Provost’s Newsletter: News and Updates from the Division of Academic Affairs for April 2, 2025

April 2, 2025

Dear Baruch College Community:

One of the most important elements of my work is the celebration of and support for faculty research. Such work is one of the ways we implement the mission of the Office of the Provost to “create a dynamic intellectual environment where…faculty can thrive as educators and thought leaders in their respective fields.” Toward that end, last week we hosted the Fourth Annual Faculty Research Symposium Spring Showcase and the Faculty Mentoring Network Spring Gathering. Nine faculty presented their current research on topics ranging from the cost of nuclear power delivery to World War I pilots. I also presented my research on arts incubators as tools for cultural entrepreneurship. Three faculty were selected to receive $1,000 research awards:

Research Impact: Maggie Hu, Assistant Professor, Newman Department of Real Estate, Zicklin School of Business

Research Innovation: Lizbeth De La Cruz Santana, Assistant Professor, Department of Black and Latino Studies, Weissman School of Arts and Sciences
Research Excellence: Xiaonan Wang, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Weissman School of Arts and Sciences

The Faculty Mentoring Network Spring Gathering led to lively conversations among faculty from across the College’s three schools and library at every rank. Throughout the year, faculty mentors, guided by Senior Mentor David Jones, have volunteered their time to help their junior colleagues succeed at Baruch. My heartfelt thanks go to these faculty mentors:

Kenneth Abbott, Distinguished Lecturer, Department of Law

Ann Brandwein, Professor, Chook Department of Information Systems and Statistics

Chaoqun Deng, Assistant Professor, Chook Department of Information Systems and Statistics

Matthew Eatough, Associate Professor, Department of English

Jonathan Engel, Professor, Marxe School of Public and International Affairs

Mindy Engle-Friedman, Professor, Department of Psychology

Justin Ross Goluboff, Doctorate Lecturer, Department of Mathematics

Peter Gregory, Associate Professor, Department of Mathematics

Thomas Halper, Professor, Department of Political Science

Radhika Jain, Associate Professor, Chook Department of Information Systems and Statistics

Zeda Li, Assistant Professor, Chook Department of Information Systems and Statistics

David Lindsey, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science

Kamiar Rahnama Rad, Associate Professor, Chook Department of Information Systems and Statistics

Karen Shelby, Associate Professor, Department of Fine and Performing Arts

Nicholas Sibrava, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology

Christopher Stults, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology

Susan Tenneriello, Associate Professor, Department of Fine and Performing Arts

Shuting Wang, Assistant Professor, Chook Department of Information Systems and Statistics
Till Weber, Professor, Department of Political Science

The Mentoring Network is now accepting applications for both mentors and mentees for next academic year. Details are below in the “Faculty Affairs” section.

Finally, please note that Spring Break is in two weeks (April 12–20). The Office of the Provost is open through that week, but the Newsletter will return on Wednesday, April 30.

Best wishes,

Dr. Linda Essig
Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs

Campus Updates

Women, Power, and the Politics of Representation
The DEI Fridays series, coordinated by Assistant Professor Eric Essono Tsimi and sponsored by the Office of the Provost, welcomes speaker Dr. Nadia Brown, Professor of Government and Chair of the Women and Gender Studies Department at Georgetown University. Dr. Brown’s work bridges academia, activism, and public discourse to center the intersectional realities of race, gender, and power. The event will be held on Friday, April 4, from 12:30 to 2 pm via Zoom. Click here to register. All faculty and staff are welcome!

Faculty Affairs

Faculty Mentoring Network: Thank You to the AY 2024–25 Mentors
This year, we launched a pilot of the Baruch Faculty Mentoring Network to support faculty across the college with opt-in needs-based mentoring for faculty at all career stages. We currently have 20 mentors and 26 mentees and will be sharing updates and insights from this first year at upcoming faculty meetings. We would like to extend a huge thank you to all the Faculty Mentors for their support of the faculty community and service to the College. If you would like to sign up to be a mentor or a mentee next year, applications are now available through the Mentoring Network SharePoint site. Please contact Norene Leddy, Director of Faculty Affairs, with any questions or for more information.

Adjunct Faculty Social on Tuesday, April 8
All adjunct faculty are invited to an in-person Adjunct Faculty Social on Tuesday, April 8, from 4 to 7 pm in the Newman Vertical Campus (NVC), 14th Floor, Room 14-270. Please join us for drinks, snacks, and socializing. Feel free to drop in any time during the social to get to know some of your colleagues. We will also have staff available from Ed Tech (Brightspace support), the Center for Teaching & Learning, the Writing Center, the Counseling Center, and more to answer any questions you may have and discuss how they support adjunct faculty. RSVPs are requested but not required. If you plan to attend, please RSVP here. Please contact Norene Leddy, Director of Faculty Affairs, for more information.

Student Success

Baruch’s Dollars and Sense Wins Another National Excellence Award
Dollars and Sense, an online magazine reported and edited by students and published by the Department of Journalism and the Writing Professions at Baruch College, has won another Silver Crown Award for best collegiate reporting in the digital news category from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association. This award continues the publication’s long streak of winning national awards for best student journalism. Congratulations to the student team, as well as faculty editors Professors Gisele Regatão and Vera Haller.

Teaching and Learning

Getting to Know Brightspace: Utilizing the Groups Tool
The Groups tool streamlines student group work by providing each team with a dedicated space to interact and submit work. With Groups, you can automatically or manually assign students to teams, set up private discussion boards, and link group-specific assignments. This helps create a more interactive learning environment while making it easier for you to track participation and manage submissions. Instructors can click here for guidance on setting up groups and here for guidance on setting up group assignments. For any questions, please reach out to Brightspace Support 24/7 by clicking the blue-and-white dialogue box in the bottom right corner of any Brightspace webpage or via phone at 1-888-895-2511.

Research

Webinars for Award Recipients
The Office of Sponsored Programs and Research (SPAR) is hosting two webinars for award recipients at the end of this month: a pre-award webinar on budget building and a post-award webinar on understanding RFCUNY’s web-report. The pre-award webinar on budgeting will be held on Thursday, April 24, and will cover how budgets impact your project and how to create an effective budget. Discussions will include distinguishing direct cost from indirect cost, how budget restrictions vary from agency to agency, and an overview of SPAR’s budget template. The post-award webinar will be held on Wednesday, April 30, and will walk through the web-report structure and how to understand the information provided in the report. Discussions will include reassigned time, summer salary, and staffing personnel. Both webinars will be held from 12:30 to 2 pm via Zoom. To register for either webinar, please RSVP to SPARRSVP@baruch.cuny.edu and indicate which webinar you will be attending. Registrants will receive a Zoom link the morning of the webinar.

Faculty Achievements
Diogo Hildebrand, Assistant Professor, Aaronson Department of Marketing and International Business, had his article “Showcase the Smiles or the Tears? How Elicited Perspectives Determine Optimal Charity Appeal Content” recently published in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science.

Victor Sierra Matute, Assistant Professor, Department of Modern Languages and Comparative Literature, was recently selected as one of 21 inaugural fellows at the Critical AI Literacy Institute, a CUNY-wide initiative hosted by the Graduate Center, supported by a $1 million grant. Congratulations!

Do you want to share something you published, exhibited, performed, or presented with the Baruch community? Submit your information here.

Reminders

Adjunct Faculty Open Office Hours on Friday, April 4
Norene Leddy, Director of Faculty Affairs, will host the next open office hours for adjunct faculty on Friday, April 4, at 2 pm via Zoom. These biweekly open office hours are optional and provide an opportunity for adjunct faculty to meet with Ms. Leddy and discuss any questions or concerns they may have. This session will feature guest speaker Teresa Hurst, Director of the Baruch College Counseling Center. She will walk adjunct faculty through the Counseling Center’s available resources to support faculty and students. Catherine Kawalek from the Education Technology Team will also be on hand to provide support for both Brightspace and Zoom. Adjunct faculty can register here to join. Registration links and a full calendar for the semester are also available in the Adjunct Community Space in Brightspace.

Stay Connected

Share Your Research and Creative Activity
Keep the College up to date with your research and creative activity by emailing facultynews@baruch.cuny.edu with the what, where, and when of your publication, exhibition, or award.

President Wu’s Blog
Join the conversation at President Wu’s blog. Read and comment here.

Event Listings
If you have an event for the Academic Affairs Events Calendar, published each Thursday during the academic semester, click here.