Provost’s Newsletter: News and Updates from the Division of Academic Affairs for September 7, 2023
September 7, 2023
Dear Baruch College Community,
Last week, I had the honor of joining President Wu and other members of the leadership team in introducing Baruch College’s new five-year strategic plan: Baruch 2028: Unstoppable. If you haven’t seen the plan, you can find it in its entirety here and download the plan framework as a poster here. I have hung the poster on my office wall and already refer to it often; I encourage you to do the same.
The previous week, I had the honor of meeting many of our new first-year students during Fall Student Convocation. Following a large group meeting with SEEK students in the Simon Conference Room, President Wu, Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students Art King, and I each visited about 10 different Baruch Beginnings Workshops, distributed throughout the Newman Vertical Campus (NVC) and the Field Building at 17 Lexington Avenue (17 Lex), where we personally welcomed students, took questions, and conveyed our commitment to helping them maximize their potential for success.
To further support student success, the Baruch College Department of Mathematics has been awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) S-Stem grant of nearly $1 million to support degree completion in math, actuarial science, and statistics. You can read more about the project in the “Research and Funding” section below.
Lastly, by modestly popular demand, I have added a new occasional section to the newsletter, “Provost Reading Corner,” and invite you to share what you’re reading as well.
Best wishes,
Dr. Linda Essig
Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs
Campus Updates
September Religious/Cultural Holiday Calendar
Many students, faculty, and staff in our community celebrate religious or other cultural holidays in the month of September. For details, click here.
New Director of Baruch Honors Program Begins September 12
We are very happy to welcome Veronica Maldonado as the new Director of the Baruch Honors Program, starting Tuesday, Sept. 12. With over 15 years of administrative experience at the Macaulay Honors College, including her most recent position as Assistant Dean for Student Services, Veronica brings her deep experience at CUNY to Baruch, as well as the problem-solving skills for which she is well-known in the honors community. We look forward to working with her!
Fall Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Fridays
The DEI Fridays series that launched in the Marxe School is continuing under the auspices of the Office of the Provost. The series, organized by Dr. Anna D’Souza, will kick off on Friday, Sept. 29, with a session on Disability Justice, co-sponsored by the Office of Student Disability Services. Other topics in the series include Understanding Antisemitism, Jewish History, and the Jewish Experience, co-sponsored by the Wasserman Jewish Studies Center; Linguistic Justice, co-sponsored by the Writing Center and Tools for Clear Speech; and Combating Islamophobia and Supporting Muslim Students in Higher Education, co-sponsored by the Office of Diversity, Compliance, and Equity Initiatives. All events are via Zoom; additional topics and meeting details will be announced soon.
Faculty Affairs
Faculty Profile Pages Rollout Update
After a successful go-live date of the Faculty Profile Pages (FPP) site on August 15, the next phase will integrate the site and the individual faculty members’ URLs to existing pages at College- and school-level websites. Faculty can still make changes to their individual pages following the instructions posted here. Answers to most Frequently Asked Questions are linked at the bottom of the page. The FPP site fulfills three important functions: (1) to showcase the credentials and achievements of Baruch faculty through consistently formatted webpages, (2) to locate experts across the College in specific fields, and (3) to foster networking and interdisciplinary collaborations among Baruch faculty. For any questions or comments about this site, please contact Associate Provost Raquel Fich.
Newspaper Access
Free digital subscriptions to the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal are available to all Baruch students, faculty, and staff. In addition, both offer instructor tools to help you utilize these newspapers in your classes. Please use your Baruch email address to establish academic accounts. For the New York Times, register here and find instructor tools here. For the Wall Street Journal, registration is here and instructor tools are here. The accounts are for one year and may be renewed. The CUNY-wide digital access is paid by all CUNY libraries and the CUNY Office of Library Services. Many more newspapers are available through Baruch’s Newman Library. The library’s Chat with a Librarian service is available 24/7.
Student Success
Fall Depression Screening
The Counseling Center will hold a depression screening for students on Tuesday, Sept. 12, from 12:30 to 2:45 pm on the Clivner=Field Plaza outside the entrance of the NVC. (In case of rain, the screening will be moved to the NVC lobby, left of the turnstile.) Please encourage your students to take advantage of this valuable opportunity to better understand their mental well-being. Counselors will be available one-on-one to provide feedback and assist students in connecting with Baruch’s Counseling Center or with external counseling services as needed. For any questions, please contact Dr. Lynn Kaplan, Counseling Center Associate Director.
Study Abroad Fair on September 14
One of the priorities of the new strategic plan is to increase experiential learning opportunities. With that in mind, please encourage students to attend the Baruch College Study Abroad Fair on Thursday, Sept. 14, 12:30 to 2:30 pm, in the Auxiliary Gym, NVC Level B2. These fairs offer a wonderful opportunity for program providers to speak to Baruch students about the study abroad options available. Also staffing tables are exchange students from our partner universities studying at Baruch this term and Baruch students who have already participated in study abroad. All are available to answer questions about the schools, cities, and campus life abroad. Faculty are also encouraged to stop by the fair for the chance to learn more about the programs—the kinds of academic and cultural experiences our students have abroad—and to gain a better sense of how study abroad might be integrated into a student’s overall college career.
Teaching and Learning
Student Academic Consulting Center’s Re-certification
The Division of Teaching and Learning is pleased to announce that the Student Academic Consulting Center (SACC) has been awarded certification as a Level 3 certified tutor training program by the internationally recognized College Reading and Learning Association (CRLA). The leadership team at SACC worked hard to develop a tutor training program that meets CRLA’s rigorous standards and has successfully completed the International Tutor Training Program Certification peer review process. This accomplishment signifies that SACC has met CRLA’s high standards for tutor selection, training, direct service, and evaluation as an integral part of its overall tutoring program. Please join us in congratulating Director Michele Doney and the SACC team on a job well done.
Starr Career Development Center Faculty Services and Resources
The Starr Career Development Center offers a variety of services and resources for faculty interested in incorporating career readiness into their courses. Services and resources include, but are not limited to, class presentations (i.e., Starr Speakers Program), one-on-one curriculum consultations, access to career-related assignments and tools, and faculty presentations/workshops. The center invites faculty and academic departments to partner with the center in preparing students for the world of work by sharing its student-centered services and utilizing faculty-centered resources.
Research and Funding
Math Department Receives S-Stem Grant from National Science Foundation
The Department of Mathematics has been awarded a $999,997 grant from the NSF. This six-year grant, “S-Stem: Sustained Cascade Mentoring in Mathematics and Related Fields,” is set to start on March 15, 2024. The focus of this initiative is to develop innovative mentoring programs aimed at advancing education for a cohort of students, particularly those from low-income backgrounds, pursuing degrees in mathematics, actuarial sciences, and statistics.
The program, led by Principal Investigator Pablo Soberón-Bravo and Co-Principal Investigators Guy Moshkovitz, Timothy B. Ridenour, and Matthew Junge, will help expand existing infrastructures and create a supportive environment for students. Students in the program, called “S-STEM Scholars,” will receive financial support through scholarships of up to $15,000 per year over four years in addition to academic, social, and career mentorship. The ultimate goal is to empower these student-scholars to successfully graduate and embark on promising careers in their chosen fields, ultimately diversifying and strengthening the STEM workforce.
RF or BCF? Should Grants Be Administered by the Research Foundation or the Baruch College Fund?
Faculty-led research and community engagement projects funded by public or foundation grants must be administrated through the College’s Office of Sponsored Programs and Research (SPAR). Funds are deposited with the RF, and overhead charges are assessed based on funder requirements and RF policy. Grants from private foundations that are for the general good of the College and not for a specific faculty-led program are likely to be considered gifts and will be accepted and administered by the BCF. If a project has specific deliverables, it is almost always considered a grant to be administered by the RF.
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
New Academic Program Review Framework Now Available
After months of engagement with deans, associate deans, assessment coordinators, and program chairs, the Office of Assessment, Accreditation, and Institutional Effectiveness has completed revising the academic review process. To learn more about the new process, including the common reporting template, expanded criteria, schedule, and how to contact us for support, please visit the Program Review site.
In Memoriam
Remembering Jack Krauskopf
It is with sadness that I share news of the passing of Jack Krauskopf, former director of the Center for Nonprofit Strategy and Management at the Marxe School of Public and International Affairs. The Marxe School will host a celebration of his life at the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action annual conference. His remarkable and varied life is recounted in this tribute.
Reminders
AI Think Tank
Interested in joining the Artificial Intelligence Think Tank? Click here.
Provost Reading Corner
Reading Recommendations from the Provost
I have read several books since I shared my voracious reading appetite with the community over the summer. I recommend three of these very highly. The first two are Pulitzer Prize winners, and my guess is that the third will be a Pulitzer nominee, at least. Trust by Hernan Diaz is a beautifully written novel in four parts set in the context of the history of finance, so should be of interest to many in the Baruch community. I was in the middle of Cuba: An American History by Ada Ferrer when I heard of Associate Professor Katrin Hansing’s National Endowment for the Humanities grant to study Cubans’ engagement in Angola. Not knowing much about the history of Cuba, I found the book very interesting and, given Dr. Hansing’s grant news, particularly timely. I also finished a recent release, Pulling the Chariot of the Sun, by poet Shane McCrae, a memoir of his kidnapping by his grandparents. I “read” this as an audio book with McCrae voicing the work.
I am in the middle of The Thread Collectors by Shaunna Edwards and Alyson Richmond. Mark your calendars for Tuesday, Oct. 10! The co-authors will be visiting Baruch for a campus-wide community event to talk about their book, which follows the intersections between an enslaved family and a Jewish family during the U.S. Civil War.
Click here to share your recent reading recommendations.
Stay Connected
President Wu’s Blog
Join the conversation at President Wu’s blog. Read and comment here.
Newsletter Items?
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