February 15, 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, Babette Benken.     

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 Feb 8th
  3. Announcements
    1. ASM
      1. Reminder: The February pay period doesn’t end until March 1st; pay date is March 1st.
      2. Remind Henry of any pending Fall 2021 & Winter 2021 pay.
        1. Most have been processed at this point.
      3. Submit DocuSign two weeks prior to event date if you are inviting an independent contractor or speaker.
        1. Cannot pay international speakers.
      4. Financial Audit focus has been on internal approval process.
    2. Operations Update
      1. Commencement
        1. There will be faculty marshals; line up by department as we enter the stadium.
        2. Registered students are being surveyed about name reading during the ceremony.
        3. Award announcements will go out this week.
          1. Graduate Dean’s List & Richard D. Green Dean Outstanding Scholar
            1. Nominations due to the department office by February 28th. Department decisions due to the college office by March 14th.
    3. Dean’s Report
      1. Defer to Items 5 & 6.
  4. Associate Deans
    1. Academic Programs
      1. Undergraduate Advising
        1. 717 appointments in the last 6 weeks.
          1. All Zoom; no in-person so far.
      2. Advising Meetings
        1. Chair/Faculty Advisor(s)/Staff Advisors/Carole/Kris
          1. All availabilities have been collected and these meetings will be scheduled shortly.
      3. Spring 2022 Freshmen Targeted Support
        1. NSCI-191 (1-unit class for students on probation or not making progress)
          1. 31 Students right now.
        2. Spring 2022 Ed plans for all students (completed).
        3. All have an individual tutor/peer mentor.
        4. Referrals +3 follow-up meetings with the advisor (progress/early alerts/major exploration).
      4. Fall 2022 Learning Communities
        1. Math-112A based learning communities will use guided registration and collaborate with COE and UCUA.
      5. Funding received for:
        1. Aleks placement (both math and chem, including stipends for coordinators).
        2. Enhanced compensation for transfer summer advising.
        3. Summer peer mentors/peer advisors.
    2. Research
      1. Honoraria and international Speakers
      2. Keys
        1. Please vet exterior building key requests before sending to Barbara and Henry.
      3. Week of RSCA
        1. April 18 – 22, 2022; Planned to be in person.
          1. MARC, RISE, LSAMP plan to have presentations at RSCA.
          2. Would like to have a college presence as well.
            1. Mention to faculty and encourage participation.
      4. Decentralized Computer Resource Audit
        1. April 2022
        2. Related to the new standards of security surveillance.
          1. New IT policies and communications forthcoming; CNSM IT is coordinating with the Safety Office inspections.
      5. ORCID
        1. Will soon be a required link in the Bio Sketch for NIH and NSF so far.
        2. Workshops available
    3. Graduate
      1. Email with deadlines for Graduate Research Fellowship and Richard D. Green Dean Scholarship will come out this week.
  5. Repopulation
    1. Exposures
      1. Notification complications are still being worked out.
      2. Testing is still available on campus; timelines remain challenging.  
        1. For university-required testing, tests must be lab-verified or observed. Thus home antigen tests are not acceptable, but lab-verified antigen tests are ok.
    2. Suggestions for Repopulation Committee
      1. Pre-Screen requirements.
      2. Testing requirements.
  6. Retreat Planning (Date: Tuesday, Feb. 22; A.M. Location: TBD, Afternoon Location: Anatol Center)
    1. Hiring Requests
      1. We recommend using upper-division lecturer assignments as a way to talk about needs.
      2. Tenure Track & Lecturers
        1. WTUs; Research credit discussion.
        2. Demographic data discussion.
          1. We recognize that there are data issues.
      3. Rubric discussion.
    2. Student Success and EDI
      1. Kris will send reading assignments to prepare.
    3. How-to Sheets (What do you need?)
      1. Chairs please tell Barbara which How-To resources 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
Apr. 18th – 22nd: Week of RSCA
April 20th: Fellows Colloquium (7:00 pm Hybrid)
May 17: College Graduation (1pm, between COTA(9am) and COB (5pm)) at the stadium

Meeting Minutes were APPROVED on Tuesday, March 1, 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.