment, promotion and tenure, i.e., teaching and academic advising, scholarly activity, and service to the college, the profession, and the community. Please note that it is not required to use this specific format. 

The intent of this program is to provide all untenured faculty members with a chance to report their college and departmental contributions to the tenured members of their discipline and to the Keck Science ADC. The report may also be used by the department to:

• compile composite records of faculty and student publications, and
• note other faculty teaching and professional accomplishments that demonstrate the quality of the department.

The report, together with other data, will form the basis for an annual discussion with the discipline convener and the Keck Science ADC to assess how well each tenure-track faculty member is progressing toward a successful tenure review.

The following outline suggests topics that may be advisable to include in an annual report:

1. TEACHING
   1. Courses offered (Indicate any new or substantially revised courses.)
   2. Involvement in student research, including supervision of senior theses, second readers for senior theses, independent studies, summer and academic year research supervision, etc.
   3. Briefly describe any work on curriculum development (including intercollegiate or cross-disciplinary).
   4. Describe your goals and objectives for future work in this category.
   5. Any additional information not included above.
2. ADVISING
   1. How many first year advisees have you had for the previous two semesters?  At which colleges?
   2. How many other advisees have you had for the previous two semesters
3. SCHOLARLY ACTIVITIES
   1. List publications during the past year (indicate peer reviewed and underline student authors).
   2. List publications accepted during the past year that have not yet appeared.
   3. List presentations given and conferences attended during the past year.
   4. List any current grants and grant applications.
   5. Briefly describe your current research plans, including goals and objectives for future work. Please list work in progress on papers as well.
4. SERVICE TO THE DEPARTMENT AND COLLEGES
   1. Committee and administrative assignments
   2. Additional service (e.g. contributions to intercollegiate programs or groups, talks to students, alumnae/i/a, parents, etc.)
   3. Describe your goals and objectives for future efforts in this and the following categories.
5. SERVICE TO YOUR PROFESSION AND THE COMMUNITY
   1. Membership on boards or committees outside the Colleges.
   2. Speeches, interviews, etc.
   3. Sponsorship or participation in projects at local, regional, or national levels.
   4. Consulting
   5. Other (such as reviewing manuscripts or grants, K-12 programs, minority outreach, etc.)
6. HONORS AND AWARDS
   1. List any honors, awards or other accomplishments not noted above, that were received during this year (specify whether for teaching, scholarship, or service).

Appendix B. Keck Science Form Letter for the RPT Process

Date

Dr.

Department

University

Address

Address

Dear Dr.

Dr. [name], an Assistant/Associate Professor of Biology/Chemistry/Physics in this department, is currently being considered for contract renewal in [her/his/their] 3rd year /promotion to Associate Professor with tenure/promotion to Full Professor. I am on the subcommittee charged with gathering information for evaluation by our Committee on Reappointment, Promotion and Tenure. More specifically, I am responsible for material relating to [her/his/their] efforts in scholarship and research. We would appreciate your evaluation in regard to [her/his/their] accomplishments in this area. I have enclosed [her/his/their] resume and copies of recent publications. Your evaluation will be kept confidential and will be made available only to those involved in evaluating the candidate. Please note that it is not expected that you will provide a final determination of whether the candidate you are evaluating should be renewed/promoted 

The RPT guidelines state: “Reappointment, promotion, and tenure are determined by the faculty member’s contributions to the department and to the Keck Science Colleges in the areas of teaching, scholarship, and service.”  With regard to scholarship, the guidelines state that: “Scholarship takes the form of original contributions in one’s field. Keck Science faculty members are expected to show energy and initiative in establishing and sustaining a research program. Normally, evidence of this includes articles and reviews in refereed journals, monographs presenting original ideas, peer reviewed conference proceedings, and chapters in edited books. Further evidence may include grants from outside funding sources, both public and private. Activities such as writing textbooks, presenting curricular material in refereed journals, presenting original research at professional meetings and presenting and writing for public audiences can be submitted as supplemental evidence of scholarship.” 

The guidelines continue: “A candidate’s scholarly work is evaluated for its originality and significance and for the nature of [her/his/their] contributions to collaborative projects, not merely for its quantity. It is recognized that the rate at which a research project develops varies considerably from project to project, and that this should be taken into account when evaluating a candidate’s research effort.” Moreover, it should be noted that the candidate should be evaluated with regard to the norms of productivity at a liberal arts college.

Finally, if you have comments addressing areas other than scholarship, they would also be most welcome.

I would appreciate your written response by [date]. If appropriate, you may fax your evaluation to (909) 621-8588; please call (909) 621-8298 before faxing to alert our Office Supervisor.

Thank you for your valued assistance in this important matter.

Sincerely,

[name]

Chair, Ad Hoc Review Committee

encl.

Appendix C. Laboratory Trash and Excess Chemical Disposal

C.1 Purpose And Applicability

The purpose of this document is to establish a uniform process for the disposal of trash and excess chemicals generated during laboratory experiments or the preparation or clean-up for laboratory experiments. 

C.2 Summary Of Methods

This document defines the various types of trash and excess chemicals generated during chemical laboratory experiments or the preparation or clean-up for chemical laboratory experiments and details their proper disposal.

C.3 Definitions

General Materials. General trash includes miscellaneous debris that is not contaminated with chemicals and is not covered in the below categories.

Recyclable Materials. Recyclable materials include uncontaminated paper and plastic. 

Sharps. Sharps are defined as needles, lancets, or syringes.

Glass Waste. Glass waste is broken or unbroken glass.

Dilute Solutions of Acids and Bases. Dilute solutions of acids and bases are defined as aqueous solutions of strong acids and bases with a pH in the range of 4 - 10.

Concentrated Solutions of Acids and Bases. Concentrated solutions of acids and bases are defined as undiluted acids and bases and aqueous solutions of strong acids and bases with a pH in the range below 4 or above 10.

Excess Chemicals. Excess chemicals are defined as used or unused chemicals from an experiment except for solutions of acids and bases as defined above.

C.4 Health And Safety Warnings

Chemicals can exhibit one or more characteristics including: carcinogenic, ignitable, oxidant, corrosive, toxic, radioactive, or explosive. Precaution should be taken against exposure such as; wearing gloves, a lab coat, long pants, and closed toes shoes to minimize skin contact, and wearing goggles to protect the eyes. Wash all parts of your body coming in contact with chemicals as soon as possible. Areas where these chemicals are used must be cleaned immediately after use.

C.5 Procedural Steps for Laboratory Trash and Excess Chemical Disposal

1. General materials (e.g. paper towels) may be disposed of in the black or Gray waste containers.
2. Recyclable materials should be disposed of in the blue, recycling containers.
3. Sharps should be disposed of in the appropriately labeled “sharps disposal” containers.
4. Glass disposal:
   1. Clean glass should be disposed of in the glass disposal containers.
   2. Chemical contaminants should be rinsed into chemical disposal containers. After this, the glass can be disposed of in the glass disposal containers.
5. Dilute solutions of acids and bases may be poured down the drain after dilution with water or after neutralization and dilution with water.
6. Chemical Disposal:
   1. Containers for chemicals and used/excess chemicals should be labeled at all times. During laboratory, it is appropriate to label disposal containers with lab tape stating the experiment number or “aqueous” and “organic” if large amounts of both are generated and can be separated easily.
   2. It is more accurate to label the containers with the most common chemical in the mixture. List the second most common chemical for aqueous solutions.
   3. Chemical containers should never be left unsealed. Bottles should be capped, corked, or topped with a safety waste funnel and lid.
   4. When a container for used and excess chemicals is full, it should be replaced (with an empty, labeled container), capped, moved to the laboratory preparatory room, and officially labeled using the stick-on labels provided by the department.
   5. Once labeled, place the containers on a cart with large edges (currently, the Rubbermaid cart).
   6. One of the lab coordinators or research directors will move the officially labeled bottles to the temporary storage cabinets in the basement storage facility (Keck 24).
   7. Strong acids, strong bases, or strong oxidizers should not be transported with other chemicals. These chemicals should be transferred to the basement storage facility (Keck 24) in individual safety bottle carriers. Bottles of strong oxidizers should not be stored near those with organics.
   8. Instructions for filling out Waste Label:
      
      W.M. Keck Science Center - Rm 24
      925 N. Mills Ave, Claremont, CA 91711
      Chemical(s):_______________________
      _________________________________
      _________________________________
      Class: ____________________________
      Amount: _________________________
      Date: ____________________________ 
       
      1. List all chemicals in the waste bottle. Spell out the chemical names, do not use chemical symbols (i.e., water, not H2O). Generic names like “organic liquids” are not sufficient for official labels.
      2. Leave the class blank. It will be filled in later.
      3. List the amount of the chemicals in liter or grams. The smaller, amber disposal bottles contain 2.3 L when full, and the large size contain 4 L.
      4. List the date that the bottle was placed in Keck 24.
   9. The colleges have contracted with a licensed disposal company to pick up chemicals for disposal about every three months. The Departmental Coordinator sends out a notice several weeks before the pick up occurs.
   10. Note that the term “waste” is a quasi-legal designation, and any bottled labeled explicitly as “waste” in your research or teaching laboratory must be picked up for disposal within 90 days from the day the first chemical “waste” is placed in the container. 

C.6 Records Management

Current copies of this set of procedures will be kept in the laboratory preparatory rooms near the official labels as well as in the binders containing laboratory preparatory instructions. Copies will also be kept in the basement storage facility (Keck 24) and the offices of the lab coordinators. Central Facilities Services retains copies of the waste manifests. 

Appendix D. Process for Adopting the Keck Science Faculty Handbook

Over the years since the Keck Science Department was founded in 1964, the Keck Science faculty and the Keck Science Colleges have approved a series of Faculty Handbooks to provide useful information for new faculty members and to codify a broad range of official departmental policies. The most recent Handbook was adopted in 2005. 

A new Governance Agreement for the department that was ratified by the Colleges in May 2009 specifies a number of changes in departmental policies and required some major changes in the Handbook. The Keck Science Faculty Executive Committee and the Dean’s Director of Special Projects took up this task during the 2009-2010 academic year. It became apparent that the new Handbook should include both the changes in existing sections of the Handbook required by the 2009 Governance Agreement and some new sections to cover policies that were absent in previous editions of the Handbook. By the end of the academic year a draft of the Handbook was presented to the Keck Science faculty, and after much discussion and many changes a version was approved for submission to the Colleges.

Early in the 2010-2011 academic year the Keck Science Academic Deans reviewed the draft of the Handbook and made a number of suggestions that were approved by the Keck Science faculty. In addition the Presidents approved the section on Reappointment, Promotion and Tenure Policies and Procedures so that this section of the Handbook could begin to be used. Later in the academic year the draft of the Handbook was reviewed by the Scripps and Pitzer Faculty Executive Committees. Each of these Committees also made suggestions that have been incorporated into the Handbook. Finally, in the 2011-2012 academic year the draft of the Handbook was reviewed by the CMC Administrative Committee, which approved its content and recommended no substantive changes.