Provost’s Newsletter: News and Updates from the Division of Academic Affairs for May 17, 2023
May 17, 2023
Dear Baruch College Community:
We are winding down the spring semester, but it is never too early to think about the upcoming Summer Session and the Fall 2023 semester. One of the top news stories for higher education has been the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in the classroom. Whether you integrate AI into your work or your classroom or want to forbid it, faculty should please include a policy about its use in their syllabi for their next semester. As noted in a letter to faculty in January, AI is a tool that can be used to spark human creativity. “How?” you may ask. Our own Center for Teaching and Learning offers suggestions. Please take a look!
Commencement is Tuesday, May 30, at the Barclays Center. From my perspective, this is the happiest day of the year! Smiling faces, cheering families, and lots and lots of confetti will be on hand (and everywhere else) to congratulate our more than 5,000 students receiving degrees at this year’s ceremony. I hope to see you there.
The Provost’s Newsletter will continue to deliver academic affairs news to the Baruch College community throughout the summer months.
Best wishes,
Dr. Linda Essig
Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs
Campus Updates
Campus Visits for Vice President Finalists
The national search for Baruch College’s next Vice President for Operations and Administration has yielded an impressive group of finalist candidates. Three finalists will participate in campus visits next week and will have the opportunity to meet with representatives of campus stakeholder groups. Additional interviews may take place the following week as well. The search committee will host an in-person open forum for each of the finalists to engage with the College community on the following dates:
- Monday, May 22, 2:30–3:30 pm
- Tuesday, May 23, 2:15–3:15 pm
- Wednesday, May 24, 3–4 pm
The open forums will take place in the Administration Building, 135 East 22nd Street, 3rd floor, Room 301. Please confirm your participation here.
Faculty Affairs
Faculty Profile Pages Review Continues
If you are a full-time faculty member, please preview and review the content of your Faculty Profile Page. General information about how to review the profile pages, including continuously updated Frequently Asked Questions, is available here. To deactivate tabs (e.g., grants, teaching, service) or hide the CV button, fill out this BCTC Help Desk form by Wednesday, May 31. Reminder: During this internal review phase, the temporary faculty-personalized links are only accessible from within Baruch or using VPN. Contact Associate Provost Raquel Fich for additional information.
Presidential Excellence Awardees Named
Congratulations to all of the nominees for 2023 Presidential Excellence Awards in Scholarship, Teaching, and Service. Award winners will be honored at Faculty Convocation on Thursday, Sept. 21. They are Sarah Bishop (Communication Studies) and Masako Darrough (Stan Ross Department of Accountancy) for Distinguished Scholarship, Nicholas Sibrava (Psychology) for Distinguished Teaching, and Jennifer Mangels (Chair, Psychology) for Distinguished Service.
Office of Academic Administration (OAA) Welcomes a New Staff Member
Please join OAA in welcoming a new administrative coordinator, Sherina John. Sherina is a longtime member of the Baruch community, having served in an administrative capacity in the Department of Political Science for more than nine years. She is also a graduate of the Marxe School, where she earned an MSEd. Sherina will be collaborating with deans’ offices, departments, and faculty to provide support on academic personnel matters and actions. Her portfolio includes reviewing and finalizing all electronic faculty personnel materials in preparation for College Personnel and Budget Committee meetings and Interfolio support.
Student Success
Outstanding Students Honored at Student Achievement Gala
Last Thursday evening, 225 awards were bestowed on 213 of Baruch’s most outstanding students at the 2023 Student Achievement Awards. Student accomplishments—both academic and co-curricular—are a great source of pride for Baruch. A program showcasing the individual awards and student winners documents this inspiring event.
Teaching and Learning
Grading Reminders
The grading period begins today, Wednesday, May 17 and ends on Friday, May 26, 11:59 pm. Please refer to the email titled “Spring 2023 Grading Memorandum” sent by Associate Provost Dennis Slavin for detailed information regarding grading in the Spring 2023 term. Should you encounter technical problems while using the CUNYfirst Self-Service system, please contact the BCTC Help Desk. Questions regarding grading policies should be directed here.
Undergraduate Research & Creative Inquiry EXPO 2023 a Resounding Success
More than 165 undergraduates from across the College contributed to over 80 research and artistic projects, many on display during last Thursday’s Research & Creative Inquiry EXPO 2023. Held in the ARC’s Main Gymnasium, this annual showcase provides a wonderful opportunity for undergraduates in all fields to share their original research and creative activity. View their projects on the Research and Creative Inquiry EXPO webpage. Prize-winning work in eight categories has been announced. Congratulations to all the winners as well as all the student participants and faculty mentors for their hard work and dedication to student research projects.
Research
Nizan Packin Published in Science
Congratulations to Nizan Geslevich Packin, Professor of Law, and co-authors Michal Gilad, Diana H. Fishbein, and Gideon Nave, on the publication of their article, “Science for Policy to Protect Children in Cyberspace,” in Science, one of the premier journals in all of academia.
Deadlines and Reminders
Call for Faculty IRB Liaisons Is Still Open!
Tenured faculty interested in serving as liaisons between the IRB/HRPP office and Baruch academic researchers (faculty and students) are welcome to apply by Friday, May 26. Required qualifications include (1) direct and recent experience as a PI with human subject research and the HRPP/IRB process at Baruch/CUNY, (2) current and valid CITI training certificates in Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) and Human Subjects Research (HSR), and (3) knowledge of principles of ethical conduct of research and best practices with human subjects. For application details, please refer to the IRB Liaison Application page.
IDEATE Closes on Wednesday, May 31
The former system used to submit IRB protocols will not be accessible after Wednesday, May 31. Baruch researchers with protocol information on this system need to download their files and transfer the information to the current system (IRBManager) or fill out the final report closure form. IDEATE is only accessible to researchers on a CUNY desktop either from a CUNY or Baruch office computer or remotely using VPN. Please contact Keisha Peterson or Janet Badillo via email if you have any questions about retrieving your protocols from IDEATE.
Stay Connected
Strategic Planning
You can follow progress on the Baruch College Community Strategic Planning process and submit comments and suggestions on the Strategic Planning page.
President Wu’s Blog
President Wu publishes a monthly blog. Read and comment here.
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.
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. Please note that the Academic Affairs Events Calendar will return in August.