Provost’s Newsletter: News and Updates from the Division of Academic Affairs for August 21, 2024 - Office of The Provost (2024)

August 21, 2024

Dear Baruch College Community:

Welcome to the 2024–25 academic year—almost! Next week we will welcome or welcome back 20,000 students, about 150 of whom are fully online graduate students. This week, we welcomed over 20 new full-time faculty to Baruch College. And last week, the entire Academic Affairs Divisional Staff joined together to review annual goals for the year. I shared the six areas that I will personally be focused on this year. I’ll expand on the first area this week and each of the others in subsequent issues. Because the first is about preparing for the fall semester, please read the entire letter. My areas of focus for the year are as follows:

• Thinking ahead (continuity planning)
• Artificial intelligence across pedagogy, research, and operations*
• Advancing an environment for civil discourse that supports both academic freedom and a welcoming climate for all students, faculty, and staff
• The Activity-Based Budget project—please remember to join the kickoff meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 3
• 63 Madison campus expansion
• Review and revision of the governance charter in collaboration with a broadly representative faculty-led committee

Thinking ahead.Some situations (e.g., severe weather) necessitate a rapid pivot from in-person to remote instruction. As we prepare to launch the fall semester, it’s a good time to think about what instructional continuity requires. There are four prerequisites to your ability to quickly move to remote instruction:

1. LMS: Remote instruction relies on the use of the learning management system (LMS). Faculty should use the LMS and have course materials up to date in the LMS at all times (see below for additional reasons to use the LMS for course materials).
2. Devices: All full-time faculty and staff have been outfitted with lightweight laptop computers. Emergencies can happen at any time, so having access to that device when needed is important.
3. Have a personal plan for remote operations.
4. Confirm that you can receive CUNY Alert notifications and confirm that your contact information in CUNY Alert is up to date (this can be done in CUNYfirst).

Additionally, students need to have access to remote learning.

5. Student Access to Devices: Most students have personal mobile devices (phones), but not all students have the high-speed Wi-Fi needed to access their courses on their mobile devices. When possible, the Newman Library will remain open for the first two days of an outage to provide hotspot and other equipment loan services. In the event of a weather-related closure, this may not be possible.

Much of our ability to move swiftly from normal to fully remote operations requires clear and consistent communications. Academic department chairs and department directors should maintain an emergency contact list for faculty and staff. I will keep lines of communication open with deans and department chairs when there is an emergent situation, such as a weather event.

I’m looking forward to seeing you in person soon. There is a lot of “semester start-up” information following. Please scroll through all of the entries as they may apply directly to you—including in the Reminders list. Thank you!

Best wishes,

Dr. Linda Essig
Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs

*This letter was written without the assistance of generative AI. I did, however, ask ChatGPT 4.0 to provide a joke for me to include. It is not at all funny, which offers some evidence that, when it comes to comedy, AI has a long way to go: “What did the AI bot say to the college professor? Don’t worry, I grade faster but I’ll never take your job. I’m just here to make your life abyteeasier.”

Campus Updates

Newman Library Leadership Updates
Congratulations to Michael Waldman, who has accepted a position with CUNY as Interim University Dean of Libraries. Associate Professor Stephen Francoeur has graciously stepped in to serve as Interim Executive Chief Librarian while we continue to search for the next Dean of the William and Anita Newman Library. Campus visits with candidate finalists are scheduled for Friday, Sept. 6; Friday, Sept. 13; Monday, Sept.16; and Monday, Sept. 23. Each candidate visit will include a public campus forum. Details will follow in a subsequent issue.

Deletion of Zoom Cloud Storage Files Older Than 120 Days Begins Wednesday, Sept. 25
CUNY is approaching its Zoom cloud storage limit as specified in the University’s enterprise contract. To prevent us from surpassing our storage allocation, please be advised that effective Wednesday, Sept. 25, files in Zoom cloud storage older than 120 days will be deleted. To avoid losing any files, please start managing your Zoom cloud storage files as soon as possible. Clickherefor instructions.

DEI Fridays Series Begins September 27
Dr. Eric Essono Tsimi, Assistant Professor, Department of Modern Languages and Comparative Literature, is planning an engaging DEI Fridays series for the 2024–25 academic year. Mark your calendars now for the following Fridays. Most events will begin at 12:30 pm, except when noted otherwise. The tentative schedule is as follows:

September 27, 2024: Mental Health, Wellbeing, and DEI: Improving Self-Care (2 pm)
October 25, 2024: Empowering Voices from the Department of Black and Latino Studies
November 22, 2024: Decolonizing Knowledge and Pedagogy Across Disciplines
February 28, 2025: Intersectionality and Identity: Navigating Multiple Identities in a Business-centric World
March 28, 2025: Confronting Ageism and Creating Intergenerational Spaces
April 25, 2025: Global DEI Challenges and Opportunities: Insights from Global Studies

Faculty Affairs

Claim Your NCFDD Institutional Membership Account
Baruch College has renewed its institutional membership toNCFDD (formerly the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity) for the 2024–25 academic year. NCFDD is an online resource to help faculty at all career stages thrive in academia. The institutional membership gives faculty access to webinars and other programs that cover everything from time management and how to say no to planning career pivots and finding research collaborators. Click here to claim your free institutional membership account and select Baruch College as your institution.

Baruch Faculty Mentoring Network
The College-wide Faculty Mentoring Network will be up and running in a pilot version in the fall to support both professorial title faculty and lecturers at all career stages. The Faculty Mentoring Network is optional, so faculty who already have their mentoring needs met in their school/department can continue without change—or may choose to also join the network. If you’d like to learn more about the Baruch Faculty Mentoring Network, please reach out to Norene Leddy, Director of Faculty Affairs, and Dr. David Jones, Senior Mentor and Professor of Political Science.

Please save the dates for our Mentoring Network Faculty Gatherings, which will be held on Monday, Nov. 4 and Thursday, Mar. 27 from 5 to 7 pm. These will happen immediately after the Faculty Research showcases, providing opportunities to meet peers, mentors, and potential collaborators from across the College.

Faculty Affairs: Adjunct Services

Open Office Hours for Adjunct Faculty Begin Friday, Sept. 6
Norene Leddy, Director of Faculty Affairs, is continuing to offer open office hours for adjunct faculty to meet and discuss any questions or concerns they may have. This year, the open office hours will be themed and include guest speakers that support adjunct faculty from the Center for Teaching & Learning, the Starr Career Development Center, the Writing Center, and more. They will be held biweekly on Friday afternoons from 2 to 3 pm via Zoom. The first session will take place on Friday, Sept. 6, and will cover the Verification of Enrollment (VOE) process, Progress Reports (formerly known as “Early Alerts”), and attendance policies as well as general questions. Adjunct faculty must register in advance. Upon registering, faculty will receive a confirmation email with a recurring Zoom link that may be used to attend any of the future sessions for the Fall 2024 semester. If you are interested in attending but are unable to make the scheduled time, please contact Norene Leddy.

Student Success

Academic Success Services for Students
Faculty play an essential role in connecting Baruch students to many useful resources around campus. Be sure to review the full list ofacademic success servicesand share this information with students throughout the term. Two resources to consider as you plan your fall classes are the Writing Center and the Office of Student Disability Services.

The Writing Center invites members of the faculty torequest a class visit or in-class workshopthis fall. In a class visit, center staff present a 15-minute overview that introduces the center’s mission and describes the resources available; in an in-class workshop, they’ll present a 75-minute lesson on a targeted writing, reading, or research skill. For more information, contact theWriting Center.

The Office of Student Disability Services (OSDS) offers a suite of supports for students and the faculty who teach them. Please familiarize yourself with these resources and encourage students who share their disability with you to seek the support of OSDS. The office will determine the appropriate accommodation for the student in consultation with the faculty member. Faculty are also required to include links to OSDS resources in their syllabi. You may contact OSDS via email. For more information,click here.

Teaching and Learning

Voluntary Compliance Agreement Requirements
All faculty received a memo from CUNY Executive Vice Chancellor and University Provost Wendy Hensel outlining legal requirements under CUNY’s Voluntary Compliance Agreement (VCA) with the U.S. Department of Education. Two important items of note from that memo:

1. In accordance with state law and existing CUNY policy, textbook and course materials information must be entered in Akademos, the College’s bookstore, or CUNYfirst at least two weeks prior to the date the schedule of classes is made available, not two weeks prior to the start of the semester. Textbook information for the Fall 2024 semester not previously entered must be entered immediately. Courses that do not require a textbook must also be identified as such.
2. Per the Board of Trustees policy, all fully online courses, both synchronous and asynchronous, must be delivered in a University-supported LMS (for Baruch, Brightspace) or an alternative LMS that meetsCUNY’s cybersecurity policiesand complies with data privacy laws. We strongly recommend that instructors upload their course materials in the University-supported LMS, Brightspace, for each class regardless of modality.

In addition, all faculty should consider the accessibility of course materials, online learning products, platforms, and applications, including content they created, prior to use in the course.

Getting to Know Brightspace: Preview Your Courses as a Student
Brightspace allows faculty to preview their courses before making them available to students. This feature acts as a quality check to ensure that the course is set up correctly and that all intended contents are accessible, except for those with availability restrictions. To access Preview Mode, navigate to your course, click on your profile icon at the top right, and then select “View as Learner.” Ensure that all modules, assignments, quizzes, and other materials are visible and functioning as expected. Please note that any items with availability restrictions will not be visible in preview/student mode. This helps to ensure that restricted content remains hidden until the specified conditions are met. To exit Preview Mode, click on the “X” next to “View as Learner” at the top of the screen to return to your normal view. For more information, instructors can review this helpful article onviewing your course using a different role. For any questions, please reach out to Brightspace Support 24/7 by clicking the blue-and-white dialogue box in the bottom right corner of any Brightspace webpage or via phone at 1-888-895-2511. Please be sure to utilize the support resources listed on theBrightspace Transition websiteas well.

Course Policy and Guideline Refreshers
As the start of the Fall 2024 semester approaches, it is important to review the College’s policies and guidelines regarding courses to ensure a smooth start to the semester. Some important policies and guidelines are as follows:

• Classroom Reminders: With our classroom spaces at capacity during peak hours, please follow these guidelines to help ensure a smooth transition for both faculty and students.
• Religious Holidays: Please be mindful of the broad diversity of religious practices among Baruch’s student, faculty, and staff communities. The CUNY policy on religious accommodations can be found here.
• Grading Policies: Course requirements and the grading scheme should be provided on course syllabi. Please plan to give students timely access to graded work so they can see where they can improve and what they have done well. Also prepare to be available to answer students’ questions about their grades. For more information about the Baruch College grading scheme, click here.
• Academic Integrity: Academic integrity involves upholding the principles and expectations of doing one’s own work and giving credit to others for theirs. Academic integrity strengthens the educational environment by valuing original work and providing a fair environment for all students. Baruch’s academic integrity policy and links to the CUNY policy from which it is derived can be found here.
• Course Modality: Faculty are expected to teach in the course modality published in the Schedule of Classes because students choose their course schedule in part based on course modality. Now that we are on the verge of the fall semester, no modality changes will be considered. Click here for more information.

Starr’s Career-Focused Pedagogy Workshop Series
The Starr Career Development Center’s Career-Focused Pedagogy Workshop Series aims to better equip undergraduate faculty from all disciplines, teaching modalities, and class sizes in assisting students to become career ready. Faculty will explore approaches to establishing a career-focused classroom culture, reflect on their current teaching practices, and identify opportunities for career readiness integration. To learn more and register, pleaseclick here.

Research

Call for Submissions: Junior Research Award in Science and Engineering
The CUNY Office of Research is relaunching the Junior Faculty Research Award in Science and Engineering (JFRASE) funding opportunity this fall. This year, JFRASE has been reconstructed in collaboration with the Advanced Science Research Center (ASRC) to build on the success of the National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Bootcamp workshops. The 2024–25 round of the JFRASE competition will support five to seven early career faculty with a course release, one month of summer salary, and discretionary funds. This award package requires full participation in the 2025ASRC NSF CAREER Bootcamp.The JFRASE is designed to give faculty time and resources to conceptualize high-risk/high-reward research projects and to generate the preliminary data required for major external awards. Pleaseclick herefor more information and to submit a project. The deadline forproject submissions isWednesday, Sept. 25.

Pre-Proposal Support Resources Available at RFCUNY APPS Website
The Research Foundation of CUNY (RFCUNY), through the Office of Award Pre-Proposal Support (APPS), offers a comprehensive website with resources to support the grant-seeking needs of Baruch College researchers. In addition to theWednesday Brown Bag webinars,APPS offers consultations on proposal development and peer review processes for draft proposals. The website also includes a section with links to databases, such asPivot-RPandGrantForward,to facilitate the search for external funding. For more information about these resources, please visit RFCUNY’sAPPS website or contact Baruch’s Office of Sponsored Programs and Research (SPAR).

Baruch Faculty Writing Group Begins
The Baruch Faculty Writing Group builds a community of scholars across Baruch College by providing an informal weekly working time for research and writing during the semester. We provide a quiet space, tea, and coffee to help fuel your academic projects. The group meets weekly in person on Wednesdays from 10 am to 1 pm in the Newman Library, Information and Technology Building, Room 415 and via Zoom on Fridays from 10 am to 12 noon. For additional details and to indicate your interest in attending the meetings, please contact Elizabeth Edenberg, Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy.

Faculty Achievements
Stephanie Hershinow, Associate Professor, Department of English, has recently had her edited edition of Jane Austen’sSense and Sensibilitypublished by W.W. Norton.

Debbie Kaminer, Professor, Department of Law, has been awarded the Hoeber Memorial Award for Excellence in Research for her article “Vaccines in the Time of Covid-19: Using Vaccine Mandates to Teach About the Legal and Ethical Regulation of Business.” The award recognizes the best article of the year published in theJournal of Legal Studies Education.

Do you want to share something you published, exhibited, performed, or presented with the Baruch community? Submit your information here.

In Memoriam

Remembering Philip Katowitz
It is with great sorrow that I share news of the passing of Philip Katowitz, Adjunct Professor, Department of Law. Dr. Katowitz taught several courses at the College over a period of 15 years and just recently retired. He was also a successful practicing attorney who had a love of teaching and passing knowledge onto his students.

Reminders

Activity-Based Budgeting Kickoff Event on Tuesday, Sept. 3
This campus-wide engagement on the Activity-Based Budget process is scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 3, from 12:30 to 2 pm, in the Newman Vertical Campus (NVC), Simon Conference Room 14-220. Learn more and RSVPhere.

Faculty Convocation on Thursday, Sept. 19
Faculty should look for the invitation in their email and RSVP to attend the annual Baruch College Faculty Convocation scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 19, from 12:30 to 2:30 pm. As is customary, we will celebrate and recognize faculty achievements, including career milestones, recent research and creative accomplishments, and distinguished teaching. Additionally, we look forward to welcoming the new full-time faculty cohort. More details about the Faculty Convocation program, including this year’s keynote speaker, will be available in the invite.

New Faculty Interest Group Launched: Gender Studies
Faculty interest groups (FIGs) are self-organized and complement the more formalFaculty Strategic Research Clusters. Baruch’s first FIG is on Gender Studies. Coordinated by faculty members Shawn Grant, Assistant Professor, Department of Law, and Katherine Pence, Associate Professor, Department of History, the Gender Studies FIG seeks to foster an interdisciplinary community of faculty members, staff, students, and practitioners interested in advancing their understanding and engaging in conversations around the current legal, legislative, and political developments targeting reproductive rights, gender identity, and sexual orientation. To join this FIG, please contactShawn Grant. If you would like to propose a new FIG, please contactNorene Leddy, Director of Faculty Affairs.

Online Asynchronous Adjunct Orientation
The online asynchronous orientation for new adjunct faculty is available nowvia this link. Please share the link with new adjunct faculty members, course coordinators, and any staff who onboard adjunct faculty. In addition to the online orientation, there will be two College-wide Adjunct Socials, held on Tuesday, Oct. 8 and Tuesday, Apr. 8, from 4 to 7 pm, to give adjunct faculty the opportunity to meet and socialize in person.

Adjunct Community Space in Brightspace
Adjunct faculty currently scheduled to teach this fall have been added to the Adjunct Community Space in Brightspace. This online space functions similarly to the Adjunct Orientation organization in Blackboard, which is no longer in use. The Adjunct Community Space is updated regularly to provide resources and announce events, trainings, and other critical information for adjunct faculty. We will continue adding new adjunct faculty throughout August. If you are an adjunct faculty member and do not see the Adjunct Community Space in your list of Brightspace courses, please contactAdjunct Services to be added as soon as possible.

Stay Connected

Share Your Research and Creative Activity
Keep the College up to date with your research and creative activity by emailingfacultynews@baruch.cuny.eduwith the what, where, and when of your publication, presentation, exhibition, award, and so on.

President Wu’s Blog
Join the conversation at President Wu’s blog. Read and commenthere.

Newsletter Items?
If you have an item you would like considered for inclusion in the biweeklyProvost’s Newsletter,please clickhereto send an email to the Provost mailbox.