January 25, 2022 Minutes

Council of Department Chairs

In attendance: Curtis Bennett, Barbara Taylor, Margaret Karteron, Andreas Bill, Dessie Underwood, Lijuan Li, Will Murray, Lora Stevens, Henry Wu, Maryanne Horton, Lisa Martin, Babette Benken, Carole Duffis, Valerie Bagley, Vanessa Hernandez, Kris Slowinski.     

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 Jan 11t
  3. Announcements
    1. ASM (H. Wu)
      1. Not received SEF proposal memo yet. But coming soon. Proposal principle does not change. Talk to your department faculty!
      2. HEERF: still has funds available. Do not expect an extension. Hyflex rooms are being worked on but some will likely not be ready for this spring.
      3. CPIE has already disbursed some of the earnings from Su 2021 and Fall 2021.
      4. Reminder to use department (CE) funds.
      5. People with FSG receive statements from Henry every 2-3 months. Remind faculty to keep a record of their own spending between the statements.
      6. B. Taylor mentioned that purchase order processing has some extra steps enforced. Therefore, quotes for HEERF/SEF/CE are needed now.
      7. Question about financial statements (L.Li): Can the coordinator provide statement of the department’s funds once a month? Yes, the coordinator has the up-to-date information. Note that Data Warehouse only records what has been disbursed and there can be a 1-2 month lag.
      8. Remind faculty with startup to make every effort to spend the money in the time frame agreed upon. Only a one-year extension can be granted if really needed.
    2. Operations Update (M. Karteron)
      1. Commencement
        • CNSM commencement is May 17, at 1PM at Angel stadium (between COA at 9am and COB at 5pm). Two hours allotted. The news is official. See the commencement website.
        • Avoid using the words “Angel stadium.” Link alll references to the University Commencement page above Distinguished speaker: We need suggestions a.s.a.p! (by early March at the latest)
        • Stages: M. Karteron suggests each department claims one stage after the commencement for their department celebration. Department chairs will discuss once the map is provided.
        • Program: We would have: 1 hour in the stadium, 1 hour each department outside.
        • Ticketing is unclear at this time. Normally plenty of room.
  4. Dean’s Report (C. Bennett)
    1. Accommodation information (as best we have)
    2. Distinguished Alumni (C. Bennett, M. Horton)
      • Looking for suggestions from faculty and departments. Let Maryanne Horton know preferably by end of February. There will be a Qualtrics for submissions. Time for submission: the whole month of March.
      • New Distinguished Alumni recognition: The recognition is now decoupled from the commencement; the award will be conferred in September (coordinated with Founders Day). The Distinguished Alumni can but must not necessarily be the graduation speaker.
      • Note: The separately incorporated alumni association has been dissolved and replaced with an alumni council. The Distinguished Alumni committee now consists of URD administration and has one alumni representative from the alumni council.
    3. Hiring:
      • Math education has completed their search! There are some additional steps at the provost’ level.
      • Departments must ensure that PageUp information is up to date, especially at the semi-finalists level for the dean and provost to have access to data.
      • Note: Chairs should have access to searches in their departments through PageUp, if not please contact Margaret.
  5. Associate Deans
    1. Academic Programs (K. Slowinski)
      • Incoming students: We will not have a college SOAR Show Case this Spring 2022 (we cannot be certain that we can have an in-person meeting). Instead, the website will be modified (see below).
      • SOAR - two changes for this summer: a) SOAR in summer will be fully in person. b) Transfer SOAR will take place on a single day (July 26). Faculty advisors will do advising during the summer.
      • The FY 2022-23 SOAR advising support proposal is presented and explained. A discussion of the overall SOAR advising budget followed. Are there any needs of department to support the advising? (faculty advising and ISA support is already included).
      • Note: peer mentoring and webinars were well attended in the first year of the pandemic then less.
      • Suggestion was discussed to have a CNSM Show Case after students know they are admitted, end of spring / early summer.
      • A postcard will be sent early March to all admitted students with a link to a website.
    2. Research (B. Taylor)
      • New safety officer: Jessica Lyon. Thank you to the committee: C. Frost, B. Taylor, Varenka Lorenzi,  and J. Schwans. An email will be sent to all.
      • Electronic locks on CNSM buildings will be installed! Details will be sent by email to CDC members with a request for feedback.
      • Note: Don’t give to all students a key. Make sure they actually need it. For undergraduates: a written justification is needed.
    3. Grad Programs (B. Benken)
      • ​Comps for Math and placement exams have moved virtual. Exception: Biochemistry will be in person.
      • GRF announcement will be sent out soon by ORED.

  6. Retreat Planning

    1. Date: Feb. 22? March 1?
      • Suggested date: February 22 (9am to 4pm). Likely in person.

    2. Suggested topics are:

      • Student Success and EDI. Much of the time will be spent on these topics, and related to the chancellor’s report of last fall about EDI, completion rates, etc.
      • “How to” sheets for new chairs. There were a few suggestions on these sheets. Please give more information to the dean by Friday.
      • Responsibilities/Organization. How to choose positions given to departments? What should be factored in? How should we think about “broad searches”? (Note: CNSM had quite a few (full) retirements this past year. And deadlines for submitting position requests is not known yet).
  7. TAs: we may need “floating TAs” or “TA substitutes” able to teach on behalf of a TA that has a red X. Please email the dean and Kris Slowinski with ideas. Email also TAs about substituting/ being a floater.
    The college office will design an email template that summarizes the challenges of being back on campus and what to do in typical cases.
  8. Planning for Feb. 7 (return to campus)
    1. Current status: Everyone is back on Feb. 7. Faculty should anticipate for the possibility that it may be later (2/14 or later). Please send to dean and K. Slowinski a list of class that need to be on campus starting Feb. 7. 
    2. Issues once back on campus: prescreening may not be timely.
      1. Faculty will be able to move to AMI on a day that they get a red X but need to inform the chair. 
      2. TAs: we may need "floating TAs" or "TA substitutes" able to teach on behalf of a TA that has a red X. Please email the dean and Kris Slowinski with ideas. Email also TAs about substituting/being a floater. 
      3. The college office will design an email template that summarizes the challenges of being back on campus and what to do in typical cases. 
    3. Union 4 staff (advisors and SSP staff) need to have 72-hours notice if one changes the remote/campus ration. Two weeks notice is required if the modality is changed to fully back on campus. 
  9. New Business
    1. N/A

Upcoming Dates:

Feb. 21st: 2022 Summer Student Research Assistantship Application Deadline

Feb. 25th: 2022 ORED Multidisciplinary Grant Application Deadline

April 4th: Nobel Prize Lecture, Dr. Strickland

Meeting Minutes were APPROVED on Tuesday, February 8, 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.