February 27, 2024 Minutes

Council of Department Chairs

In attendance: Curtis Bennett, Krzysztof Slowinski, Barbara Taylor, Jesse Dillon, Lijuan Li, Lora Stevens, Will Murray, Prashanth Jaikumar, Jim Kisiel, Christine Whitcraft, Babette Benken (via Zoom), Christina Hall, Margaret Karteron, Lindsay Aymar, Tatiana Avila

  1. Approve agenda (10:00) – Approved
  2. Approve minutes from February 13 – Approved as amended
  3. Announcements
    1. Operations
      1. Commencement
        1. Faculty Regalia Orders
          1. Due March 15
          2. We may still have sizing information
        2. Name Reading
          1. Reading in marching order
          2. Name and degree will be on the Jumbotron while student walks
        3. Departmental Celebrations (and hooding questions?)
          1. Commencement team will not have a plan for hooding until mid-March
          2. Since we're the last ceremony, we have the entire week of commencement to have on-campus events
        4. We've been approved to have a reception outside the stadium afterwards
          1. Using banners to create gathering spaces
      2. Sharks @ the Beach and Science & Math in the Halls
        1. July 20 date confirmed
        2. Expected attendance >1700
        3. 1st planning meeting
          1. Hoping for t shirts/opportunity drawing/food
        4. Call for participation went out March 4
        5. Larger planning meeting will be 3/21
      3. College-Wide Scholarship Reception
        1. September 20, 4:00pm-6:00pm
        2. Invitation to scholarship recipients will go out with award notice.
        3. Will be a slideshow – no name reading, but there will be certificates for each recipient
        4. Dr. Bennett will make a few short remarks
      4. Faculty Governance & Spring Elections
        1. Call for nominations going out with week
        2. Constitutional amendments did pass
    2. Development
      1. Giving Options and Instructions
        1. /give
        2. /²µ¾±±¹±ð/´Ú²¹³¦³Ü±ô³Ù²â-²õ³Ù²¹´Ú´Ú-±ð³¾±ð°ù¾±³Ù³Ü²õ-²µ¾±±¹¾±²Ô²µ/´Ú´Ç°ù³¾/±ð³¾±è±ô´Ç²â±ð±ð-…
        3. People can give online – even if they're mailing a check
          1. This is a safer way to do it
          2. Many options online
      2. Gifts In-Kind
        1. Go over any questions with Christina Hall or Dr. Bennett
        2. Will need college approval
      3. Catherine Hulsy is back and reporting to Christina Hall
    3. Dean
      1. Budget update
      2. 25% cut to RSCA funds – on draft from Academic Affairs
        1. We may lose 10-15 RSCA Awards
      3.  3 mini-grant/Summer Stipend applications were funded
      4. In the future, more faculty should consider mini-grants in place of FSGs
  4. Associate Deans
    1. Academic Programs
      1. Fall Course Completion
        1. Spreadsheet found in Teams has updated course completion information
          1. Seeing improvement in Gen Chem
        2. Early Assessment Exam
          1. Students take in 11th grade
          2. They get classified on categories 1-4 depending on results
          3. Not all students share scores
          4. Looking at scores, we learn targeted support is important
    2. Research
      1. Grad Slam
        1. Research presentation competition
        2. Grad Students will have 3 minutes to present their projects
        3. 1 ºÚÁÏÍø competition, and 1 CSU-wide competition (to be held at ºÚÁÏÍø this year)
        4. Please encourage students to participate
      2. Assembly Member Lowenthal will be on campus Friday, 3/1 and would like to see a lab
    3. Graduate Programs
      1. Richard D Green Fellowship and GEF applications were due yesterday (2/26)
      2. Dr. Benken will reach out to form the committee
      3. The GEF nominee applications (up to 2) are due to academic affairs by March 15
  5. Minimum Teaching Policy – Curt
    1. Explicitly includes S-Factor
    2. Not all courses are labeled as lecture (activity or seminar still counts)
    3. Policy language approved by chairs as amended February 27, 2024
  6. Tenure Track Hiring Requests – Curt
    1. Put out request to Provost to provide clarification on cluster hires
    2. Would like to have a college document put together to clarify hiring requests
    3. March 11 deadline sending Dr. Bennett the full hiring package
  7. Open Discussion
    1. We will not provide college matching fund for a computer refresh this year
  8. Adjournment

Upcoming Dates

  • March 1: Nominations for commencement awards due to departments
  • March 8: Commencement award nominations due to college
  • March 8: ºÚÁÏÍø Student Research Competition
  • March 12: Beach Scholarship Applications Close
  • March 12: Women in Science and Math (5:00pm-6:30pm in USU)
  • March 23: Math Day at the Beach & Data Day at the Beach
  • March 29: Mini Review Due from Departments
  • April 13: Day at the Beach (for Admitted Students)
  • April 1-7: Spring Recess
  • April 1: Cesar Chavez Day Observed
  • April 2: FAFSA Deadline (Altered timeline this year only due to "late" change of federal process)
  • April 8(?): Library deadline for thesis
  • April 13: CNSM Showcase (8:00am-3:00pm)
  • May 10: Last Day of Classes (FRIDAY)
  • May 23: Graduation @ Angel Stadium (9:00am)
  • July 20: Sharks @ the Beach and Science in the Halls

Meeting minutes were APPROVED Tuesday, March 12, 2024.

Note: The minutes above reflect discussion on the date of the CDC meeting about policies, not actual policy. Faculty and staff should wait for official communication on each subject before acting.