March 8, 2022 Minutes

Council of Department Chairs

In attendance: Curtis Bennett, Barbara Taylor, Margaret Karteron, Maryanne Horton, Andreas Bill, Dessie Underwood, Allie Puz, Lijuan Li, Will Murray, Lora Stevens, Henry Wu, Lisa Martin, 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 March 1
  3. Announcements
    1. ASM
      1. HEERF money must be spent by May 15, 2022 or it will be lost.
        1. Remember that partial payments are not accepted for HEERF and P. Card may not hit the books by May 15.
      2. Do not have substitute TAs for upper division courses unless you have the Dean’s approval.
        1. Faculty and lecturers should be going through the chairs to find substitutes.
    2. Operations Update
      1. Commencement: Time Certain 10:10 (Lane Olsen-Cooper to join)
        1. Plans
          1. We will be able to line up in departmental order and use our banners this year.
          2. Faculty regalia order deadline: March 23, 2022.
          3. There will be 8 graduate recognition stages (subject to change).
          4. The college will provide water and possibly food; departments will be responsible for transporting their food and drink portions to their designated graduate recognition stages.
          5. Considering avenues for hooding ceremonies (virtual, different day, etc.)
          6. More information will be forthcoming.
        2. Grand Marshall/Co-Grand Marshalls – Retirees (full) this year:
          1. Dan Francis (last year)
          2. Laura Henriques
          3. Paul Hintzen
          4. Chuhee Kwon
          5. Norma Noguera
      2. Members for Scholarship Committee
        1. Full committee will 11 volunteers.
      3. Sabbatical RSCA emails will be sent out this week.
      4. Lecturer Evaluations
    3. Dean’s Report
      1. Nobel Prize Speaker Update
        1. Student Council may shift to virtual event due to travel complications.
      2. COVID Update
        1. The University has issued an update about masking and the new policy goes into effect next week.
          1. Concerns about ambiguous language.
        2. COVID-Related Leave
          1. As of now, no union has agreed to the 80 hours of leave proposed by the Chancellor’s Office (retroactive to January 1, 2022).
      3. Weekly Bullet Points
        1. Allie is taking these over; need to send 2 bullet points to the Provost every week.
      4. SEF
        1. First round of discussions will be next week, please be prepared.
        2. Template will be provided for new chairs.
      5. Should the next CDC meeting be face-to-face?
        1. Remain virtual for a while.
        2. Tentative in-person meetings later in the semester.
  4. Associate Deans
    1. Academic Programs
      1. SOAR
        1. Freshmen orientation and registration begins on July 28.
        2. Transfer orientation and registration will be July 27.
      2. CNSM Freshman Showcase
        1. Call for faculty commitments.
        2. Send requests/proposals to Kris so they can finalize the schedule.
      3. Advising Update
      4. SEF Proposals
        1. Let Kris know if departments have any student success requests that are not yet funded.
      5. CSU CREATE Awards Funding Opportunity
        1. $300,000 for student success projects.
        2. Proposals must come from a single faculty member or a committee of faculty members.
          1. Requires faculty PI.
        3. Must address equity gaps and student success and be scalable.
        4. Proposals due by April 15, 2022.
    2. Research
      1. Reminder: Student Research Competition is Friday, March 11. All day in COB.
      2. HSCI will be open for the next two weekends.
      3. Waste bin conversion has been delayed until further notice.
      4. Mail delivery check in.
    3. Graduate
      1. Graduate Fellowship & Richard D. Green Fellowship applications are due on March 18, 2022.
  5. Position Requests
    1. Combining or being creative with positions is becoming the norm.
      1. Keep thinking of ways to “combine” positions.
      2. Consider RTP processes and requirements between departments.
        1. Discussion about future revisions to RTP.
  6. Possible Topics for Future Discussion (Retreat Follow-Up)
    1. Top 4 Ranked by Department Chairs:
      1. Lecturer/TAs
      2. Curriculum collaboration
      3. Strategic Planning
      4. Dual Enrollment
    2. Top 3 Ranked by Deans/Associate Deans:
      1. Student attrition
      2. Lecturers/TAs
      3. EDI
    3. Things to Consider for these Discussions:
      1. What do we want to accomplish in our discussion?
      2. What do we need from our committees?
      3. How does the university value these areas?
      4. Lecturer Discussion Suggestions:
        1. Recruiting Lecturers (so less last minute)
        2. Onboarding and PD for Lecturers
        3. Onboarding and PD for TAs
  7. New Business
    1. N/A

Upcoming Dates:

March 18th: Graduate Fellowship/D. Green Fellowship application deadline.
Apr. 4th: Nobel Prize Lecture, Dr. Strickland
Apr. 18-22: Week of RSCA
April 20th: Fellows Colloquium (7:00pm Hybrid)
May 17: College Commencement (1pm, between COTA (9am) and COB (5pm)) at the stadium

Meeting Minutes were APPROVED on Tuesday, March 15, 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.