March 1, 2022 Minutes

In attendance: Curtis Bennett, Barbara Taylor, Margaret Karteron, Andreas Bill, Dessie Underwood, Allie Puz, Lijuan Li, Will Murray, Lora Stevens, Henry Wu, Lisa Martin, Kris Slowinski, Babette Benken.     

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 Feb. 15^th
3. Announcements
   1. ASM
      1. The University has submitted a no-cost extension request for HEERF money to the Department of Education; only applies to purchasing delays that can be attributed to supply chain problems.
   2. Operations Update
      1. Commencement will be at Angel Stadium, as originally planned for this semester.
         1. Open to speaker suggestions.
         2. Suggestions on providing more sense of community to graduates during and after the ceremony.
      2. College Council has approved the RTP amendment.
         1. Aiming to have the amendment in place by Fall semester.
      3. College Council has initiated a proposal to improve RSCA submission process.
      4. Some Recent Notable Awards (Not a complete list)
         1. Matt Becker has received the Distinguished Faculty Research, Creative, & Scholarly Activities Award.
         2. Ted Stankowich has received the Distinguished Teaching Award.
         3. Kagba Suaray has received the Faculty Excellence in Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion Award.
         4. Debra Fraser has received the Distinguished Faculty RSCA Mentoring Award.
   3. Dean’s Report
      1. SEF/HEERF Spending
         1. Purchasing has been complicated; much easier to purchase items under $50,000.
            1. Please get SEF items to Barbara or Henry ASAP.
         2. Proposals for next year are due to be submitted to Faculty Affairs by April 15, 2022.
            1. Tentative Timeline:
               1. March 15 and/or March 22, Tuesday – discussion of department proposals
               2. April 5, Tuesday – finalized college rankings
               3. April 8, Friday – collect department report for FY 21/22 and proposal for FY 22/23
               4. April 12, Tuesday – presentation of proposals to student representatives
               5. April 15 or April 18 – Submit final proposals to Academic Affairs
      2. List of Equipment Items in Progress will come from Barbara this week.
         1. Discussion about KECK and RFP deferred to later CDC meeting.
   4. AR/VR
      1. Looking for faculty interested in teaching with augmented reality or virtual reality.
         1. Equipment available in the University Library.
4. Associate Deans
   1. Academic Programs
      1. CNSM Freshman Showcase
         1. Planning to be in-person on Saturday, April 23, 2022.
            1. Provide departmental/faculty interest in providing workshops or participating to Kris by next Tuesday.
      2. Advising Meeting Agenda
         1. Introductions
         2. AAC/MATH advising plans, review, suggestions for changes are due by 3/25/22.
         3. AAC/SAS resources (overview of SOAR, FMA, Early Alert, NSCI 190 and 191).
         4. Degree Planners
            1. Request for feedback due by 2/4, if possible.
         5. Future PD Plans (based on NSF Includes Aspire Alliance material).
            1. “A Guide to Academic Advising for STEM Faculty”
               1. Possibility of creating workshops or FLCs around this content.
               2. Send packet to faculty for review.
      3. Pre-major/major transition and advising challenges/discussion.     
5. Research
   1. Mail Delivery
      1. Beginning on Thursday, 3/3/22, central receiving will resume delivering and picking up mail.
         1. They will not go to every department office. They will deliver to math and to each floor in HSCI:
            1. Biology and Dean’s Office deliveries will be in the Biology Office.
            2. Physics and Science Ed deliveries will be in the Physics Office.
            3. Chemistry and Geology deliveries will be in the Chemistry Office.
6. State Funding Opportunities: Climate, Resilience, Clean Energy
   1. State budget will allot billions in research funding for the above areas, but the posting and due dates will happen in a very short window.
      1. Alert faculty that these opportunities will be coming up; faculty should be watching for the release of RFPs.
7. Student University Achievement Awards
   1. Applications were due on February 14, 2022; no CNSM submissions this year.
8. Graduate
   1. N/A
9. Position Requests
   1. Let the Dean know if searches can be combined and any special arguments that should be made.
      1. Deadline to get these to the Provost is next week.
10. Repopulation Issues/Discussion
    1. Qualtrics and Pre-screen email issues this week; backlog of emails appeared to go out all at once.
    2. No indoor eating is permitted outside of a legitimate breakroom area.
       1. No one should be eating in hallways, classrooms, elevators, etc.
    3. Complications with masking requirements and student compliance.
    4. Instructional and grading concerns.
       1. How can we help the students adjust to in-person learning and test-tasking?
          1. Discussion about creating supportive resources and assets.
11. Possible Topics for Future CDC Discussion** (Retreat Follow-Up; Discussion and Poll):
    1. Student Attrition
    2. Lecturer/TAs PD (subcommittee, but do we want to discuss to help inform the subcommittee?)
    3. Strategic Plan (College)
    4. EDI – What Should Next Steps Be?
    5. Dual Enrollment – Moving Beyond SATO
    6. AR/VR Tools in the Classroom
    7. Commencement
    8. College Curriculum Issues & Changes
    9. Summer Training Week for TA/Gas
    10. Lecturers Participating in Beach Mentoring
12. New Business
    1. N/A

Upcoming Dates:

April 4^th: Nobel Prize Lecture, Dr. Strickland
April 18-22^nd: Week of RSCA
April 20^th: Fellows Colloquium (7:00pm Hybrid)
May 17^th: College Graduation (1pm, between COTA(9am) and COB (5pm)) at the stadium

Meeting Minutes were APPROVED on Tuesday, March 22, 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.