Provost’s Newsletter: News and Updates from the Division of Academic Affairs for October 18, 2023

October 18, 2023

Dear Baruch College Community:

I want to use this biweekly letter to the community to reiterate a message I sent to the academic department chairs over the weekend. That message reaffirmed that Baruch College is a community of learners and scholars whose diverse cultural and ideological perspectives enrich the campus experience and that we want to maintain a safe campus environment where teaching and learning can take place. I am grateful to the faculty and staff for their commitment to teaching, learning, and student success.

As we continue to recover from the network outage, in-person instruction on campus is now joined by the return of many administrative offices with staff working on campus. This includes the Offices of Academic Administration and Faculty Affairs, Human Resources, and SEEK. Student academic success centers are preparing to return this week as well. I look forward to seeing you on campus soon!

Best wishes,

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

Campus Updates

Timely Topic for October 20 DEI Fridays Program
The College’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Fridays series welcomes guest speaker April Powers, Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Project Shema, for the session Understanding Antisemitism, Jewish History, and the Jewish Experience. Powers brings her intersectional identity and international background to her career helping organizations manage differences through training, recruiting, and diversity and inclusion strategies. The event, co-sponsored by the Office of the Provost and the Wasserman Jewish Studies Center, is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 20, from 12 noon to 1:30 pm. Register for the Zoom meeting here.

Faculty Affairs

Faculty Affairs Drop-in for Adjunct Faculty
Norene Leddy, Director of Faculty Affairs, is holding biweekly open office hours for adjunct faculty starting this Friday, Oct. 20, from 12 noon to 1 pm via Zoom. Faculty must register in advance here. After registering, faculty will receive a confirmation email and the recurring Zoom link for the semester. Contact Norene Leddy 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.

In Memoriam

Remembering Cynthia Hyla Whittaker (1941-2023)
It is with great sorrow that I share news of the passing of Cynthia Hyla Whittaker, Professor Emerita of Russian History and long-time Chair of the Department of History. Dr. Whittaker passed away on September 11 at the age of 82. During her tenure at Baruch, Dr. Whittaker made remarkable contributions to both the history department and the academic community. She was not only a distinguished leader at Baruch but also a scholar in Russian political culture, having received a Fulbright scholarship and multiple grants. She authored four books, one of which, The Origins of Modern Russian Education: An Intellectual Biography of Count Sergei Uvarov, was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. Additionally, Dr. Whittaker was recognized with a Baruch Presidential Excellence Award twice, in 1985 and 2004, for her outstanding scholarly contributions and in 2010 for service to the College.

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
President Wu publishes a 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, click here.