Resources Guide for New Faculty, 24-25:
(In alphabetical order)
Academic Resource Center (ARC; David Hallowell, Director): Coordinates tutoring, learning assistant program, workshops for some courses, and the writing center, and can consult with students about study skills. Students must initiate the tutor request, then ask for your approval; the ARC will find the tutor.
Associate Dean for Faculty Development (Brian Mello): Supports department chair development, part-time faculty staffing, and implementation of our new curriculum.
Associate Dean for Student Awards and Research (Kammie Takahashi): Oversees summer research grants for students, scholarships, fellowships, awards, travel grants, lectures and forums, Honors Convocation, the Dean’s List and various Honors Programs (e.g., Dana Scholars, Muhlenberg Scholars).
CARE Team (Michele Paules, Director of Student Support Services): The CARE team provides ‘preventative, proactive, and early intervention services to identified students’. The team includes staff from both academic and student affairs, including from the health and counseling centers, campus safety, and the ARC. You can submit an incident report for a student of concern, an academic issue, discrimination, harassment, retaliation or bias incident, incidents of sexual misconduct and behavior that violate Title IX, or a general incident report to the CARE team. The team will reach out to the student to check in and to make connections to the appropriate campus offices.
Chief Financial Officer (CFO; Curtis Topper): Provides oversight on overall budget, financial and business matters at the College.
Chief Information Officer (CIO; José Dieudonné): Oversees media services and information and instructional technology and provides overall support for software, web content, and telecommunications, etc.
Counseling Services (Timothy Silvestri, Director): Students seeking counseling can be seen on campus or connected to local mental health professionals. The Counseling Center is located on the 2nd floor of the Life Sports Center.
Dean of Academic Life (Gretchen Gotthard): Oversees the Academic Resource Center (ARC), Office of Disability Service (ODS), Muhlenberg Extended Learning (MXL) Grants, and the Academic Integrity process, as well as students on academic warning or probation.
Dean of Students Office (Allison Williams, Vice President for College Life and Dean of Students): Dean Williams leads a team of various departments to support student ‘health and safety, identity development, culture and inclusion, leadership opportunities, and overall residential living experience’.
Director of Advising (Sharon Albert): Provides faculty support and training for summer and academic year advising as well as the First-Year Experience.
Human Resources (Jill Walsh, VP for Human Resources): Can address questions about contracts, tax and retirement withholdings, benefits, and leaves, as well as support for international faculty (e.g., work visas).
Institute for Religious and Cultural Understanding (William “Chip” Gruen, Director): The institute works to promote religious and cultural diversity and understanding as well as reasoned public discourse. The institute offers regular programming to the community.
Instructional Technology and Digital Learning (Tom Sciarrino, Director of Instructional Technology & Media Services): This office provides support and guidance for digital pedagogy, instructional design, media services and instructional technology.
LGBTQ+ Support: The Faculty and Staff LGBTQ+ Collective (Kassandra Hartford, Chair) organizes gatherings for those who identify as LGBTQ+ and allies of the LGBTQ+ community. There are also multiple groups to support LGBTQ+ students, facilitated by the Office of Multicultural Life.
Muhlenberg Center for Teaching and Learning (MCTL; Sherri Young, Director; Cathy Kim, Assistant Director): Coordinates content-specific programming and community-building opportunities for faculty and staff at all career stages. Offers funds for conference travel and course/pedagogical development. MCTL also coordinates New Faculty Orientation for new full-time faculty during their first two years at the college.
Office of Community Engagement (OCE; Beth Halpern, Director, and Eveily Freeman): Fosters connections with local community organizations and provides advice to faculty and staff about community-engaged courses and experiences.
Office of Disability Services (ODS; Traci Gensits, Director): Resource for students with accommodations, students who might need accommodations, advice on making your course / materials accessible, and proctored accommodated testing.
Office of Equity and Title IX (Jennifer Storm, Director): Handles all complaints of bias, identity-based discrimination, harassment, and sexual misconduct. This office also coordinates educational outreach for students, faculty, and staff on these issues. Note that faculty are mandatory reporters for incidents of identity-based discrimination, harassment, sexual misconduct, intimate partner violence, stalking, retaliatory harassment, and criminal behavior witnessed by or reported to us. Reports can be submitted online, or you can call Jennifer (X3562) with questions.
Office of Institutional Research, Assessment and Effectiveness (Laura Edelman, Dean for Institutional Research, Assessment and Effectiveness): Coordinates institutional assessment and research, administers external student surveys, supports the Middle States accreditation process, and oversees program assessments.
Office of International Student Support (Tom Janis, Director): Provides support and guidance to international students as they transition to Muhlenberg.
Office of Multicultural Life (OML; Robin Riley-Casey, Director and Associate Dean of Students and Diversity Initiatives): Sponsors many student affiliate groups, serves as a voice for DEIB on campus, and offers opportunities to get involved in DEIB work. Keep an eye out for announcements about the Africana Studies Book Club (faculty-staff-students) co-sponsored by OML and Africana Studies.
Office of the President (Kathy Harring, President): Plays a key role in institutional development and advancement, recruitment and retention of students and faculty, and overall strategic planning.
Office of the Provost (Laura Furge, Provost): Provides oversight for the recruitment, appointment, retention, evaluation and development of faculty, curricular development and assessment, academic affairs and initiatives, and academic affairs operating budgets/endowments.
Office of the Registrar (Ginger Yavorski, Registrar): Facilitates course scheduling, room reservations (use 25Live through the application portal), reporting grades, student transcripts, graduation requirements, major & minor declarations, and access to Workday.
Religious and Spiritual Life (Rev. Janelle Neubauer, College Chaplain; Ira Blum, Director, Leffell Center for Jewish Student Life): Worship services are held regularly on campus. The Religious Life staff support students, faculty and staff. Religious life staff are not mandatory reporters; therefore, students who want to speak confidentially with a staff member about sexual misconduct, harassment, or an identity-based bias incident may want to turn to Janelle or Ira. (Note that all faculty are mandatory reporters.)
Trexler Library (Tina Hertel, Director; Subject Librarians: Rachel Hamelers (Natural Sciences), Kelly Cannon (Humanities, Arts, and Business), Jess Denke (Social Sciences), and Susan Falciani Maldonado (College Archives & Special Collections): Librarians can design and lead class sessions on library resources and research strategies specific to your discipline and connected to a particular assignment. They can also consult about assignments, resources, etc. Kelly is an expert in copyright.
Writing Center (Josh Barsczewski, Director; Owen Mendes, Assistant Director): Trains student writing assistants, associates, and mentors, offers feedback to students on writing, and coordinates the First Year Seminar program.
Writing Group (Sherri Young): The Ad Hoc Faculty Writing Group organizes writing retreats throughout the year to provide accountability for professional activity. The group also shares writing tips and resources.
Still have questions? Ask…
Your department chair: You will rely heavily on your department chair as you are navigating your career at Muhlenberg. Your chair can help with any questions you have related to teaching, scholarship, service, evaluations, and resources; chairs are a great first point of contact about anything you might need.
Your department’s administrative assistant: Administrative assistants tend to know a lot about how campus works. Do not hesitate to ask for their help with getting needed supplies, booking campus spaces, travel reimbursements, and figuring out who to ask about what.
Members of your mentoring circle: It is helpful to have trusted mentors outside of your department. During your first year at the college, MCTL will integrate you into a mentoring circle containing both junior and senior colleagues, based on your needs.
MCTL board members or other colleagues: Feel free to reach out to any member of the MCTL board with questions. Muhlenberg College is a very collegial environment, and your colleagues are more than happy to answer questions!
