Provost’s Newsletter: News and Updates from the Division of Academic Affairs for November 1, 2023

November 1, 2023

Dear Baruch College Community:

Happy November! During challenging times, it’s important to recognize and highlight bright spots. One bright spot was last Thursday evening: a reception for the Black, Race and Ethnic Studies Initiative (BRESI). The event celebrated the work of scores of faculty members across CUNY who conducted research, developed courses, and provided public programming funded through BRESI, which is itself funded through a signature grant from the Mellon Foundation.

Baruch was very well represented at the event! Immediately upon my arrival, I saw two Baruch faculty members: Angie Beeman, Associate Professor in the Marxe School, and Tsedale Melaku, Assistant Professor in the Narendra Paul Loomba Department of Management in the Zicklin School. Dr. Melaku was slated to moderate the CUNY-wide panel that was part of the program. Anna D’Souza, Associate Professor in the Marxe School, presented a poster on the expansion of the DEI Fridays program, and Timothy Aubry, Professor and Chair of the Department of English in the Weissman School, was there to celebrate his project, which focused on building an internship pipeline into the publishing industry. Through this pipeline, 12 English majors secured paid internships at top publishers.

Another bright spot for me was the opportunity to join the Office of Student Life’s annual Leadership Weekend. Students apply to attend a three-day, off-site retreat where they share, learn, and build community. I engaged in a “fireside chat” about leadership with the Undergraduate Student Government President Jessica Yauri and Vice President Abdullah Mahdi and took questions from the audience of about 50 students from across all three schools. It was a lovely way to spend (another) rainy Sunday morning.

The restoration of our computing infrastructure progresses. We all now know firsthand the importance of cybersecurity. Please see an important notice in the research section related to an elaborate international phishing scam. There are other critical updates in that section as well, including the announcement of the launch of the electronic research administration (eRA) system and information on how to sign up for grant-writing workshops being held this month. Please scroll down.

Best wishes,

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

Campus Updates

November Coffee Chat/Tea Talk Celebrates Latinx and Native American Heritage Months
The next Coffee Chat/Tea Talk will celebrate Latinx Heritage Month (the meet-up postponed from its original September date) and Native American Heritage Month taking place in November. All faculty and staff are invited to join in celebrating these heritage months. The Coffee Chat/Tea Talk will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 15, from 9 to 10:30 am, in Room H-760 (behind the Rackow Conference Room in the Information and Technology Building). Associate Provost Raquel Fich will host this event. No RSVP required.

Faculty Affairs

Calling Faculty Subject Matter Experts to Update Expertise in Interfolio
Faculty members who wish to be contacted for media inquiries, opinions, or articles in their areas of expertise must update their profile in Interfolio. Instructions on adding areas of expertise are available on this FAQ page. In the first expertise section of the Interfolio profile, please use a single list of keywords separated by commas. When updated, faculty expertise will be populated in the Faculty Profile Pages, allowing users to locate subject matter experts across the College. Contact Associate Provost Raquel Fich for more information.

Student Success

Nominate Student Writing for Publication
The Writing Center invites submissions and nominations to The Lexington Review, a journal of student academic writing. The journal collects strong examples of the writing that undergraduate and graduate students do as part of their coursework at Baruch. Learn more here.

Teaching and Learning 

Center for Teaching and Learning: Alternatives to AI in the Classroom
The Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) invites faculty to join their next event about generative AI, “Alternatives to AI in the Classroom,” held via Zoom on Friday, Nov. 3, from 2 to 3:30 pm. In this conversation series event, alternatives to generative AI use in classrooms will be discussed. The event will explore rethinking assessment and learning in light of generative AI. CTL Conversations offer faculty a time to come together and informally workshop, brainstorm, and discuss topics related to their teaching. To register for this event and to see other resources on generative AI, please check out the CTL’s website. Email ctl@baruch.cuny.edu to request an appointment.

LMS Transition Committee Seeks Information
Baruch’s Learning Management System (LMS) Transition Committee is gathering data on instructional tools and technologies that faculty use to support teaching and learning so that the committee will be able to effectively support faculty through the transition. The committee will use this data to organize a centralized list of tools adopted across Baruch and will investigate the possibility of tools being integrated into Brightspace in the future. Please complete this short survey to share information about the tools and technologies you currently use in your teaching.

Research

Grant-Writing Workshops in November with McAllister & Quinn
Baruch’s grant consultants from McAllister & Quinn will offer two grant-writing workshops in November. The advanced grant-writing workshop will be offered for faculty with grant proposals ready (i.e., about to be submitted, recently submitted, or returned by the sponsor with feedback) on two consecutive Fridays, November 3 and 10, via Zoom. If you would like to attend either of these workshops, please email Associate Provost Raquel Fich.

CUNY Implements an eRA System
CUNY has contracted Cayuse to implement its eRA system University-wide. The Cayuse software package is web based and will help streamline and simplify the preparation of electronic proposal submissions and support nonfinancial post-award and research compliance activities. Learn more here.

Beware of Unsolicited Emails Regarding Research Collaborations
Faculty might receive unsolicited emails from international “talent agencies” proposing research collaborations. The Research Integrity and Compliance division of the CUNY Office of Research warns the CUNY research community that these foreign talent programs could be a source for undue foreign influence and may be considered phishing emails. Recipients should delete these emails and contact Angela Pilla, University Export Control Officer.

CUNY Climate Research and Networking Event
The CUNY Climate Consortium (C3) is holding an in-person CUNY Climate Change Research and Networking Town Hall and Expo on Monday, Nov. 13, from 10:30 am to 4 pm at the Graduate Center. To participate, please complete the C3 Expo registration form. Additional details can be found here. Contact Dr. Parisa Setayesh for any questions.

Data Security and Storage Best Practices for Researchers
The Office of Research Compliance and Outreach (ORCO) published the Data Security Guidance and Best Practices manual to assist Baruch researchers with their data security and storage needs. The document consolidates CUNY’s IT and Human Research Protection Program policies that are directly related to the CUNY human subject research enterprise as well as provides best practice tips for Baruch researchers. As per CUNY policy, only de-identified research data can be stored on cloud servers. CUNY’s Dropbox or the OneDrive cloud server can be used by CUNY researchers to store and/or share de-identified research data (i.e., de-identified survey responses or interview transcripts). Additionally, ORCO would like to remind Baruch researchers of Baruch’s data retention policy, which is to store research data for a minimum of four years after the completion of the study. If you have any questions about these policies or any feedback regarding the manual, please contact Janet Badillo.

Publication News
Dr. Lindsey Plewa, Deputy Director of Career Advising at the Zicklin School of Business, recently published her EdD research piece “Understanding and Responding to Career Counseling Needs of Chinese International Graduate Students” in the book Taking Action: Creating Sustainable Change in Student Affairs. Read her abstract here.

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

Open Call for CUNY’s Assessment Review
A call for article submissions is currently open for The Assessment Review, a CUNY publication sponsored by the CUNY-wide Assessment Council. Faculty and administrators across all campuses are invited to submit articles on the following topics:

• Improvement of teaching and learning
• Theory and policy in higher education
• Accreditation
• Improvement of administrative and support services

The deadline to submit for the fall is Wednesday, Nov. 15. If you are interested in or have any questions, please reach out to Melissa Sultana and Dr. Joel Bloom. For more information, please see The Assessment Review flyer.

Focus on Funding

Provost Reading Corner

I recently listened to two audiobooks that proved to be very timely, but for different reasons. In Search of Wisdom: A Monk, a Philosopher, and a Psychiatrist on What Matters Most is a far-reaching “conversation” between Matthieu Ricard, Alexandre Jollien, and Christophe André about mind and mindfulness. During the height of the network crisis, I found listening to it during my morning commute to be a grounding exercise for the day ahead. It also reminded me of the importance of a daily meditation practice, which I had allowed to lapse. The other book, which I recommend to all with an interest in the subject, is Free Speech on Campus by Erwin Chemerinsky and Howard Gillman. Written in 2017, the book is always relevant, as free speech is foundational to academic freedom. Yet, both free speech and academic freedom are rights that come with attendant obligations on college campuses. The Academic Affairs homepage has recently been updated with information academic freedom.

Share your recent reading interests here.

Reminder