Header wording: Provost's Monthly Report
October 2020
Ed. Note: Please disregard the Provost e-digest that was previously mailed which was sent inadvertently. Please enjoy this issue of the Provost’s monthly report.

Dear Colleagues— 

I am delighted to share this monthly report on the initiatives, meetings, and endeavors in the Division of Academic Affairs and Student Success that I have been involved with during October 2020 to advance our mission and strategic priorities. For more updates and announcements from the Office of the Provost, along with past monthly reports, and emails to the campus community, please visit the Provost's Corner. For updates on COVID-19, please visit Coronavirus (COVID-19) Updates and Resources.

COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND ACADEMIC CONTINUITY

The College continued to plan for Spring 2021 with guidance on Academic Continuity from CUNY.

On October 26, the CUNY Board of Trustees approved a resolution entitled: “APPROVAL TO CONTINUE THE OFFERING OF ONLINE INSTRUCTION FOR THE DELIVERY OF COURSES IN DEGREE AND NON-DEGREE PROGRAMS AND THE OFFERING OF REMOTE SUPPORT SERVICES FOR THE SPRING 2021 SEMESTER.” 

The text of the resolution reads as follows:

RESOLVED, That the Board of Trustees approves the University’s decision
to extend and continue the offering of online and distance learning
instructional modality for the delivery of courses in degree and non-degree
programs and the offering of remote support services for the Spring Semester
2021 — with exceptions only being made for courses that cannot be effectively
delivered at a distance, such as those courses which are highly experiential, or
services that involve some form of tangible exchange, such as food pantries,
provided they meet New York State and University guidelines for on-site
instruction or delivery; and that the Chancellor shall take such actions as are
reasonable and necessary to give effect to the foregoing. 
 
Consistent with CUNY’s previous guidance and following NYSED’s approval (mindful that the federal Department of Education has yet to issue same approval), all campuses have been requested to do the work required to secure MSCHE authority to extend the online delivery of all academic programs into Spring and Summer 2021. The Provost engaged in consultations with our relevant shared governance bodies (e.g., College Senate Governance Committee, Provost’s and Deans’ Council, Faculty Personnel and Budget Committee, President’s Cabinet, and the Student Government Association) for this purpose with final resolution expected for endorsement at the December 4th Meeting of the College Senate. College Senate Chair Joseph Fera and School deans also engaged in separate consultations with their executive committees and the Chairs of the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee and Graduate Studies Committee respectively to secure endorsement of a resolution.

CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT AND RENEWAL

The College continued to invest in curriculum development and renewal as part of our Strategic Growth and Investment Strategy (SGIP). The following 14 proposals across four schools totaling nearly $80,000 were approved for funding:

School Arts and Humanities
  • BA in Digital Music with Hostos and Lehman
  • Minor in Entrepreneurship in the Arts
  • Pathways for BMCC students into Lehman’s Arts Program, specifically for three animation tracks

School of Education
  • Dual Certification Programs in Middle and High School Education and
  • Generalist Students with Disabilities Grades 7-12
  • Specialization in Infants and Toddlers
  • MS Ed., Mental Health

School of Health Sciences, Human Services, and Nursing
  • BA-MA, Speech Pathology 
  • BS-MS, Dietetics, Foods, and Nutrition
  • BS-MS, Exercise Science
  • BS-MS, Health Education and Promotion
  • BS-MS, Recreation Education
  • Study Viability of Doctorate in Social Work (DSW)

School of Natural and Social Sciences
  • Online Computer Science Preparation
  • Masters Science Courses for Computer Education Extension


Sixteen (16) faculty from across two schools and seven departments received funding approval totaling $38,500 to redesign foundational gateway courses with high failure rates with a view to improving student performance. This pilot program is part of the Provost’s SSCRI to improve student outcomes across lower division General Education courses.


Sixty-five (65) Lehman faculty were selected by the Office of the Provost to participate in a major national faculty development program delivered by the Association for College and University Educators (ACUE). This program is supported through grant funding from CUNY and the National Association of System Heads (NASH). Lehman is one of four CUNY senior colleges selected from our proposal submission in spring 2021 to participate in this major professional development opportunity. The sixty-five faculty selected for this program are drawn from Arts and Humanities (17), HS2N (15), NSS (30) and SOE (3). They will form a community of practice to advance and scale innovative pedagogies that strengthen student learning and student success outcomes at the College. 

ACCREDITATION AND INSTITUTIONAL EFFECTIVENESS-RELATED MATTERS

  • October 7 — Associate Provost Victor Brown presented an update on assessment from the Ad-hoc Assessment Council to the College Senate.

  • October 8 — Professor Devrim Yavuz, Department of Sociology, hosted the Monthly Assessment Brown Bag Lunch Talk on "The Uses of Assessment for Linking Lehman College's ILO's to Discipline-specific Skills."

CUNY/EXTERNAL ENGAGEMENT

  • October 2 and 21 — Held planning meetings on the implementation of the CUNY Leadership Institute (TCLI) for Urban-serving institutions funded by the Mellon Foundation. Also held meeting with EVC José Luis Cruz on October 9 regarding TCLI.

  • October 2 — Participated in the American Council of Fellows (ACE) Council of Fellows Professional Development Committee meeting.

  • October 7 and 19 — Participated in the CUNY Academic Policy Committee Sub-Committee Meetings which focused on faculty peer observations and student evaluation of faculty instruction.

  • October 7 — Participated in the Board of Directors meeting of the national Association of Chief Academic Officers (ACAO).

  • October 7 — Led the Lehman team in a meeting with the Teagle Foundation on a potential grant to strengthen the General Education curriculum.

  • October 8 — Participated in a second meeting with the Francine A. LeFrak Foundation to discuss funding opportunities for experiential learning and career development for our students. 

  • October 9 — Participated in a meeting of the Advisory Committee on Academic Innovation and Transformation of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU).

  • October 13 — Provided opening remarks and introduced speaker at the Sara Little Turnbull Visiting Designer Speaker Series.

  • October 14 — Hosted a meeting with Thomas Donato, Vice President, Mutual of America, to explore potential internship and career placements for our students.

  • October 14 — Attended CUNY Academic Council Meeting of Chief Academic Officers.

  • October 14 and 23 — Participated in two convenings of AASCU’s Executive Leadership Academy (ELA).

  • October 21 — Participated in a CUNY Chief Academic Officers’ meeting to discuss Online Proctoring Solutions.

  • October 21 — Participated in the CUNY Committee on Academic Policy (CAP) Meeting.

  • October 21 — Participated in the Presidents’ Student Success Roundtable involving four CUNY Colleges: Lehman, John Jay, Queens, and City. 

  • October 21 — Led the Provost’s Monthly Update Meeting of the NYC-Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation in STEM (LSAMP). Alliance is a multi-year $4.2m NSF grant involving 11 CUNY Colleges focused on increasing minority participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

  • October 22 — Attended the CUNY Coalition for Students with Disabilities (CCSD) Debate Watch Party for the 2020 Presidential Elections.

  • October 26-28 — Attended the 34th Annual Conference of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU).

  • October 26 — Participated in the national Association of Chief Academic Officers (ACAO) Committee on Innovations and Strategies Meeting.

  • October 29 — Held a 1:1 meeting with Michelle Cooper, President, Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP).

  • October 30 — Attended the CUNY 2020 16th Annual Women’s Leadership Conference.

SHARED GOVERNANCE

  • October 1 and October 15 — Convened Provost’s and Deans’ Council (PDC) Meetings. Agenda items included Provost’s Updates, Enrollment update, Spring 2021 Admissions Criteria, Distance Education—NYSED, Assessment update, Departmental Advising websites, among others.

  • October 1, 8, 15, 22, and 29 — Participated in the President’s Budget Working Group (BWG) meeting. 

  • October 1 and 21 — Held 1:1 meeting with Professor Anne Rice, Co-Chair, College Strategic Plan Steering Committee.

  • October 5, 6, 15, 19, 20, 26, 27, and 29 — Held individual 1:1 Meetings with divisional Vice Presidents, Executive Counsel, and President’s Chief of Staff.
 
  • October 5, 6, 8, 13, 15, 19, 20, 27, 28, and 29 – Held individual 1:1 Meetings with School Deans, Chief Librarian, and direct reports to the Provost from the Division of Academic Affairs and Student Success.

  • October 7 — Convened meeting of the 2020-2025 Strategic Plan Steering Committee.

  • October 7 — Attended the College Senate Meeting.

  • October 8, 13, 20, and 27 — Held 1:1 Meetings with President Lemons.

  • October 6, 15, and 21 — Participated in the President’s Cabinet Meeting.

  • October 13 and 27 — Participated in the FP&B Meeting and provided Provost’s Report.

  • October 13 — Participated in the Lehman’s Vacancy Review Committee meeting.

  • October 15 — Held 1:1 meeting with Joseph Fera, Chair, College Senate Governance Committee.

  • October 15 — Held 1:1 meeting with Carl Mazza, Chair, F P&B Sub-committee on Tenure, Promotion, and Certificate of Continuous Employment (TPCCE) to discuss the review of fall 2020 faculty portfolios.

  • October 19 — Participated in the College Senate Governance Committee meeting.

  • October 20 — Met with SGA President Jada Quinland and Vice President Sumana Ali.

  • October 22 — Met with Lisa Peralta, Manager, Institutional Review Board (IRB).

  • October 22 — Convened the meeting of the Division of Academic Affairs and Student Success (A2S2) Leadership Team.

  • October 27 — Participated in the Senate Joint Committee on Budget and Long-Range Planning meeting.

  • October 27 — Met with José Higuera López, Deputy Director, Mexican Studies Institute (MSI).

  • October 29 — Met with Brandon Begarly, Director, Office of Research and Sponsored Programs.

  • October 30 — Participated in the President’s Advisory Board (PAB) which focused on the CUNY Performance Management Plan (PMP) and the 2020-2025 Strategic Plan Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) as well as the soft launch for the Lehman Extension (LEx), a weekend college to expand accelerated post-secondary offerings to working adults in the region.

MEETINGS AND EVENTS

  • October 1, 5, 6, 7, 14, 15, 21, 22,26, and 29 — Held individual 1:1 meetings with the following department chairs: Carl Mazza (Social Work), Dimitra Karabali (Physics and Astronomy), Paula Loscocco (English), Diana Battipaglia (Music, Multimedia, Theatre, and Dance-MMTD), Cheryl Smith Gabig (Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences-SLHS), Andre Jitianu (Chemistry), Brian Murphy (Computer Science), Hari Pant (Earth, Environmental, and Geospatial Sciences-EEGS), Daniel Fernández (Languages and Literatures), and Julie Maybee (Philosophy).

  • October 5 — Convened monthly check-in meeting with the Director of the CUNY Institute for Health Equity (CIHE) María Isabel Roldos and Dean Elgloria Harrison, School of Health Sciences, Human Services, and Nursing (HS2N). A second meeting was held on October 19 with President Lemons and Institutional Advancement Vice President Susan Ebersole to discuss CIHE strategic direction and funding priorities.

  • October 8 — Participated in the President’s Briefing to the campus community.

  • October 13 — Held 1:1 meeting with Professor Janet DeSimone, Chair, CLSSE, regarding curriculum development.

  • October 14 — Joined President Lemons in a meeting to advance Latinx Arts Initiative at the College.

  • October 19 — Met with Professor Dene Hurley Chair, Department of Economics and Business, to further discussions on the proposed School of Business at Lehman.

  • October 20 — Participated in the Lehman College Boards of Directors Orientation hosted by the division of Institutional Advancement.

  • October 22 — Convened the Deans’ Joint Meeting with the Provost with a focus on FY21 and FY22 Budget.

  • October 26 — Facilitated the Fall 2020 New Dean/Department Chair Orientation. In attendance: Elgloria Harrison (HS2N), Terry Towery (Art), Joseph Fera (Mathematics), Christopher Bonastia (Sociology), and Raziyegul Tiryaki-Sonmez (Health Sciences). Deborah Rhem-Jackson, Director, Academic Personnel, provided technical support.

  • October 29 — Held 1:1 Meeting with incoming Interim Vice President for Student Affairs, Dr. Jermaine Wright.

ACADEMIC AFFAIRS' SEARCHES AND APPOINTMENTS

  • October 1 –Angelia Holloway-Pinnock was appointed Director of The Percy Ellis Sutton SEEK Program on October 1, 2020.

I wish everyone continued good health for the rest of the fall semester. Please remain well and be safe. 

-P
Peter O. Nwosu, Ph.D.
Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Student Success
Lehman College
The Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Student Success is the College's chief academic and student success officer and senior member of the President's Cabinet. The Provost is responsible for all educational and student support programs, as well as academic issues that relate to the faculty including appointments, promotions, and evaluations. He also is responsible for preparing accreditation reviews, program reviews, campus strategic planning and the review of division and departmental budgets. If you have questions or comments, please e-mail us at provost.office@lehman.cuny.edu or call 718-960-8222.