November 29, 2022 Minutes

Council of Department Chairs

In attendance: Curtis Bennett, Margaret Karteron, Henry Wu, Prashanth Jaikumar, Lijuan Li, Will Murray, Lora Stevens, Jim Kisiel, Jesse Dillon, Barbara Taylor, Krzysztof Slowinski, Christine Whitcraft, Maryanne Horton, Allie Puz.  

  1. Approve Agenda (10:00)
  2. Approve Minutes from Nov. 29
  3. Announcements
    1. Associate Dean
      1. Research
        1. Requests for Proposals
          1. Purchases that can be made and closed by the end of this fiscal year. This is an opportunity to quickly fulfill CNSM needs.
            1. Will not replace any existing college funds (e.g. start up, faculty small grants, etc.), does not include additional pay.
            2. Equipment are the easiest, typically highest dollar value purchases.
            3. We will only be allowed to carry forward 3% and any overages will be swept by Division of Administration & Finance.
        2. Division of IT and Division of Administration & Finance is requesting that we only issue multiple computers to employees where there is justifiable need, as verified by the associate deans and IT team.
          1. Any employee who requests a computer refresh should be encouraged to use a laptop instead of a desktop for security reasons.
    2. Operations Update
      1. Grade Appeals are in progress.
      2. Awards
        1. This year we have 2 graduate/undergraduate outstanding student awards.
      3. RSCA Committee will be meeting soon.
    3. Development Update
      1. Introduction of New Development Associate Catherine Hulsy (Time Certain: 10:05 am)
        1. Frontline fundraiser focused on smaller amounts; full-time employee in CNSM.
    4. ASM Update
      1. Reminder to spend your current SEF money.
      2. Sick Leave
        1. Every lecturer, TA, faculty, and staff member earn one day of sick leave for every month they work (GAs do not).
      3. Start sending in your Spring hiring because the process is backed up with limited support.
        1. Deadline by third week of December
      4. Clearly communicate to Henry if you have any faculty who are FERP’ing and decide to end their FERP early.
    5. Communications Update
      1. Deadlines subchannel added to the CDC Teams channel.
    6. Dean’s Update
      1. UC Strike Considerations
        1. Be cautious and anticipate that there is heightened recognition of possible grievances to be filed by TAs.
        2. TAs should know that the department chairs are the appropriate contacts in the event of an issue.
  4. Associate Deans
    1. Academic Programs
      1. Lecturer Evaluation Form Feedback to Kris by Friday 12/2
        1. We cannot alter the form itself; we are just trying to simply the process.
        2. Process should be as fair and thorough as possible in the hope of avoiding retaliation issues.
      2. Spring ’23 Enrollments/Waiting Lists
        1. Go through the list of sections that have wait lists and come up with potential solutions
        2. Remember that students can only waitlist 5units
        3. Reserved capacity can be used to prioritize enrollment for groups of students (graduating seniors, incoming majors, etc) but curriculum-based justification is needed
        4. Talk to Vanessa if there are special considerations or conditions; we can do a lot to ensure a smooth transition.
        5. Potential enrollment shortages are very serious and can have huge implications for the college/university.
        6. Completion rates need to improve collegewide.
          1. There are complications due to post-pandemic preparation, teaching issues, implicit bias, etc.
          2. The caliber of students CSULB is receiving, in terms of high school GPA, is rising significantly but the completion rates are not satisfactory.

 

    1. Graduate Programs
      1. N/A
  2. AT/Workload
    1. AT Definition/Expectation
    2. Workload Document Standard
      1. Send to the Dean as has already been established; the Dean can assist with standardizing the document.
      2. We should point to the appropriate reference documents when submitting to Kathy.
      3. Each department should have a standard process for excess enrollment.
        1. It might be beneficial for departments to create a template for uniform submissions.
    3. Discussion of Student Research Assistantships from Fundraising
      1. Previous and current Chairs have asked that students working in a lab be paid for their work in the summer. If they are on scholarship, they do not receive that money until the Fall semester.
        1. We’ve run into two issues: this is often treated as an afterthought, and we cannot get the materials we need in order to steward.
        2. This process cannot be done via Beach Scholarships because it is not technically a scholarship, it is donor supported.
      2. Discussion of requirements of students who apply for student research assistantships:
        1. Some forms that are already approved can be converted to work for this purpose.
        2. Reference the Summer Research Assistantship form via Foundation (ORED).
        3. Create a Qualtrics form for easy apply.
          1. We cannot add a requirement for financial need (this will make it a scholarship) but we can ask questions that are typically correlated.
        4. Add a sub header link in the main CNSM navigation bar under Students+ called “Summer Research Assistantships”
        5. Call for additional meeting to further discuss this topic.
  3. Open Discussion
    1. Print out Friday’s deadlines for this Friday and get them out to Chairs today.
    2. Eclipse Program via the Chancellor’s Office virtual meeting Thursday 12/8 at 10am
      1. Opportunity for us to think about collegewide participation

 

Upcoming Dates:
Dec. 9: End of Semester Party
Dec. 12-17: Final Exams
Dec. 12: Chairs and ADs Dinner (La Paroloccia Osteria Italiana)
Dec. 23: Last Day of the Semester
Apr 15:  Admitted Student Showcase Day
 

Meeting Minutes were APPROVED on Tuesday, December 6, 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.