February 18, 2025 Minutes

Council of Department Chairs

In attendance: Curtis Bennett, Krzysztof Slowinski, Kelly Young, Jesse Dillon, Lijuan Li, Lora Stevens, Will Murray, Prashanth Jaikumar, Jim Kisiel, Babette Benken (via Zoom), Jeanine Pociask, Christina Hall, Margaret Karteron, Lindsay Aymar, Tatiana Avila, Cesar Cervantes (10:45am)

  1. Approve agenda (10:00am) - Approved
  2. Approve minutes from 2/4/25 - Approved as amended
  3. Announcements
    1. ASM
      1. Beginning staff trainings in March through August
        1. Travel procedures will be covered
      2. When lecturers resign, CC Jeanine Pociask on all communications so she can keep information updated
    2. Operations
      1. Building Marshal recruitment Qualtrics will be emailed to all faculty and staff
        1. Friday, 2/21 is our campus-wide evacuation drill
      2. Evaluations are all in progress
        1. Lecturers with anything late to submit should contact Margaret Karteron
    3. Communications
      1. Commencement
        1. Bruno Pernet has accepted the Grand Marshal invitation
        2. Commencement award nominations are due from departments by CFA March 3
      2. Science in the Hall
        1. Moving the event to Fall/reworking theme
        2. Considering early-mid October (possibly October 4) - no mad scientist theme
        3. Can we display posters from the September research symposium?
    4. Development
      1. Thank you to the chairs who have done the "development lunches" with Christina
      2. University does not encourage silent auctions - lots of rules associated with it as well
    5. Dean
      1. Immigration update
        1. CFA posters are being discussed with legal
        2. CFA posters cannot be posted on classrooms or public sites
        3. Professors can post them on their own boards
        4. University Time, Place and Manner Policy - defines public versus private spaces
      2. Writing/Senate update
        1. Change to the GWAR policy a year ago - initially wanted 4 courses, scaled it back to 3
        2. CEPC have kept it close to the current policy
        3. This week there will be further first reading to decide about which policy to go with
        4. College council have passed a resolution in favor of the CEPC policy
      3. Budget update
        1. Continue to prepare for the worst
      4. RTP policies - sticky issues and updates on progress requested
        1. If there are any issues, please send to the Dean - he can meet with departments
        2. Would strongly recommend writing in the wiggle room about grant funding
      5. Faculty Awards
        1. We did great, won 11/16
        2. Great work to the nomination committee
  4. Associate Deans
    1. Academic Programs
      1. No updates
    2. Research
      1. Met with PIs in the town hall on Friday 2/8
        1. Largely positive response
        2. ORED is having some additional changes - have every PI cc Barbara Taylor when contacting pre or post award
      2. Kelly Young will follow up about Day at the Beach research tours
      3. Still working on roof leak in MLSC/ pump in MLSC
      4. Planning to have more RTP workshops in responding to reviews
    3. Graduate Programs
      1. The nominations for the Graduate Fellowship are due Monday 2/24 via Roxana Chavez
        1. Students cannot nominate themselves, only faculty can
        2. Can nominate up to 2 people to Office of Graduate Studies
      2. Info about changes to D. Green Fellowships will be emailed out
  5. CNSM Showcase/Day at the Beach (Cesar Cervantes 10:45am Time Certain)
    1. Event breakdown with maps and specifics of workshops
    2. Confusion over Volunteer Call
      1. Ignore any survey from the University, only fill out what comes directly from Cesar Cervantes
      2. Tell faculty/staff/students in your departments (peer mentors and tutors have already been notified)
    3. Cesar Cervantes will be inviting student clubs
    4. Scheduling additional lab tours + updating the website event schedule
      1. Separate from tabling
  6. Presidents Prospectus
    1. Focus and framing should be "What sets CNSM apart"
      1. High-level, data driven information
    2. Think of it like pitching CNSM to the new incoming president
      1. Major things in each department we want to highlight
    3. Length is "as long as it needs to be, and not any longer than that"
      1. We would like to do a combo of narrative and bullet points
      2. Big themes: faculty research with students - getting students into labs/# of students doing active research
        1. Career readiness
        2. CNSM in community engagement
        3. Media in your department
        4. Key donors
        5. Student success - not only under research focus
        6. KURE/YouVisit/ES&P/Laureate Lecture
        7. Research dollars
        8. FTES/faculty
        9. Off campus-recognition
      3. Wednesday 2/25 - deadline to info to Lindsay Aymar
        1. Lindsay to send reminder email
  7. Tenure Track Hiring Requests - Curt
    1. Requests will be coming up
      1. It has been made clear that this is not to be a replacement request
      2. This is all about FTES and majors (we can't teach the students if we don't have personnel)
  8. Open Discussion
    1. In March, do the chairs want to check in with any changes on RTP? March 11 (theoretically)
    2. Working with THRIVE on teacher panels to discuss teaching as a STEM career
  9. Adjournment - 11:59am

Upcoming Dates

  • February 21: Evacuation drill (10:30am)
  • February 24: University GF applications due to CNSM (CNSM Nominations due to Grad Studies 3/17)
  • March 22: Data Day at the Beach (9:00am-2:30pm)
  • March 31-April 6: Spring Recess
  • March 31: Cesar Chavez day (campus closed)
  • April 8(?): Library deadline for thesis
  • April 12: CNSM Showcase 9:00am-1:00pm (plan for 8:00am-3:00pm)
  • May 9: (Friday) Last Day of Classes
  • May 12-17: Final Examinations
  • May 20-23: (Tuesday-Friday) Commencement (Angel Stadium)

Meeting minutes were APPROVED Tuesday, March 4, 2024.

Note: The minutes above reflect 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.