MIT
MIT Faculty Newsletter  
contents Vol. XXIII No. 2
November / December 2010

This issue of the Faculty Newsletter features commentary by the Chair of the Faculty on "MIT Promotion and Tenure Processes," an update on Student Support Services, and a piece in support of the new START treaty.

Spotlight
walking in snow
Teach Talk: Looking at the Numbers
An analysis of how the different teaching elements in Introduction to Artificial Intelligence affect student performance.
Finding Appropriate Support for Students with Disabilities
A case study on how MIT approaches teaching students with disabilities.
MIT EMS: A Student-Run Jewel
MIT's totally student-run ambulance service.
 
Editorial
MIT's Foreign Policy?; S3 & Institute Committees; Landscaping
Editorial Subcommittee
MIT’s international activities – research programs, educational initiatives, and collaborative projects – continue to expand as part of the Institute’s increasingly . . .
From the Faculty Chair
MIT Promotion and Tenure Processes
Thomas A. Kochan
In spring 2009, my predecessor Bish Sanyal asked Bob Silbey and me to co-chair a special faculty committee on MIT’s Promotion and Tenure Processes. A brief . . .
Student Support Services: Reorganized, Reviewed, and Redefined
Daniel Hastings
In August 2009, Chancellor Phillip Clay and the Chair of the MIT faculty, Professor Tom Kochan, charged the Task Force on Student Support Services (S3) "to assess . . .
Support the New START Treaty
Aron Bernstein
The new START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) is a critical and essential step in strengthening U.S. security.
MIT150: MIT Open House Follows a Long Tradition
David A. Mindell
On April 30, 2011 MIT will hold an “Open House” as part of its 150th anniversary celebration. Opening our campus to visitors was an MIT tradition that began . . .
A Missed Opportunity: Saving Oil and Foreign Exchange with a Great Reducation in Emissions
Ernst G. Frankel
America, unlike most developed countries, uses road transport for most freight transport. China, Japan, Korea, and Western Europe all make extensive use of . . .
Teach Talk
Looking at the Numbers
Patrick Henry Winston
Each week, students in 6.034, Introduction to Artificial Intelligence, attend, or are supposed to attend, two lectures, a recitation section, a tutorial, and a quiz . . .
Affordable Course Materials
Daniel Hastings, Christine Ortiz
On July 1, 2010, the Textbook Information Provision (TIP), in the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 (HEOA), put new legal requirements on all universities.
Maintaining Our Resolutions: Implementing the MIT Faculty
Open Access Policy
Richard Holton
In March 2009 MIT faculty voted unanimously to make their scholarly articles freely available on the Web. That vote, however, was just the first step. The task . . .
Finding Appropriate Support for Students with Disabilities
Mary J. Ziegler, Kathleen Monagle, Ari Epstein, Srikanth Bolla
Teaching students with disabilities is often not much different from teaching students without disabilities. Yet sometimes a student’s specific disability makes it . . .
From a Whistle to a Hum: Facilities Upgrades Enhance the Campus Steam Distribution System
Joseph Gifun, Susan Leite
Hypothetical conversation overheard between two students at the Lobby 7 coffee shop during Fall Term. Elizabeth: “Hey Alex. Where are you headed?” Alex: ". . .
ICIS: International Center for Integrative Systems
V. A. Shiva Ayyadurai
The International Center for Integrative Systems (www.integrativesystems.com) will be launched later this fall in Cambridge, a few miles from MIT. The Center, started . . .
MIT EMS: A Student-Run Jewel
Matthew Meisner
Last spring, as the MIT ambulance was responding to an emergency medical call on campus, a separate emergency call was placed to the MIT Police for an ill faculty . . .
Stellar Next Generation
During the 2009-10 academic year, the Faculty Advisory Committee on Learning Management Systems (LMS) evaluated several options for meeting the Institute’s . . .  
Work-Life Resources Now Available 24/7
The Center for Work, Family & Personal Life announces an enhancement to their resource and referral service. Provided by Workplace Options, Work-Life . . .
Letters
Cost of Nuclear Energy is Misrepresented
Ian Hutchinson
Thank you for your efforts in the latest MIT Faculty Newsletter (September/October 2010). And thank you for your comments about clean energy. I write to correct . . .
Letters
No Mention of Geothermal Energy
Herbert H. Einstein
I just received the Newsletter and read some of the articles, including your editorial, and I was very surprised about what you wrote. There is not a single mention of . . .
Connect with MIT's Global Community
Anne Street, Judith M. Cole
Are you aware that 15 percent of MIT’s alumni population lives abroad? And many of them may be professionals in your field or your former students. The MIT Alumni . . .
National Research Council (NRC) Finally Releases
Doctoral Rankings
The results of the National Research Council (NRC) assessment of U.S. research doctoral programs were released in September. The much-anticipated results . . .
M.I.T. Numbers
National Research Council 2010 Doctoral Program Rankings: Percent Ranked 1 in R or S Rankings
M.I.T. Numbers
National Research Council 2010 Doctoral Program Rankings: Percent Ranked in Top 3 in R or S Rankings
   
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