April 15, 2025 Minutes

Council of Department Chairs

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

  1. Approve agenda (10:00am) - Approved
  2. Approve minutes from 4/8/25 - Approved as amended
  3. Announcements
    1. ASM
      1. Upcoming budget meetings
      2. We are looking OK for next year, but there are some impacts
      3. Continuing hiring freeze - if you have any renewals of temporary staff, work with Jeanine Pociask
    2. Operations
      1. Elections
        1. Do not have sufficient nominees to run a ballot (4 openings for academic senator – 1 nominee)
        2. Margaret Karteron will be resending the call for nominations
      2. Scholarships - In progress
        1. Summer research assistantships have gotten to departments, and they are making their decisions
      3. Recruitment
        1. Biology is done/Math is in progress
    3. Communications
    4. Development
      1. Spring Day of Giving
        1. $7-8K raised for the College
    5. Dean
      1. Budget
        1. We won't have more information until May
          1. Department of Energy grants are cutting 15% overhead, meaning RS money is going to take a hit
          2. NSF Funding cut by 2/3s
        2. Our primary goal is to protect instruction - chairs should be prepared if a faculty’s buyout is cut over the summer
      2. Immigration
        1. As of today, 6 ºÚÁÏÍø international student VISAs have been revoked
        2. If someone's VISA (H1B/STEM OTP) is cancelled, we have to terminate their employment
        3. If traveling, please read the travel advisory from the Chancellor's office
      3. Self-Support
        1. Badges with weekend courses/1-day workshops would be best for our College
        2. We can pay faculty + departments also get to keep a percentage
        3. We want Summer classes as full as possible
          1. Summer enrollment is low in Biology
          2. Chemistry enrollment is high
        4. We will be thinking of this more for our summer Chair's retreat (possibly early August)
  4. Associate Deans
    1. Academic Programs
      1. SOAR updates still in progress
      2. Showcase went well, over 1,500 people
      3. Heard lots of great things about the new research tours
    2. Research
      1. Day at the Beach
        1. Requested 3 new things (research tours/panel/photo backdrop + props) - everything turned out really well!
      2. URISE PI meetings
        1. Working on appeals for canceled grants (each campus has to do this individually)
      3. Faculty Retention
        1. New faculty/re-appointments have signed up for RTP writing workshops
      4. Facilities
        1. Moved donor benches out of demolition area to outside HSCI
    3. Graduate Programs
      1. CNSM AI guidelines
        1. Information on two new policies effective Fall '25 graduate studies has been sent out
        2. Let Babette Benken know ASAP if you have any changes to graduate advising next Fall or Spring
  5. S-factor, minimum teaching loads, FERP, and Reduced Time Base (RTB) Appointments
    1. How do we apply the above things to the minimum teaching policy
    2. There's no college-wide document on keeping office and research space while FERP'ing - with space being an issue, we may need one
  6. Adjournment (11:45am so we can go to BEACH 2030 celebration)

Upcoming Dates

  • May 9: (Friday) Last Day of Classes
  • May 12-17: Final Examinations
  • May 20-23: (Tuesday-Friday) Commencement (Angel Stadium)

Meeting minutes were APPROVED Tuesday, May 6, 2025.

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.