August 4, 2020 Minutes

Council of Department Chairs

NOTE: These minutes reflect discussions that happened on the date of these minutes. Due to the COVID-19 situation, things are rapidly changing. For offical policy, please wait for documents from the appropriate offices.

Attendees (8/4/20): Curtis Bennett, Barbara Taylor, Tangan Gao, Chris Brazier, Andreas Bill, Babette Benken, Christine Whitcraft, Dessie Underwood, Lisa Martin, Margaret Karteron, Rick Behl, Kris Slowinski, Will Murray (invitee, incoming Chair), Henry Wu, Maryanne Horton.

 

  1. Approve agenda (1:30)
  2. Approve minutes from July 21; Accepted as amended.
  3. Announcements
    1. Operations
      1. Annual Meeting/CNSM Convocation
        1. Friday, August 21, from 1:30 to 3:00.
        2. It will not include lunch.
      2. Scholarships
        1. Scholarships are wrapping up for this year; Beach Scholarships will run cycle management to close out this year on August 13.
        2. Notify Margaret if you have any pending awards or scholarships that have not been awarded yet.
        3. Margaret will be working with Genna to make sure that all Post Acceptances are in.
    2. ASM update
      1. PD completions?
        1. We can process payments for those who have done everything as of this day. Send those faculty name, PD Description and amount to Henry.
        2. Everything has to be completed, no matter the funding sources, in order for us to process payment.
        3. Ask faculty to tell you what they have completed and you can double check against the list Lane is keeping.
          1. Lane will send list to the chairs.
        4. We will ask the university to provide data as well.
        5. Anything related to PD will be a stipend. Anything related to grants or other duties will be Additional Employment.
      2. Lecturer/GA/TA appointments
        1. Henry needs this information as soon as possible.
        2. If he doesn’t get it soon, it will cause a delay in the contract.
        3. GA/TA will get a step increase for every two semesters they work, per their contract. Same thing for ISA.
    3. Lab Kit distribution & Safety: John de la Cuesta (Time Certain: 2:00pm)
      1. Any courses that might be considering sending “take home” laboratory kits must run those kits and instructions (lab manuals) to the safety office for compliance.
      2. Please send this to the Safety office soon to avoid a hold up with the Fall semester.
      3. You can compile a list of anyone you know of who will be sending out kits to Safety and they can help follow up.
      4. All lab personnel must fill out the green laboratory safety form; departments will have to consider and decide how these will be distributed.
        1. Should be signed before students start working with kits.
      5. Distribution of kits is still pending.
        1. Possibly through the bookstore or a parking lot pick up.
        2. Departments that have take-home kits, put together a list and put it into a shared document so that we can coordinate distribution amongst one another.
          1. Remember that some students cannot come to campus.
    4. Dean’s report
      1. Fall Meeting time
        1. Convocation August 21, 2020 from 1:30 to 3:00 pm
      2. Future meetings
        1. Provost will try to move back to the alternating Wednesday schedule for Dean’s meetings.
        2. We may be able to go back to the 10 am – 12 pm CDC meeting time if that happens.
        3. Potential alternating discussion and
      3. Coming to campus
        1. Remind your people that they may not come to campus to come and spend extended periods in their offices.
        2. There will be Zoom rooms for teaching; that information will come out soon.
        3. Please get information on who will need Zoom rooms for teaching to the Dean.
        4. No Faculty members may teach from their office.
      4. Internet Hotspots
        1. Campus has an agreement with AT&T to provide students with hotspots at a highly reduced rate. Students should contact ITS for more information. There is a requested form on the IT website.
      5. LSAMP
        1. We believe there will need to be a transition of LSAMP director this year as the current director is planning on a sabbatical next year.
        2. General call to apply for the Director of LSAMP
          1. It comes with 3WTU per semester (except for the fall semester which is the transition period)
        3. Chairs are asked to send recommendations for director to the Dean’s Office.
          1. As LSAMP applies to the whole college (and Engineering), there is a preferences for someone not in the Health Care Sciences that are served by MARC, RISE, and BUILD.
  4. Associate Deans
    1. Academic Programs
      1. Updates
        1. Updates, makeup soar registration on Friday, 8/7, 40+ possible additional freshmen, many transfers not in full schedules (below 12), outreach to transfers will start tomorrow 
      2. NSCI-190A
        1. Updated syllabus
        2. Need departmental involvement before the start of the semester; please consult with faculty and find out if people are interested; would like to finalize by next Tuesday 8/11.
        3. Include interesting topics that accessible to general audiences.
        4. We plan on having department-specific modules
        5. Proposed: live webinars sometime in late Sept. with faculty/student panels, department information/opportunities, would be recorded and converted into BB module, other options? webinars on “cool science”? sharks? skunks? astronomy? 
      3. Preliminary Assignments for Student Coaches in Biol & Chem
        1. This allocation replaces $23,000 BIOL/CHEM (annual) SI funding by taking money from SAS tutoring and summer programs/outreach allocation
        2. The total cost of the proposed allocation is $36,000 (not including training) for F20, in addition we will provide drop-in tutoring in MATH and PHYS (both MATH and PHYS have independent tutoring allocations, these funds could be used for analogous support in PHSY and MATH)
        3. Most appropriate solution would be focusing on Biology and Chemistry for now.
        4. CARES money can be used for student assignments or in-class support (not GA).
      4. Enrollment Management and class permits at beginning of F’20.
        1.  There are several courses with major concerns; please see if any adjustments are possible to eliminate/reduce waitlists
        2. Follow up on 8/11 
      5. Discussion Item: enrollment management for the first week of classes, please see a list of courses that typically require permits, should we continue this practice? how would students request permits? communication plan? 
        1. Asking for feedback about whether this is necessary this year.
          1. Might only need to do this for classes that require face-to-face.
          2. Consider blocking students from joining after a certain period of time (i.e. when they have missed too many sessions/course content).
          3. First week is still for adjustments in enrollment; second week will be permits for those in special situations (e.g. graduating seniors).
          4. Put something on the departmental website.
    2. Research
      1. Key Issues
        1. BBS will issue keys to students for inside doors but not building doors (including GAs/TAs).
        2. As you assign keys to students, please send Barbara an email with the student’s name and ID number.
          1. This does not replace the key slip.
        3. Buildings will be open Monday-Friday, hours pending.
        4. Send Barbara a list by Friday (8/7).
      2. Building Occupancy
        1. It’s getting more difficult to get lab and research forms approved.
        2. The Provost is asking for the college to provide a schedule for the coming week.
        3. Start thinking of how you’ll put together a schedule for those who are coming in to teach or to prepare to teach.
          1. Look into using something like Microsoft Bookings.
      3. Microbiology Space Update
        1. Barbara sent an email and posted in Teams; Chairs should have received a calendar invite for August 18th from Michael Gardner, Director of Campus Planning .
        2. Meeting for consideration of a renovation of one floor in Microbiology to serve student success.
          1. Came out of the space study that identified Microbiology as an under-utilized building.
          2. There cannot be a net loss of space to the biology department
    3. Graduate Programs
      1. TA/GA Paperwork
        1. Virtual signing got extended through August 19.
        2. If you have a new TA/GA, submit their assignment. We can modify later but once they are submitted, we can process their paperwork.
      2. New Graduate Student Orientation
        1. The University is not going to try to hold one this Fall.
        2. Highly suggest each department still runs something similar to post virtually.
        3. Let Babette know if you’d like her to attend.
  5. Technology Survey
    1. Add a question about difficulty with Zoom
    2. We can create a resource page on the college website.
  6. Other Business N/A
  7. Adjourn

 

Upcoming Dates:

Aug. 17: Semester starts
Aug. 21: Convocation
Aug. 24: First day of classes

​Submitted by Allie Puz (Communications & PR Coordinator, CNSM)

Meeting Minutes were APPROVED on Tuesday, August 11, 2020

*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.