College of Arts and Sciences
New Faculty Information
1. Beginning Necessities
a. payroll signup
Many of you have already been contacted by someone in the A&S Payroll Office (361 Jacobs Science Building) regarding the new hire process. If so, please continue to work with that individual to complete all necessary steps. If you have not yet been contacted about these matters, contact Jennifer White (). Once you are in Lexington, you will fill out other forms (W-4, K-4, Direct Deposit) and also turn in receipts for moving expense reimbursement or direct billing.
b. driver’s license and auto registration
You can register your car at the DMV office downtown in the same complex as the Fayette County Clerk’s Office (162 East Main Street, 3rd floor): (http://www.fayettecountyclerk.com/web). Parking is available in the municipal garage (“The Helix”) next to the Clerk’s office, and you can have your parking validated for free. KY driver’s licenses can be obtained at the Circuit Court’s Driver’s Licensing office at 1591 Winchester Rd., Suite 103, Lexington, KY 40505 (adjacent to Spencerian College); (859) 246-2151.
c. university ID cards
To get an ID card, go to Bowman’s Den, the temporary structure next to the Singletary Center. While a new Student Center is under construction, certain services previously available in the Student Center will be available at the Den. Before going there check with the A&S Payroll Office on the third floor of the Jacobs Science Building to make sure you are in the payroll system; that Office can also provide you with a form. The College pays for the initial employee ID card, and your ID picture will go into the faculty directory. Your ID can also act as your library card.
d. set-up and move-in
Please talk to your department office manager about moving things into your office. Note that the department office manager and the budget analyst associated with the department are two different individuals. The former has an office in the department, whereas the latter’s office is part of the A&S business center.
e. university parking
The parking and transportation (http://www.uky.edu/Parking/) office is located at 721 Press Ave. (off Virginia Ave.), on the 1st floor of the parking garage structure. You can register your car there with the university and get a parking permit hang-tag for your rearview mirror. This tag can be used in multiple vehicles (you must know the cars’ license plate numbers to register them). Note that you will not be able to get a parking tag until your hire date and after you have been entered in the payroll system. Please check with the A&S Payroll Office if you have questions.
A faculty E-permit (Intermediate Parking) costs $37/month in 2017-18. The costs can be deducted from your monthly paycheck. This permit allows you to park in designated employee parking lots. If you forget to display your permit, you are allowed one “free” ticket per fiscal year. Call the parking office if this happens and they will erase it. Otherwise, parking tickets are about $25, and the parking department is pretty vigilant about enforcement.
2. Your Office
a. keys
Your department office manager will provide you with necessary keys.
b. office furnishings and desk supplies
Each office comes with basic furniture (desk, shelves, chairs, filing cabinets). You can use start-up funds to purchase new furnishings as you see fit. Note that we are required to use university suppliers; anything necessary but unavailable from those suppliers can be purchased elsewhere. Please work with your department office manager and/or budget analyst on any needed items.
You can also obtain furnishings at UK Surplus, where departments send discarded or unnecessary furniture and goods. It is open once a week on Tuesday afternoon, from 1-4, and located at 347 Scott St. (101 Reynolds Bldg. #3; 257-6234). Ask your department office manager for an authorization sheet and take it with you to Surplus. If you find something you want (i.e., a filing cabinet, chair, table, bookshelves), you can either hand carry items to your office or have Surplus deliver them to you. There is a charge for delivery, and it typically takes a week or two. All items are free.
c. computer and phone
If a computer is specifically part of your start-up package, contact Scott Bradley, Director of College IT (), to determine what machine you want. Once this is done, the budget analyst associated with your department can help you purchase it. You can buy either a PC or a Mac; a support person can help with Linux. If you have computer related issues or questions, submit a help request to the College IT department (located on the 9th floor of Patterson Office Tower) at https://hive.as.uky.edu/how-can-we-help-you.
Telephones come with your office, and you will have an independent line capable of voicemail. You will also be assigned a Long Distance Access Code that you can use for making long distance calls. Note, however, that the Long Distance Access Code is for domestic calls only; for international calls, please use SKYPE (or similar). Please talk to your departmental office manager about obtaining a code and an instruction sheet for using the Polycom Voice Over IP phone system (if such a sheet is not already in your office.)
d. e-mail accounts and electronic communication
After your payroll assignment has been entered into the system, you will be assigned a university email address, usually “”. (Others’ addresses, especially older ones, might use other algorithms.) You also will have a UK Person ID number, which is used in lieu of your social security number. Your official uky.edu address should be good for all work correspondence. For assistance, contact the College of Arts & Sciences IT department at https://hive.as.uky.edu/how-can-we-help-you. Email management (e.g., vacation messages, passwords, forwarding) can be set up at the Account Manager page on the UKY website: https://ukam.uky.edu/manager/.
e. Post Office
A full service U.S. Post Office is located in the basement of the White Hall Classroom Building.
3. Teaching and Academics
The following are just a few details. Please carefully read any informational emails you receive from the dean’s office or registrar.
a. UK’s academic calendar
UK maintains a 17-week academic calendar in the fall and a 16-week calendar in the spring (due to a week of spring break). There are no classes the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. If you have a spring semester class that meets once a week on Mondays, be careful in planning your syllabus. Because the Martin Luther King Holiday is on a Monday early in the semester, your first class meeting could occur in the third week of the semester.
b. Dead Week
UK does not observe a class-free reading week prior to final exams. The week prior to final exams is called “Dead Week.” During Dead Week, instructors cannot give tests, assign papers, or administer quizzes unless these assignments are written into the syllabus at the start of the semester. Even then, it is considered bad form to give too much work. The best policy is to treat Dead Week as a concluding or retrospective period. Normal practices include (but are not restricted to) holding review periods and/or study periods while still officially holding class and being available to students to answer questions, assist with papers, and prepare for exams.
c. missed classes and absences
If you are going to miss a class due to unforeseen circumstances, contact your department office manager who will help communicate the cancellation to students. Scheduled absences (e.g., for conferences during the term) should be listed in your syllabus. These absences should be kept to a minimum.
d. office hours
Faculty are expected to hold regular office hours. An advantageous practice is to hold office hours twice a week at different times. This makes you available to more students.
e. enrollments, Canvas, and grade submission
Class rosters and other academic information are available on the myUK portal (https://myuk.uky.edu/irj/portal); click on the “Faculty Services” sub-tab, which is under the “Student Administration” tab.
UK uses the CANVAS learning management system. The Office of eLearning has prepared online tutorials and face-to-face classes for faculty and staff. That office can also provide one-on-one consultations, specialized department work sessions and personalized transition support to help you prepare Canvas support for your classes. The Canvas portal and log-in site is available at: http://www.uky.edu/canvas/ . Please email the Office of eLearning at or visit uky.edu/elearning for more details. The online or in person training is very valuable, and it is best to do it soon after your arrival in Lexington. We recommend that you set up your Canvas dashboard well before the start of classes.
The university used the Blackboard management system for many years, but as of June 1, 2016, Blackboard Learn was no longer accessible to the UK community.
Grades are submitted via the myUK portal (https://myuk.uky.edu/irj/portal). This includes mid-term grades—which are mandatory—and final course grades. The registrar sends out an alert indicating the windows when grades can be entered. These windows are tightly enforced, and you will not be able to enter grades once the windows have closed. Your department office manager will give you instructions on gaining access to your myUK portal.
f. UK academic web space
University web space is available. Contact your department office manager to request a www account. The URL for your Web site can be abbreviated to appear in a more intuitive form.
g. classrooms
For problems or issues relating to classrooms, contact Ruth Blackburn in the Registrar’s Office at 7-4903. She handles most of campus and can give you contact information for buildings she does not control.
h. textbooks
Textbooks orders can be placed online with the UK bookstore at http://www.uky.edu/AuxServ/textbookinfo/. The on-line form is also available through the UK Site Index (click on F for Forms, then T for Textbook). Orders placed with the bookstore are submitted directly to all bookstores that sell course texts. Your department manager can help you with this process.
Barnes and Nobles is taking over operation of the University Bookstore beginning this fall. It is possible, therefore, that the textbook ordering process will change. The Bookstore has also moved out of the Student Center and will be housed for two years in a temporary structure behind Memorial Coliseum.
Desk Copy requests can be made directly to publishers through a variety of mediums. Your department manager can also help you with this process.
i. audio-visual services and ordering
For classroom AV needs contact Audio Visual Services at 323-6455; ; http://www.uky.edu/ukat/avservices/. They are usually able to accommodate needs if you give them one or two day advance notice. Regular deliveries of AV materials can also be scheduled.
j. CELT
Many resources, including class observation, are available at the Center for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching, http://www.uky.edu/CELT/. CELT supports course development, improved and experimental teaching, and pedagogical assessment.
k. term-end student evaluation procedures
UK exclusively uses online student course evaluations. Near the end of the semester, instructors will be responsible for directing students to the online evaluation system. In addition to standardized college forms, many departments have their own supplementary ones. Note that policies and procedures regarding online evaluations are still evolving.
l. other support available for teaching
• The University Writing Center: http://wrd.as.uky.edu/writing-center; students can be referred here for help with writing
• Library E-Reserve: webpage for E-Reserves. Copies of course materials can be easily made available here.
• Johnny Print: 547 South Limestone St., 254-6139, a printing and passport photo service; class reading packets can be produced there
• FedEx Office, 333 E. Main St., Suite 130, 253-1360, a full-service copy center.
4. Research
a. your start-up budget: uses & restrictions
New regular title series faculty members receive a start-up budget for research expenses. The money is budgeted over three years. Please check with the budget analyst associated with your department about which expenses can be covered and the procedures for payment or reimbursement.
b. making professional travel arrangements for conferences or research
It is important to work directly with the A&S Business Center before making travel arrangements for the first time. The business center can assist you with questions on your travel arrangements. The business center website is: https://resources.as.uky.edu/business-center . For University funded conference travel, you must use Concur, available at the UK Travel Management Services website: http://www.uky.edu/Travel/. The Concur link (http://www.uky.edu/Travel/cliqbook.html) offers an online tutorial and registration. If you have questions, please feel free to email the business center who will be able to answer any questions you may have. For a higher fee, you can also use AAA Corporate Travel (800-323-5354) or Avant Travel (859-233-0000).
c. Web sites
Please see the College of Arts & Sciences webpage to find information about internal and external research support, academic leaves, progress reviews, promotion and tenure, faculty awards, and other policies pertinent to faculty:
http://www.as.uky.edu/faculty-resources
For more information about UK research policies and support, go to http://www.research.uky.edu/faculty/
5. Miscellaneous
a. A list of UK Committees is available through the UK Site Index: click on R for Regulations and Procedures, then Administrative Councils and Committees.
b. See the webpage of the Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs http://www.uky.edu/Provost/APFA/ for additional information about promotion and tenure, performance reviews, faculty governance and development, the faculty handbook, and other policies relating to faculty.
c. A list of employee discounts can be found at http://www.uky.edu/HR/edp/. You will not be able to access this list until you are in the UK payroll system. Discounts on a wide variety of products and services are available including moving, apartments, auto repair, fitness, internet service, travel, and banking. There is also an Employee Assisted Housing Program that subsidizes the purchase of residential units close to the UK campus: http://www.uky.edu/hr/benefits/more-great-benefits/employer-assisted-housing-program-eahp. In addition, the Work-Life website contains diverse information, including on summer camps for kids and pet care services: http://www.uky.edu/HR/WorkLife/.
Updated 5/17