August 10, 2021 Minutes

Council of Department Chairs

In attendance: Curtis Bennett, Barbara Taylor, Margaret Karteron, Henry Wu, Maryanne Horton, Chris Brazier, Andreas Bill, Dessie Underwood, Rick Behl, Kris Slowinski, Will Murray, Babette Benken, Allie Puz, Jim Kisiel, Lijuan Li, Lora Stevens. 

  

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 July 27
  3. Announcements
    1. ASM
      1. Delayed until Henry Returns.
    2. Development Report
      1. Kay Becker (widow of Dr. Edwin Becker, former faculty member) is creating a $160,000 endowment to provide a full scholarship equivalent to a full year of tuition and fees for a student in the department of Chemistry & Biochemistry.
        1. It is a renewable scholarship, meaning an eligible student can renew the scholarship for up to 3 years.
    3. Operations Update
      1. Annual Meeting
        1. Still waiting for Repopulation Committee approval for the in-person portion of the 2021 Annual Meeting.
        2. Recreating the 2020 Annual Meeting Sharepoint Site for 2021 hybrid event.
          1. Short videos from chairs with new faculty members due to Allie by Monday 8/16.
          2. Chairs send a photo of themselves to Allie by Monday, 8/16.
      2. College RTP Committee
        1. Need 6 people on the committee; Science Ed cannot put forth a person for the committee so we need 1 more person from another department.
          1. A call for nominations will go out soon.
      3. Email including Drop/Withdrawal/COVID-19 Suggested Language for syllabi will come out this week.
  4. Associate Deans
    1. Academic Programs
      1. Check fall semester class waitlists, add seats as appropriate, waitlists to be deleted 8/13
      2. Q&A about student repopulation
        1. Purpose is to reduce student traffic in departmental offices in week 1
          1. Feedback/additional Q&As with department specifics to Kris.
    2. Research
      1. Waiting on a response from Receiving and Mail Services about mail delivery this Fall.
        1. For the time being we are not using the College Conference Room.
  5. Graduate Programs
    1. As of this meeting, the Library is still planning to open 8/23/21.
      1. The GSRC has a larger space and has moved to the 2nd floor, and will be open on 8/23/21.
    2. The University held its first ever new graduate student orientation last Friday 8/6/21.
      1. Will be a nice program to refer graduate students to in the future.
      2. Babette will find out how many of our students attended and if the event was recorded for future use.
  6. Retreat Preparation
    1. Venue – Do we still want to meet at Anatole Center?
      1. Mask and social distancing requirements apply.
      2. Begin at 10:00 am and end at 3:00 pm.
      3. Breaks and boxed lunches will be provided.
    2. Rough Agenda
      1. Student Success
        1. Undergraduate and Graduate
        2. Discussion about increasing financial support for graduate students.
      2. Finances & Workload
      3. BEACH 2030
      4. Discussion on Process for Position Requests
    3. Discussion
  7. New Business
    1. N/A

 

Upcoming Dates:

August 12 – Chairs’ Retreat
August 17 – First day of Semester
August 20 – Convocation
August 23 – Fall Classes Start
 

Meeting Minutes were APPROVED on Tuesday, August 17, 2021

*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.