Provost’s Office Monthly – February 2023

Posted on February 27, 2023 by Cassan, Alexis

February has been an exceptionally busy month. We’re nearing the end of the annual promotion, tenure and reappointment cycle; introducing new PTR/PR software; preparing for academic unit budget hearings; and working on planning for the next academic year.

By now you’re likely all aware of the current situation with the governor’s proposed biannual budget and its potential impact on UConn. I have been participating in meetings with President Maric, UConn leaders, and legislators actively working on ways to bridge the gap between UConn’s request and the governor’s proposal. In undertaking this work I have been tremendously inspired by our UConn students and their extraordinary vision and leadership in protesting the proposed budget and highlighting the profound impacts it would have on their education. It was good to see them turn out in force for a peaceful and passionate protest on February 15, and also to see the large number of faculty and staff who joined them in solidarity.

UConn students and students from the Connecticut state universities and community colleges spoke at a panel that night to address the impact of the proposed budget on their universities. With other University leaders, I attended in person to support the students, and was moved by the thoughtfulness and depth of their testimony. I was proud to see so many Connecticut students actively using their voices to initiate change. It reminds me how lucky we are to have the opportunity to help nurture and educate our students to be the future leaders of our state and nation. I was also impressed by the focus, respect, and good will that our state legislators brought to their interactions with all of us but especially the students – their dedication to the public good was clear at every moment.

I also want to acknowledge that, despite all that we have going on, it’s important to reflect on our community wellbeing. Earlier this month, we learned of another tragic mass-shooting on a university campus. The safety of our students, staff and faculty is of the utmost importance all of UConn’s campuses. I encourage all faculty and staff to check in with your units to make sure you know your unit’s emergency plans. And most importantly, I encourage us all to check in with each other. This could mean allowing time for students to share their feelings during class or office hours; making a referral to the CARE team if you are concerned about a student’s wellbeing; setting up time to meet individually with direct reports to see how they are doing; or just meeting up with a colleague for a coffee to catch up. Supporting each other is how we will continue to move forward together.

Reading Days

Reading Days are Saturday and Sunday, April 29 and April 30. Per the University Senate By-Laws, the intent of Reading Days is as follows:

Reading Days are protected time for students to prepare for the final exam and assessment period. Instructors shall not require any course-related activity, assessment, or submission of work on Reading Days. Instructors may use Reading Days for optional activities, such as office hours. While an instructor cannot initiate required course-related activity, assessments, or submission of work on Reading Days, instructors have the option to accommodate student requests for required work and/or examinations to be rescheduled for a Reading Day. Reading Days restrictions do not include responsibilities with external placements, such as clinical positions and internships.

Final Exams

Final exams begin on Monday, May 1, and end on Sunday, May 6.

Final in-class examinations may not be given during the last week of classes. Other types of assessments (for example, but not only, portfolios, performances, projects, presentations, etc.) may be due in the last week of classes, but should be clearly delineated on the syllabus from the first week of classes.

Undergraduate students may request rescheduling for an exam through the Dean of Students Office for the Storrs campus or each regional campus student services office, and as early as possible. The reasons for such a request include bunched finals or other extenuating circumstances. Such bunched finals may include final assessments like juried performances for Fine Arts students. A student whose absence is excused by the Dean of Students Office or regional student services staff shall have an opportunity to take a final without penalty. Please consult the Dean of Students website and the Registrar’s website for further details.

Finals Opt-Out Reminder

If you are not delivering a final exam in Spring 2023, we ask that you fill out a brief form to notify the Registrar that you are opting out. We are asking for those who use another method of assessment (portfolios, projects, etc.) to let us know so that the room and/or time may be available for other instructors during the assessment period. It is also important that instructors recognize that due dates for these alternative forms of final assessment should not fall on days designated as reading days. As always, all due dates should be indicated on the syllabus at the beginning of the semester.

Many of our instructors have used other forms of assessment that align more purposefully with their intended learning objectives. Assessment formats can include individual or group-based strategies, e.g. projects, portfolios, papers, team-based work, creative works, performances, presentations, and other assessments in lieu of final exams.

Class Absences Due to Illness

At this time of year, and considering the lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, we would like to remind faculty that students are not required to provide “sick notes” or “medical excuses” when they miss classes, and such excuses should not be requested from them. More generally, per the university Senate By-laws, student grades should not be reduced because of a student’s absence. Please exercise flexibility and understanding for students who may miss class or classwork due to illness. Faculty should also exercise caution in attending class if they are feeling sick. Our community’s health and wellbeing remains a priority of the University. If any other COVID-related questions or issues arise during the remainder of the semester and academic year, you may find our COVID-19 FAQs for Academic Operations to be helpful, but as always, you are encouraged to reach out to our office directly at provost@uconn.edu if you would like additional support.

Spring 2023 Pop-Up Courses

Pop-up classes are taught online in a multidisciplinary and integrated fashion by faculty from various schools and colleges and are offered to faculty, staff and students on topics of shared interest to the community and national or international importance.

Why the Jews? Confronting Antisemitism

Antisemitism has often been described as the “oldest hatred.” Yet the term “antisemitism” is a modern formulation, coined in Germany in the 1870s a badge of pride by German nationalists who feared Jews posed a danger to “true German culture.” Why should the so-called “anti-semites” define who or what Jews and Judaism are? Just as the broad range of Jewish experiences around the globe over thousands of years defies easy categorization, hatred of Jews has taken so many forms from antiquity to the present that it also resists simple categorization or definition. Why have the Jewish people been such convenient targets for any number of agendas and ideologies? What accounts for the persistence of numerous anti-Jewish tropes that run the gamut from “Christ-killer” to socialist, capitalist, parasite, and purveyor of global power? This course will first and foremost introduce students to the diverse nature of Jewish identity, before examining the many manifestations of Jewish hatred throughout history, and the ways in which Jews have attempted to respond to a hatred that refuses to disappear.

Transformation Now

This course provides a brief, detailed historical account of gender, the language that has shaped gender, the laws that have defined gender, and the various transnational revolutions that have taken place to redefine gender altogether. Students will be able to recognize how essentialist/biological determinist beliefs are used by institutions to reinforce systemic oppression so they may develop skills to transform their communities.

Emeritus Status Nomination Deadline

Faculty who retire at the rank of associate professor (or equivalent clinical, in-residence, and extension titles) and who have at least five years of service are automatically recommended for emeritus status to the Board of Trustees. However, faculty or other related staff who retire and do not meet these conditions can only be considered for emeritus status if nominated to the Emeritus Committee. The next deadline for submitting materials to this committee is April 1. Further details, including guidelines for nomination materials, can be found on the Office of the Provost website.

Nursing Dean Search

We are pleased to share that four candidates have been selected as finalists for the Dean of the School of Nursing position. The candidates will visit Storrs and UConn Health the week of February 27, 2023. We encourage you to participate in public forums throughout their visits and share your feedback on each candidate in the provided surveys. This input will be carefully considered by the members of the search committee. Information on candidates including CVs, public forum meeting links, and feedback surveys are available on this page.

Executive Leader Onboarding

Another session of the Executive Leader Onboarding series was held on Thursday, February 9 at the UConn Waterbury campus. Senior administrators participated in dynamic discussions with University Safety and ITS about safety in the workplace and online. Participants learned about university safety resources, emergency response guidelines, and how the University manages critical incidents on-campus. They also received an overview of the IT support systems and structures at UConn and UConn Health, with a focus on the overarching goals of ensuring IT security. Waterbury Campus Director Fumiko Hoeft also presented on the highlights of UConn Waterbury and led an exciting tour of the campus.

Student Athlete 3.0 Night

On February 15, the Student Athlete Success Program and Division of Athletics held their annual 3.0 Night celebration at the UConn Women’s basketball game vs. CCSU. The event recognized student athletes who achieved a 3.0 or better in the Spring ’22 and/or Fall ’22 semesters. We are proud and inspired by our student athletes who display excellence both in their sport, and in the classroom. We are so proud of the work completed by Ellen Tripp, the director of the Student-Athlete Success Program (SASP), as well as all of the counselors and advisors in this unit for the valuable support and academic counseling they provide to our student-athletes, helping to ensure their academic success.

429 students who achieved a 3.00 semester GPA or higher for either Spring 2022 and Fall 2022.
73 enrolled student-athletes who earned a term GPA of 4.0 in Spring '22 and/or Fall '22 term.
23 enrolled student-athletes who maintain a cumulative GPA of 4.0 through the Fall '22 term
Currently, sixteen of our teams have achieved a cumulative GPA of 3.00 or higher.

Highlighting Interdisciplinary Scholarship at UConn

The Eversource Energy Center, founded in 2015 at UConn in partnership with the Eversource Energy Company, is a unique research institute whose mission is “to be the foremost energy utility-academia partnership advancing leading-edge interdisciplinary research and technology assuring reliable power during extreme weather and security events.”

In the eight years since it set up shop at the UConn Tech Park’s Innovation Partnership Building, the EEC has been making great strides in the five research areas—or pillars—on which its mission rests: grid resilience in a warming climate, grid reliability in a changing demand environment, renewable energy integration, cyber-physical system security, and workforce training, outreach, and policy. In its annual reports, the Center chronicles its progress in an ever-increasing number and range of research projects in all of these areas. These include advances in storm preparedness, vegetation management, electric grid reinforcement, and renewable energy.

A centerpiece of EEC accomplishment is the development of UConn’s Outage Prediction Model (OPM), which combines weather, vegetation, infrastructural, and historical storm data, among others, to predict storm damage to the electric grid and enable utilities to prepare for its impacts. Recently, the Center entered into partnerships with AVANGRID and Dominion Energy to extend development of the OPM to parts of the United States beyond Eversource’s service area, including New York, Virginia, and North Carolina.

Aside from its research work, the EEC provides substantial support to the UConn community in other ways. Since its inception, the Center has funded 145 students at the graduate and undergraduate levels, 10 postdoctoral researchers, and 49 UConn faculty. Through its new Grid Modernization Certificate Program, it is also preparing early-career engineers for careers in managing an electric grid made ever more complex by the transition away from fossil fuels to clean energy. And, through its pioneering Diversity and Inclusion Initiative, the Center has, to date, funded thirteen underrepresented and minority (URM) students, including support for internships, mentors, and expenses for those who present their research at national conferences and publish their work. The goal is ultimately to have URM students comprise 25 percent of the Center’s funded students.

Recently, Eversource Energy extended its support for the Eversource Energy Center with a commitment of $14 million in new funding. The Center will use these funds to continue and expand its efforts to address the great resilience challenges that confront the energy industry at the intersection of weather extremes, climate change, and clean power infrastructure.

Academic Affairs Spotlight

The Office of the Provost and the units that report in academic affairs are staffed and led by an outstanding group of talented and dedicated colleagues. This month we are spotlighting Dr. Tadarrayl Starke, Associate Vice Provost of the Institute for the Student Success. He also serves as Interim Executive Director for Access and Post-Secondary Success, Director, McNair Scholars Program, and Director, Northeast Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation. Dr. Starke is a native of Jacksonville, Florida. For over 20 years, Dr. Starke has been committed to student success, with an emphasis in serving students traditionally underrepresented in higher education like himself.

What does a typical work week look like for you?

For the most part, my week is filled with committee, staff, and budget meetings. I also add in various UConn Foundation meetings on both the development and corporate philanthropy sides on certain weeks to ensure we keep our needs and activities on the forefront of their awareness and to help add resources to various student success initiatives. Because ISS is such a large division, the meetings are varied in their focus areas and targeted populations. But, many meetings allow for colleagues and myself to discuss ways we can be creative and innovative to move student success forward at UConn. Those meetings have helped move forward a lot of the work in ISS, but also have generated ideas for new programming and services to support our students. It’s always exciting when we get to envision how we can better support our students in reaching their goals.

During certain stretches of the year, I am usually consumed with grant writing to help supplement our programs across the division. Over the last 2 years, I’ve been able to work with some great people at UConn to submit over $45 million in grant proposals. Fingers crossed for some of those awaiting determination.

Like a lot of staff, right now I am also serving in additional capacities within our division. One role is the Interim Director of the Center for Access & Postsecondary Success (CAPS). This provides a great opportunity to work with our university community to promote greater equity in higher education and to imagine and develop steps to expand how we at UConn better serve and support our underrepresented populations across the system.

Finally, my weeks are highlighted when I get to engage with undergraduate students in conversations about their experiences at UConn, or talking with graduate students about their professional pathways, or speaking in a class about my personal journey in and through higher education to help students realize there’s no one defined path to reach your goals.

What is an important project/initiative you’re working on right now?

A major initiative I’m working on is Regional Campus success efforts. Focusing significantly on underrepresented student populations, I’m working with various people across the UConn system, as well as our partners in the UConn Foundation, to build new systems, services, and resources to enhance existing student success efforts and develop new ways of improving student outcomes. Our work seeks to help students tap into programming that can promote retention while also helping them build a sense of community to the campus and to each other. This is another area where being free to imagine what could be is so important, as we have the potential to create a new way of approaching student success and expand how our students on the Regional Campuses experience the various dimensions of UConn.

What are you most looking forward to as the semester begins?

Student engagement. Students give me energy. As someone who comes from a Student Affairs background, I thrive off the energy students bring. It keeps me focused on why we’re all here – them and their needs. Their energy provides the opportunity for us to also listen to their voices in order to develop better ways to serve and support them through the journey to and through UConn. I look forward to great conversations about what we can do to make UConn a place where all of our students feel valued, can pursue their interests, and build lifelong connections with faculty, staff, and other students.

If you could solve one problem right now at UConn, what would it be?

If I could solve one problem right now at UConn, it would be to expand advising staff…not just academic advising staff, but increase the number of staff who provide an advising and/or counseling function to our students. Our academic and non-academic advising staff provide such significant support to move UConn’s student success metrics. Unfortunately, we’ve had to do it in the midst of increasing caseloads, staff departures and retirements, and the increased need of our students to have deeper interpersonal connections. A robust formal and informal advising system shows the strength of an institution in meeting students’ needs. It’s our people who move and drive student success and, if I had the ability to enhance this particular function of the university, there’s no doubt we would reap the benefits in terms of improved metrics and student outcomes, as well as deepening students connections to the campus and inspire their continued support of UConn nation even well after they graduate.

What is your favorite UConn experience so far?

My first UConn Women’s Basketball tournament in Gampel is one of my favorite memories. The energy. The crowd. The excitement. I definitely learned why UConn is the basketball capital of the world. It was also a great change of pace after so long being online and working remotely.

Timely Topics

Timely Topics is a series of opportunities to engage with subject matter experts on topics relevant to those who support and advise graduate students and programs. Two tracks are offered for this series: one designed for faculty and one designed for faculty who hold an administrative role and staff, however every session is available to anyone interested in joining. All sessions will be held as a WebEx meeting. Links for each meeting will be sent directly to registrants and follow up materials will be posted on our website. Slides, recordings, and resources from past sessions can always be found at The Graduate School’s Timely Topics webpage.

Nursing Dean Search – On-Campus Interviews

Posted on February 23, 2023 by Cassan, Alexis

Dear Colleagues,

I am pleased to announce that four candidates have been selected as finalists for the Dean of the School of Nursing position.

The candidates will visit the Storrs and UConn Health campuses next week. We encourage you to participate in forums throughout their visits and share your feedback on each candidate in the provided surveys. This input will be carefully considered by the members of the search committee.

Visits start on Monday, February 27, and continue through Friday, March 2. Information on candidates, including CVs, public forum meeting links, and feedback surveys will be available at: https://provost.uconn.edu/administrators-and-leadership/academic-leader-searches/

Sincerely,
Jason

Jason Irizarry
Chair, Dean of the School of Nursing Search Committee
Dean and Professor, Neag School of Education

Interfolio RPT Town Hall – February 10

Posted on February 6, 2023 by Cassan, Alexis

Dear colleagues,

On February 10, the Provost’s Office will host a virtual town hall to offer a brief overview of the implementation of Interfolio’s Review, Promotion, and Tenure (RPT) and Dossier Modules and to answer questions from faculty and staff about the rollout of this new system. In the initial year of this roll-out, faculty who will be reviewed for tenure, promotion, or a mid-point review in AY 23-24 will be required to submit their dossier in Interfolio RPT. It is anticipated all subsequent cycles of promotion, tenure, and reappointment will take place in Interfolio RPT. You can join the virtual town hall using the link below:

Date: February 10, 2023
Time: 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Location: WebEx Webinar (details below)

https://uconn-cmr.webex.com/uconn-cmr/j.php?MTID=m657db7c7829bc50902b68c4e93cbe7c8

Please click here to learn more about this session, view recordings from the November 15th Info Session, and to learn more about Interfolio @ UConn. You can also submit questions for the Town Hall in advance using this form. Questions will be answered live and the session will be recorded.

Respectfully,

Jeffrey Shoulson, Ph.D.
Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs

Humanities Institute Director Appointment

Posted on January 25, 2023 by Cassan, Alexis

Dear Colleagues,

I’m pleased to announce the appointment of Professor Anna Mae Duane as the next director of the Humanities Institute (UCHI) effective August 23, 2023.

Professor Duane was selected from a talented pool of internal applicants. She has demonstrated a commitment to and understanding of the humanities across a range of disciplines and support for the diverse voices and perspectives that constitute UCHI. Throughout her career, Professor Duane has facilitated innovative programming to promote collaboration and engage scholars in the humanities. She has been the recipient of two UCHI fellowships and is deeply involved in interdisciplinary scholarship. Her research covers a wide array of subjects including American literature, childhood studies, African American literature, literary and critical theory, and disability studies.

Professor Duane joined UConn in 2004 and is a professor of English. She served as the director of the American Studies Program where she developed extensive leadership and administrative skills that lead her to successfully develop curricular resources, engage in public outreach, and manage budgets. In addition to her UCHI fellowships, she was an invited scholar of The Great Stories Club, a NEH-funded non-profit in which scholars of children’s literature collaborated with librarians across the country to devise reading group curricula for incarcerated and at-risk youth. She is also an invited member of the Yale Future of Slavery Studies working group, which brings together an international panel of experts to engage the afterlives of slavery in the U.S. and abroad. Professor Duane is the recipient of several awards and grants including a Fulbright fellowship.

In its 21^st year, UCHI has a well-established presence both regionally and nationally, in great part due to the strong leadership of Dr. Michael Lynch and the dedicated, talented team of institute staff and UCHI affiliates. Professor Duane has articulated a clear and promising vision to continue the advancement of the institute including mentoring programs for diverse and mid-career humanities faculty, and I am confident in her ability to succeed in this new role.

I would like to thank the search committee, chaired by Professor Jeffrey Ogbar, and all of the community members who participated in the interview process and public forums. I’d also like to thank Senior Vice Provost Jeffrey Shoulson, who played a large role in overseeing the search process.

Please join me in congratulating Professor Duane on this appointment.

Sincerely,

Anne

Anne D’Alleva, PhD
Provost and Executive Vice President
University of Connecticut
Office of the Provost
352 Mansfield Road, U-1086
Storrs CT 06269-1086
Tel. 860-486-4037

UConn is a great university.

But it’s more than that. A top-ranked research institution, with campuses and staff across Connecticut, built to inspire the global community that is UConn Nation. UConn’s talented students exceed expectations. Our expert researchers, faculty, and alumni drive Creativity, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship (CIE) for a better tomorrow. We fuel the State’s economy and are committed to inclusion in benefiting the greater good. This is UConn.

STUDENTS FIRST, UCONN ALWAYS. HUSKIES FOREVER.

Master of Data Science Director Appointment

Posted on January 25, 2023 by Cassan, Alexis

Dear Colleagues,

I’m pleased to announce the appointment of Professor Jeremy Teitelbaum as the director of the Master of Data Science program effective immediately. The program has previously been co-directed by Kent Holsinger, Vice Provost for Graduate Education and Dean of the Graduate School, and Peter Diplock, Associate Vice Provost for the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. I extend my gratitude to both Kent and Peter for their willingness to supervise this program since its development in 2020.

Reporting directly to the dean of The Graduate School, Professor Teitelbaum will oversee the interdisciplinary 30-credit hour program which draws on courses and expertise from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, School of Engineering, School of Business, College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources, and the Neag School of Education. Professor Teitelbaum is a professor in the department of Mathematics and previously served as interim provost at UConn in 2017-2018. Before that, he was the dean of UConn’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) from 2008-2017.

Professor Teitelbaum is a number theorist and has worked on a range of problems related to elliptic curves, modular forms, p-adic L-functions, and p-adic analytic geometry. His current research is in bioinformatics, unsupervised learning, and in mathematical questions in machine learning.

I am extremely grateful to Professor Teitelbaum for taking on this important role in this innovative and interdisciplinary program. Please join me in congratulating Professor Teitelbaum on this appointment.

Sincerely,
Anne

Anne D’Alleva, PhD
Provost and Executive Vice President
University of Connecticut
Office of the Provost
352 Mansfield Road, U-1086
Storrs CT 06269-1086
Tel. 860-486-4037

UConn is a great university.

STUDENTS FIRST, UCONN ALWAYS. HUSKIES FOREVER.

Provost’s Office Leadership Update

Posted on January 17, 2023 by Cassan, Alexis

Dear Colleagues,

I’m writing to share that Michael Bradford, Vice Provost for Faculty, Staff, and Student Development and Professor of Dramatic Arts has accepted the position of Vice Provost and Dean of Undergraduate Education at the University of California, Davis and will be leaving UConn February 3^rd to begin this new role. While we are thrilled for Michael for this new opportunity, we are so sorry to lose a trusted colleague and friend who has shown such compassion, thoughtfulness and positivity to our community. On behalf of the Provost’s Office and the entire university administration, I want to thank Michael for his service to UConn in the more than 20 years he has spent here.

Michael joined the Provost’s Office in fall of 2020 and has had an extraordinary impact on the lives of students, faculty and staff. In his role, Michael oversaw faculty onboarding and retention, faculty and academic staff development and recognition, equity and access, and student success initiatives. Michael has played a critical role in UConn’s Life-Transformative Education initiative, cultivating an environment of authentic relationships and learning opportunities for undergraduate students.

Michael is a tireless advocate for faculty and staff alike. He has worked closely with the Provost’s academic success units and other university partners, such as the Office for Diversity and Inclusion, to promote faculty, staff, and student achievement in all aspects. He developed a cohort-style onboarding program for new faculty and has been a leader in creating shared learning and networking experiences for incoming faculty.

Before joining the Provost’s Office, Michael served as department head of Dramatic Arts, artistic director of the Connecticut Repertory Theatre, and faculty director of Schola²rs House Learning Community. I would not be able to put into words the impact Michael has had on UConn’s community throughout all of these roles.

For the immediate future, I have asked each of our other vice provosts to take on pieces of Michael’s role, while I take some time to develop a new organizational plan for the Provost’s Office. I’ll share more details in the coming months.

There will be an event to recognize Michael’s accomplishments and impact on the UConn community on January 26th (Click here for more details). Please join me in congratulating Michael on his new role and thanking him for his service to UConn.

Sincerely,
Anne

Anne D’Alleva, PhD
Provost and Executive Vice President
University of Connecticut
Office of the Provost
352 Mansfield Road, U-1086
Storrs CT 06269-1086
Tel. 860-486-4037

UConn is a great university.

STUDENTS FIRST, UCONN ALWAYS. HUSKIES FOREVER.

Provost’s Office Monthly – December 2022

Posted on December 20, 2022 by Cassan, Alexis

With finals wrapping up this past weekend, we have reached the end of the fall 2022 semester. This past semester, and all of 2022 for that matter, feels like it has flown by. I am feeling inspired, grateful, and proud to be a part of this university and am looking forward to seeing what we will accomplish in the coming year. I’m thankful for the role that each staff member, faculty member, student, parent, and community member played in supporting each other throughout the year and in making UConn great.

That said, it’s important that we take time for ourselves over the next few weeks; to relax and recharge, spend time with loved ones, and do things that bring us joy. I wish each of you peace and happiness in the new year.

Happy Holidays,

Anne

Anne D’Alleva, PhD
Provost & Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs

Interfolio Dossier is Live!

As previously announced, UConn has purchased Interfolio’s Review, Promotion and Tenure and Dossier modules to streamline the PTR/PR processes. We are pleased to announce that Dossier is now live and open for faculty to begin accessing.

Dossier is Interfolio’s online platform for academics to collect and curate scholarly materials, request and receive confidential letters of recommendation, and prepare for upcoming evaluations. You, as a member of our faculty, can use Dossier to store your CV, publications, and other important career related materials for easy reference. You can then use Dossier to share your documents for review by your colleagues, to be included in review and promotion submissions, and to review documents shared with you by your colleagues.

Dossier will be available for all faculty members across campus to access using your NetID and password. To access your account, select sign-in with Partner Institution on the Dossier website: https://account.interfolio.com/login. You can view a video tutorial on how to sign-in here.

If you have used Dossier previously with a personal e-mail address, this article shows how you can merge your two accounts.

For more information about how to use your Dossier account, Interfolio has a great online help center and their Scholar Services can help answer your technical questions by email, phone, Facebook, or Twitter.

Dean of the School of Nursing Search

A national search is underway to identify candidates to lead the School of Nursing. This searched is chaired by Jason Irizarry, Dean of the Neag School of Education and Professor of Curriculum and Instruction. Applications are being collected through January 17, 2023.

Dean of the School of Social Work Search

A national search is underway to identify candidates to lead the School of Social Work. The search is chaired by Kent Holsinger, Vice Provost for Graduate Education and Dean of the Graduate School and Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Listening Sessions took place earlier this month and applications will be open in the coming weeks. Applications are being collected through February 6, 2023.

Humanities Institute Director Search

An internal search for the next Director of UConn’s Humanities Institute is underway. The search is chaired by Jeffrey Ogbar, Professor of History and Director of the Center for the Study of Popular Music. Interviews and public forum presentations were hosted over the last week.

UConn Reads

UConn Reads is a stimulating program that invites all members of the extended UConn community (students, staff members, faculty members, alumni, friends) to join in an engaging discussion about a book that has been selected to spark multidisciplinary conversations, critical debates, and an array of supporting activities. The program is being orchestrated by the Office of the Provost, and the book selected for this year’s program is “Light from Uncommon Stars," by Ryka Aoki. Get involved by contacting uconnreads@uconn.edu.

Reaffirming UConn's Commitment to Diversity in Admissions

On December 1st, University leaders and scholars in the areas of admissions and diversity, equity and inclusion in higher education shared insights on the issues being addressed and UConn's Response to the U.S. Supreme Court Cases (SFFA v. Harvard/UNC). View a recording of the presentation and panel discussion on the impending decisions and how they may impact UConn.

Highlighting Interdisciplinary Scholarship at UConn

Entrepreneurship isn’t just for the students at a university building startups—it’s for everyone.

At UConn, entrepreneurship is a way of thinking, unrestricted by school, college or program that provides the solution to many of the challenges our world faces. Across all industries and disciplines, it takes someone with an entrepreneurial drive and mindset to disrupt the status quo - continually innovating to find solutions to the world’s most irretractable problems.

The Peter J. Werth Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation provides students with interdisciplinary opportunities to learn about and experience first-hand entrepreneurship and innovation. Our signature programs include NetWerx, which provides tailored mentorship; Stamford Startup Studio for students interested in product development and management; Championship Labs, a first-of-its-kind program empowering student influencers and athletes with the tools to explore opportunities in content entrepreneurship and beyond; Werth Innovators Leadership Development, one of the nation’s top entrepreneurial leadership development programs; and the Center for Neurodiversity & Employment, created to improve employment outcomes for neurodivergent job seekers.

The Werth Institute is the legacy of Peter J. Werth, Jr., philanthropist and the founder, president, and CEO of ChemWerth, Inc., a full-service generic drug development and supply company. His investment is changing the lives of the thousands of students who take part in our mentorship, leadership, and experiential learning programs by ensuring UConn becomes a beacon of inclusive entrepreneurship for students throughout the nation.

Not housed in a singular department or college, The Werth Institute strives to be a central node of connection across the University for students in all schools and colleges to equip them with skillsets essential for personal and professional growth. In fact, 35% of the students who participated in our programs this past year were from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, constituting a significant departure from traditional entrepreneurship programs. At the heart of all we do is an accelerated, individualized approach to investing in students beyond what most academic units are able to offer.

Be Good. Make a Difference. Change the World.

This is Peter’s vision for entrepreneurship at UConn, one that has guided The Werth Institute since our founding in 2018. In that time, we have grown from an idea to an award-winning program that prepares and propels students forward, empowering each to the world they want to live in. UConn now has over 60 programs focused on or supporting entrepreneurship, reaching more than 3,000 students each year. The Werth Institute is a central part of the University’s strategic direction, especially in engaging students who are traditionally underrepresented or marginalized within entrepreneurial communities. This year, 55% of students engaged in our programs were from underrepresented populations, and more than 60% were women.

The Werth Institute is also reaching more first-year Huskies than ever before with an inclusive message around entrepreneurship, helping them get a head start on forging networks, growing their ideas, and developing as emotionally intelligent leaders. We continue to expand the depth of our programming by bringing together diverse groups of alumni who have successfully navigated a myriad of career pathways to provide students with greater real-world opportunities and insight into prestigious, competitive careers. More importantly, these connections are helping students build their self-confidence and hone their creative voices, something that simply cannot be learned in the classroom.

You can’t teach students how to be an entrepreneur. Instead, you give them the platform to fail without the having to pay a steep price and then the support to get back up to try again. The Werth Institute has created a space for students to explore their innovative potential without barriers as well as remove any sort of limitations students may have developed in their own head as to what they can be.

As we prepare to celebrate our five-year anniversary in January, our mission remains the same as it has been since day one: to create opportunities not yet imagined. Bringing this to life would not be possible without our students, faculty and staff, alumni, donors, and community partners. Join us in ensuring every Husky has the opportunity to explore their potential and build their confidence through entrepreneurship.

If you would like to learn more about how you can get involved with the work we’re doing, please reach out to me directly at david.noble@uconn.edu.

Huskies Forever,

David Noble
Managing Director, The Werth Institute

December 21: Semester Grades Due
December 26: Christmas Holiday Observed
January 2: New Years Day Holiday Observed
January 16: Martin Luther King Jr. Day
January 17: First Day of Spring Semester Classes
January 30: Last Day of Add/Drop

Provost Office Awards

The Provost Office facilitates the following awards: Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor Award, Provost’s Outstanding Service Award, Provost’s Award for Excellence in Community Engaged Scholarship, and Alumni Faculty Excellence Awards.

Deadlines for nominations are fast approaching. Visit our website for details on nomination materials, deadlines, and past winners.

Interfolio Town Hall

On February 10, the Provost’s Office will host a virtual town hall to offer a brief overview of the purchase of Interfolio’s Review, Promotion and Tenure and Dossier Modules and to answer questions from the community about the rollout of this new system. Please click here to learn more about this session, view recordings from the November 15^th Info Session, and to learn more about Interfolio @ UConn. You can also submit questions for the Town Hall in advance using this form. Questions will be answered live and the session will be recorded.

Designations and Definitions of Course Modalities Fall 2023

Posted on December 1, 2022 by Cassan, Alexis

Dear Colleagues,

As you may recall from our last, truncated Associate Deans/Department Heads meeting (and follow-up email), we are in the process of rolling out new designations and definitions for course modalities, which the Registrar will officially implement starting with the Fall 23 semester. Since the Registrar will begin its scheduling process for Fall 23 early in the Spring semester, it is important for faculty to become familiar with these new designations and to use them as they submit their course requests to you and your departmental admins.

A few caveats to keep in mind:

First, and most importantly, these new designations are not, in and of themselves, a signal that the balance of in-person to online course offerings is meant to shift. The development of these new designations is only the first step in what we expect to be a more extended, iterative, and consultative process—internal to each school, college, and department—in which programs should be thinking about the most effective/appropriate pedagogical uses for each modality. Decisions to switch courses from in-person to online should not be made by individual instructors in advance of these important strategic conversations. The Future of Learning Committee is currently preparing guidance for how to approach these conversations and what considerations need to be part of any such decisions.

Second, faculty should select the modality designation that most accurately represents how the course will be taught. One of the key reasons we revised these designations and their definitions was to ensure that students knew exactly what kind of courses they were choosing when they registered. Advisors will be referring to these new designations in their meetings with their advisees, so it is critical that the information be accurate.

Thanks and please don’t hesitate to reach out to me if you have any questions.

UConn Course Modality Definitions Fall 2023

Modalities Flow Chart

Sincerely,

Jeffrey Shoulson

________________________________________
Jeffrey S. Shoulson, Ph.D. (He | Him | His)
Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs
Professor of Literatures, Cultures, and Languages and Professor of English
University of Connecticut
352 Mansfield Road, Unit 1086
Storrs, CT 06268-1086

(o) 860-486-6115
(c) 305-742-6973
(f) 860-486-6379

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6161-6325

Provost’s Office Monthly – November 2022

Posted on November 30, 2022 by Cassan, Alexis

I hope this message finds everyone well-rested and energized for the end of semester after the Thanksgiving break!

As you’ll know from President Maric’s announcement yesterday, she has appointed me as Provost, and I’m grateful for the trust that she and the Board of Trustees have placed in me. Since taking up the position on an interim basis six months ago, I’ve come to have an even greater appreciation for the talent and dedication of our faculty and staff and the potential of our amazing students across every field. We’ve experienced many challenges and transitions together over the past few years, and one of my primary goals is to create a stable institutional environment so that we can fully achieve our dynamic and innovative potential across our teaching, research, and engagement missions. I’m looking forward to working with each of you to make UConn – and the world beyond our campuses – a better place.

The focus of our Provost’s Office newsletter this month is student success. Simply put, student success is a measure of how our students are growing and thriving in every dimension of their experience at UConn. They are succeeding academically, making steady progress toward completing their degrees, and attaining knowledge and skills that will enable them to be life-long learners and launch satisfying and successful careers. They are forming friendships, finding mentors, and growing in their capacity to understand, respect, and embrace the many dimensions of our diversity. They are learning how to cultivate their own wellbeing, emotionally, physically and financially, which serves as a foundation for those complex and challenging academic and social experiences. And they are giving back to their communities – they are growing in responsibility, purpose, and leadership and driving change both on campus and off.

We have many qualitative and quantitative metrics for measuring students’ academic success. These include retention and graduation rates, DFW rates (the aggregate rate of students with D or F grades, or that withdraw from classes), the number of students on academic probation, survey data where students self-report on their experiences, and post-graduation data such as employment outcomes, return on investment, and economic mobility.

Much of the data shows that UConn students are experiencing high levels of success in many dimensions, including an average time to degree of 4.1 years that is the best in the nation among public universities.

At the same time, there are several areas in which worrying data trends have been emerging. These trends predate the pandemic but appear to have been exacerbated and accelerated by pandemic impacts. In some cases, our overall data does not ring alarm bells, but when we disaggregate by factors such as race and ethnicity, income status, first-generation status, and gender, we can see that we are not creating equal pathways to academic success for all our students.

As provost, I take responsibility for leading change so that we reverse these trends and close outcome gaps based on student demographics. But this work will take all of us. Student success is often seen as a “wicked problem” of higher education, and as such, there is no one single solution. The work will touch on many different areas and is an area of intense focus for the Provost’s Office.

In future newsletters, I will share spotlights and details of some of the work across UConn that support student success, including that of undergraduate advising and the Institute for Student Success. Today I want to begin by highlighting two projects led by the Provost’s Office. One is our Life-Transformative Education initiative, dedicated to ensuring we develop the identity, agency, and purpose of every student with a focus on their post-graduation success. The other is our assessment initiative, which will create a framework for academic programs to understand strengths and areas for improvement in relation to student learning. I also want to highlight a working group that has been creating resources for pregnant and parenting students. This has resulted in a new website and some guidelines that I hope you will all find helpful.

This problem is not confined to UConn. Earlier this month I attended the Association of Public Land-Grant Universities (APLU) annual meeting. At this meeting, higher education leaders from across the nation shared challenges they are facing and the strategies they are implementing to better support student success, especially among minoritized students who have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic. I had the opportunity to participate on a panel related to honors education and showcase some of the initiatives our Honor’s program undertakes to fosters high-level achievement. Some of the ideas being discussed in this national context are exciting, and we are moving discussions forward in several projects that you’ll hear more about in the next few months.

This is a vital time for us to come together and support our students, particularly as we look to mitigate and erase some of the growth in inequities caused by the pandemic. Research has clearly demonstrated that a caring and engaged faculty and staff has a powerful positive effect on student retention and achievement. I hope you’ll be joining me in finding your role in this work.

All best,

Anne D’Alleva
Provost & Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs

New Gen-Ed Common Curriculum Guidelines and Implementation

At a special meeting of the University Senate on Monday, November 14, 2022, the Implementation Guidelines for the Common Curriculum for Leadership and Global Citizenship and related Senate by-law amendments were approved. This was the last approval step in a multi-year project to re-envision a general education curriculum that reflects our commitments to be forward-looking, responsive to students, increasingly flexible while maintaining high scholarly standards. The new curriculum offers relevant, challenging coursework that empowers students with a strong sense of moral, ethical, and social responsibility and the capacity to be proactive in a world that desperately needs them. The new curriculum will roll out in Fall 2025.

Faculty Compensation Policy

The University replaced the “Policy on Extra Compensation for Full-Time Faculty in AAUP” with the revised “Faculty Compensation Policy” effective November 11, 2022. This policy establishes the standards under which regular payroll faculty may receive compensation from the University or external entities. This applies to all regular payroll faculty excluding UConn Health, and covers regular compensation, summer salary, overload pay, and payments for prizes and awards.

Life Transformative Education

The Life Transformative Education Initiative continues to find ways to embed the guiding principles of LTE into the life and culture of our students. LTE is a framework to support the development of identity, agency, and purpose for all UConn students. In this work, we are part of the national Coalition for Life Transformative Education, focused on embedding long-term outcomes into our work on student success.

The guiding principles of Life Transformative Education at UConn are to:

Create (and celebrate) initiatives and programming that promotes the development of agency, identity, and purpose.
Create coursework, programs, and initiatives within an inclusive and equitable framework.
Foster meaningful relationships and emotionally supportive advising and mentoring.
Infuse curriculum with authentic experiential learning opportunities and real-world problem solving.
Ensure that LTE programming (coursework, experiential/service learning) and support is available to each UConn student.
Provide an environment in all facets of programming that welcomes diversity, encourages participation, and centers collaboration.

In practice, this work has been manifested in four ways:

Annual Cultivate workshops to engage faculty and staff around the University into the work of the initiative. The next Cultivate workshop will be held on March 2, 2023, featuring keynote speaker Christina Katopodis, Associate Director of Transformative Learning in the Humanities, CUNY. She will frame a set of group discussions around radical optimism in the classroom (and beyond) and will deliver specific strategies to guide this work. Details for sign up will be in the next newsletter.
An ongoing speaker series that highlights internal work in line with the LTE guiding principles, and which showcases external speakers to bring a range of inspiration to our work. Details can be found on our website.
Multiple “design sprints,” initially with external partners The Design Gym, and now in partnership with UConn’s Greenhouse Studios. These lead project teams through a process to “scale up” and further develop existing experiential learning opportunities at UConn. More details will follow on current projects, which include embedding career competencies for students in campus jobs & internships and imagining curricular and co-curricular opportunities for students to discover their purpose.
A series of workshops (launching early in 2023) to engage instructors across UConn in inclusive learning. These will focus on actionable strategies to close equity gaps, foster belonging in the classroom, and to ensure all students have a pathway to academic success. These workshops will draw on foundations from early LTE working groups, particularly that of the authentic & inclusive learning group.

Beyond these key elements, the LTE initiative also partners with broader conversations as we work to build LTE as the foundation for all engagement and education of students at UConn. This includes a strong partnership with University Advising, the Institute for Student Success, and the Office of Outreach and Engagement.

Assessment

At the University of Connecticut, we are all committed to ensuring we are providing all UConn students with the most effective educational programs possible. Program-level assessment work focuses on improvement by first identifying what students should be learning (program-level student learning objectives). Data can then be gathered to understand student outcomes in relation to these learning objectives. This allows programs to identify what is currently working, and where changes might be needed. In many cases, these efforts will be building on work that is already happening.

The Office for Academic Program Assessment (OAPA) leads this work in collaboration with the faculty-led University Student Learning Assessment Committee (USLAC). Our goal is to develop a robust culture of assessment at the University of Connecticut. In particular, we want assessment work at UConn to pay careful attention to achievement gaps that are visible when outcomes data is disaggregated. Throughout this data-driven process, we will be supporting departments as they develop and refine their programmatic student learning outcomes, create appropriate instruments for assessing how effective they are in achieving these outcomes, and ensure an inclusive approach to these efforts, sensitive to the diverse backgrounds and needs of all our students.

Over the next two years, all undergraduate programs that are not assessed through programmatic accreditation will develop learning outcomes, a curricular map for these outcomes, and an ongoing, manageable engagement in a cycle of assessment activities. The schedule for this process has been developed by OAPA and USLAC in consultation with our deans.

If you are in a program entering into the assessment cycle you can expect ongoing, centralized support from the staff and faculty fellows in OAPA. As academic programs work their way through this process, we encourage them to leverage the opportunity to engage in real, meaningful conversations about what they expect their students to learn within their programs.

An assessment software module that is part of the Blackboard (HuskyCT) system is being implemented and will be available—on a fully optional basis—to facilitate this work. Academic programs are free choose other means for building their assessment infrastructure and capturing the relevant data.

Further information related to the assessment initiative is available online here.

If you are interested in issues of equity and inclusion related to assessment, we encourage you to look at the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA) framework on Equity in Assessment. This has been a central guide in our overall plan for our UConn assessment initiative. You can look at this framework and a range of resources to begin thinking about what equity in assessment might mean for your unit here.

Resources for Pregnant or Parenting Students

We know that the past two years have presented enormous challenges for us all. It has been made clear that the boundaries between our professional/academic and our personal lives are more porous than we had previously acknowledged. To this end, we encourage our faculty and staff to be open to potentially difficult conversations for our students who are balancing these responsibilities.

We want to share a new website that is available for students who are pregnant and/or have parenting responsibilities. This website will help students discover and navigate resources available to them, https://studentparents.uconn.edu/. This site was developed by a committee of UConn community members from across the University.

We have heard from pregnant and parenting students that they often feel isolated, have limited information about supports available, and are reluctant to discuss their concerns for fear of being stigmatized or having their commitment to their academic goals questioned. Faculty and staff who interact with these students have a unique opportunity to foster a more welcoming and supportive environment for them.

Some tips for this include:

Let students know you are open to them sharing their concerns about navigating family and academic responsibilities.
Be familiar with the resources available to pregnant and parenting students, many of which can be found at https://studentparents.uconn.edu/
There is also good information here https://hr.uconn.edu/worklife-family/, relevant to all members of the UConn community, including childcare providers, and lactation spaces on all campuses.
Be mindful of messages based on unconscious bias that your department might be sending about a student who is pregnant and/or parenting. Do not treat expectant/parenting students differently from those without children. Rather, encourage all your students to protect time for outside interests and responsibilities.
Be sure to allow adequate time and space for those who are lactating.
If a student requires an accommodation related to a pregnancy, refer them to the Center for Students with Disabilities at 860-486-2020 or csd@uconn.edu
If a student feels they have experienced discrimination or harassment due to pregnancy or other sex-based conduct, refer them to the Office of Institutional Equity at 860-486-2943 or equity@uconn.edu
If a student needs to be connected to resources and to consider impacts and support related to their academics, faculty and staff can refer Storrs undergraduate students to the Dean of Students Office at 860-486-3426 or dos@uconn.edu. Graduate students can be referred to The Graduate School at gradschool@uconn.edu. Regional campus students can be referred to the Student Services staff on their home campus.

We should strive to be fair, equitable, objective, and empathetic when receiving requests for flexibility. We encourage faculty and staff to extend these same considerations to our pregnant and/or parenting students as we enter this and future academic years.

2022 Undergraduate First Destination Outcomes

The Center for Career Development (CCD) has released the 2022 Undergraduate First Destination Outcomes which indicates that 90% of the 2022 graduating class have reported favorable outcomes at the six-month post graduation milestone. The full outcomes report will be available on the CCD website on December 15th.

Winter Weather Reminders

With the winter storm season upon us, we’d like to refresh your knowledge about operations at UConn’s Storrs and regional campuses during inclement weather.

For those of you who are new to the UConn community, these details will be helpful to understand the University’s decision-making processes before and during unusual weather conditions or other unexpected changes in class schedules and business operations.

First and foremost, the safety of our students, faculty, and staff is paramount. At the same time, the University has important teaching, research, and service missions to carry out. We balance these factors when considering whether the University can safely and effectively maintain normal operations during and after inclement weather or other unusual events.

With that in mind, we make decisions about cancelling classes or curbing business operations at our campuses very carefully, using the information available to us at the time about weather forecasts, road conditions, and other considerations.

UConn Alerts

One of the most important steps you can take right now as a member of the UConn community is to sign up to receive text message notifications on your cell phone about schedule changes, cancellations, emergencies, and other important information.

The process is quick and easy, and signing up is free. Instructions can be found under the “Get Alerts” section of the UConnALERT page. Even if you believe you are already signed up, it’s wise to check to ensure that the system reflects your most current cell phone number and other contact information.

We encourage you to review the University’s policy for details about how these decisions are made, expectations of employees, and other information.

The following guidance applies to all UConn locations except UConn Health, which has its own relevant policies.

How you’ll know UConn’s status:

When we determine it is necessary to cancel or delay classes, or to change business operations at the University, we’ll notify the UConn community as quickly as possible.
When storms occur overnight, we try to make this notification by 5 a.m. Sometimes conditions change rapidly, however, and we might need to adjust decisions about class schedules and business operations on short notice.
The UConnALERT webpage (http://alert.uconn.edu) is the definitive source of information about the University’s operating status.
UConn community members at all locations, excluding UConn Health, can also check the 24-hour emergency closing information number: 860-486-3768.
The University notifies the media about operating changes at UConn’s campuses, but we cannot guarantee that details provided by news outlets represent the most current or complete information.

What stays open, what might change:

If classes are cancelled, this applies to all classes -- including those online.
UConn follows suit if the Governor closes state agencies, releases state employees from work, or restricts road travel due to weather conditions.
Certain essential operations continue despite inclement weather, including public safety, residential and dining services, health services, animal care, facility maintenance, and other critical services.
Decisions about whether to continue or cancel specific services, such as transportation, are made on a case-by-case basis depending on existing conditions and needs.
The Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts, UConn Athletics, and other units that sponsor events and activities decide independently whether to continue or cancel their events, and you should contact them directly with questions.

Academic operations:

If the University has not announced a delay or cancellation of classes, faculty are expected to hold their classes as scheduled in the modality originally advertised.
In circumstances when a faculty member determines that they cannot travel safely to campus, the faculty member must notify all students in the class in a timely manner along with their dean and department head.
Faculty must not preemptively cancel class before the University decides and announces whether UConn’s normal schedule will be changed.
Students should contact their professors as soon as possible if they must miss a class or other activity due to weather conditions.
Faculty should respect the decisions of commuting students who decide not to travel to campus or to leave class early to get home safely, and should provide options for them to make up missed work.

Keep safety first:

Always consider your safety first. Weather and road conditions may vary considerably across the state and from one UConn campus to another.
With that in mind, all members of the University community should evaluate the circumstances they face, plan extra time for their commute if necessary, and take other common-sense measures.
Employees and students are reminded to be particularly vigilant while driving or walking on campus during inclement weather, including around vehicles conducting plowing and sanding activities. Remember that pedestrians always have the right of way.

Who reports to campus, and when:

Emergency and essential staff must remain at, or report to, in-person work as directed. Supervisors must learn and follow their units’ related procedures. UConn’s policy and guidance on the Human Resources site are helpful in understanding these expectations.

Employees who decide not to come to campus or to leave campus early due to travel safety concerns may use a vacation day, personal time, or other accrued time without advance approval, but must notify their supervisors that they are doing so.
If approved by their supervisor, they may also be able to work remotely.
For typically in-person employees: If UConn directs those employees not to report to campus due to weather or other operational changes, they are expected to work from home unless they have a manager-approved flexible schedule or use accrued time (i.e., vacation or personal time).
Supervisors are encouraged to consider difficulties that storms may cause for employees, such as electrical or internet outages.
All employees working remotely are expected to be accessible and responsive to supervisors during work hours by email and telephone. Supervisors may expect that assigned work that can be accomplished remotely is completed on time.
Employees on an approved telecommuting or remote work schedule should continue to work that schedule unless they receive approval to flex their time that day.

Supervisors may make reasonable adjustments to continue University business, including holding meetings by teleconference or virtually; and employees who would normally be present at work may be required to participate.

Again, we wish to emphasize the paramount importance of safety. Faculty, staff, and students should evaluate their own circumstances carefully, exercise appropriate judgment, and take responsibility for their safety when making decisions during inclement weather and other operational changes to emergency situations at UConn Storrs and regional campuses.

Reading Days

Reading Days are Saturday and Sunday, December 10 and 11, and Thursday, December 15. Per the University Senate By-Laws, the intent of Reading Days is as follows:

Final Exams

Final exams begin on Monday, December 12 and end on Sunday, December 18.

In very limited instances, undergraduate students may request rescheduling for an exam. They must make such a request through the Dean of Students Office for the Storrs campus or each regional campus student services office, and as early as possible. The reasons for such a request include “bunched” finals and immediate illness. A student whose absence is excused by the Dean of Students Office or regional student services staff shall have an opportunity to take a final without penalty. Please consult the Dean of Students website and the Registrar’s website for further detail.

***Please note, the above does not apply to the School of Law, School of Medicine, or School of Dental Medicine.***

Appointment of Director of UConn Waterbury Campus

Dr. Fumiko Hoeft has been appointed as the next director of UConn Waterbury. Selected from a talented pool of applicants, Dr. Hoeft has demonstrated a commitment to student success in academics and beyond and has shared an exciting vision for the future of the UConn Waterbury campus and its connections with the wider Waterbury community. Dr. Hoeft is a prolific researcher and an exemplary member of the UConn community. Dr. Hoeft joined UConn in 2018 as director of BIRC and professor of psychological sciences. In addition to her appointment as professor of psychological sciences, she also holds appointments as professor of computer science, mathematics, neuroscience, psychiatry, pediatrics, and educational psychology at UConn.

UConn Reads

UConn Reads is a stimulating program that invites all members of the extended UConn community (students, staff members, faculty members, alumni, friends) to join in an engaging discussion about a book that has been selected to spark multidisciplinary conversations, critical debates, and an array of supporting activities. The program is being orchestrated by the Office of the Provost, and the book selected for this year’s program is “Light from Uncommon Stars," by Ryka Aoki.

Interfolio Information Session Recording & Future Opportunities

On November 15, the Provost’s Office hosted a virtual information session to provide an overview of the purchase of Interfolio’s Review, Promotion and Tenure and Dossier Modules. A recording of the information session and details about additional opportunities to learn more about the system and our roll out are available on the Interfolio @ UConn webpage.

Dean of the School of Nursing Search

A national search is underway to identify candidates for the next Dean of the School of Nursing. This searched is chaired by Jason Irizarry, Dean of the Neag School of Education and Professor of Curriculum and Instruction. Applications are being collected through January 17, 2023.

Dean of the School of Social Work Search

A national search is underway to identify candidates for the next Dean of the School of Social Work. The search is chaired by Kent Holsinger, Vice Provost for Graduate Education and Dean of the Graduate School and Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Listening Sessions took place earlier this month and applications will be open in the coming weeks.

Marissa Greenberg Post-Event Summary

On November 9 and 10, the Office of the Provost, in partnership with the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, and the UConn Humanities Institute, hosted Dr. Marissa Greenberg, Associate Professor of English at the University of New Mexico. Dr. Greenberg was invited to teach the UConn community about an approach that she has been developing to create a more active and inclusive pedagogy, drawing on the practice of caucusing that has emerged as a powerful tool in anti-racist efforts in political and labor contexts.

In a public presentation, followed by two hands-on workshops, one for faculty and one for graduate assistants, Dr. Greenberg demonstrated the value of this approach in shifting our pedagogical orientation from a deficit mindset to an asset mindset. By providing them with opportunities to engage in discussions within this context of affinity-based caucuses, students come to see how their own embodied, lived experiences can lead them to powerful, critical insights into materials that might otherwise seem distant and alien to them.

Highlighting Interdisciplinary Scholarship at UConn

UConn’s Institute for Collaboration on Health, Intervention, and Policy (InCHIP) brings together individuals with diverse scientific, clinical, and methodological expertise and supports their evolution into collaborative investigators who conduct innovative interdisciplinary research that impacts public health and well-being. At its core, InCHIP and its investigators aim to improve human health through research. But human health does not exist in a vacuum -- it reflects myriad processes and mechanisms at levels ranging from the molecular to the political. To truly improve the condition of human health requires us to acknowledge this complexity, embrace the need for collaboration across fields of research, and encourage creative approaches that unearth and leverage mechanisms that tip the scales.

InCHIP began as an HIV-focused research center within Psychological Sciences and has since grown into a multidisciplinary research center broadly focused on health. InCHIP has over 150 core faculty and student investigators from across UConn and a network of over 600 health researchers worldwide. InCHIP is home to four research centers: Collaboratory on School and Child Health; UConn Center for Advancing Research, Methods, and Scholarship in Gun Injury Prevention; UConn Center for mHealth and Social Media; UConn Rudd Center on Food Policy and Health. InCHIP is also host to nine Research Interests Groups focused on topics ranging from obesity to pregnancy to interprofessional healthcare.

InCHIP investigators work collaboratively across UConn departments, colleges, and campuses around common health-related interests. InCHIP centers collaboration across disciplines is pivotal to meeting the goal of improving health. ‘Interdisciplinarity’ research reflects a lot of hard work to translate, concede and articulate assumptions, and delve into new directions. To be successful, health (especially public health) research and initiatives require researchers who carry different lenses to work together around shared goals.

An example of how successful collaboration can look lies in one of InCHIP’s areas of strength – HIV prevention and treatment. Medical researchers have worked in laboratories and clinics for the last 30 years to develop new and better HIV treatment and prevention solutions that can prevent lives lost and improve the quality of life for those living with HIV. But due to HIV-related stigma and often the intersecting stigmas associated with poverty, racism, gender identity, and sexuality, these medical solutions may never become widely used by the people who stand to benefit the most from them. By working with researchers who specialize in stigma, human behavior, communication, and social determinants of health, teams can work together to improve the accessibility and uptake of these life-saving drugs and ultimately curb the spread of HIV.

How to Connect with InCHIP:

Learn More: Faculty and students interested in or working in human health are encouraged to check out our website: chip.uconn.edu.
Join the InCHIP Network: We encourage anyone interested to join our network here. By joining InCHIP’s network, faculty and students will be the first to learn about InCHIP’s lectures and workshops, services, and resources and connect around shared interests with fellow researchers.
Access Resources and Services: We offer many resources to develop and support health research ranging from the development of nascent project ideas to processing and submitting grant proposals and beyond – you can learn more about those services here. Our services are available free of charge to UConn faculty and students.

News & Events:

Annual Report: To get a better sense of the work we do and the research of our investigators, check out our annual report.
Internal funding opportunities: InCHIP offers funding for faculty and students working in areas related to human health. To learn more about this year’s seed grant programs, click here.
InCHIP Lecture Series: InCHIP hosts lectures each academic year that feature investigators from around the world working in human health. Upcoming speakers will address gun violence prevention, HIV and substance use, and global health. To learn more about upcoming lectures and RSVP, click here. To view past lectures, visit our YouTube page.
Two New Graduate Certificates: Working in collaboration with departments and colleges across UConn, InCHIP recently developed two graduate certificates in Global Health and Interdisciplinary approaches to Obesity Prevention and Weight Management. These certificates will launch next semester. If you are interested in either, please reach out to Greidy Miralles at greidy.miralles@uconn.edu.

Academic Affairs Spotlight

In Jeffrey's role, he supervises academic program development, review, and accreditation across all units. In collaboration with the schools, colleges, and University Senate, he manages academic curricular standards and adjudicates appeals that come before the Office of the Provost. He also administers the Promotion, Tenure, and Reappointment processes for all UConn faculty.

Before moving into the Office of the Provost, Shoulson was Director of the Center for Judaic Studies and Contemporary Jewish Life and held the Doris and Simon Konover Chair in Jewish Studies. He is Professor of Literatures, Cultures, and Languages and Professor of English, and has affiliations with the Medieval Studies Program and the Middle East Studies Program.

A scholar of early modern literature and culture, his research focuses on intellectual, cultural, and literary encounters between Jews and Christians in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. His books include Milton and the Rabbis: Hellenism, Hebraism, and Christianity (Columbia UP, 2001); Hebraica Veritas? Christian Hebraists and the Study of Judaism in Early Modern Europe (U Penn P, 2004); and Fictions of Conversion: Jews, Christians, and Cultures of Change in Early Modern England (U Penn P, 2013).

Q: What does a typical work week look like for you?

A: There’s no such thing as a typical work week in the Provost’s office! My days and weeks are shaped by the academic calendar and other annual cycles that determine our workflow. Much of what I do takes the form of meetings, some in person, some online. These meetings often include folks from across the institution and one of the pleasures of my job has been getting to know and work with so many knowledgeable and dedicated people in so many different units. On any given day I might meet with departmental, school, or college leaders to work on various academic initiatives; representative faculty to develop programs or address institutional needs; administrative staff to refine our operational infrastructure; or folks from outside of UConn with whom we are collaborating or partnering to broaden our institutional reach.

Q: What is an important project/initiative you’re working on right now?

A: Since the PTR/PR process is one of my primary responsibilities, I am always looking for ways to ensure that it functions as consistently, equitably, and fairly as possible. Our faculty deserve nothing less. We’ve been working with our deans and department heads to ensure there is clarity and transparency around expectations and standards. We’re currently in the midst of implementing a new digital platform that will help us manage the process consistently and, we hope, with fewer administrative burdens on all involved. And I am working with colleagues in the Office of Diversity and Inclusion to strengthen our work around equity, inclusion, and justice in these processes. These are ongoing efforts, and they sit at the heart of our commitment to academic excellence and fairness.

Q: If you could solve one problem at UConn right now, what would it be?

A: For the last several years, I’ve been working with an array of institutional partners to address the serious challenge of food insecurity, in particular on our regional campuses. Put simply, students who can’t rely on regular access to affordable, nutritious food are much less likely to succeed academically and to take full advantage of all the wonderful opportunities we have at UConn. If I could solve one problem right now, it would be the ongoing presence of food insecurity amongst our students, not only on the regional campuses, but also at Storrs; not only amongst our undergraduate population, but also for our graduate and professional students, where these problems are also far more prevalent than they should be.

Q: What is your favorite UConn sports moment?

A: I am a big UConn basketball fan, both women’s and men’s teams. My arrival at UConn a little over ten years ago coincided with that amazing streak of consecutive championships by the women’s team and the miraculous year UConn won both the men’s and the women’s titles (2014). But my love for the team began back in 1990 when I had the chance to see the men’s team play in a regional semi-finals game at the Brendan Byrne Arena in the Meadowlands against Clemson. Scotty Burrell hit Tate George for a full-court pass that he converted for the game-winning shot with one second on the clock. It remains the most exciting sporting event I have ever witnessed in person and has made me a Husky basketball fan for life. If you haven’t seen it, it’s worth 40 seconds of your time at this link!

November 30: Town Halls on Student Fees
December 1: Reaffirming UConn's Commitment to Diversity in Admissions: UConn's Response to the U.S. Supreme Court Cases (SFFA v. Harvard/UNC)
December 9: Last day of fall semester classes
December 10 & December 11: Reading Days
December 12: Final examinations begin
December 15: Reading Day
December 18: Final examinations end
December 21: Semester Grades Due

Reaffirming UConn's Commitment to Diversity in Admissions
UConn's Response to the U.S. Supreme Court Cases (SFFA v. Harvard/UNC)

Please join us for a presentation and panel discussion on the impending decisions of the Supreme Court on the SFFA v. Harvard/UNC cases. University leaders and scholars in the areas of admissions and diversity, equity and inclusion in higher education will share insights on the issues at hand and anticipated decisions, how the outcome may affect UConn, and how we plan to respond. View the event flyer.

Provost Office Awards

Nominations for these awards are now open. Visit our website for details on nomination materials, deadlines, and past winners.

Waterbury Director Announcement

Posted on November 15, 2022 by Cassan, Alexis

Dear colleagues,

I am pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Fumiko Hoeft as the next director of UConn Waterbury. She will begin transitioning to the permanent position immediately, and we expect her to begin the role officially on December 30, 2022.

Dr. Hoeft was selected from a talented pool of applicants. She has demonstrated a commitment to student success in academics and beyond and has shared an exciting vision for the future of the UConn Waterbury campus and its connections with the wider Waterbury community. Her involvement in creating and developing several programs and centers to enhance student success in the sciences has established her as an advocate for experiential and transformative learning. She is also deeply passionate about community engagement and the impact that UConn can have on the state, region, and nation. Dr. Hoeft will drive initiatives in economic development, academic excellence, and service to the greater Waterbury community. Her experiences as director of the Brain Imaging Research Center (BIRC) and mentorship of undergraduate and graduate students have given her the skills and expertise to sustain and enhance UConn Waterbury and its diverse population of students, faculty, and staff.

Dr. Hoeft is a prolific researcher and an exemplary member of the UConn community. Dr. Hoeft joined UConn in 2018 as director of BIRC and professor of psychological sciences. She came to us from the Weill Institute for Neurosciences at the University of California-San Francisco (UCSF). In addition to her appointment as professor of psychological sciences, she also holds appointments as professor of computer science, mathematics, neuroscience, psychiatry, pediatrics, and educational psychology at UConn. She is also a senior scientist at Haskins Laboratories. Dr. Hoeft received pre- and postdoctoral research training at Harvard, UCLA, Caltech, and Stanford, and held faculty positions at Stanford and UCSF before joining UConn. She holds undergraduate, graduate, and Ph.D. degrees from Keio University in Tokyo, where she is also an adjunct faculty member at its School of Medicine.

Dr. Hoeft was recently interviewed by President Maric for an episode of “Worth Repeating.” Click here to watch the interview.

I want to express my gratitude to the search committee, chaired by Dean Indrajeet Chaubey, and the entire Waterbury campus community for your active participation in this process. Your input was critical in informing the evaluation of candidates.

Please join me in congratulating Dr. Hoeft. I look forward to continuing our work together in supporting UConn Waterbury.

Sincerely,
Anne

Anne D’Alleva
Interim Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs

MESSAGE FROM THE PROVOST

ACADEMIC AFFAIRS

Reading Days

Final Exams

Finals Opt-Out Reminder

Class Absences Due to Illness

Spring 2023 Pop-Up Courses

Emeritus Status Nomination Deadline

NEWS & UPDATES

Interfolio Town Hall

Nursing Dean Search

Executive Leader Onboarding

EXCELLENCE ALWAYS

Student Athlete 3.0 Night

Highlighting Interdisciplinary Scholarship at UConn

Academic Affairs Spotlight

IMPORTANT DATES, DEADLINES & EVENTS

Cultivate

Timely Topics

Dates

MESSAGE FROM THE PROVOST

ACADEMIC UPDATES & REMINDERS

Interfolio Dossier is Live!

NEWS & UPDATES

Dean of the School of Nursing Search

Dean of the School of Social Work Search

Humanities Institute Director Search

UConn Reads

Reaffirming UConn's Commitment to Diversity in Admissions

Highlighting Interdisciplinary Scholarship at UConn

IMPORTANT DATES, DEADLINES & EVENTS

Provost Office Awards

Interfolio Town Hall

Message from the Provost

Academic Updates & Reminders

New Gen-Ed Common Curriculum Guidelines and Implementation

Faculty Compensation Policy

Life Transformative Education

Assessment

Resources for Pregnant or Parenting Students

2022 Undergraduate First Destination Outcomes

Winter Weather Reminders

Reading Days

Final Exams

News & Updates

Appointment of Director of UConn Waterbury Campus

UConn Reads

Interfolio Information Session Recording & Future Opportunities

Dean of the School of Nursing Search

Dean of the School of Social Work Search

Marissa Greenberg Post-Event Summary

Highlighting Interdisciplinary Scholarship at UConn

Academic Affairs Spotlight

Important Dates, Deadlines & Events

Reaffirming UConn's Commitment to Diversity in Admissions UConn's Response to the U.S. Supreme Court Cases (SFFA v. Harvard/UNC)

Provost Office Awards

Reaffirming UConn's Commitment to Diversity in Admissions
UConn's Response to the U.S. Supreme Court Cases (SFFA v. Harvard/UNC)