Provost’s Newsletter: News and Updates from the Division of Academic Affairs for March 20, 2024
March 20, 2024
Dear Baruch College Community:
After two years of record faculty recruitments, I am happy to report that the number of full-time faculty at the College has hit a historic high of 548, following a low of 490 in Fall 2021, when there was a hiring freeze. Since Fall 2019, the full-time faculty headcount has grown 5.5%, while our student headcount over the same period grew 5.1%. The growth in faculty numbers was thanks in part to a strategic investment by the State of New York in full-time lecturer faculty. Many of the full-time lecturer faculty had been long-time adjuncts, already members of our Baruch community, while others were recruited from teaching institutions across the country, enriching the community even further.
Given the large number of new faculty hired over the last several years, it’s especially important that the criteria and processes for faculty evaluation be clarified. That work began almost 18 months ago, when faculty across Baruch College began the process of revising or drafting department-level discipline-specific scholarly and creative activity expectations, as well as school-level guidelines for teaching, scholarly/creative activities, and services. In Fall 2023, the College Personnel and Budget (P&B) Committee received the results of those efforts and began the work of revising the College-level Guidelines for Faculty Evaluation. On March 5, the College P&B Committee voted unanimously to forward a draft of the revised guidelines to the Baruch Faculty Senate Executive Committee for their review and feedback. The P&B committee integrated that feedback into the draft document. Earlier this week, all full-time faculty were invited to offer feedback on this draft of the College Guidelines.
Many thanks to all of the faculty who participated in the review and drafting process.
Finally, this is Ethics Week at Baruch College! For a full listing of Ethics Week activities, click here.
Best wishes,
Dr. Linda Essig
Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs
Campus Updates
Artificial Intelligence: New Resources and Events
The AI Think Tank now has a website. Following an open comment period, the Think Tank has published Guidelines for AI Use at Baruch College. In addition to the guidelines, programming of all kinds can be found on the website, including an upcoming public talk delivered by Ryan Hittner, Deloitte Partner and Co-lead of the Artificial Intelligence and Algorithmic Assurance Practice. This event will be held on Monday, Apr. 1, from 1 to 2:30 pm in the Newman Vertical Campus (NVC), Room 14-230.
LinkedIn Learning now offers 250 courses to build AI skills. Baruch has an enterprise license for LinkedIn Learning, and these courses are offered for free through Friday, Apr. 5. Click here for more information. These resources complement the College’s AI-focused programming this spring.
Dean of the Library Finalist Visits in April
The search committee for the next Dean of the William and Anita Newman Library has identified four finalists for campus visits. Each finalist will meet with the library faculty and the Academic Council, as well as students, and will present and take questions at a community forum. The forums will meet in the Administration Building, Room 301, on the following days and times:
- Tuesday, Apr. 2, 11:15 am to 12:15 pm
- Wednesday, Apr. 3, 3 to 4 pm
- Monday, Apr. 8, 3 to 4 pm
- Wednesday, Apr. 10, 2 to 3 pm
Inaugural Student and Faculty/Staff Brunch
The Undergraduate Student Government is inviting all faculty and staff to brunch! Students would love to see you on Tuesday, Apr. 9, from 12:30 to 1:30 pm in the NVC Cafeteria at this inaugural event. Breakfast favorites, such as eggs, bacon, French toast, and of course coffee and tea, will be offered.
Faculty Affairs
Adding Professional Development Activities in Interfolio
Full-time faculty members are asked to enter their professional development activities in Interfolio. To update your activities, please follow this Quick Reference Guide. Once updated, your professional development activities will be included in your Interfolio-generated CV and listed in institutional reports used for accreditation and other purposes. Please reach out to Associate Provost Raquel Fich with any questions.
Nominate Students for This Year’s CUNY-wide Undergraduate Research Celebration
This year’s CUNY-wide Undergraduate Research Celebration will take place on Friday, May 24. Faculty in all fields are encouraged to nominate Baruch undergraduate students who have completed or are working on an individual or group research project to have their work displayed at the celebration. Faculty may only nominate one student or group. Selected students’ attendance at the event is mandatory, so please discuss your nomination with them. Faculty mentors are welcome to attend and support their students if their project is selected. Click here for the nomination form. The deadline to submit the form is Monday, Apr. 1. Please contact Katherine Pence, Associate Professor of History, with any questions.
Student Success
Writing Center Services
Faculty are invited to refer students for one-on-one support at the Writing Center; to nominate students’ writing for publication in the center’s journal, The Lexington Review; and to request a class visit or in-class workshop. Each semester, Writing Center staff visit more than 80 class sections, introducing their services to a wide range of students, from undergraduates in communication-intensive courses (CICs) and honors business courses to graduate students in management, fundraising, and psychology courses. During a class visit, center staff present a 15-minute overview that introduces the center’s mission and describes its resources; during an in-class workshop, they present a 75-minute lesson on one writing, reading, or research skill.
Help Students Avoid Job Scams
The Starr Career Development Center reports that there is a significant uptick this month in job-related scams. These scams usually involve direct outreach to students, claiming to offer a job opportunity but requiring payment for the application or testing to qualify. Most troubling are the scams that use the names of actual Baruch faculty, cloning their email, and then asking for money to be considered for a research assistantship. Please inform your students that research assistants are only hired through Baruch’s hiring process, not directly by faculty, and students should never be expected to pay to apply for a job. Please do what you can to help raise student awareness about this serious issue by sharing information about job scams in your classes.
Teaching and Learning
LMS Transition: Request for Transfer of Older Course Content into Brightspace
Faculty may now request assistance with moving a duplicate of Blackboard content from the Spring 2020 semester or earlier into Brightspace. Click here to submit a request form. You will receive an email once the request is complete. As a reminder, content from the Summer 2020 to Spring 2024 semesters will automatically be transferred on your behalf. For any questions, please join the office hours via Zoom on Fridays from 1 to 2 pm or email Brightspace.
Research
CUNY Graduate Center Professional Development Workshops
The Graduate Center’s Mina Rees Library is offering online workshops about publication contracts, copyright, and related topics. All members of the CUNY community are welcome to attend. The workshops are especially well-suited to graduate students, faculty, administrators, and others who seek to formally publish or otherwise disseminate their work. The presentations will be recorded and shared with all registrants, so even if you cannot attend, you may still want to register. Click here for more information.
Assessment, Accreditation, Institutional Effectiveness
Academic Program Review
Last year, the College adopted a uniform reporting structure for Academic Program Review, including an easy-to-use template for formatting and organizing review information. All departments undergoing program review are expected to use this template for their self-study.
Focus On Funding
Webinar on Developing Budgets and Budget Narratives for Federal Grants
Two important components of a federal award application are the budget and the budget narrative. This webinar provides instructions on how to develop a federal award budget and budget narratives. The event will be held on Wednesday, Mar. 27, from 12 noon to 1 pm. Click here to register.
National Science Foundation (NSF) Webinar: Office of International Science and Engineering (OISE) Grant Programs
OISE promotes an integrated, NSF-wide international engagement strategy and manages internationally focused programs that are innovative and catalytic. Three OISE programs will be the focus of this webinar: Accelerating Research through International Network-to-Network Collaborations, Global Centers, and Cross-cutting: International Research Experiences for Students. This event will be held on Wednesday, May 8, from 12 noon to 1 pm. Click here to register.
Reminders
Cross-College Research Symposium Friday, Mar. 22
Faculty from across the College will share their research with Baruch colleagues in a fun PechaKucha format at the Third Annual Cross-College Faculty Research Symposium. This symposium will take place in person on Friday, Mar. 22, in the Newman Conference Center, Information and Technology Building, Room 750. All faculty are welcome to attend. The full-time faculty selected to present are eligible for one of four $2,000 research awards, made possible by a grant from the CUNY Office of Research. There will also be smaller audience choice awards decided on the day of the symposium, so please plan on attending all day. This year’s keynote speaker is Dr. Sean Decatur, President of the American Museum of Natural History. Learn more here. Please reach out to Katherine Pence, Associate Professor of History, with questions. If you have not yet RSVP’d and are interested in attending, please email Norene Leddy no later than tomorrow, Thursday, Mar. 21.
Faculty Affairs Open Office Hours for Adjunct Faculty on Tuesday, Apr. 2
Norene Leddy, Director of Faculty Affairs, is continuing to offer biweekly open office hours for adjunct faculty. The next session will take place on Tuesday, Apr. 2, from 2 to 3 pm via Zoom. Faculty must register in advance. Upon registering, faculty will receive a confirmation email with a recurring Zoom link that may be used to attend any of the future sessions for the remainder of the Spring 2024 semester. These open office hours are optional and provide an opportunity for adjunct faculty to discuss any questions or concerns they may have. If you are interested in attending but are unable to make the scheduled time, please contact Norene Leddy.
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, presentation, exhibition, award, and so on.
President Wu’s Blog
Join the conversation at President Wu’s blog. Read and comment here.
Newsletter Items?
If you have an item you would like considered for inclusion in the biweekly Provost’s Newsletter, please click here to send an email to the Provost mailbox. If you have an event for the Academic Affairs Events Calendar, published each Thursday during the academic semester, click here.