What an amazing year this has been! As we transition to summer and a different pace of activity, I want to share my thanks for all you do for Stony Brook and share a few key updates.

Commencement: I had a great time celebrating at my first Stony Brook Commencement and want to especially thank our faculty who participated in the university ceremony. It means so much to our students and their families to see Stony Brook’s faculty cheering alongside them. Huge credit is also due to staff across the university, who make this ceremony and the many others throughout graduation week feel special for our graduates. Thank you to all across our community who played a part in making Commencement and graduation ceremonies such a big success.

Strategic Planning: Following our feedback survey and community forums in April, we are sharing revised values and priorities for further community input. So many of you made thoughtful suggestions that helped us continue to refine these elements that form the backbone of our plan. Please click here to access the survey. It will be open through June 2.

Guidance on AI Writing Bots (ChatGPT): As you prepare for your summer and fall courses, CELT has worked with the Provost’s Office to create guidance on artificial intelligence (AI) writing bots as they pertain to instruction. While we are actively engaging our academic community in conversations about how we should approach these tools in the future, at the time we have not developed any policy related to these tools. The material shared is meant to serve as food for thought as we continue these conversations and as you prepare your classes. Click here to view guidance developed by CELT.

New Official Course Materials Provider: The Faculty Student Association (FSA) has teamed up with Books by eCampus as the new official course materials provider. Faculty can attend a live information session on May 24 at 3 p.m. to meet the Books by eCampus team and learn more about the new faculty adoption portal to select course materials for late summer adoptions and fall adoptions. If you are unable to attend, it will be recorded and the link will be posted on stonybrook.edu/bookstore so you can view it on demand. Visit the bookstore website for more information.

It is important that all faculty submit their course material requisitions for the summer and fall 2023 semesters. Your assistance will help ensure that the university is meeting HEOA Compliance relating to the Higher Education Opportunity Act, a U.S. federal law enacted to help students save money by giving them the opportunity to shop early for their course materials.

Even if you are working with outside publishers or using Open Education Resources (OER), the Office of the Provost policy still requires you to notify Stony Brook University’s official online bookstore provider of all "required and or recommended" course materials. This is extremely important to ensure that students can see their course material information on SOLAR when registration opens and can use different sources of financial aid to purchase their course materials.

Blackboard Access Reminder: Brightspace will be the only learning management system available after the spring 2023 semester. In early fall 2023, Blackboard will be decommissioned. Please click this link to review steps to make sure that your course materials have been moved from Blackboard to Brightspace

Search Updates: We announced last week that Celia Marshik has been named as Dean of the Graduate School and Vice Provost for Graduate and Professional Education, continuing the role she’s held as interim since May 2022. You can view the full announcement by clicking here.

We have also wrapped up public presentations for finalists for the Vice Provost for Continuing, Professional, and Executive Education, and the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs. I appreciate your engagement in these searches. We hope to have further updates on these positions in June.

 

In closing, I want to share how much I have appreciated this community in my first year as your provost. Coming to Stony Brook is one of the best decisions I’ve made in my academic career. I am excited by all we’ve accomplished this year and look forward to continuing our work together to build upon Stony Brook’s legacy as a leading flagship and premier public institution.

Sincerely,
Carl

Carl Lejuez
Provost and Executive Vice President