November 15, 2022 Minutes

Council of Department Chairs

In attendance: Curtis Bennett, Margaret Karteron, Henry Wu, Prashanth Jaikumar, Lijuan Li, Will Murray, Lora Stevens, Jim Kisiel, Jesse Dillon, Babette Benken, Barbara Taylor, Krzysztof Slowinski, Christine Whitcraft, Beth Lesen, Mary Nguyen. 

NOTE: THESE MINUTES REFLECT DISCUSSIONS THAT HAPPENED ON THE DATE OF THESE MINUTES.  DUE TO THE COVID-19 SITUATION, THINGS ARE RAPIDLY CHANGING.  FOR OFFICIAL POLICY PLEASE WAIT FOR DOCUMENTS FROM THE APPROPRIATE OFFICES.

  1. Approve Agenda (10:00)
  2. Approve Minutes from Nov. 8
  3. Announcements
    1. Operations Update
      1. Currently have 59 RSCA applications; we have funding for about 54.
      2. 10 sabbatical applications; college is obligated to a minimum of 5.
        1. The college is hoping to fund as many sabbaticals as we can but unsure exactly how many.
    2. ASM Update
      1. Remind faculty to budget roughly 2% for student worker benefits on their FSG proposals.
      2. Order placed for conference room chairs.
    3. Communications Update
      1. N/A
    4. Dean’s Update
      1. Department of Geological Sciences name change to Department of Earth Science effective August 2023.
      2. Effective Communication of Deadlines
        1. Certain deadlines are absolute and when we miss them it can become a real problem.
        2. Discussion: How can we better communicate these make-or-break deadlines?
          1. Create Deadline Teams Channel
          2.  Allie to provide weekly print out for CDC
        3. Communication Reminders:
          1. Be careful of long email chains; these can lead to.
          2. Subject Lines are very important for recall.
      3. If you encounter a situation that seems “off”, let the Dean’s Office know so they can be aware before it escalates.
        1. Faculty often work hard to accommodate student behavior; let faculty know that they should let Chairs know if they suspect the behavior is part of a larger issue. Chairs should then let the Dean’s Office know.
          1. Faculty should not make accommodations for students on their own and, in any case, should alert the Chair.
            1. Don’t use the word “accommodation” or actual diagnoses in emails to avoid confusion or further issue.
            2. BMAC has a faculty handbook available.
        2. Report anything that feels like bullying.
          1. All HIPPAA and FERPA issues should be escalated.
      4. LAEP Program
        1. California has created a work study program for student research.
          1. Students who financially qualify can get into research labs; starting in Spring 2023, students who have work study can use it for research labs.
          2. Graduate students do not qualify.
      5. CalState Pays
        1. Can provide insight on where students go work after graduation.
      6. Budgets
        1. College has a lot of carry forward; if we don’t spend it by the end of the fiscal year (submissions and spends by April 30, 2023 or we will lose it).
        2. Spend CE Fund and then submit ~$1 million proposals to Henry; refrain from additional employment proposals as it will be in effect too late to be effective in this situation.
  4. Associate Deans
    1. Academic Programs
      1. Discussion: Part-Time Lecturer CNSM Evaluation Form
        1. Suggestions for Comprehensive Evaluation File:
          1. Explicitly state what we’d like to see in the write ups.
          2. What changes would you prefer in the tables?
          3. The first table is a SPOT form - If chairs feel like this is unnecessary, we can remove it.
          4. Provide feedback on Completion Rates Table:
            1. Report only completion.
            2. Report completion and state expected completion rates.
            3. Publish all completion rates.
    2. Research Programs
      1. N/A
    3. Graduate Programs
      1. N/A
  5. Mental Health Initiatives and BMAC Discussion (Time Certain 11:00 – Beth Lesen, Mary Nguyen)
    1. Discussion:
      1. Working with Classroom Student Behaviors
        1. Avoid discussing student behavioral problems in front of a classroom; these things should be discussed as privately as possible.
          1. Calling students out in class can embarrass them and lead to overall destructive behavior; even if it’s done globally.
        2. Be careful with emails.
          1. Anything you put into writing is discoverable.
          2. Stay as far away from amateur diagnostic language as possible; if you must have something on email record, keep it limited to observed behavior.
        3. Privately offer BMAC services; never “tell”.
        4. When all else fails and you’re unable to remediate behaviors after communicating that behavior is unwelcome in class, you are welcome to file a Conduct Report.
          1. Never worry about referring to Student Conduct. They care about students and will be empathetic to the situation and help them behave appropriately. They may also help faculty members clarify expectations.
        5. Request for referral resources for faculty
          1. Rolling out a comprehensive menu of different training modules available to faculty in Spring 2023 (hoping to get these trainings included in onboarding or PD).
            1. CNSM requests that these trainings include TAs.
            2. CNSM asks to consider the intersection between these trainings and laboratory safety
      2. Managing Student Accommodation Requests
        1. Faculty often claims that accommodations are a fundamental alteration of the course; this is most often not true according to well established case law.
        2. We want to accommodate students, but we also need to accommodate faculty when asking them for extra work.
          1. Determined on a case-by-case basis; Faculty should let Student Affairs know what they need to make the accommodation and Student Affairs can provide resources or take some things off of their plate (e.g. provide the tech, assist with setup, mail/ship, etc.)
        3. Student Affairs will not disclose disability to faculty but students often will.
          1. Student Affairs and BMAC work off of the basis of functional limitation not diagnosis, so faculty should remember that the accommodations for the same or similar diagnoses can look different depending on the student.
        4. Some students may be hesitant to reach out the BMAC after referral.
          1. It can be helpful to refer students to a person instead of a service.
          2. Walk them over, if possible.
    2. Steps to take ahead of time:
      1. Explicitly state behavioral expectations in syllabus and review syllabus with students.
        1. Students may have challenges intuiting presumed behavioral expectations if they are not explicitly stated since they are going from classroom to classroom which different implied expectations.
        2. No boiler plate but BMAC can possibly provide a list of things to consider.
          1. Reference campus “Community Standards”
          2. Language examples when a pivot is required.
      2. Email anyone in Student Affairs to invite them to a department/program meeting to help get the word out among faculty and staff.

Upcoming Dates:

Nov. 21-23: No Classes – Campus Open
Nov. 24-25: Thanksgiving Break
Dec. 9: End of Semester Party
Dec. 12-17: Final Exams
Dec. 12: Chairs Dinner
Dec. 22: Grades Due
Dec. 23: Last Day of the Semester

Meeting Minutes were APPROVED on Tuesday, November 29, 2022

*Note: This reflects discussion on the date of the CDC meeting about policies, not actual policy. Faculty and staff should wait for official communication on each subject before acting.