Critical & Creative Thinking
Program Coordinator Handbook

* form to be used; Distribute signed forms to faculty so they have them at the first class and put some in an envelope on your door

• Graduate Assistantships | Student services (ID, online grades, email, etc.) | Facilities
  * Submit forms for GAships in May (once Graduate dean has set the program's allocation) and inform all current and incoming students. Out of state and foreign students are helped most by the tuition waiver of a GAship. Submit forms (forms from Graduate Studies site)

• CCT Community Directory | Information Form for CCT Community Directory | Registering for courses | Student advising | Transfer of credit for graduate courses taken elsewhere or at UMB before matriculating | Preapproval of graduate courses taken at UMB after admission but before matriculation
  * Ask GA to persist in asking new students for info for community directory OR to extract info from applications.
  * Complete transfer of credit forms soon after the student has matriculated for any UMB or outside courses taken before matriculation.
• Profiles of CCT Faculty (with rooms & office hours)
  * Ask program assistant to track down this information soon after semester starts. It takes persistence, e.g, visiting the faculty members in person.
• The Program Coordinator is the faculty member who directs and oversees all aspects of the program. (The Program Coordinator is the same person as the Program Director or GPD = Graduate Program Director.)
  
• Program Ofice cct@umb.edu, Wheatley Hall, Second Floor, Room 143-09, University of Massachusetts Boston, 100 Morrissey Boulevard, Boston, MA 02125-3393 ( Directions)
  

Moving along through the programs of study

• Course planning, including worksheet for students to submit.
  * Persist in asking students for this info and for updates, insert this info into the database, and use to: a) make projections of future enrollments; and b) register current students on-line before the end of the pre-registration period if they haven't done so themselves - this saves them late fees & reduces chance of sections being cancelled by the admin
• Course Descriptions, Foundation Courses, Electives, and final Required Courses (with syllabi linked to website)
  * Get syllabis as attachments from faculty at the start of the semester, make a copy for the C&I departmental secretary, and upload onto the CCT website.
• Scheduled course offerings
  • Summer 2010 | Fall 2010 | Winter/Spring 2011
    
    * Update these webpages as new information, e.g., about rooms is available so that the online info about courses is the most up to date
  • Future offerings of courses (provisional)
• A set of steps to prepare CCT students to complete a synthesis during their final semester (or very soon after)
  Explain these during entrance interviews
• Research and Study Competencies to develop before the final Required Courses
  * Promote these and, in conjunction with a possible new core course, "Research & Writing for Reflective Practice," move them through governance approval.
• Academic Policies and Procedures (on leave, incompletes, etc.)
  Program Fee must be paid for students to keep their file active in semesters when they are taking a course. Program coordinator "registers" you for this before add/drop date; afetr then, submit form and check including late fee.
  * During first week of classes, check who is not registered for a course and check whether they are OK to be "registered" for this (as course CAS600). Otherwise they'll get charged a late fee.

* Make sure students really finish the practicum before taking synthesis.

* Convene meeting of synthesizers at the end of previous semester to get them started in advance of their synthesis semester.

• The Rs of the CCT experience
• Exit self-assessment
  * Do not approve capstone completion without these. Keep electronic versions in the CCT files (in the folder "impact on students_self-assess") and/or a paper version in the students' files.

* Transfer Credit forms--used when a student enters CCT and needs courses transferred from other graduate classes taken at UMass and other institutions prior to admission.
* Non-Degree Registration forms--used when a student who is not in the program enrolls in a CCT course. All current CCT students receive priority when signing up for a particular course. Non-degree students should only be admitted after current CCT students have had adequate time to register or if there are many spare places in the course.
* Program Fee forms-Any semester a student is not taking a CCT course, this form must be filled out, and the fee paid.
* Leave of Absence form--used when a student has serious circumstances and needs to take a semester or more off.
* Application for Graduation forms--used when a student is approaching graduation (deadlines: approx. March 1 & Nov. 3). This form requires the student to fill out their courses and grades to show proof of completion.

Time line of things to do

* Arrange new student orientation/ community gathering
Get students to register for courses, especially course with low enrollment. Ask anyone doing an indep. study to do so through a course with low enrollment.
Submit changes to Spring courses, state-side
* See previous semesters' schedules for models. Coordinate science-related course offerings with COSMIC. Link to CCT website as soon as draft is ready, then revise as changes come through. Submit to C&I chair, but keep copy and use this when asked to input schedule manually by altering printout of previous year's schedule. Be careful that the two submissions match. In fact, don't wait to be asked - go to Chair and/or Ann Carbone to ensure that the CCT schedule gets submitted to registrar.
Appoint a Certificate assistant, who gets paid with funds that have to be transfered from CCDE (Tony Holmes) to GCOE (Ann carbone). This person should
respond to online inquiries and lead the alum group in promoting the certificate.

a. Special (non-matriculated) student forms
* to get permission for courses. If the course is not full and the student has an undergraduate degree, they can be admitted to the course with the advising office administrative assistant signing for the CCT coordinator. See also link for students

aa. GAships
* make sure the names are forwarded to Bob Bobek so a tuition waiver is processed. (GAs should ask at Graduate Studies about these forms, and keep checking back if they aren't ready when you first ask; check with Liz at the GCOE front desk to ask her to forward your check by mail; and alert Department of C&I if no check arrives.)
* Appointments may have to be reestablished each semester, even if the appointment is made for the whole year.
* Training should impress these goals of assisting with CCT Work
a. Streamlined, efficient operations given the constraints on resources, facilities, and staffing.
b. Recruit new students and in other ways expand and sustain the wider CCT community.
c. Support faculty initiatives, such as the CCT Network, that extend the impact of CCT in the wider world.
d. Use empathy and respect for others who are (also) stretched many different ways, need assistance, and get frazzled or depressed if they do things themselves because they can't rely on getting help

b. Key Requests
should be submitted for new GAs and faculty. The forms should be signed by the Assistant Dean and sent to Facilities. Look out for pick-up notices in the campus mail, and give them to the relevant parties so they can go and collect their keys in the administration building. On CCT computer keep a record of who has keys to what rooms.

c. Office hours and CCT class times
should be gotten from faculty teaching CCT courses (including Philosophy 501 and Psychology 650), typed, and posted on the CCT door, notice board, and faculty webpage on website.

d. List of current CCT students
(Status 1) with contact phone numbers, e-mail addresses, and advisors should be output from the database, tidied up, sent to all CCT faculty.

d. Syllabi
An electronic copy should be got from faculty teaching CCT courses, preferably by email attachment which should be filed in the appropriate computer folder under Course Material. Make three paper copies, file one and pass on two to the SOCI secretary and file another in CCT files. Forward the electronic copy to Peter Taylor to be linked to the CCT website.

f. E-mail aliases
for status 1, 2, 3 and 4 and status 7 should be generated afresh at the start of the semester from the database (excluding people not wanting mailings) in order of the people's last names. Additions and deletions can be made by hand in between times.

g. The CCT Forum
the official "Recognized Professional Association" (RPA) of CCT Students, organized by the Graduate Student Assembly (GSA), part of the office of Student Life (7-7950) so that funds can be applied for events that the Forum might wish to host and for co-sponsoring CCT events. One of the GAs should take the lead in this and enlist the others as officers. Keep and eye and ear out for notices and orientations. Typically, the RPA application must be submitted very near the beginning of each semester with a list of officers, members, and a $10 fee. Visit Student Life very early in the semester to learn about the required orientation meetings - the people designated as the President and Treasure in the officers' list will need to attend one mandatory training at the beginning of each semester. If this does not happen, the RPA can be deactivated for the semester and funds will not be granted or available. As of 2008, the RPA advisor in the Student Activities office is Chuck Henriques, 7-7948, CC 3408 - he must be consulted for distribution of all funds (and any other space request/planning arrangements that for official CCT Forum events.

h. Course rosters
should be copied and sent immediately to the CCT faculty involved. Input into the database (in lower case - see record AA2 for codes) the courses that CCT students are registered for.
(These may be being phased out now that faculty access course rosters online.)

i. Input registration
When class lists are made available (via CCT slot at Graduate Records) input students' enrollment into their database records, then forward class lists to the instructors.

j. Program Fee for non-registering students
To keep one's student status active when not registered for courses, a program fee of $175 must be paid. If not paid before end of add/drop a late fee of $50 is charged. This is now covered by the Program Coordinator "registering" the students in a dummy course; the Bursar then charges them. Get permission to do this from students who have not registered by the start of semester.

k. Pay for part-timers
The Assistant Dean is ultimately responsible is responsible for getting part-time faculty and GAs on the payroll. This involves getting a contract to the faculty to sign and getting it back. The GA or the GPD may need to inquire with her if the checks don't start to come through -- it's important that part-timers are as well looked after as we can manage so we don't lose their goodwill and involvement. Sometimes checks get sent to the GCOE and need to be redirected to the relevant home address. Alert GPD as soon as you hear of any delay.

Application for Graduation: Students need to complete and submit these forms by deadlines: approx. Nov. 3 (for Dec. degree or certificate) & March 1 (for May/June or August degree or certificate)

Spring courses, Cont. Ed.
* Cont. Ed. usually sends a list to be confirmed or amended - ask for it if it doesn't come by first week of semester.

Winter courses, submit to Cont. Ed. under C&I chair's signature
* CCT616, Dialogue Processes
Summer courses, submit to Cont. Ed. under C&I chair's signature
* CCT618 - check that all the instructors want to keep teaching this and the dates work. Abby Yanow serves as lead instructor and inputs grades at the end. 37% of salary for lead instructor; 31.5% for each of other two.
CCT601, 619 - check that Janet Farrell-Smith wants to teach these; schedule them for the 3 weeks that CCT618 runs

Ask Tony Holmes how much CCDE will transfer to GCOE for courses CCT has offered through CCDE (roughly $200/course). These funds are now deposited in CCT's own ESS account and can be budgeted for readers, CCT events, and various dues.
Transcript printout from Grad. Registrar. Use these to:
a. Record in db whether a student finished the course - change lower case f, sp, su, w to upper case F, SP, SU, W
b. Identify students who have fallen off the registrar's system - probably didn't pay program fee - contact them
c. Identify discrepancy between no. of courses finished and degree credits - this means a course taken before matriculation needs to be transferred in - submit the form for this.
d. Look for problems - low grade point averages - and bring up if necessary at CCT faculty meeting
Solicit applications for Delores Gallo fund prize
Produce single sheet to advertise course offerings in advance of registration period.

Arrange rooms for next semester in Psychology when needed for synthesis, practicum, and evaluation courses
* Inform registrar and Assistant Dean and include on CCT website
Make sure all current students register during registration period. Before that period ends, register any laggards according to the course plans they submitted and inform them that you have done so, but they can change at any time.

Meeting to get spring synthesizers started. See steps
Get fall synthesizers through final steps - see final steps

Decide on book prize winner and submit citation to Graduate studies
Get international students to apply for tuition waiver through Grad. Studies
Posting of GA openings and Hiring GAs
Positions should be posted on the HR website (Grad. Studies does this if you send them the form), on notice boards around the GCOE, and by email to all current and incoming CCT students
Bound syntheses should be stored in CCT closet and sent to Curriculum Library, abstracts sent electronically input into db, & self-assessments filed
Make Explicit agreements w/ any students for synthesis completion after June 1

Messages on voicemail & email; arrangement w/ Certificate assistant to continue covering email inquiries if they owe hours
Admissions advising and processing is the big issue to keep on top of during summer
Also publicity and logistical support for summer courses

Other office work

Computer records and other databases

* Each person is a "record" in the filemaker database "CCT students and others." The information about them goes in "fields," which are explained in the dummy records under the names Aa1 and Aa2. When you update a record with new address, phone or e-mail, remember to update the date in the top right-hand field, e.g. a change made in September, 2000 would be noted as 2000.09. This allows a later user to judge the reliability of the info in the record. Use [brackets] to indicate info that people have asked not be released.
* To search for (Find or Command-F) a range of records use ..., e.g. b... * Select and sort desired records then use "output" to construct a report. Then open the file you made for the report in Word or Excel to prepare for printing. Adjust tabs to get columns lined up.

* Alert others if there is a message for them, or forward it to their personal e-mail. Delete messages when you have responded to them, or move to the appropriate mailbox within Eudora if you have to keep them. Move attached files from the Attachments folder to the appropriate folder on the computer or delete them as part of processing the e-mail messages. Do not let messages accumulate unprocessed in the Inbox or let attached files accumulate in the Attachments folder.
* E-mail aliases or nicknames (Command-L) mean that you don't have to remember everyone's addresses.
* Use the Find command to locate any old message.
* To send an attachment with a message use command-H and move through the dialog box until you find the file and can select it.
* Use the "redirect" command, not "forward," to forward messages.
* Respond to inquiries from UMass online and file according to whether the inquiry was hot (worth following up on) or not. Some inquirers are not qualified; some want a Ph.D. only; some are good candidates for certificate or M.A.

The official university website contains info about CCT that rarely needs updating. It has a link to the working CCT website. The master copy of this is currently located on Peter Taylor's computer, and is updated by him and then uploaded onto the www.cct.umb.edu server using Fetch.
If someone else gets involved, note that the design criteria for the website extend well beyond graphic design. See also sitemap for website.
It is ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL that webpages are never edited using Word (unless the person knows how to avoid Word inserting zillions of unneeded html code).
All files are stored in one folder, CCT, on the computer and in one directory on the server.

Faculty correspondence, course material, items relevant to running the program, etc. are in folders with self-explanatory names inside CCT-GPD on the CCT hard drive. If in doubt, leave in the "to be sorted" folder. Any new file you create, give it an informative name and save into the appropriate folder. Do not leave any files on the computer desktop or in your personal folder -- they get forgotten, lost, or become a chore for someone else to clean up. GAs should clean off their personal files when they finish their term as a GA. If you detect two versions of the same file, delete redundant versions-consult with GPD if in doubt, or if both contain unique information.

No longer maintained separately from the CCT database.

This difficult-to-use university database provides information about course enrollments. A window to it can also be opened on Peter Taylor's office computer. Ask him for assistance.

Use sync software to copy new or changed files to a flash drive (memory stick), which can then be transferred to the GPD's computer (for use and as an extra backup).

files/ (of the old paper kind) and forms

These are initiated when a new application arrives--follow the steps on the application tracking sheet, including assigning a general advisor and informing both student and advisor. If an application is turned down, a student graduates, or a student withdraws from the program, the folder is moved to the Past Students' Folders (stored in CCT closet next to W-2-209).
Memos, correspondence, copies of forms, and updated transcripts should be filed in the back of the students' folders. The transcripts are generated by Graduate Records mid-semester (April and October; contact Margi Katz if they don't arrive) and, after the GPD has reviewed them, filed (see mid-semester, above). Previous versions can be removed. When the student graduates, the folder can be thinned down to essential records, then stored in the CCT closet. Add loose leaf copies of the synthesis to the folder and use to make copies if requested.

Most forms are online, but paper copies are always available from the Advising Office, W-2-xx

Grade Change forms--used when students need to have a grade changed. Professors will ask you to send the completed form to the Graduate Studies Office.

Tuition Waivers--some state workers (and others) may have tuition waivers. Tell students to turn their paperwork in to the Graduate Studies Office if they are non-degree students, or in to the university bursar's office if they are in the CCT program to receive the appropriate waiver.

Required Course Waivers--On rare occasions, the Director will permit students to substitute a course for one of the required courses. A memo to Lisa Lavely, the Graduate Registrar, must be written to specify the course waived and substituted.

Get paper and electronic copies of syllabi for each course at the start of the semester. File the most recent version of the syllabus for any course at the front and upload electronic version with links to courses/html website. When student evaluation of courses are summarized onto single sheets, these can be filed with the corresponding syllabus. The evaluations themselves should be forwarded to the departmental secretary.

These are generated and maintained for the most part by the Faculty Advisor/Coordinator. New material gets added to the back of the folder. During periodic working bees, these may be winnowed and old material archived in the CCT closet.

Contact info & other arrangements

Access code = 52771 Voicemail can be heard from off- campus by dialing (617) 287-4700, then #7xxxx, then use access code. Press 4 to repeat a message. A detailed explanation of other options is given at the start of the campus phone directory. [The extension 7-6520 is no longer active.]

Collect applications from the mail slot for CCT in the Graduate Admissions office (in Campus center) and process them according to the tracking sheet.

This should be sent in batches with informative subject lines and extraneous material removed.