Greetings, Colleagues,

Mary Meserve from the Registrar’s Office reminds us that per faculty legislation, all grading should be completed no later than Thursday, December 23rd. Fall 2021 semester grades will be made available for student viewing on Friday, December 24th.  

Josh McIntosh of Campus Life wrote to provide us with important information about how to access a COVID-19 vaccine booster. Please take a moment to read this message for more details.

Mike Milliken, Manager of Community Wellness, reminds us that with shorter days, colder weather and a continuing pandemic, managing stress and sleep may be as challenging as ever. In light of this, B Well is continuing the offering of Premium Headspace memberships for employees now through 2022.  If you’re not familiar with Headspace, here is a short animation.

The partnership includes premium access to Headspace’s award-winning mindfulness and sleep application at no cost to you. Once you enroll, you’ll tap into 1,000+ hours of content designed to help you manage stress, fall asleep, exercise mindfully, remain focused, and more. Headspace also has kid-friendly content for those of you with young ones.  If you have yet to join, signing up is pretty straightforward:

• Following this link to the Bates Headspace Landing Page
• Create an account or log-in if you already have an account
• Verify your account with your Bates Email
• Download the app or start using the computer browser version
• Explore the app and get started

The Faculty Personnel Committee will present four pieces of legislation at the Dec. 6 faculty meeting. The first is continued discussion of the process by which faculty in lectureship positions are reauthorized. A document summarizing the legislative process of this legislation as well as an alternative amendment was emailed to all faculty on November 30.  The three following pieces of deliberative legislation are described in more detail in the faculty meeting packet.   To streamline the process, we ask that people please read the legislation before the meeting and contact FPC or CFG with questions or amendments before the meeting on Dec. 6.

Darren Gallant from the Center for Global Education, sent a message with a few updates on what the Center for Global Education has been working on and a look ahead towards 2022 for off-campus study.  *NEW* Global Bobcats portal – We’ve recently implemented a software system for off-campus study / study abroad. We’re calling it Global Bobcats and it can be reached by going to global.bates.edu. This system will be the first step for students exploring off-campus study, short term off-campus, and FSA programs.  If you’re working with a student and they have questions about off-campus study, please direct them to https://global.bates.edu/?go=advising. That will get them started with advising.  The deadline for off-campus study during the 2022-2023 academic year (fall, winter, or full year) is February 10, 2022.

Short Term 2022 Off-Campus Study Courses – You can review them online here: https://www.bates.edu/global-education/off-campusstudy/opportunities/courses/  The deadline for students to apply to a Short Term 2022 Off-Campus Study course is January 20, 2022. 

Global Ambassadors – Our Global Ambassadors are currently four great students who are helping the CGE make connections around off-campus study and the international student experience. They helped make this year’s International Education Week a great success. You can learn more about Global Ambassadors on our website.

Winter 2022 Off-Campus Study – We’re not in the business of predictions for Winter 2022 Off-Campus Study but I can tell you that the group of students going abroad will be fewer than the Fall 2021 semester. There are a multitude of reasons for this. We’ll continue to monitor risk models, travel interruptions, and student participation over the coming weeks as students prepare to depart for a semester away.

Next, upcoming events.

Course (re)Design Institute

January 5-7, 2022 (virtual)

Wednesday, Thursday, Friday: 9am – 3pm 

Full details can be found on the CBB Pedagogy Matters website

Take 3 days in a community of colleagues and small-group facilitators to:

• design, refine or reimagine the course learning goals/outcomes
• align assignments with those goals and  
• explore and engage with inclusive and anti-racist pedagogies  

for one course you are teaching next year. Experience the Course (re)Design Institute for the first or the fifth time. The program will be fully virtual. Past participants have observed:  

• “Thank goodness someone kicked me in the butt to start working on this class.”
• “We decreased anxiety about our upcoming courses and developed a more effective assessment plan.”
• “In 3 days, I formalized (1) incorporating student metacognition into class, (2) explicitly building community as a goal, and (3) providing formative feedback (and telling students they are receiving it).”

Register Now for the Course (re)Design Institute

“Critical Learning, Radical Healing, and Community Engagement” 

Dr. Tessa Hicks Peterson
Tuesday, December 14
12-1:30 p.m.
Via Zoom
The Harward Center invites interested faculty members and our OIE colleagues to join the final meeting of this fall’s “Building Faculty Capacity to Address Racial Equity and Justice in Community-Engaged Learning” faculty learning community as we welcome Dr. Tessa Hicks Peterson to Bates for a virtual visit.   Register here. Since the program will take place virtually over the lunch hour, those who register by December 11th will be emailed a Door Dash gift card with which to purchase lunch from a local restaurant (lots of choices), with delivery to your preferred location on the day of the program. 

Information Session – to learn about an exciting new resource for historical and international research 

Wednesday, December 8th at noon in Commons 221

Lunch is on us!

Bates recently became a member of the Center for Research Libraries (CRL), which provides access to rare and hard-to-find primary sources. These are sources you’d typically have to travel to a major research library to access, but now they can come to you, via interlibrary loan request. Highlights include historical newspapers (both international and U.S. ethnic press), international dissertations, and historical government publications.  Over lunch, we’ll show you how to find and request CRL resources that will expand your research.  Please register for the information session here. The session will be recorded and a Zoom link will be available for remote attendees that register.

Faculty Retirement Event #2
Tuesday, December 7 4:30-6 PM|Colleague tributes begin at 4:45 PM
We will be honoring Martin Andrucki, Jane Costlow, Elizabeth Eames, and Tom Wenzel
Please note: Due to college Covid restrictions, these events are open only to current Bates faculty and staff and emeritus faculty. We regret that we are unable to welcome family and friends who are not Bates employees.  Masks and previous registration required.

“The Neurohacking Frontier: DIY Neuroscience in the American Southwest”
Phillips Fellowship Lunchtime Talk
Nancy Koven, John E. Kelsey Professor of Neuroscience
Monday, December 6 (Reading Day)
12-1 PM, Commons 221
Lunch will be available to eat during the talk, or to take with you.
Masks and previous registration required.