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Provost's Monthy 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 and that I have been involved with during September 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 participate in the implementation of the policy items and guidelines noted in Update #21 of CUNY's Guidance on Academic Continuity memo University's COVID-19. Update includes information on:

  • Fall 2020 & Spring 2021 Instructional Modalities: Preparations for a Largely Virtual Spring 2021 Semester; Conditions for COVID-19 College Closures

  • Shared Governance and HR Issues: Updated Labor Provisions Concerning the 2020-21 Academic Calendar; Untenured Faculty Reassigned Time

  • Distance Learning Platforms, Tools & Resources: Student Technology Needs Form; iPAD Trainings; Remote Proctoring Solutions

  • University Admissions: Immunization Requirements

  • Academic Policies, Requirements and Deadlines: Extension of Deadline to Withdraw from Courses; Guidelines regarding Requiring the Use of Cameras during Live Classes

  • Financial Aid and Other Types of Support: Chancellor’s Emergency Relief Fund
Provided additional workshops and resources on online teaching and learning to both faculty and students. Six faculty mentors continue to support faculty on their distance teaching needs in A&H, NSS, HS2N, and LEH. SOE has a dedicated online support staff for this purpose.

Provided updates on fall and spring instructional modalities and related items at the President's Briefing, on September 3, 10, and 17.

ACCREDITATION AND INSTITUTIONAL EFFECTIVENESS-RELATED MATTERS
  • September 2 - Associate Provost Victor Brown presented an assessment update from the Ad-hoc Assessment Council to the College Senate.

  • September 15 - Participated in MSCHE Virtual Town Hall for Presidents and Provosts.

  • September 17 - Presented a talk titled, “Are our students learning? Sustaining the Culture of Assessment at Lehman” by our College Assessment Coordinators.

  • HEOA Compliance: Lehman surpassed CUNY's HEOA Compliance of 94%. For the first time since HEOA Compliance has been in effect, Lehman topped the list of CUNY schools with 100% compliance.

CUNY/EXTERNAL ENGAGEMENT
  • September 1 – Participated in the FP&B Meeting and provided Provost’s Report.

  • September 2 and 29 – Led planning meetings on the implementation of the CUNY Leadership Institute for Urban-serving institutions funded by the Mellon Foundation.  

  • September 9 – Attended CUNY Academic Council Meeting of Chief Academic Officers.

  • September 9 – Participated in discussions to finalize the Proposal on Environmental Justice to the Sloane Foundation.

  • September 10 – Hosted Lehman-AASCU Working Group meeting on student success.

  • September 11 - Participated in the Mentors’ Orientation meeting for AASC&U Academy for New Provosts.

  • September 11 – Participated in a meeting with the Francine A. LeFrak Foundation to discuss funding opportunities for experiential learning and career development for our students.

  • September 16 – Participated in the Presidents’ Student Success Roundtable involving four CUNY Colleges: Lehman, John Jay, Queens, and City.

  • September 16 – Led discussions with HERE to HERE on establishing a Bronx Recovery Corps (BRC) to support experiential learning and career development for our students and advance economic development in the Bronx and surrounding region.

  • September 16 – Hosted the Bronx Transfer Affinity Group (BTAG) Provosts’ meeting to advance seamless transfer pathways involving Lehman, BCC, Hostos, Guttman, and BMCC.

  • September 16 - Participated in a Proposal Meeting to discuss funding opportunity for a Real Estate Program at the College with the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) to be housed in the Department of Economics and Business.

  • September 16 – Attended the conversation on The Power of Monuments and Memorials hosted by the Mellon Foundation as part of its initiative on race.

  • September 18 – Participated in the Membership and Outreach Committee Meeting of the National Association of Chief Academic Officers.

  • September 21 – Held 1:1 Meeting with Dr. Linda Bleicken, President, American Academic Leadership Institute.

  • September 21 – Held 1:1 Meeting with Dr. Tammy Evetovich, Provost, University of Wisconsin, Platteville.

  • September 21 – Attended a panel discussion on Influential Latinas: Mobilizing the Latinx Vote hosted by the Lehman’s Division of Student Affairs.

  • September 23 – Participated in the Board of Directors Meeting of the National Association of Chief Academic Officers.

  • September 25 – Participated in the Monthly Provosts’ Reopening Meeting involving Lehman, Queens, CSI, Hunter, Baruch, and City College.

  • September 28 – 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.

  • September 29 – Held 1:1 meeting with Dr. Lester Sandres Rápalo, Provost, BCC.

  • September 30 – Held 1:1 meeting with Ms. Abby Jo Sigal, Founding CEO, HERE to HERE.

SHARED GOVERNANCE
  • September 1 – Participated in the FP&B Meeting and provided Provost’s Report.

  • September 1, 2, 10, 14, 15, 17, 21, 22, 23, 28, 29, and 30 – Held individual 1:1 meetings with divisional Vice Presidents, Executive Counsel, and President’s Chief of Staff.

  • September 1, 9, 14, 16, 17, 21, 22, 23, 24, 28, and 30 – Held individual 1:1 meetings with School Deans, Chief Librarian, and direct reports from the Division of Academic Affairs and Student Success.

  • September 1, 15, and 29 – Held 1:1 meetings with President Lemons.

  • September 2 – Attended the College Senate Meeting.

  • September 3, 9, 15 – Participated in the President’s Cabinet Meeting.

  • September 3 and 17 – Convened Provost’s and Deans’ Council (PDC) Meetings.  Agenda items included Provost’s updates, Provost’s Course Redesign Initiative, enrollment updates, Academic Performance Solutions (APS) – demo by EAB, 2021 spring course schedules and instructional modalities, winter and spring 2021 scheduling, merged courses, among others.

  • September 9 – Participated in the Senate Joint Committee on Budget and Long-Range Planning meeting and presented the Provost’s Report.

  • September 10, 17 – Participated in the President’s Budget Working Group (BWG) meeting.

  • September 14 – Participated in the College Tenure, Promotion, and Certificate of Continuous Employment (TPCCE) meeting and formally charged the Committee regarding its fall 2020 and spring 2021 reviews of faculty portfolios.

  • September 14 – Participated in the Labor-Management Meeting between Lehman Administration and Lehman PSC.

  • September 18 – Met with Professor Sandra Campeanu, Chair, Committee on Admissions, Evaluation, and Academic Standards (CAEAS) and Professor Kevin Sailor, Chair, Department of Psychology, regarding the College’s Spring 2021 Admissions Criteria.

  • September 21 – Participated in the Governance Committee meeting.

  • September 21 – Participated in the Lehman’s Vacancy Review Committee meeting.

  • September 23 and 28 – Convened the Division of Academic Affairs and Student Success (A2S2) Leadership Team Meeting.

  • September 24 – Convened the Deans’ Joint Meeting with the Provost.

  • September 28 – Met with SGA President Jada Quinland and Vice President Sumana Ali.

  • September 30 – Participated in the President’s Advisory Board (PAB) which focused on establishing the Lehman Extension.

  • September 30 – Participated in the General Faculty meeting and responded to questions from the campus community with the President.

MEETINGS AND EVENTS
  • September 14 – Attended Student Affairs Senior Staff Meeting and provided updates on the Division of Academic Affairs and Student Success.

  • September 14 – Met with Dr. Victor Brown, Associate Provost and Dr. Susan Ko, Associate Director for Online Education.

  • September 16 – Met with Mr. Michael Goldberg, Associate Director of Institutional Research, Planning and Analytics.

  • September 16 – Met with Mr. José Higuera López, Director, The Mexican Studies Institute.

  • September 16 – Participated in the College’s wonderful and memorable Virtual Convocation highlighting the distinguished contributions of our colleagues to the Lehman community.

  • September 22 – Held meeting with Professor Dene Hurley, Chair, Department of Economics and Business regarding the proposed School of Business.

  • September 24 – Held meeting with Ms. Bethania Ortega, Director of Budget and Planning.

  • September 24 – Meeting with the Office of Media Relations and Information Technology to discuss the Academic Affairs and Student Success’ webpage on the new platform.

  • September 24 – Hosted a meeting with Enrollment Management and Administration and Finance to discuss spring 2021 enrollment goals.

  • September 28 – Convened a meeting with Student Affairs and Administration and Finance to discuss enhancements with the work of the Lehman Child Care Center.

  • September 29 – Convened a meeting with School Deans, Administration and Finance, and Enrollment Management to discuss spring 21 enrollment goals and expectations.

  • September 30 – Met with Professor Marie Marianetti, Chair, Department of History.

ACADEMIC AFFAIRS' SEARCHES AND APPOINTMENTS
  • Continued work with the search committee to finalize the leadership profile for the permanent Dean of the School of Education (SOE).

  • Received CUNY Vacancy Review Board approval to begin the search for SOE Dean as well as approval to appoint the Interim Vice President for Student Affairs.

  • Ms. Georgia Efthalitsides, Associate Director of Athletics, joined the Lehman family on September 14, 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 Cabinet. The Provost is responsible for all educational and student support programs, as well as for 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. Questions? Email provost.office@lehman.cuny.edu or call 718-960-8222.