January 2002
Vol: 3 — No:2

page 03——
01 02 - 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11

New office of Grants and Contracts

New Faculty Get Warmer Welcome

Kisirwani Made Acting Dean of Student affairs

Office of Student Affairs Takes on Three New Directors

Senate Meeting of October 26, 2001 (agenda and notes on action taken)

FEA Building Dedicated to Raymond Ghosn (1921-1976)

Dr. Amjad Mufarrij Remembered

Joint Research Workshop: FHS/AUB and Damascus University

For the forth year in a Row: Summer Program For Children of Alumni

Brief topics:

Archives

—When foreign faculty first started returning to AUB in 1992 and 1993, horror stories about their arrival and reception on campus were rife.

—An extremely youthful-looking Scotsman arrived at the Medical Gate at 2 am and was refused entrance. Other new faculty members were delivered in the dead of the night to apartments with no light bulbs. Even as recently as three years ago, a newcomer to the Department of Education, promised a two-bedroom apartment, was dropped off in a dirty, scruffy one-bedroom apartment in a residence hotel. Promised a move within days, by the end of the first semester he was still in the unsatisfactory rooms. His wife, not only discouraged, but ill, left for the United States, and the professor cut his two-year appointment to one year.

—Fortunately such incidents have greatly diminished over the past two years because of a new faculty coordination program set up by Provost Peter Heath and coordinated by faculty facilitator Khadija Lakkis, an instructor in the English Department. This year the coordinator made herself available, via e-mail, long before new faculty members traveled to Beirut. New arrivals were met at the airport by English-speaking members of the motor pool, and when they entered their apartments, both on and off campus, they found welcome "survival kits" consisting of flowers and basic necessities such as tea, coffee, bread, butter, and toilet paper. In addition they were given telephone directories for AUB and Beirut; a copy of At Home in Beirut; the AUB Catalogue; pamphlets about AUB and touristic spots in Lebanon plus a map of Lebanon.

—A day-long orientation seminar provided much valuable information. Participants cited talks by President Waterbury and Provost Heath as extremely helpful. Vice President George Tomey, Personnel Director Claire Uwayjan, librarians, PC support people and other individuals briefed the new-comers on specifics of life at the university.

—After lunch new faculty members of the previous year, Professor Marj Henningson of the Department of Education and Professor Methaf Khattar of the Department of Biology spoke to the newcomers about a variety of problems ranging from practical matters of adjustment to psychological problems of culture shock.

—That evening new faculty members enjoyed a social gathering at the Café d' Orient. Several other social and touristic outings were organized by the faculty facilitator, including a popular tour of downtown Beirut. New faculty also meet regularly on Friday evenings at a Beirut pub. On October 24 and 25 ten new faculty members from both this year and last year traveled to Palmyra in Syria, and on December 7, the group

gathered at the Phoenicia Hotel for a traditional "iftar."

—Several new faculty members said that the opportunity to meet new members from different faculties has been vital to their settling into life at AUB.
New faculty orientation has improved enormously over the past two years. Nevertheless, a few people always slip through the net. One faculty member who arrived early in September this year received no advance communication from the coordinator, was not met at the airport, and when he tried to enter the Medical Gate, although he had the key to an apartment he was sub-letting in the Hariri Building, had difficulty gaining entrance.

—Most new faculty members, however, were happy with their warm reception and with the orientation program that provided them with essential information and the opportunity to meet others during trips and various social activities. —

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