Provost’s Newsletter: News and Updates from the Division of Academic Affairs for October 26, 2022

October 26, 2022

Dear Baruch Campus Community:

Last week was National Transfer Student Week. Baruch celebrated with various events highlighting the achievements of our transfer students and showcasing the support and resources we offer them. One event, for which I had the honor of serving as emcee, was particularly historic: the ceremonial signing of an agreement between Baruch College and Borough of Manhattan Community College to improve transfer access through the BMCC-Baruch Business Academy. Students in the academy will benefit from peer mentoring, targeted advising, and assuming academic benchmarks are met, guaranteed admission to the Zicklin School of Business.

The academy model is just one element in a multifaceted approach to improving the transfer student experience at Baruch. As part of AcMo 2.0 (short for Academic Momentum 2.0), we are adding a transfer coordinator to the undergraduate advising team, scaling up the peer mentoring program, creating 2+2 degree maps for our largest majors, and more. If you’re not familiar with the AcMo 2.0 plan, please take a look.

Please also take a moment to enjoy the beautiful fall foliage—weather permitting, of course!

Best wishes,

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

Campus Updates

AVP for Finance Appointed
I am pleased to share news of the appointment of Monroe Russell as the new Assistant Vice President for Finance. Mr. Russell has many years of financial management experience, having served as Baruch’s Finance Controller for ten years and at CUNY in the University Treasurer’s office for ten years. He has an undergraduate accounting degree from Hofstra University and an MBA from Pace University. He officially began his appointment on October 16.

Academic Affairs Interim Appointments
Following Jody Vaisman’s departure to assume the directorship of the CUNY BA program, Harmony Osei has been appointed Interim Director of Honors Programs. Maria Burgos has been named Interim Director of Academic Administration. In this role, she will continue as Faculty Workload and Systems Manager while overseeing the Office of Academic Administration. Leticia Nunez has joined academic administration on an interim basis to support the position management functions of the office and to assist faculty in the transition to Interfolio Faculty 180.

EVC Wendy Hensel’s Forthcoming Visit and Town Hall at Baruch
CUNY Executive Vice Chancellor and University Provost Wendy F. Hensel will visit Baruch and host an in-person Town Hall on Thursday, November 10, from 1:00-2:00 pm. Students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to attend; learn more here.

Faculty Affairs

Next General Faculty Meeting
The next meeting of the General Faculty is tomorrow, Thursday, October 27, 12:30-2:00 pm in the Information and Technology Building, Rackow Room 750. Associate Provost John Osae-Kwapong will deliver the Provost report.

Faculty 180 Initiated Input Continues: Instructions and Deadline
A kind reminder that the deadline for the Interfolio Faculty 180 initiated input period is Monday, Oct. 31. Therefore, continue to review and update your profile and activities sections. If you have never logged in before, or if your basic contact or background information needs to be updated, complete the Profile Form. With the Profile Form completed, you can then proceed to entering and updating your Activities. When all sections have been confirmed, click “Submit For Review.” Once you have completed your Activity input, your chair will automatically be notified and will be required to review and approve your submission. Thank you.

In Memoriam: Ina Plotsky Kupferberg
The Department of Law marks the untimely passing of Adjunct Professor Ina Plotsky Kupferberg. Ina loved teaching and being part of the Department of Law faculty at Baruch. She twice won the department’s Adjunct Appreciation Award for her dedication to the department and its students. Donations in her memory can be made to the “Ina Plotsky Kupferberg Memorial Award” for students. Please contact Department Chair Valerie Watnick for more information.

Student Success

Learner Success Lab: Part of Baruch’s Strategic Planning Process
Baruch College is one of the five institutions engaging with the American Council on Education’s Learner Success Lab (LSL) as part of the third LSL cohort. The LSL will help guide the integration of evidence-based practices for learner success through a structured planning process. Through this process, a group of more than 30 faculty, staff, and administrators are taking a deep dive into our student success infrastructure. Learn more about LSL here.

Teaching and Learning

Akadémos User Guide
The new Akadémos online bookstore has provided a detailed user guide for the textbook adoption interface. You can access it here.

Research

Compliance Reminder: Over-Enrollment of Subjects
Researchers are advised to monitor their research studies’ subject enrollment numbers after obtaining IRB approval. Several studies at Baruch have recently been found to have over-enrolled their subjects. This means the total number of subjects enrolled in a study is greater than was approved in the initial IRB application or in a subsequent modification.

Regardless of the study’s review level, the CUNY UI-IRB considers over-enrollment of subjects a form of noncompliance. Federal regulations require that amendments (modifications) to research activities not be initiated without prior IRB review and approval. An amendment must be submitted and approved to increase the study’s enrollment limit prior to enrolling beyond the currently approved number.

To prevent instances of noncompliance, amendments must be submitted to increase the enrollment goal when the enrollment limit is being approached, rather than waiting until it is met. While the number of anticipated enrolled participants that an investigator puts in an IRB submission may be an estimate, that estimate is still binding. It’s usually better to overestimate your enrollment goal than to underestimate it. Please contact the Office of Research Compliance and Outreach for more information.

International Conference of Undergraduate Research 2023
This year, at the 9th Annual International Conference of Undergraduate Research (ICUR), Baruch students gave fascinating and impressive talks about their original research. See the schedule of panels with photos from the conference and reflections from Baruch’s participants about what the experience meant for their professional growth. Undergraduates conducting research this year in any field may submit 250-word abstracts to present at the 10th Annual ICUR in September 2023. The call for abstracts will come out in the spring semester with an early June deadline. See an abstract writing assignment here. For more information, visit www.icurportal.com or contact Provost Innovation Fellow for Cross-College and Undergraduate Research and Baruch’s ICUR Coordinator Katherine Pence at Katherine.Pence@baruch.cuny.edu.

Faculty Member’s Public Scholarship Subject of NY Times Article
CUNY Distinguished Professor of Art History, American Studies, and Women’s Studies Gail Levin is quoted at length in the October 19 issue of the New York Times. Professor Levin, one of the world’s leading scholars on the painter Edward Hopper, weighs in on the controversy surrounding Hopper’s alleged bequeathal of hundreds of artworks to Rev. Arthayer R. Sanborn, a resident of Hopper’s hometown of Nyack, NY. Read the full article here.

Focus on Funding

Pre-Award Webinar
The Office of Sponsored Programs and Research (SPAR) will be hosting a Pre-Award Webinar on Monday, October 31. The webinar will be delivered through MS Teams. If you have not claimed your MS Teams account, you can do so by clicking here. Please RSVP to SPARRSVP@baruch.cuny.edu.

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 on his latest post, “Creating Our Shared Narrative by Understanding Who We Are.”

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 Friday, click here.