Procedures Manual

It is the mission of the support staff in the
Faculty of Social Sciences at
Mount Allison University
to provide a comfortable, efficient, and
friendly work environment for
faculty, students and the public, to
enable them to achieve their
teaching, learning, and research goals.

In the Fall of 2003, I completed a Certificate in Supervision training programme which was coordinated by the Mount Allison Human Resources Department and presented in partnership with Dalhousie University's Human Resource Development Office. In order to complete the programme I had to submit a project designed to identify a concern, and work towards a solution with my support staff. Alison and I met and determined that an everyday problem that could be addressed was daily interruption with questions about everyday procedures. The difficulty we face is that because we support such a large number of faculty we tend to spend much of our time repeating ourselves instead of doing our jobs effectively. I decided that it might be in our best interest to build on the procedures hand-out that Dean Summerby-Murray had circulated to faculty in September, 2003.

In the following pages you will find an alphabetical Table of Contents that will guide you through some everyday procedures. This is considered a "living document" and I'd appreciate any input from faculty as to what type of information should be added. The content is updated each summer.

The Faculty of Social Sciences Procedures Manual is not intended to cut off contact with faculty. It is intended to be a resource document that will serve to provide both the support staff and faculty with more time to effectively do our jobs.

                                                                                       Darlene Estabrooks
                                                                                       Office Supervisor
                                                                                       Faculty of Social Sciences

                                                                                       November, 2011

     Casual Fridays
      Coffee Fund
      Computing Services
      Course Evaluations
      Equipment
            Cell Phone
            Data Projector
            Laptops
            Portable Stereo CD System
            Slide Projector
            VGA Cables
            Video Camera
            Wireless Notebook Presenters
      Examinations
      Fieldtrips (travel)
      Financial Services
            Petty Cash Reimbursement
            Local Purchase Orders
            Cheque Requisitions
            Purchase Order Requisitions
      First Aid
      Gift Fund
      Grades
      Hand-in Boxes
      Keys
      Mail/Courier/Parcels
            Mail
            Courier
            Parcels
      Meeting Room
      Office Hours
      Parking (especially important for Visiting Speakers)
      Payroll/Student Assistants
      Printing/Photocopying
      Research Ethics Board
      Research Space for Students
      Room Bookings
      Sabbaticals
      Security
      Support Staff Duties
           Co-ordinator (Raine Phythian)
           Office Supervisor (Darlene Estabrooks)
           Secretary (Alison Estabrooks)
           Social Sciences Technician (Christina Tardif)
      Telephones
      Testing Room
      Videos
      Visiting Speakers
      Water Fund
      Web
           Departmental Web Pages
           Web Page Policies
      Workplace Inspections
      Works in Progress

Fridays will be casual day in the Faculty of Social Sciences. A tin will be placed on the counter in which any member who would like to can contribute $1. All money collected will be sent to the IWK Health Centre at the end of each academic year.

Coffee, tea and hot chocolate are available in the kitchen (3/$1.10). A list is kept in the kitchen on which you can keep track of your consumption. It is up to individuals to keep track of what you owe and pay the Secretary/Office Supervisor.

If you experience computer problems please contact the Helpdesk - 364-2473 or helpdesk@mta.ca.

For technical help in the classroom contact the Helpdesk.

If you require audiovisual equipment (laptops, projectors, etc.) beyond those available in the Social Sciences please fill out the electronic form on the Computing Services webpage. The Secretary will send requests on your behalf.

The 2009 Mount Allison Policy on Teaching Evaluation requires that all courses be evaluated by students. See http://www.mta.ca/administration/vp/policies/5310.htm.

The policy recognizes that evaluation at the University is primarily formative, that is it is conducted to provide individual faculty members with the information that they require to monitor, maintain, and develop the quality and effectiveness of their teaching and their courses. However, teaching evaluations at Mount Allison can also have summative applications: information gathered from teaching evaluations can provide valuable evidence of accomplishment when seeking employment, tenure, or promotion, or when being considered for teaching awards. Your teaching evaluations are your property, to use and disclose however and whenever you wish.  No one else receives a copy unless you grant explicit permission by signing a form.

The Purdy Crawford Teaching Centre provides fuller details and related resources at http://www.mta.ca/pctc/course_evaluations.html.

The Faculty of Social Sciences has bookable equipment that can be signed out by faculty members. The equipment will be booked on a "first come - first served" basis. Any equipment booked must be signed out in the Sign-out Binder located in the support services area.

Cell Phone - We have one bookable cell phone for fieldtrips, fieldwork, conferences, etc.
Data Projector - We have one bookable data projector.
Laptops - We have bookable laptops (2 regular and 4 mini). Between September and April, the priority use of these machines is for teaching. From May to August they can be booked for research.
Portable Stereo CD System - We have one stereo system.
Slide Projector - We have one slide projector.
VGA Cables - We have several VGA cables.
Video Camera - We have one Video camera.
Wireless Notebook Presenters - We have two wireless presenters. These devices are a combined remote control mouse and laser pointer. With these presenters you can control cursor movement within 33 feet of the receiver.

Note: If students need equipment for class presentations please book it on their behalf. Support staff will not be able to accept requests for equipment from students.

Note: Faculty and staff are advised that AV equipment is made available for teaching and research purposes on campus only. Equipment is not to be removed from campus except under exceptional circumstances approved by the Dean.

The Secretary is available for typing and duplicating final examinations. All examinations to be written in the Gym will be wrapped and delivered to Student Services where they will be locked in the safe until they are to be written. Student Services will ensure that exams are delivered to the Gym at the date and time required. They will provide examination booklets. If your examination is to be written at a different location your exams can be delivered to Student Services for safekeeping or you can choose to keep them with you. If you choose the latter please tell the Secretary and he/she will contact Student Services to let them know and to order examination booklets and an exam register for student signatures.

It is requested that examinations be delivered to Student Services at least 48 hours before they are to be written. It is desirable to send examinations for copying at least three days before, so expect some gentle prodding from the Secretary.

All students required to participate in academic trips must complete a Travel Form and Travel Waiver during the first week of class in each semester. Faculty, field trip leaders or coordinators must collect the completed forms and waivers and deliver them to the secretary in the Deans’ Office. For information on this policy please view the following site: http://www.mta.ca/administration/vp/policies/2221.htm

Waivers can be viewed at the following site: http://www.mta.ca/adminservices/insurance.html

All faculty should have on-line access to their accounts. This should be set up automatically by Financial Services. To check your accounts go to the Mt. A. homepage. On the Quick Links to the right of the page click on Financial Services, click on the link for Online Account Access, and provide your Mt. A. username and password. If you are not able to view your accounts please contact Diane Michaud (dmichaud@mta.ca) and request that she set you up.

The Office Supervisor is responsible for monitoring each Departmental Budget. He/she will monitor monthly expenditures and provide updates to Departmental Heads from time to time. In order to keep accurate records please provide to him/her copies of any purchase orders, cheque requisitions, petty cash reimbursements, etc. that have been authorized for your department. Forms are available on-line on the Financial Services website. Forms can be completed on-line and then printed for signature. Information on the most common forms follows:

Petty Cash Reimbursement (less than $50.) - This form is used to reimburse individuals for out-of-pocket expenses. Examples are instructional supplies, office supplies, mileage, etc. that total less than $50. Receipts must be provided.
Cheque Requisitions - These are used to pay honoraria for visiting speakers, book purchases, conference registrations, subscriptions, etc. They must be accompanied by proof of purchases or necessary forms.
Purchase Order Requisitions - These forms are most often used to purchase instructional supplies, computer equipment, etc.

There are first-aid responders located in various buildings across campus who can assist in the case of an emergency. If a situation arises in which you need a first-aid responder in any building on campus please contact support staff in that building. They will be able to offer assistance in contacting a first-aid responder, calling an ambulance, etc. The first-aid instructions and kit for Avard-Dixon are located at the office supervisor's work area in the support staff area (216). The first-aid responder in Avard-Dixon is Darlene Estabrooks.

Bill Waterman is a certified first-aid responder and is willing to be called upon as well.

Each fall the Office Supervisor will send an e-mail to members of the Faculty of Social Sciences to collect for the Gift Fund. This fund is used to mark happy and not-so-happy events in the lives of members of the Faculty of Social Sciences. We ask that each member donate $10 to the fund which generally lasts for the year.

Academic Regulation 10.11.8 Reporting of Grades
"Faculty members may not provide final grades or final exam grades to students in any form prior to the release of grades by the Registrar's Office. The Registrar's Office reports results to students following each examination period if all accounts with the University have been paid."
Because of this regulation and for privacy reasons, Support Staff have been instructed to remove any grades they see posted on Departmental bulletin boards, outside office doors, etc. If you are interested in advising your students of their standing throughout the term it is suggested that you use Moodle. For more information on this please check out the Computing Services website. Please do not release final grades to students.

Student hand-in boxes are located in the corridor outside the support staff area. Faculty are asked to encourage their students to use these hand-in boxes when assignments are due. The hand-in boxes will be emptied twice daily: 8:15 a.m. and 4:15 p.m., or upon the request of a faculty member. Please advise students to ensure that their name, course number, and professor's name are on the cover page.

Please note that because the office closes at 4:30 p.m. we ask that your deadline for papers be earlier (eg. 4:00 p.m.). This will allow Support Staff time to empty the box before the end of their work day.

Please don't ask your students to have their papers dated and timed by the Support Staff. This creates extra and unnecessary work for them. Please note that papers will be date-stamped and time-stamped each time the hand-in box is emptied.

The Office Supervisor will order all keys from Facilities Management. Faculty members will be issued keys to their office, the external doors, the storage closets, and the main office area (Rm 216).

Classrooms will be opened during the school year by the custodians in the morning.

If you are leaving the University at the end of the school year and will not be returning in the Fall, we ask that you return your keys to the Office Supervisor. This is for security reasons and also cuts down on the need to have other keys cut.

You are responsible for your keys. Please don't give/loan them to anyone.

Mail - There are two mail deliveries each day (11:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.). If you have outgoing mail please place it in the basket located on the Secretary's desk in the support staff area. Faculty mail boxes are located in Room 217.
Courier - If you have packages to be sent by Courier please provide name, street address, postal code, and telephone number on the envelope. Courier labels are located by the mail boxes. Please place a red label on your package if you require overnight delivery. Blue labels can be used for less urgent packages. Please provide an account number if necessary.
Parcels - Parcels are delivered from Support Services once daily in the afternoon. If you receive a package it will be placed on the table below the mail boxes and a green "package" card will be placed in your mailbox.

Bookable space for Departmental Meetings, etc. may be arranged through Facilities Management. To book a room please e-mail bookit@mta.ca. Please indicate: name/department, date, start time, end time, and room number. Tabatha Carter will get back to you on the availability of the room.

The Support Staff are not responsible for collecting money from students for field trips, retreats, etc. If you need to collect money from students please make arrangements with Financial Services. They will assist you with setting up necessary accounts, issuing receipts, etc.

The office will open at 8:15 a.m. and remain open until 4:30 p.m. daily. Occasionally the office will close over the lunch period to provide Support Staff time to attend meetings. Faculty will be notified by e-mail when this is to occur.
Summer Hours: The University operates on Summer Hours from Victoria Day to Labour Day. During summer hours the office will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. - closed from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. for lunch.

The Mount Allison Campus is a pedestrian campus. Any area that is not clearly marked as a parking area should be considered no parking. Vehicles should not be driven on campus except under circumstances laid out in the OFFICIAL PARKING POLICY (http://www.mta.ca/administration/facilities/security/parking.html).

General parking for all employees, students and visitors is available off King Street, behind Thornton House, and behind Bermuda House. These areas are available 24 hours per day and no car sticker designation is required.

Day time general parking is available at Rectory Lane, Convocation Hall, and between Harper and Facilities Management only in the clearly marked parking areas. These areas are available from 7:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. NO OVERNIGHT PARKING.

Staff, students and visitors may park in front of Avard-Dixon and the Music Conservatory, but these areas are the Town of Sackville's and are governed by their bylaws.

The vehicle of any person violating these policies might be towed at the owner's expense.

Student Assistants will be paid bi-weekly. The Office Supervisor will send an e-mail to Social Sciences to remind faculty to submit student hours each time they are due. Faculty will submit hours to the Office Supervisor and she will prepare Payment Advice Forms and have them delivered to the Financial Services Office. In order to be paid Student Assistants must register with Payroll. They can do so by seeing Betty Hunter-Brayley. She is located on the 3rd floor, Centennial Hall.

Photocopying is done by the Secretary. Anything over 20 copies will be sent to Departmental Support Services (DSS). The Secretary will complete a Copy Requisition Form and send the original for copying. The original and copies will be returned by interoffice mail. Turn around is quick - items sent in the morning mail are usually returned in the afternoon mail run. Please don't print multiple copies of documents on the printer. If multiple copies are needed the Secretary will forward the order to DSS.

Special requests: colored copies, stock paper, binding, cover pages, etc. will be sent to DSS and will be charged to your departmental budget.

New employees will be assigned a photocopy ID code. You will enter these numbers when you are printing or making a small number of copies on the departmental printers/photocopiers.

Tests and Exams to be copied at DSS are delivered in a secure sealed blue bag. They are given priority and are locked in transit.

We do not offer photocopying service to students. If students need copies of booklets, transparencies, projects, reports, etc. they must use photocopiers on campus designated for students (Library) or visit DSS.

Please Note: We pay about 10¢/copy for photocopies done in our Faculty. Jobs sent to DSS cost 4¢-6¢ per copy depending on the number of copies needed. Using the photocopying facilities at DSS has a significant cost-saving effect on our budget!

Please note also that delivering course materials electronically (by e-mail to students or on Moodle) is more cost-effective.

The Faculty of Social Sciences has an HP Designjet 800PS Plotter maintained by the Social Sciences Technician (James Bornemann). It is possible to have colour and black & white printing done (with at least 24 hrs notice) based on the following guidelines and at a cost as outlined below:
     - The max dimension for the plotter must have one value less than 36".
     - Print Margins: lateral - 5mm; leading and trailing edge - 17mm.
     - Please avoid using background colours for your poster, as this uses
         unnecessary ink and will result in the cost being adjusted for posters
         with colour backgrounds.
Costs:
     Colour Plotting..........................................................$28/m ($8.53/ft)
     Line Drawings (Black & White).....................................$11.40/m ($3.47/ft)
     Once the print job has been completed and picked up you will receive an
     invoice via e-mail.

REB approval is needed for faculty and student research involving human subjects. For procedures and forms please see the Research Ethics Board (REB) website: http://www.mta.ca/Research/com/.

There is currently secure and semi-private research space for students in A-D 104 and semi-private space in 320. During the summer months, other A-D rooms can be reserved for student researchers. Currently, these include Rooms 320, 230, 115, and G9. Faculty members should discuss their student research space needs with the Office Supervisor or the Dean.

If you need to book a room outside of your regular class time please provide the following information to the Secretary: date, time (start & end), building preference, room preference, # of persons attending, and reason for the booking (ex. visiting speaker, review session, etc.). The Secretary will then send an e-mail to Facilities Management (bookit@mta.ca). Tabatha Carter of Facilities Management will check her bookings to ensure that the room you request is available and respond to the Secretary.

Keys for classrooms must be picked up at Facilities Management for any activities that occur outside normal classroom times or during the summer months. It is possible to make arrangements to have classrooms opened. However, Facilities Management need to know about events in order to ensure that doors are locked at the end of the evening.

Conferences must be co-ordinated with Conference Services (Cindy Allan). She will make arrangements and work with Facilities Management with regard to booking requests, food, beverages, equipment, table set-up, chairs, etc.

To view the University Policy on Office Space During Sabbaticals and Other Leaves please visit: http://www.mta.ca/administration/vp/policies/5905.htm.

ALSO...

Please note that your departmental phone line will be assigned to your sabbatical replacement unless you make alternate arrangements. You will be responsible for any costs associated with keeping your phone line while on sabbatical.

When entering the building after hours your key will only open the left-hand door on the ground floor facing Main Street. Your key will open the exterior door with a turn to the right. To ensure that the door remains locked after you have opened it, please remember to then turn the key fully to the left before removing it. Please also ensure that you check that the doors are locked as you exit. Mount Allison Security will check doors during the evenings, but we all must share in the responsibility of ensuring our building is secure. If you experience a problem with locking the doors, please contact Security (364-2228).

A clear definition of responsibilities of the support staff has been determined and is outlined below.

All e-mails sent by faculty to support staff should be addressed to both Alison and Darlene, aestabrooks@mta.ca and dmestabrooks@mta.ca, to ensure that they are received and are dealt with accordingly. An example of this is if you aren't going to be in the office and need notices posted it would be desirable to send a message to both support staff in case one is absent.

If you require assistance after regular office hours PLEASE DO NOT call Support Staff at home. Please call the Dean for all after hour emergencies.

Program Advisor for International Relations and Co-ordinator of Social Sciences (Raine Phythian):

- Communication; including press releases, dealing with media
  requests from Communication Office, website review/design,
  Departmental email newsletters, contact with prospective
  students, review and preparation of proposals
- Works directly with Dean and Department Heads
- Helps arrange visits of Guest Speakers
- Orients new faculty to the University
- Helps maintain contact with graduating students and alumni
- Works with students prior to programme advising at departmental
   level
- Does institutional research at the direction of the Dean and
   Department Heads
- Enrolment information
- Assists with Transfer Credits for students
- Assists with departmental awards, bursaries, scholarships
- Liaison between faculty and students

Office Supervisor (Darlene Estabrooks):

- Liaison person for the Faculty of Social Sciences with other
   Departments, Student Services, Facilities Management, Dean's
   Office
- Student Payroll
- Prepares Minutes of Council of Heads meetings
- Tracks budget expenditures, providing Monthly Budget reports  
   to the Dean of Social Sciences
- Prepares Purchase Orders
- Orders Office Supplies
- Manages Departmental Bulletin Boards
- Orders and logs key distribution and deals with other building issues
- Creates and Maintains Departmental Web Pages
- Tracks and logs educational videos
- Maintains coffee and water funds for Faculty

Secretary (Alison Estabrooks):

- Receptionist
- Prepares documents, types, does word processing, faxes,
   photocopies.
- Files
- Incoming & Outgoing mail
- Copies and Organizes exams and ensures delivery of exams to
   Student Services in a timely manner
- Organizes meetings between students and Department Heads
- Maintains coffee room and coffee supplies
- Responds to inquiries from students, visitors, staff as well as phone,
   fax and e-mail requests
- Directs e-mails for Faculty members to their classes
- Prints information for Faculty
- Sends documents for photocopying to DSS
- Distributes exams to students

Social Sciences Technician (James Bornemann):

- Assists researchers in the acquisition and maintenance of data
   pertinent to their research projects.
- Analyses, presents reports, and prepares maps based on research
   data.
- Prepares and conducts instructional sessions in data analysis for
   students in social sciences, including teaching contributions to
   scheduled courses delivered through the Faculty of Social Sciences.    These sessions include, but are not limited to, sessions on GIS,
   statistics and data analysis.
- Works closely with students advising them on course projects and    assignments.
- Advises researchers and the Dean (through the Advisory Committee)
   on the appropriateness of teaching and research software.
- Conducts training workshops for faculty on the use of GIS software
   and assists researchers in the preparation of funding proposals for    research opportunities.
- Oversees the operations of GIS teaching and research software within    the GeoSpatial lab and additional GIS facilities, and works with
   Computing Services to ensure their proper functioning, including    software updates.
- Maintains GPS equipment and advises students and researchers on
   the use of this equipment.
- Maintains plotter and supplies. Plots posters for students and faculty    members and creates and distributes related invoices.
- Works with the Library Data Liberation Initiative contact to obtain and    distribute datasets.

If you experience difficulties with your telephone or voice mail please contact the helpdesk - 364-2473 or helpdesk@mta.ca

NOTE: A testing room G-16 is available from 8:30 to 4:30 for the 2011-12 year.  It is available on a first come first serve basis based on a sign-up sheet on the door.  You may use this room, but it is your responsibility to arrange for invigilation.

Anyone requiring other space for students to write missed/special tests/exams may also contact Facilities Management. To book a room please e-mail bookit@mta.ca. Please indicate: name/department, date, start time, end time, and room number. Tabatha Carter will get back to you on the availability of the room.

The Faculty of Social Sciences has a large educational video collection which is located in the locked storage room. Videos can be signed out in the Sign-out Binder located in the support staff area. It is requested that videos be signed out by faculty only. If, for any reason, students need to borrow a video please have them see the Secretary or Office Supervisor. They will make arrangements for them to view the video in Avard-Dixon during regular office hours.
Please visit http://www.mta.ca/faculty/socsci/Videos.pdf to view an up-to-date listing of videos.

Warning: Do not copy videos. Some have built-in mechanisms which are designed to erase the video if it is copied.

Visiting speakers can be arranged in two ways:
- The visiting speaker can cover costs associated with the trip (mileage, tolls,
   etc.) and complete a Travel Expense Claim form for payment.
- The Support Staff can assist with arranging accommodations, flights, etc.
   Purchase Order Requisitions will be completed. Please note that there might still
   be costs associated with the trip covered by the visiting speaker for which a
   Travel Expense Claim form will need to be completed.

Please let the Office Supervisor know if you would like to be added to the water fund. The cost is $10 quarterly and the Office Supervisor will e-mail reminders to water drinkers when it is necessary to collect for the fund. If you empty the cooler please change the water bottle. Leaving the cooler empty of water may damage the machine. If you are not a paying member of the Water Fund please refrain from using it as it is not fair to those who pay.

Departmental Web Pages - The Office Supervisor has access to Social Science web pages. She will update and make necessary changes to Departmental web pages. Each faculty member is eligible to have a link from Departmental pages to their personal pages. The Office Supervisor will offer support to those who request it.

Web Page Policies - For an outline of Web Page Policies please see http://www.mta.ca/administration/vp/policies/7005_revised.htm.

As a requirement of the Occupational Health and Safety Act of New Brunswick monthly inspections will be completed in Avard-Dixon. Potential hazards will be looked for during these walkthroughs. Walkthroughs will be brief and only open spaces can be inspected. Office spaces will only be inspected if you are present.
Current inspectors are Darlene Estabrooks and Raine Phythian.

Faculty are invited to make presentations regarding a topic of interest of their choice in a relaxed setting. The Social Sciences co-ordinator for 2010-11 is Raine Phythian or you may contact Karen Bamford at kbamford@mta.ca.