May 2, 2022: University Senate Report
Office of the Provost
Updates
Budget and Finance
The Office of the Provost has completed the Authorization to Recruit / budget meetings with 12 Academic and Administrative units plus all 18 Centers & Institutes. Data presented will support the presentation and position requests to be made to the President and her senior staff in the middle of May. Once decisions have been communicated from the President back to the Office of the Provost, academic units will receive feedback about their requests. It is anticipated that all communications and hiring decisions will be delivered by mid June.
Research and Infrastructure
April 4 was the deadline for applications to the ProFund seed grant for interdisciplinary teams (https://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/acceleratingresearch/profund.php). We received 24 applications involving more than 90 faculty across four Colleges and Schools. The applications are currently under review, we expect to finalize recommendations for funding in the coming weeks. This is an initiative in collaboration with OVPR.
The Provostial Seed Grants for Interdisciplinary Work in Creative Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities (https://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/acceleratingresearch/cassh.php) was launched on April 18. The deadline for applications is May 16. This is an initiative in collaboration with CAS.
As for infrastructure, we are in the final stages of recruiting a consulting firm for conducting a research space quality survey. This is an initiative in collaboration with Campus Planning Design & Construction.
OVPR reports that FY22 sponsored research expenditures at the close of the third quarter are up 22% compared to last year, and we are on track to exceed last year's total early next month. This is the highest growth we've seen in more than a decade. In comparison, UB's sponsored research expenditures are up 2%. The total number of our grants and contracts is 7% higher than last year (totaling 2066), and the average amount per award is 14% higher.
Faculty Affairs
Outstanding Mentor awards
These awards recognize senior faculty who have served as exemplary mentors, those who have demonstrated exceptional commitment to faculty mentoring of non-tenure track, pre-tenure and mid-career faculty.
This year the recipients of the awards are:
- Danling Jiang, Professor, College of Business
- Erez Zadok, Professor, Computer Science
- Marci Lobel, Professor, Psychology
- Thomas Weinacht, Professor, Physics and Astronomy
- Clinton Rubin, SUNY Distinguished Professor, Biomedical Engineering
Stony Brook Trustees Faculty awards
The purpose of these awards is to encourage and support promising early career faculty through research, scholarship and art-making funding opportunities.
This year the recipients of the awards are:
- Niranjan Balasubramanian, Computer Science
- Mohammad Delasay, College of Business
- David Montrose, Pathology
- Lauren Richmond, Psychology
- Nicholas Wilson, Sociology
CELT Teaching awards
The purpose of these awards is to acknowledge the efforts of Stony Brook University educators who use exceptional teaching practices, dispositions, and proficiencies.
This year the recipients of the awards are:
- Excellence in Teaching an In-Person Course: Santina Abbate, School of Nursing
- Excellence in Teaching an Online Course: Sotiria Everett, Department of Family, Population & Preventive Medicine
- Excellence in Assessment: Liliana Davalos, Ecology and Evolution
- The David L. Ferguson Award for Inclusive Teaching: Zaida Corniel, Hispanic Languages and Literature
Chairs Retreat:
This retreat will present an opportunity for current and future chairs to get together, discuss best practices about managing departments and programs, learn about university policies and procedures, and participate in several training activities. This retreat will be a two-day event and will take place on May 24-25th. The participation in this program is mandatory for all incoming chairs, but we hope that current chairs will also attend, share their experiences and provide their support and expertise to the incoming chairs as well as connect to the network of SBU chairs.
P&T Working Group:
A new joint initiative between the Office of the Provost and the University Senate
is a working group on tenure and promotion. The working group will review the current
processes and will come up with a recommendation on new processes and practices that
will streamline existing ones and will be more equitable and adequate to the current
educational landscape. It is anticipated that the
working group will be charged before the end of the semester and its activities will
take place during the next academic year.
Middle States Accreditation Reaffirmation Progress
We have been making strong progress to advance the reaffirmation of Stony Brook's institutional accreditation by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE). Over the spring, the Steering Committee at Stony Brook leading accreditation efforts assembled work groups for each of the seven standards for accreditation. In early April 2022, Stony Brook submitted a draft of its plan to execute the self-study process required to reaffirm the University's This "self-study design document" was prepared collaboratively by the Steering Committee leading the reaffirmation process. On April 27, Dr. Paul Starkey, Vice President for Field Relations at MSCHE, conducted a virtual visit with various groups on campus to review this plan, offer feedback, and provide an overview of the process for the next two years. Dr. Starkey met with the Steering Committee, the President and Provost, Stony Brook Council Chairman Kevin Law, and he also held a campus-wide meeting with just over 90 attendees. His feedback was resoundingly positive, and we will submit a final version incorporating minor revisions during the month of May. Work on the self-study will begin in earnest during the summer, and we will host a visiting team from MSCHE on site during spring 2024. The final self study design document will be posted on our website for Middle States accreditation: https://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/middlestates/, where you will also be able to find additional supplementary information and progress reports as they become available.
Enrollment Management
On April 2nd and April 9th, the EM team hosted two admitted student days which was a change from previous years. Prior to Covid, one large weekend was held but attendance was limited so the decision was made to expand the event to two Saturdays. Feedback from the thousands of students and families who attended has been very positive and we believe that students were eager to be back on campus and interact with our SBU team and our many volunteers. Great faculty participation from the health sciences faculty led to new presentations and tour opportunities on East Campus while presentations, campus tours, residence hall tours, specialized lectures, and presentations were available on West campus. Highlights were the undergraduate college presentations, student activities fairs, residence hall tours, and special lectures and facility tours such as in engineering and in the broadcast studio as well as the performing arts. Feedback was positive and EM will be working with Deans and faculty leaders to engage more faculty and staff going forward as students have strong desires to speak with subject matter experts and see what it is like to be a Stony Brook student. Many faculty and staff volunteers made for an exciting welcome back to on-campus events for students.
A new partnership with FSA is providing a voucher for lunch for all prospective undergraduate students who schedule a personalized campus tour. The brand new program was established to highlight the dining options and provide students with yet another way to experience Stony Brook life. FSA has been very supportive of the new focus on the campus visit experience as our division is excited about showcasing our dining options for incoming students.
National Decision Day was Sunday May 1 and EM has extended the deadline for deposits to the COB on May 2. The incoming student numbers are strong and we will know how we are trending in particular population sub-groups in the next few days. We continue to have incredibly competitive admissions in our programs as we had over 40,000 applications for a target class of 3,400 students. The EM team has been working diligently with Senior Leadership, Deans and Chairs, to balance incoming student populations with remaining instructional space as well as housing. The transfer student population is holding steady which is really good given the national, state and regional declines in community college enrollments.
Finally, please know that our incoming students and parents love to visit with faculty. Should you see a visitor on campus, feel free to introduce yourself and share your Seawolf perspective. We have seniors visiting who are finalizing their fall plans and many juniors will be on campus between now and next fall to determine if they would like to apply so we would love for you to wear Stony Brook gear on Spirit Fridays and let that Seawolf pride shine.
Curriculum and Undergraduate Education
The Vice Provost for Curriculum and Undergraduate Education and the University Senate
President together charged the Academic Judiciary Working Group in March 2022. This
group has been tasked with reviewing current policies and procedures and exploring
opportunities for improvement. Members of the working group represent a diverse body
of faculty and staff with expertise in academic integrity or related spaces. The group
began its work by analyzing campus-wide and School/College-level policies. It is now
engaging with peer institutions to capture new perspectives on the topic. The goal
of this analysis phase is to identify best practices and potential challenges. Upon
completion of this phase, the working group will develop recommendations based on
its findings.
Thanks to funding from the Office of the Provost, we have been able to work with units to hire more than a dozen new lecturers across 8 departments that are in high need for our undergraduate students. This will increase course availability for current and incoming students next fall, making it easier for our students to graduate on time with the courses they need.
Graduate School
The graduate education working group, a joint collaboration between the Office of the Provost and the University Senate, has finalized their charge and delivered their report with recommendations. This report has just been shared with President McInnis and our new Provost, Dr. Carl Lejuez, and they will proceed with the next steps.
Global Affairs
Under guidance of the President and Provost offices, OGA launched a webpage with information on support and initiatives available to individuals impacted by acts of inhumanity. If there are other efforts or opportunities that should be included, please email globalaffairs@stonybrook.edu.
Provost Lecture Series
May 4: David Wald
Challenges in Real-time Earthquake Shaking and Impact Estimation Estimating impacts due to earthquakes requires the direct interface of seismological and civil engineering expertise and tools. Both endeavors require considering uncertain models and data, as the main components of loss estimation involve inherent uncertainties. Fortunately, advancements in remote sensing, rapid in situ monitoring and impact reporting, and machine learning allow for innovative data-fusion strategies that should help significantly improve the accuracy and spatial resolution of rapid shaking and loss estimates.
In this lecture, seismologist David Wald from the U.S. Geological Survey National Earthquake Information Center will present a seismological and earthquake engineering view of future earthquake response and recovery in which initial impact estimates — as well as secondary hazards — are rapidly supplemented with crowdsourced and remotely sensed observations that are integrated holistically.
University Accolades
Gil Kalish Wins a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Classical Composition
Seven Clinicians Graduate from First SUNY Clinical Leadership Academy
Karena Chapman Receives Hanawalt Award for Research on Challenging Materials Problems
Ten Faculty Named SUNY Distinguished Professors for 2021-22
Suparna Rajaram Named a 2022 Guggenheim Fellow
Shobana Shankar Explores the Complicated History of Africans and Indians
Serge Luryi and Craig Lehmann Elected 2021 Fellows of the National Academy of Inventors
Nancy Tomes Selected for National Humanities Center Fellowship