Weekly Mailing to Tenure line, Affiliate, Visitors, Administrative Professionals, and Professional Support Staff in CLAS
CLAS Weekly Mailing 03-23-22
All
1. Supporting our students and colleagues during crisis in Ukraine (a note from Dean Drake)
Faculty
4. Laker to Laker event—let your students know
5. Please encourage your students to run for GVSU Student Senate
Unit Heads
6. No modality or time changes, please
Calendars
Reminders, Invitations, and More
___________________________
All
1. Supporting our students and colleagues during crisis in Ukraine
I wanted to thank all of you who have reached out to our office to ask how students, staff and faculty are being affected by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent refugee emergency in Europe. Those with regional ties and related traumas are particularly preoccupied, and we have been providing support as needed and as requested. Those with expertise have stepped forward to offer context and perspective.
There has been a great deal of related news, so I am resending the GV Next stories and the President’s message.
- https://www.gvsu.edu/gvnext/2022/2018-graduate-ukraine-native-volunteers-to-support-countrys-civilian-reservists-.htm
- https://www.gvsu.edu/gvnext/2022/gvsu-experts-discuss-the-invasion-of-ukraine.htm
- https://www.gvsu.edu/gvnext/2022/gvsu-expert-economic-numbers-rise-after-covid-falls-yet-russian-invasion-will-impact-local-global-markets.htm
- https://www.gvsu.edu/gvnext/2022/members-of-gvsu-community-with-ties-to-ukraine-proud-of-unity-amid-worry-for-homeland-2.htm
I appreciate that CLAS can help model the connection between liberal education and a global perspective, and value the nuanced and empathetic engagement that it engenders.
Jen
Making Faculty Office Hours more accessible
Students have mentioned that they really appreciate having multiple places to find information about faculty office hours. To help your students know and use your virtual office hours, a wide net may need to be cast. While most faculty list office hours on syllabi and Blackboard, an even more thorough campaign may be in order. Listing these hours on your website profile page, automatic email signature, autoreply to emails, etc. will help ensure that no student finds you unresponsive to a request for an individual advising appointment or question about course materials. This is especially important as students are crafting their schedules for the next academic year.
Accessing Advisee Lists Via Navigate
Faculty can access a current list of assigned advisees through the Navigate platform. The instructions provide a step-by-step introduction to the report functions in Navigate and allows you to save this list for easy access in the future. This is also a great time to reach out to your students who are working their way through the registration process and may need some assistance. The report provides the ability to either email the group or provide individual outreach.
Waitlist Information
We are in the first few days of waitlist functionality for students. A recent email was sent by the Registrar explaining the waitlist process for both students and faculty/unit heads. In addition, a new webpage has been developed as a guide during this initial implementation. Of particular importance is the information regarding capacity override requests now that the waitlist option is available. Units that delegate the decisions regarding capacity overrides to individual faculty may want to centralize those decisions to the unit head or designee to avoid any unintended consequences to the students on the waitlists. If you have questions about this, please contact AD Schaner.
The Registrar’s Office is also working to provide weekly reports to unit heads with important waitlist data and capacities. This should be available shortly and will be shared as soon as it is ready.
Due to the recent resignation of Michelle Redmond, Director of the CLAS Academic Advising Center, I am announcing the plans for interim leadership of the Center while we conduct a search for a new Director. Julie Mattox and Nick Woodward will serve as interim co-directors during this transition time. Both have been with the Center for a number of years and bring impressive experience and leadership to their new roles. This shared model allows them to lead the various administrative and supervisory responsibilities in the Center while still maintaining a busy schedule of advising appointments.
I hope that you will join me in thanking Julie and Nick for agreeing to take on this important work, and that you will support them in their new roles. Many thanks to Michelle Redmond for her leadership of the Center during the past five years. We send our very best wishes to her as she moves on to new opportunities.
Faculty
4. Laker to Laker event—let your students know
Tuesday, March 29, 2022
11:30 a.m. - 12:45 p.m.
Held virtually via Zoom
Laker to Laker is an opportunity for students to sit down with an alumni mentor for an informal, half-hour conversation.
Conversations are guided by student interest. Alumni will share their experience choosing a major, their involvement on campus, and their career path. Exploratory students, and students who are considering a change, can talk with alumni from one or more areas they may be considering. Students who have declared a major can talk with alumni from that program to learn more about their experience and career opportunities.
Students may select the alumni they would like to speak with or may choose to be randomly assigned. After completing the form on this webpage, students will receive an email with the Zoom link.
5. Please encourage your students to run for GVSU Student Senate
The 2022-23 election season is now underway. Students who would like to run must submit their election packet by 5pm on Thursday, March 24th. Voting will take place between March 28-April 3. In order to run for Student Senate, students must be currently enrolled at Grand Valley State University, enrolled during the time the position is filled and maintain a minimum of a 2.25 cumulative grade point average throughout their term of service.
As the official student government at GVSU, Student Senate works to ensure that the voice of students is represented in our campus community. The mission of the GVSU Student Senate is to “cultivate a student body that is engaged, healthy, and empowered.” Student Senate is an excellent leadership opportunity and a fantastic way for students to learn, grow and serve through engaging in shared governance at GVSU. Students from all majors are encouraged to apply.
More information about Student Senate and how to run can be found here. The 2022-23 Elections Packet is also attached.
Unit Heads
6. No modality or time changes, please
Students have now begun registering for SS22/F22/W23 classes, so course delivery modes and meeting times should no longer be changed. Capacities, instructors, and similar changes that do not disrupt student schedules are still straightforward.
Calendars
7. Important deadlines
Anytime Faculty can self-submit an item for the FORUM. [email protected]
Each Day All members of the GVSU community must fill out the online self-assessment each day they are on campus. (VAT)
Mar. 25 Deadline date for students to withdraw from a Winter 2022 course
Mar. 30 Deadline for nominations to Full Professor
Mar. 30 Facilities requests for Summer 22 small projects (minor furniture changes, whiteboards, small department-funded projects) should be sent to George McBane. Prior discussion to establish feasibility, cost, etc. recommended.
Apr. 15 Requests for new dibs room assignments, accompanied by plans to fill them at or above the standards described at Department Dibs Room Use Policy, should be sent to Mona Silva.
Apr. 25 – 29 Final Exams
Apr. 30 Sabbatical Reports deadline for Fall 2021 sabbaticals
May 2 Final grades due by midnight
May 6 2022-2023 catalog changes due to [email protected]
May 6 Facilities requests for work to be done Summer 2023 (more substantial projects needing university funding, renovations, whole-classroom furniture changes, etc.) Submit to Mona Silva on Facilities Request Form.
May 20 Enter all 21/22 Student Learning Outcome Assessment Data into GV Advance
May 30 Memorial Day recess
Mar. 23 Unit Head Meeting via Zoom
Mar. 28-31 A Midwestern Mystery, BFA exhibit, Stuart & Barbara Padnos Art Gallery, Calder Art Center
Mar. 29 2022 Mosaic Lecture at 7 p.m., LTT 103. Dr. Mariel Vazquez, professor of Mathematics at UC Davis will also meet interested students and faculty at the Math Department Peer Collaborating Space 4 –5 p.m.
Mar. 29 Grand Morsels: Why fish don’t freeze, how soap works, and more: The Amazing Chemistry of Water
Mar. 29 Gamma Theta Upsilon (GTU) Geography Honors Society induction. 5:30 – 7:30 p.m., Alumni House.
Mar. 30 Unit Head Meeting via Zoom
Mar. 31 New Music Ensemble Composition Competition
Apr. 5 GVSU Arts Celebration Lecture presents: An Evening with Hanif Abdurraqib.
Apr. 9 Princeton Review free/online virtual exam, MCAT Practice Test (April 9)
Apr. 9 Princeton Review free/online virtual exam, GRE Practice Test (April 9)
Apr. 9 Princeton Review free/online virtual exam, DAT Practice Test (April 9)
Apr. 13 26th Annual Student Scholar Day
Apr. 13 Rim of the Visible Ground, artist talk by Sean Patrick Carney, 1-2:40 p.m. Calder Art Center
Apr. 13 CANCELLED Unit Head Meeting
Apr. 14 The Arnold C. Ott Lectureship in Chemistry: Microplastics are Here, There, and Everywhere. 5 p.m. reception for 6 p.m. lecture. Grand River Room, KC.
Apr. 26 Grand Morsels: The Science of Handwashing
Apr. 29 7 p.m. Commencement (College of Liberal Arts and Sciences), Van Andel Arena
Invitation
The Department of Statistics will host an open house to celebrate the sustained leadership contributions to GVSU of Professor Paul Stephenson and retired Professor Neal Rogness on Friday, April 22 from 3-5 p.m., with remarks at 4 p.m. Weather permitting, the event will be held under a tent between Kirkhof Center and Zumberge Pond. In the event of rain, the event will be held in KC 2215/2216. Please mark your calendars and join us in celebration of their accomplishments. Questions to [email protected].
Philosophy Club Event--All Students, Staff, and Faculty Welcome
GVSU Philosophy Club this Week!
This week we will be discussing Newcomb's Problem and the Paradox of Choice. This problem is related to such things as Schrödinger's Cat, Maxwell's Demon, Prisoner's Dilemma, and the terrifying thought experiment, Roko's Basilisk. Below is a short essay (5 pages) from Jim Holt's book, "When Einstein Walked with Goedel: Excursions to the Edge of Thought" which succinctly introduces the problem and its thought-provoking angles. Same time and place, this Thursday at 6 p.m. in MAK-B-LL110. Reading Material
Seeking photos suitable for narrow website banners
Do you have a photo of that represents the liberal arts and sciences that can be cropped to 2000 x400 px? The CLAS website uses narrow header images. We’d love to see the work you are doing with students represented. Send to [email protected].