February 8, 2022 Minutes

Council of Department Chairs

In attendance: Curtis Bennett, Barbara Taylor, Margaret Karteron, Andreas Bill, Dessie Underwood, Allie Puz, Lijuan Li, Will Murray, Lora Stevens, Henry Wu, Maryanne Horton, 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 Jan. 25th
  3. Announcements
    1. ASM
      1. General Fund
        1. The budget only allows 30 slots in tenure-track searches.
    2. Operations Update
      1. Commencement planning meeting coming up this Thursday; more information to come.
      2. RTP, Mini Processes, and ETFs are moving along smoothly.
        1. Reappointments and Tenure/Promotion due date from College (2/7) is earlier than Promotion to Full Professor (2/22).
      3. RSCA decisions will be sent to the Dean by the end of this week.
    3. Dean’s Report
      1. Deferred to Items 5 & 6 below.
  4. Associate Deans
    1. Academic Programs
      1. Departmental Advising Meetings (in March)
        1. Department Chair/Faculty Advisor/Staff Advisor for the corresponding pre-major cohort.
          1. Preferred dates: 3/1, 3/8, 3/15, 3/22.
          2. Please identify 2-3 time slots on the above days when chair and faculty are available; meetings will be roughly one hour via Zoom. Send chosen time slots to Kris by Monday February 14.
      2. Updates
        1. Summer SOAR
          1. FTF and TR goals.
          2. SOAR dates are later this year; Freshmen will be finished with SOAR by August 9 and Transfer SOAR will be completed by August 10.
          3. CNSM transfer SOAR, welcome, and registration will be July 27.
    2. Research
      1. Origin Software
        1. Per IT, there is enough interest in this software that we will be pursuing a general license and paying with HEERF funds.
      2. CSULB is part of a CSuccess program
        1. Every student who is on campus for the first time (freshmen, transfer, graduate, etc.) is eligible to receive a laptop via central IT.
          1. These laptops must only be used for student learning. They must not be used for teaching and must not contain student or lab data.
      3. Sustainability Office
        1. Campaigning to make the campus zero waste.
          1. Will be removing trashcans from approved rooms in HSCI and replacing them with duplex recycling/trash cans in the hallways.
            1. Please notify Barbara if a necessary trash can is removed.
  5. Repopulation Reports (round-robin of how the first day went)
    1. Successes
      1. Posting room numbers has helped with student flow.
    2. Concerns
      1. Faculty accommodations may take longer than anticipated due to third-party review.
        1. Concerns about the consistency of accommodations.
      2. Unapproved AMI or Hyflex classes are inequitable to students.
      3. DocuSign Forms
        1. Not recommended for anyone but BMAC students
    3. Planning
      1. Lab Planning
        1. Anticipate and plan for graduate/lecturer complications due to pre-screening; clearance can sometimes take hours.
          1. Subsequent AMI requests can cause further delays.
        2. Remind TAs that when they come to campus to teach, they must fill out the employee survey.
      2. Covid Positive Email
        1. Adapting last semester’s standardized emails for this semester.
        2. If someone is COVID positive, or caring for a COVID positive patient, they can request a 14-day AMI accommodation via the SSO AMI chiclet.
          1. This chiclet should not be used for a one-day pivot to AMI.
      3. Exposure Email
        1. Consider verbiage in notifying TAs of classroom exposure.
          1. Plan ahead; some departments are working on a TA buddy system.
          2. Secondary email instructing TAs to email their chairs and coordinators.
      4. Mask Compliance
        1. If faculty and staff are uncomfortable confronting groups of unmasked people in areas that require proper masks, they can report the incident to the dean who can further escalate, if necessary.
  6. Retreat Planning (Date: Feb. 22)
    1. Hiring Requests
      1. Expect very few hires for CNSM.
        1. Administration’s requirements on faculty have complicated teaching ability, assigned time, and WTU.
        2. Departments have had to place lecturers in courses typically taught by graduate students.
    2. Student Success and EDI
      1. Rubrics discussion.
    3. How-to Sheets (What do you need?)
    4. Responsibilities/Organization
  7. New Business
    1. N/A

Upcoming Dates:

Feb. 21st: 2022 Summer Student Research Assistantship Application Deadline
Feb. 25th: 2022 ORED Multidisciplinary Grant Application Deadline
Apr. 4th:  Nobel Prize Lecture, Dr. Strickland
April 20th: Fellows Colloquium (7:00pm Hybrid)
May 17: College Graduation (1pm, between COTA(9am) and COB (5pm)) at the Stadium

Meeting Minutes were APPROVED on Tuesday, February 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.