Provost’s Newsletter: News and Updates from the Division of Academic Affairs for July 12, 2023
July 12, 2023
Dear Baruch College Community:
During my brief vacation, on which I did indeed read (see below), kayak, and hike, the U.S. Supreme Court finished its term with several decisions impacting higher education. What these decisions highlight is the importance of high quality, low-cost higher education. I am motivated to come to the office each day, even during the current hot spell, to help Baruch deliver just that—an excellent education that is financially accessible.
I was a young child learning to read right around the time that the national “Reading Is Fundamental” campaign launched and haven’t stopped since! Over the last several years, and especially as equity and inclusion have become more central to my work, I’ve been reading books by or about people who are unlike me in terms of ethnicity, nationality, or sexual orientation. I tend to read fiction on an e-reader (i.e., my phone) and consume nonfiction via audiobook. My vacation reading included Severance by Ling Ma (no relation to the television show of the same name), Less by Andrew Sean Greer, My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante, G-Man by Beverly Gage, and its complement, King: A Life by Jonathan Eig. Last night, I cracked open—electronically—Our Share of Night by Mariana Enríquez. My reading rhythm tends to slow down quite a bit as the pace of work picks up during the academic year, so I am “gorging” now, a bit like a squirrel storing up nuts for the winter.
With reading recommendations in mind, please take advantage of the opportunity to secure a free download of The Norton Guide to Equity-Minded Teaching. More information is in the Teaching and Learning section that follows.
Best wishes,
Dr. Linda Essig
Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs
Campus Updates
Zicklin School Welcomes New Dean
Dr. Bruce W. Weber joins Baruch College as the new Willem Kooyker Dean of the Zicklin School of Business next Monday, July 17. You can read about Dean Weber here—please join me in welcoming him.
New Department of Entrepreneurship and Innovation
At its meeting on May 15, the CUNY Board of Directors approved the formation of the Department of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Baruch College. Six faculty from the entrepreneurship section of the Loomba Department of Management as well as three new faculty hired as part of the cluster hiring initiative will be joining the new department. This department will span academic silos in order to support those who will be the drivers of entrepreneurship and innovation for the future.
Faculty Affairs
Preparations to Welcome the Largest Cohort of New Faculty Hires
The Office of Academic Administration, under the leadership of Maria Burgos, has worked closely with the three schools and the Office of the Provost to facilitate the hiring of approximately 65 faculty members for the next academic year. This cohort includes tenure-track professorial faculty and full-time lecturers. Incoming faculty members will participate in the New Faculty Orientation, which is being planned for mid-August. They will then be officially welcomed to the College at the Faculty Convocation noted below.
Teaching and Learning
Free E-book
Provost Essig recently attended the National Higher Education Teaching Conference co-sponsored by CUNY, where she was introduced to The Norton Guide to Equity-Minded Teaching. This useful guide is grounded in the concepts of “relevance, rigor, and transparency.” The e-book is available at no cost! Click here to download a free copy.
Research
Fourth NSF CAREER Award in the Department of Mathematics
Dr. Matthew Junge, Assistant Professor of Mathematics, has won a prestigious Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Grant from the National Science Foundation for $451,095 over five years. His research will focus on “Stochastic Spatial Systems.” Earlier this year, Pablo Soberón, Assistant Professor of Mathematics, also won an NSF CAREER Grant, joining Andrew Obus and Louis-Pierre Arguin, who have received CAREER awards in mathematics as well.
Christopher Stults Appointed Faculty IRB/HRPP Liaison
Dr. Christopher Stults, Assistant Professor of Psychology, has been appointed the Faculty IRB/HRPP Liaison for 2023–24, serving all three schools and the Newman Library. In this role, Dr. Stults will provide consultative support to researchers, especially first-time and student researchers, to develop and submit protocols through the IRBManager system. He will conduct workshops to promote the understanding of participant protection and compliance considerations in research protocols, assist researchers with revision requests, collaborate with the staff of the Office of Research Compliance and Outreach (ORCO) on developing research materials, and so on.
Faculty Publications and Achievements!
Provost Essig contributed to a “Futurecasting Glossary” for arts entrepreneurship published in Artivate: A Journal of Entrepreneurship in the Arts. The glossary serves as a resource, providing a collective vision of the central ideas that will shape and advance the field of art entrepreneurship.
Raquel Fich, Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs, Research, and Innovation and Professor of Information Systems, recently published an article on Ethics and Information Technology titled “To Pay or Not to Pay? Handling Crowdsourced Participants Who Drop Out from a Research Study.”
Debbie Kaminer, Professor of Law, had an opinion piece published in The Hill. “The Supreme Court’s Surprising Overturn of a 47-Year-Old Precedent on Religious Accommodation” highlights the overlooked case of Groff v. DeJoy, which addresses religious accommodation in the workplace. While significant media attention has been devoted to landmark decisions on affirmative action, student loan forgiveness, and LGBTQ+ rights, Professor Kaminer emphasizes that the court’s decision in this case could have implications for employees’ rights in the workplace.
Want to share your recent publications, awards, or achievements? Faculty can click here. Staff can click here. Be sure to put “For the newsletter” in the subject line of your email.
Assessment, Accreditation, and Institutional Effectiveness
Data Governance Council to Launch This Month
John Osae-Kwapong, Associate Provost for Assessment, Accreditation, and Institutional Effectiveness, will be chairing Baruch’s new Data Governance Council. The impetus to set up a data governance council stems from the urgent need to improve access, use, and reporting of institutional data. The council’s agenda is to ensure that the College has:
- A data governance framework that spells out guiding principles for data infrastructure and delineates more clearly the roles for all data stewards, including data protocols (i.e., who does what, when, and how)
- A data strategy that spells out how data is translated into information and shared among all stakeholders
- A data dictionary that documents and defines the meaning of all data elements regularly used by stakeholders
- A common reporting standard that specifies the elements required for all internal and external reports
The council will have representation from Academic Affairs, Enrollment Management and Strategic Academic Initiatives, BCTC, Budget, Student Affairs, the Baruch Faculty Senate, Baruch’s academic schools, and the Newman Library. Periodic updates will be shared.
In Memoriam
Remembering Dr. Harry M. Markowitz
I am saddened to share the news that Dr. Harry Markowitz, influential economist and educator, passed away on June 22. Dr. Markowitz held the Marvin Speiser Distinguished Professor of Finance and Economics at Baruch when he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 1990, alongside Merton H. Miller and William F. Sharpe. Their portfolio theories revolutionized the evaluation of stock market risk and reward as well as the valuation of corporate stocks and bonds. His legacy will continue to inspire future students in the field of finance.
Reminders and Events
Take a Moment to Review Your Faculty Profile Page Over the Summer
To access faculty profile pages, you must be at Baruch or connected to the campus network via VPN. Once you access the individualized link to your page (through your browser of choice), please focus your review on the following tabs: Biography, Research and Creative Activities, Honors and Awards, and Service. The information on these tabs can be edited through Interfolio Faculty 180. Any modifications to your Interfolio account will appear on your page the following day (after the nightly system refresh). The Grants tab does not need to be reviewed at this time. The tab will not be viewable until data is updated and reviewed in the fall semester. General information about the profile pages, and continuously updated FAQs, are available here. For additional questions, please contact Associate Provost Raquel Fich.
Save the Date for the Fall Faculty Convocation
Keeping with recent tradition, we will celebrate faculty achievements at our annual Faculty Convocation, scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 21, from 12:30 to 2:30 pm. Please save the date and plan to attend! As is customary, we will honor and recognize faculty achievements, including career milestones, recent research and creative accomplishments, and distinguished teaching. At this gathering, we will also welcome one of the largest cohorts of new hires in recent years and will hear from an engaging and inspiring keynote speaker. More details about the Faculty Convocation program will be available in late August.
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