Dear Colleagues-
 
It has been a little over three weeks since Spring 2023 officially began. In my January 25, 2023, Welcome Message to the College, I highlighted several key initiatives underway to advance our college mission and strategic priorities. In this Provost’s Monthly Report, I am pleased to provide additional updates on these initiatives and many more that we continue to pursue in the division of Academic Affairs and Student Success to advance our strategic priorities, and working in collaboration with other divisions/units within the College and at the University, as well as with external partners.
 
Lehman Online
Our strategic efforts to expand our current online footprint and advance our access and opportunity promise by offering more fully online graduate and undergraduate degree programs with a focus on working adults is continuing to grow. Thus far, we have identified 29 such programs. Our deans are working with department chairs and faculty on an additional 13 programs, which (when fully approved) will bring the total number of fully online undergraduate and graduate degree programs at the college to 42. We are in discussions with CUNY to leverage available system-wide resources to support our efforts, given current enrollment and fiscal pressures.
 
Transfer Initiative
The other key initiative underway is our transfer initiative. This was launched last year to improve the seamless transfer of students from community colleges to Lehman. School deans and their associate deans worked with department chairs to develop action plans. They are now implementing these plans, which include working with our BTAG partners (Bronx Transfer Affinity Group, comprised of four community colleges: BCC, BMCC, Guttman, and Hostos) to develop articulation agreements on specific high-sending and receiving majors. They are doing so in collaboration with the Office of Academic Programs and Educational Effectiveness. Student Affairs has begun implementation of its Blueprint-to-Success (BTS), a co-curricular initiative to help students transition to Lehman, and Enrollment Management has completed the restructuring of campus-wide advising in ways that will improve the student experience. The new structure, named the Center for Academic Advising and Student Success, focuses on three key areas: transition, persistence, and graduation, and ensures that every student at Lehman will now have a dedicated academic advisor at every stage of their academic journey. Implementation will commence this semester and will help improve retention and completion.
 
Technology Upgrades
I also reported on the significant progress we have made on technology upgrades in 172 classrooms and 4 large lecture rooms to support effective pedagogy and student learning and our efforts to expand on Lehman’s digital equity initiative through the “Student Technology Fee Funding Proposals” for AY 2023-2024. The due date for this year’s proposals, whose theme is “Technology Across the Curriculum (TAC),” is February 27, 2023. I encourage you to consider submitting proposals that would help narrow equity gaps in student learning.
 
CUNY Inclusive Economy (CIE) Initiative
Another area I highlighted in my January message is the CUNY Inclusive Economy (CIE) Initiative, a public-private partnership to boost student career success and advance the city’s economic potential through the expansion of campus-industry engagement and career advising and our faculty recruitment efforts for FY23, which began last semester. Funding for CIE in four areas: Healthcare, Climate Resilience, Technology, and Liberal Arts has come from CUNY. I am pleased to report that the College has made significant progress on the recruitment for these lines since my January 25th message. All eight CIE positions (four Industry Engagement Specialists and four Hybrid Career Advising Specialists) have now been filled. A boot camp was also held to prepare students for potential experiential learning opportunities within industry, with technical support provided for this boot camp by our Career Exploration and Development Center (CEDC).
 
New Full-Time Faculty Lines
We are making progress on the recruitment for the 21 new full-time faculty lines (14 lecturers and 7 tenure-track professorial lines) allocated to Lehman by CUNY as part of the 580 new full-time faculty lines funded by the state. These 21 lines are in addition to the 14 full-time lecturer lines the college received in spring 2022. We completed searches for these 14 lines in the summer of 2022, with the new faculty joining the college last fall. 
 
Tenure and Promotion
Last year, I charged an Ad Hoc Committee of the College Committee on Faculty Personnel and Budget (FP&B) to develop a guidebook of best practices for tenure, promotion, and certificate of continuous improvement. The committee’s work is informed by the last COACHE Survey about the need for clarity on tenure and promotion standards and the Fall 2021 TPCCE Committee’s recommendation for an ad hoc committee of the FP&B to address this concern. The ad hoc committee chaired by Professor Nancy Dubetz (Chair, ECCE, School of Education) has been at work since last semester and is expected to complete its task with a final recommendation to FP&B by the end of this semester. Other members of the committee are Professor Elhum Haghighat (Chair, Political Science, School of Natural and Social Sciences), Professor Brenda Williams-Gray (Chair, Social Work, School of Health Sciences, Human Services, and Nursing), Professor Janet Munch (Chair, Archives and Special Collections, Leonard Lief Library), Dr. James Mahon (Dean, School of Arts and Humanities), and Ms. Bridget Barbera (Executive Counsel). I have met on multiple occasions with Professor Dubetz to discuss progress on the committee’s work and to provide guidance. I am pleased with the committee’s engagement with multiple stakeholders and its deliberate approach to developing this guidebook, which will offer recommendations to assist individual faculty, chairs, and the committees involved in personnel decisions in preparing a candidate to be successful in seeking tenure or promotion at the college. 
 
Lehman College Brand Perception Survey Underway
I am pleased to report that Lehman has engaged the services of Hanover Research, an Arlington, Virginia-based leading provider of research and analytics for thousands of organizations worldwide, to conduct a Brand Perception/Awareness Survey of the college. The survey, which will take place during the spring term across the tri-state region (New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut), will engage thousands of consumers to better understand how they perceive Lehman's purpose and programs and to leverage that understanding and awareness to further improve institutional quality and advance our access and opportunity mission. Since the fall semester of 2022, consultants from Hanover Research have been working with multiple stakeholders from across the college, including deans, appropriate staff from Enrollment Management, Administration and Finance, and Institutional Advancement, among others, along with the President and Provost, to develop and refine the survey instrument as well as finalize the protocols for survey administration. President Delgado and Cabinet believe that the brand perception survey is particularly important in enhancing the college’s strategic positioning in the region and our ability to thrive in the ever-changing higher education landscape, which continues to experience significant disruptions, resulting especially from the Covid-19 pandemic.
 
Market Research for Select Programs
Hanover Research is also conducting market research for thirteen existing and potential new programs to assess demand, enhance enrollment growth, and support the need for high-quality professionals in the region for these programs. These programs were selected from a portfolio of 35 programs identified by our school deans for this purpose. I am pleased to report that market analysis has now been completed for each of the following programs: RN-BS in Nursing (online), MS in Organizational Leadership, MA in Liberal Studies, and the Ed.D. in Organizational Leadership and Change (online). The school dean responsible for each of these programs is working with department faculty and staff and relevant campus units to implement the recommendations from the market research.
 
Academic Program Review
  • Last week (February 7), I sent an update to the campus community on our AY2021-2022 annual assessment of student learning and performance outcomes. The report outlined progress from various academic and educational support units to strengthen the culture of assessment and continuous improvement at the College during the academic year. As part of this work, the college has also continued the review of its academic programs following the Guidelines for Academic Program Review and the Schedule for Academic Program Review provided on the College’s Institutional Effectiveness Webpage, launched in summer 2021. Thus far, seven departments and programs have successfully completed self-studies and program reviews: Anthropology (AY 2021-2022), Exercise Science (AY 2020-2021), Health Education & Promotion (AY 2021-2022), Languages & Literatures (AY 2021-2022), Philosophy (AY 2021-2022), Recreation Education (AY 2020-2021) and Therapeutic Recreation (AY 2020-2021).
  • Nine department/program reviews are currently underway for AY 2022-2023: Art, Art History and Studio Art; Computer Graphics and Imaging; History; Journalism; Film and TV Studies; Media and Communication Studies; Mathematics; Computer Sciences and Computer Information Systems; and Liberal Studies. One program – Biology, scheduled for this review cycle will complete its self-study and review during AY 2023-2024. As you probably know, the college has provided funding to support external peer review and site visits, a primary means by which we validate program quality and vitality. Our program review, which takes place every five years for each program, is comprised of a self-study report produced by the department faculty; an external peer review; a site visit by and a report from the reviewers; discussion of the findings from the program review between the department/program and Administration; and development of an action plan to utilize the findings/results for continuous improvement. I have met with external reviewers for each program review and remain pleased with the quality of engagement and process we have put in place since our last institutional accreditation in 2019 to advance the quality of our programs and student learning at the college for which Lehman has been known for decades.
 
Internal and External Engagement
  • Internal meetings and discussions during December 2022 and January 2023 included the following: 1:1 with the President; President’s Cabinet; President’s Extended Cabinet (includes deans, Chief Librarian, and Associate Provost for Academic Programs and Educational Effectiveness); College Faculty Personnel and Budget Committee (FP&B); Provost’s and Deans’ Council (PDC); Deans only meeting; Academic Affairs Senior Leadership Team; Provost’s staff; Lehman Vacancy Review Committee; PSC Labor-Management; College Senate Committee on Budget and Long Range Planning; General Faculty; SGA President and Vice President; President’s Briefing; Retirement Celebration for Clarence Stanley; College Senate; and College Senate Governance Committee.
  • External meetings and discussions during December 2022 and January 2023 included the following: The CUNY Leadership Institute; CUNY Academic Council; CUNY BOT Committee on Education (represented President); CUNY BOT Committee on Administration and Finance (represented President); MSCHE Annual Conference in Philadelphia; Hanover Research; Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP) Board; Association of Chief Academic Officers (ACAO) Board; and the Bronx Transfer Affinity Group (BTAG). 
  • IHEP Board Chair: I am pleased to report my election in December 2022 to the position of Chair, Board of Directors of the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP). Previously, I served as secretary and vice chair of the Board. The 11-member Board is comprised of leaders in higher education, research, and policy from across the country committed to educational equity and improving college access and success for all students pursuing higher education. Based in Washington, DC, IHEP is one of the nation’s most prominent and trusted independent providers of higher education research, policy, and advocacy, with a focus on college access, success, affordability, transparency, value, and equity. Its work includes the high-profile Postsecondary Value Commission Report funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which offers a new approach to measuring the value of postsecondary education for all students; Degrees When Due initiatives, designed to improve completion, especially among students with some college credits, but no degree; the introduction of the bipartisan, bicameral College Transparency Act, cosponsored by more than one-third of the Senate (17 Democrats; 20 Republicans) and half of the House (149 Democrats; 81 Republicans); policy changes in legislation, including the addition of race/ethnicity to FAFSA; overturning the ban on Pell for incarcerated students; introducing stronger reporting metrics for the $14.25 billion Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) approved by Congress in 2021; proposals for large Pell Grant increases; and proposals for improved reporting for IPEDS Outcome Measures.
 
Academic Affairs’ Searches and Appointments 
  • Interviewed candidates for Lecturer and tenure-track Assistant Professor positions in the following areas: Health Equity, Administration and Technology, Nursing, Counseling, Leadership, Literacy and Special Education, and Leonard Lief Library.
  • Searches were completed with faculty hires in the Department of Health Equity, Administration and Technology [Collette Brown, Associate Professor and Chair]; the Department of Nursing [Darcel Reyes, Associate Professor]; the Department of Counseling, Leadership, Literacy and Special Education [Dov Kugelmass, Assistant Professor and Suri Tanupreet, Lecturer - Doctoral] and the Department of Biological Sciences [Sarah Skubel, Lecturer – Doctoral].
  • Completed the following director appointments: Denny Santos, Director of Compliance and Operations, Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs (VPSA); Gabriella Kohler, Director of Student Disability Services; Dr. Jaye Jones, Director of Student Support Services Programs, Office of VPSA; and Stephanie Parra, Director of CUNY EDGE.
  • Completed the following hires for the CUNY Inclusive Economy Initiative: Natasha Baruah, Industry Employment Specialist, English Department, School of Arts and Humanities; Martha Bryant; Industry Employment Specialist, Chemistry Department, School of Natural and Social Sciences; Christine Calero, Academic Career Advisor, Department of Health Equity, Administration, and Technology (HEAT), School of Health Sciences, Human Services, and Nursing; Christie Del Bene, Climate Resilience Advisor, Chemistry Department, School of Natural and Social Sciences; Swathy Gopal, Career Advisor, Computer Science Department, School of Natural and Social Sciences; Max Hill, Industry Specialist, Computer Science Department, School of Natural and Social Sciences; Justin Simmons, Industry Employment Specialist, (HEAT), School of Health Sciences, Human Services, and Nursing; LaShonna Turner, Academic/Career Advisor, English Department, School of Arts and Humanities.
 
As always, remain well.