FSU - Biological Science

Department of Biological Science

at Florida State University

Academic Support (Department and University Resources)

General Information

Department of Biological Science
Florida State University
Tallahassee, Florida 32306-1100
850-644-3701

Dr. Thomas A. Houpt, Chair
Alyssa White, Administrative Assistant to the Chair
2067D King Life Sciences Building
850-644-4424

Katherine Garner, Administrative Coordinator
2067E King Life Sciences Building
850-644-4788

Departmental Support for Teaching Activities

Financial Support

Allocation of Teaching Resources
The chairman's office maintains detailed information of expenditures, by faculty, for each Biological Science course taught in our department. This information is used to estimate the resources needed by individuals for assigned courses. Each Fall Semester, a letter is sent to instructors of record informing them of the resources set-aside for their course(s). Should you feel these resources inadequate to meet your requirements, you may contact the department chair (levitan@bio.fsu.edu) or administrative coordinator (kgarner@bio.fsu.edu) to request additional support.

Ordering Teaching Supplies

Laboratory Course Supplies
The Office of Science Teaching Activities processes all laboratory supply orders, regardless of the course number, with the exception of BSC 1005L. Please initiate purchases by contacting Susan Reeves at sreeves@bio.fsu.edu, or 645-8295.

Non-Laboratory Course Supplies
The King Fiscal Office processes all non-laboratory course items. Please initiate these purchases by contacting the Administrative Coordinator, Katherine Garner, kgarner@bio.fsu.edu, 644-4788.

BSC 1005/L Non-Majors Biology
The lecture and laboratory sections of the Biology Non-Majors service course, BSC 1005/L, are coordinated by Brittany Kraft. Please contact Brittany at 644-6826 or imhoff@bio.fsu.edu.

2000-level courses
The Office of Science Teaching Activities coordinates all aspects of 2000-level courses in Biological Science, including clerical support. Please contact Susan Reeves, sreeves@bio.fsu.edu, 644-6747, for assistance with your 2000-level course needs.

Ordering Textbooks
The Biology Unit I Clerical Office coordinates textbook orders. You will be contacted several weeks prior to the start of the semester for information pertaining to required and recommended texts, based on the list of instructors provided by our Graduate Studies office (including undergraduate courses). For questions or concerns, please contact Jen Kennedy, 644-9798, jkennedy@bio.fsu.edu.

Clerical Support
Clerical support is available to Biological Science faculty for typing and/or copying course materials. The clerical staff will also assist in the preparation of PowerPoint presentations. For assistance please contact:
Biology Unit I: Jen Kennedy, 644-9798, jkennedy@bio.fsu.edu
King Life Sciences: Toria Warren, 644-3735, twarren@bio.fsu.edu

Grade Rosters
The Graduate Office coordinates the submission of grades for all Biological Science courses. Faculty will be notified when on-line grade roster submission begins and ends. Contact Jessica Webber, gradinfo@bio.fsu.edu or 644-3023, if you have any questions or concerns.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The deadline for submitting Grade Rosters is set by the University, and we are required to adhere strictly to these deadlines. Failure to adhere to university deadlines will result in a $10 penalty for each student for whom a grade is not submitted. You will be advised of these deadlines, so please be certain to work within the allocated time frame to avoid penalty.

Student Perception of Teaching (SPOT) and Section D of SPOT: State University System Student Assessment Instrument (SUSSAI) Student evaluation of instruction is required for faculty in Florida universities teaching graduate and undergraduate courses with enrollments of 10 or more students. The results are public records open to students and other interested parties. Information on SPOT/SUSSAI can be found out at: http://apps.fsu.edu/cat/courseevaluations.html.

The Graduate Office coordinates the SPOT/SUSSAI requests and will order the forms for you, as well a the graduate teaching assistants. Contact Jessica Webber, gradinfo@bio.fsu.edu or 644-3023, if you have any questions or concerns.

IMPORTANT NOTE: SUSSAI reports are used in the evaluation of progress toward tenure, and as support documentation for the annual Faculty Evaluation process. Biological Science strongly encourages its entire faculty, particularly those who have not yet earned tenure, to administer SUSSAI regardless of course enrollment.

Academic Advising

Biological Science Graduate Program

Dr. Nora Underwood, Associate Chair
gradinfo@bio.fsu.edu

For detailed information on departmental graduate requirements, see the Graduate Handbook at http://www.bio.fsu.edu/grad/handbook. Other information pertinent to the graduate program and its students can be found at http://www.bio.fsu.edu/gradstudentinfo/.

University Graduate Studies Office
University Graduate Admissions Office

Biological Science Undergraduate Program

For information conceringing Undergraduate Academic Advising, please see the Academic Advising page.

Academic Policies and Information (University)
Library Services

Florida State University has several libraries housed across campus. In addition to the main facility, Strozier Library, FSU's library facilities include the Dirac Science Library, which maintains a collection of over 500,000 volumes of books and periodicals and 126,000 volumes of older periodical and book materials in remote storage that are available within 24 hours. Subjects housed in Dirac include chemistry, physics, mathematics, computer science, statistics, history of science, biology, geology, oceanography, meteorology, food sciences & nutrition, cookery, hotel & restaurant management, clothing & textiles, engineering, psychology and clinical counseling, math & science education, health, nursing & medicine, audiology & speech pathology, movement science and photography.

Circulation Policy
Circulation policies for the University Libraries

Faculty Services
A comprehensive guide to services available to FSU faculty through the University Libraries.

Faculty ID Authorization
Faculty ID Authorizations are signed permissions faculty may submit to the University Libraries so currently enrolled graduate students or graduate research assistants may check out library materials on the faculty member's FSU ID card. The faculty member designates the expiration date of this privilege and the student must present both his/her ID, and the faculty member's ID, in order to check out materials.

Faculty Outreach
The University Libraries Outreach Program is a new initiative whereby librarians will increase their direct linkages to FSU departments and units. This program will allow librarians to help keep faculty abreast of resources in their respective fields, as well as making them aware of available library services that can assist in faculty members' research and instruction. Librarians will collaborate with faculty members in a number of ways to better establish effective relationships with all Florida State University faculty. For more details on this initiative please see the library Outreach Policy.

Interlibrary Loans
Provides access for FSU faculty and staff to materials located at a variety of other institutions.

Journals
The Serials Acquisitions Unit of the Florida State University Libraries does not select subscriptions, journals, serials, or standing orders for the collection. Selection is the responsibility of the various academic departments on campus. The contact person for Biological Science is Dr. Laura Keller, lkeller@bio.fsu.edu, 644-5780.

On-line Databases
Catalogs, Databases, and Gateway Services of the State University System of Florida, plus connections to a large number of external database services.

On-line Renewal of Library Loans
On-line service that allows you to see what resources you have checked out, and renew eligible items.

Textbook Reserves
Faculty and teaching assistants are encouraged to place books and articles or materials that may be difficult for their students to locate on reserve with the library. Materials can include photocopied articles, personal copies of books, library-owned books, or audiovisuals. Materials are charged out on the user's FSUCard for two hours use, and may not be removed from the library.

Technology Resources

Technology services at Florida State University have been centralized under the Office of Technology Integration to help the FSU community leverage the available technology resources and expertise to support the goals of the university. OTI consists of Academic Computing & Network Services, Administrative Information Systems, User Services, and Information Resource Management.

Course Mailing Lists for Instructors
ACNS will establish electronic email aliases of the students in classes for use by the instructor.

Technology Enhanced Classroom Support
ACNS maintains a system of networked technology for general use classrooms on the FSU campus. You will be required to establish a user account to take advantage of this equipment.

Distance Learning
Distance Learning offices provide support on navigating an FSU course website, as well as developing and managing online and other courses. Some teaching oriented programs administered by the Office of Distributed and Distance Learning are:
Web-MC: Web-Mediated Course Assistant (Web-MC) is a template created for faculty to provide web support for courses offered at Florida State University
Blackboard/Course Info: Using a Blackboard course web site, instructors can deliver content and coordinate online activities.