undergraduate
graduate program
ph.d. requirements
faculty
classes
  undergraduate
graduate + ph.d.
faculty
classes
  undergraduate
graduate + ph.d.
faculty
classes
 

 


TA FACILITIES

contacts 2009/10 | offices & facilities | classrooms & classroom equipment | TAship | registration |

CONTACTS 2009-2010 |

ChairJonathan Culler , Morrill 303A

Associate Chair for Language InstructionDavid Cruz de Jesús , Morrill 305, for matters relating to teaching needs, TAship, coordination issues, etc.

Director of Graduate StudiesTracy McNulty , Morrill 309, for Romance Studies graduate student concerns

Coordinators of Graduate Studies
French: Laurent Dubreuil, Morrill 314
Italian: Tim Campbell, Morrill 307
Spanish:
José Edmundo Paz-Soldán, Morrill 312

Support Staff:

Administrative ManagerColette Walls, Morrill 303D, (cw16@cornell.edu) for personnel matters relating to contractual needs, medical leave, and benefits.

Undergraduate Studies/Building CoordinatorCal Hile, Morrill 306, (clh2@cornell.edu) for room scheduling, keys, mail issues, building and office issues and repairs, classroom equipment issues, and registration issues. Cal can also help you schedule a meeting with the Associate Chair for Language Instruction, David Cruz de Jesús.

Accounts RepresentativeBrent Hollenbeck , Morrill 303B, (bah11@cornell.edu) for travel and expense reimbursements, information about research funds, supplies, printer and photocopier troubleshooting etc.

Graduate Field Assistant/Receptionist - Rebecca Davidson , Morrill 303, (rd18@cornell.edu), for general inquiries, issues related to graduate students and the graduate field, equipment check-out, film and book libraries, event planning and scheduling, and the department website.

Assistant to the Chair - Kristina Baier, Morrill 303C, (kmb255@cornell.edu) for immigration or visa questions, or for making appointments to meet with the chair of the department.

WHO DOES WHAT?

<TOP>

OFFICES AND FACILITIES |

Offices

TA offices are on the third and fourth floors of Morrill Hall. These are shared offices, with desks that are usually in sufficient number for each TA to have a personal desk, although on occasion the number of TAs exceeds the number of desks, in which case there is no choice but to share.

Each of us must always have access to our work area whenever we need it, and relatively quiet surroundings to enable us to do the work we need to do. Please respect this basic principle for yourself and for all those who share an office with you, and especially for those in offices that you are entering temporarily or passing through.
Throughout the semester, all of those who share the office should pay attention to keeping the office looking presentable overall, so that it is a more welcoming place for those who share the office, and for students who come to office hours. 
At the end of each work day, tidy up your work surface and place all of your personal belongings in as safe a place as possible (don't leave anything of value in the office).  For shared areas like computer desks, think of those who must use the area after you, don't leave your things in these shared areas, don't eat or drink near the keyboard, etc. 
Do not leave food in your office unless it's in a sealed container, or we will have rodents and other pests invading our space.  Report any pest activity to the main office as soon as you notice it.
In the interest of security and safety, if you are the last to leave the office, be sure to lock the door, close the windows, turn off the air conditioner, etc.  Report any safety concerns to the main office immediately.
Be aware of the fact that there are cultural differences among us, and that some behavior which may give the appearance of being invasive could be considered in the other culture to be the only civilized way to handle oneself in that situation. Be tolerant of differences, and encourage tolerance in those who work with us, to keep our worksite as comfortable and pleasant as possible for everyone.  In case of social differences that affect the working environment, professional courtesy and respect of the environment of others will always take precedence (this could include, for example, resolving issues of sensitivity not only to sound, such as voices and music, but also to odors from food and perfumes).  The best rule is to be sensitive to the needs of those around you, and be as uninvasive as you can be with your own behavior and customs.  This does not mean, however, that you can ask your officemates to remove themselves from the area so that you can work with your students - this is as much their territory as yours. 
At the end of the semester, remove all of your personal belongings from the office.  Over winter and summer breaks there can be office moves, desk changes, etc., and shared TA offices should be completely empty at these times, except for items that have been placed there by the administration (supplies, reference materials, etc.). Even if there is no major change or repair being planned, this will allow the cleaning staff to do their job better. 
If your students have given you large displays that were left over from class presentations, it is your responsibility to dispose of them before you leave (these are usually recyclable), unless you want to keep them for yourself, in which case you should take them home.  Any personal items that remain in the office after the semester is over will be considered as unwanted items.

<TOP>

  • Supplies
  • The department supplies graduate students serving as Teaching Assistants with the following materials upon request:

    - cards for student information
    - printer paper
    - dry erase markers
    - chalk
    - #2 pencils
    - roll books
    - blue books or other needed testing forms
    - phone message pads
    - transparencies
    - writing instruments for transparencies
    - stationery for professional recommendations

In addition, each TA office can request basic needs such as staples, paper clips and scotch tape; and printer cartridges when needed. Please stop by the main office at 303 Morrill Hall. Any of the staff can provide you with additional supplies as needed.

  • Keys

See Cal Hile in 306 Morrill Hall for your office and building keys, as well as the key to A/V equipment cabinets in some classrooms. There is a $5.00 deposit for each office or building key for TAs. The deposit will be refunded to you at the end of your post with the department when you return the key.

See Kristina Baier in 303C Morrill Hall to gain card access to the 3rd floor lounge as well as the copy room.

If you need to use a Morrill classroom after hours, you must reserve it with Cal.

  • Mail

You have a mailbox on the third floor of Morrill Hall, next to the main office. Please see Cal Hile for your mailbox key.

<TOP>

  • Photocopying

Photocopiers for faculty and TA use are in Morrill 308. The photocopier in the main office is only for use by the support staff.

Code. For copying needs related to your teaching, you will receive from the Department a special copy code. If you have not received your code numbers, or they do not work properly, please contact Brent Hollenbeck. Keep track of all your copying, in case someone uses your code. If you notice an inconsistency at any point, alert Brentimmediately.

Conservation. In the interest of conservation of the environment and to avoid unnecessary expense, plan ahead to avoid unnecessary photocopying. Whenever possible and pedagogically sound, use alternative means of getting the information to your students: the web for student home use, and overhead transparencies for class presentation. Both copiers in Morrill 308 have "scan to pdf" capability. Please see Brent Hollenbeck 303B Morrill if you need to be shown how to use this feature.

Where to copy? You have the choice of either copying in Morrill 308 or sending orders to Gnomon. If you have a known copying need and would like to place the order with Gnomon, please plan ahead sufficiently. Rush orders will need to be done (by you) in Morrill 308. Please note that there is a card access lock on the copy room door. Your Cornell ID card will provide you with access. Please see Kristina Baier in 303C Morrill if you have problems accessing either the copy room or the lounge on the 3rd floor.

Gnomon orders

You may use Gnomon for department-charged copying.
Forms to order Gnomon copying can be found in Morrill 308.
Order black and white copies only: one color copy costs at least twenty times as much as one black and white copy. Color copies is not allowed.
Please order white paper: color paper costs extra.
Please order only as many copies as you need.
Leave your order in the basket on the shelf: it should be returned within 24 hours except on weekends.

<TOP>

  • Computers

Computers are to be shared among all of those in the office: please be considerate of those who are waiting their turn to use the equipment, try to check to be sure someone else doesn’t have a more urgent priority than you, e.g.

Shared computers in TA offices are for use related to teaching in the courses assigned for your TAship in the Department of Romance Studies.

Only those assigned to a particular office may use the equipment in that office, except in emergencies.

No files should be stored on shared computers unless they relate to the course you teach, and then only if these files are shared by others teaching the course, or need to be consulted again.

At regular intervals, and particularly at the end of each semester, when you clear your desk for the break, delete all files that you have created that you know will not be needed again. If in doubt about the need of these files for future use, check with the course coordinator.

Never delete files other than your own.

Keep in mind that regular servicing of computers may require that all files be deleted, especially if the drive has frozen due to overfill. In essence, standard back-up strategies apply.

Technical Support. Melissa Fields troubleshoots all problems with office computers in Morrill Hall. If you notice a problem with a computer in your office, please notify Melissa as soon as possible, so she can resolve the problem. Send all of your requests via-e-mail to Melissa or by phone at 5-0717. If it is an emergency, you can contact her on her cell phone at 607-280-5762.

Note that there are a number of public computer labs on campus for you to use for your own academic work. A list of public labs can be found at: http://www.cit.cornell.edu/labs/.

Graduate students in the fields of Linguistics and Romance Studies have available to them for their own academic work the Morrill Hall basement computer lab in B08. Please contact Rebecca Davidson if you would like the access code to that facility.

Other Resources. For class materials, setting up web pages, software assistance, computer training, etc. see the experts at the following sites.

Technology Assistance
Computing at Cornell for Faculty
Language Resource Center

  • Telephone

Telephones in shared offices need to be handled professionally. Officemates should share the responsibility of answering the phone if it rings, taking a message if the call is not for you. There should be a regular schedule of listening to audix messages and communicating to the interested parties the content of the audix message. If you need help with the audix set-up, contact Kristina Baier in the main office.

  • Department Lounge

The 3rd floor lounge is available to all those who work in the department, as a shared area. The kitchen area provides the means of making coffee (prices are posted in the area), keeping your lunch refrigerated (labels with a place for your name and date are attached on the refrigerator), etc. The responsibility for cleaning the lounge resides with all users. Please be considerate and clean up after yourself. Do not leave dishes in the sink. The lounge has an ID card access lock. Please see Kristina Baier if you have a problem getting into the lounge.

<TOP>

  • Department and Building Equipment

In Morrill there are a variety of types of equipment available to you. In the two large TA offices (404, 423), there is a cart with a monitor and a VHS tape deck. In the lounge (304) there is a monitor with a multiformat VHS player, a DVD player. Contact Rebecca Davidson for the key to the video cabinet in the lounge. Each TA office should also have a shared boombox. Now that classrooms are equipped with boomboxes, it should not be necessary to carry these to class.

The following are available in the main office for teaching-related use (sign up in the main office, at the front desk):

• Portable computers in a variety of formats
• Mini-DV digital video camcorder - CANON ELURA 100. Colette Walls will provide training for use of the camera as needed.

<TOP>

CLASSROOMS AND CLASSROOM EQUIPMENT |

Audiovisual resources

If you need equipment that is not available in your classroom, contact the building manager to request it 24 hours in advance. Click here for the AV equipment contact list.

Most frequent contacts:

Eric Fields, (Arts Quad buildings - Morrill, McGraw, White Hall, Goldwin Smith)
Bill Grover, (Uris Hall, Rockefeller)

Classroom problem reporting

Report any problems with classroom facilities to Cal Hile in 306 Morrill Hall.

<TOP>

last updated: August 18, 2009