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December 4, 2023: University Senate Report

Office of the Provost

Leadership Appointments

Climate Leadership Positions

The Provost's Office announced two key appointments for positions overseeing efforts to advance Stony Brook's leadership in climate and sustainability solutions. Heather Lynch will serve as the inaugural director of the Collaborative for the Earth, an "action tank" for facilitating university-wide research, education, and public/policy engagement on global-scale environmental crises. Kevin Reed will serve as associate provost for climate and sustainability programming, working closely with schools and colleges, and the Offices of the Provost, the Executive Vice President for Health Sciences, and the Vice President for Research, in their development of climate-related academic programs and research across all Stony Brook campuses.

Arts and Sciences Dean Search

The Provost's Office shared in a recent email update that the university is partnering with Isaacson, Miller to help facilitate a national search to recruit a diverse roster of exceptional candidates. The announcement also shared that a search committee has been appointed, led by co-chairs Selia Marshik, Dean of the Graduate School and Professor of English, and Alfredo Fontanini, professor and chair, Department of Neurobiology and Behavior. All members of the faculty and staff community, and all CAS students, were invited to complete a survey to share input on qualities and characteristics to consider in recruiting candidates for this position.

Faculty Development

Provost's Lecture Series

As previously announced, the Provost's Lecture Series now features SUNY Distinguished Academy faculty members to share their research and scholarship with the Stony Brook University community. The first event of this academic year highlighted Professors Georges Fouron of Africana Studies and Martin Rocek of Physics and Astronomy and took place on November 14. We encourage the University community to take advantage of this opportunity and participate in upcoming events. 

Please also consider the other two new programs to invite scholarly guest speakers, the Provost Spotlight Talk and Provost-Sponsored Talks. Visit our website to learn about these programs and how to engage in them.

Emerging Leaders

This program, created to foster the development of the next generation of higher education leaders in research, education, and administration had its second session on Communication and Leadership, facilitated by the Alda Center for Communicating Science on November 17.

Excellence in Teaching Program

This program includes a series of workshops and hands-on activities focusing on teaching and learning. The second session about Inclusive Pedagogy took place on November 10.

Navigating Stony Brook University

This program, for early-career faculty, held a networking event on Thursday, November 30, with Graduate Dean Celia Marshik as keynote.

Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE)

The six subcommittees have been meeting and working on a report with the findings and recommendations about each of the identified topics. It is anticipated that the work will be finalized at the end of the fall semester. For more information, please visit the SBU COACHE webpage.

Academic Affairs

CELT AI Resources

Throughout this past semester, CELT has offered panels, workshops, and open discussions around Generative AI in teaching and learning. All recordings and resources are available. Please email celt@stonybrook.edu if you would like to schedule a consultation or a departmental discussion.

NYSED Inventory of Registered Programs (IRP) Reconciliation

The Provost's Office is finalizing its 2023 Inventory of Registered Programs (IRP) Reconciliation Report for the New York State Education Department (NYSED).

Inactive Programs

Each year, NYSED provided institutions with the opportunity to identify existing programs for discontinuance through the expedited IRP Reconciliation process. This ensures that our list of registered programs is an accurate reflection of what is active and currently offered. All programs identified on this year's list have no newly admitted students in at least five years and have no active enrollment.

Distance Education Format

Additionally, for the 2023 cycle only, NYSED is providing eligible institutions with the opportunity to add the distance education format to eligible programs. These distance education format registrations are in recognition of programs adopting distance education more broadly during NYSED's period of increased remote flexibility. The inclusion of a distance education format does not impact the existing in-person format for any program.

All academic deans have reviewed both lists of programs identified for inclusion in Stony Brook's 2023 IRP Reconciliation Report and they may request to remove any program from either list.

Enrollment Management

Office of Financial Aid and Scholarship Services

FAFSA is still delayed, guaranteed by December 31.

No FAFSA information released to schools until mid-late January.

Financial aid packaging time frame is February 15 to March 15.

Registrar's Office

Advanced registration for winter and spring 2024 is ongoing.

New proposed time periods are under final review for fall 2024 implementation.

December 21: Official end of the fall 2023 term.

Undergraduate Admissions

We continue to track ahead in applications submitted, with a nearly 10,000-application increase year to date.

Two virtual school counselor sessions were hosted in November for international school counselors in alignment with International Education Week.

Spring recruitment and visits and experiences planning is underway with a balanced approach to virtual and in person.

Undergraduate Education

Call for Applications for the Faculty Fellows Program

The Faculty Fellowship program offers professors the opportunity to develop and implement creative, innovative, and/or experimental teaching strategies at Stony Brook. By providing teaching replacement funds each semester (four semesters over a two-year period), Faculty Fellows will be able to dedicate time to honing their pedagogical skills and produce a polished, peer-reviewed work of scholarship based on their teaching. We will be offering four fellowships for the upcoming cohort. Faculty interested in applying should submit a formal proposal for committee review. The deadline for the 2024-2026 cohort is Friday, January 12. More information on eligibility and application details can be found on the Faculty Fellows website.

Graduate School

Research Mentor Training for Postdocs

The Graduate School will be offering Research Mentor Training for Postdocs on January 10 and 17. More information and a link to register is here.

SBU Postdoc Spotlight

The Office of Postdoctoral Affairs hosted the SBU Postdoc Spotlight on November 16. Seven postdocs from East and West campus presented their research in five-minute talks designed to engage a general audience. Congratulations to the winners: Ankita Singh, Microbiology and Immunology (first place); Gabriel Matos, Microbiology and Immunology (second place); and Katherine Gallagher, IACS and SoMAS (third place).

Conversations in Graduate Education

The recording of the last installment of the Graduate School's Conversations in Graduate Education series featuring Dr. Katina Rogers, author of "Putting the Humanities PhD to Work," is available. Rogers presented on "Unexpected Flourishing: Supporting Graduate Student Research and Careers."

Graduate Orientation

A new, asynchronous orientation platform for matriculated students in Graduate School degree programs launched in November. The interactive modules address campus life, policies and procedures, and student resources, among other topics.

Global Affairs

Thanksgiving Dinner

OGA hosted its annual Thanksgiving Dinner for about 200 international students, faculty, and staff on Monday, November 20. It was a wonderful night celebrating the creativity and diversity of our international students, as well as an understanding of the American tradition of Thanksgiving.

Institutional and Educational Effectiveness

Middle States Visit

Dr. Bruce Jarrell, President of the University of Maryland Baltimore and the chair of Stony Brook's Middle States visit team, made a preliminary visit to the campus on November 30 and met with the Steering Committee and others to discuss logistics of the site visit on April 7-10. Final revisions to the self-study will incorporate his feedback as well as comments received through the campus distribution of the self-study earlier in the fall.