Greetings, Colleagues,

Happy New Year! I offer this information as you prepare for the upcoming term.

Josh McIntosh from Student Affairs wrote to share a link to the webpage where we will be reporting the results from our baseline testing program for COVID-19. The webpage can be found here:  

Laurie Henderson from Post and Print sent an important message about the campus mail route for this coming week.  In preparation for the return of students to campus, and to allow for as much flexibility as possible with testing and potential isolations, we are suspending campus mail route delivery on Monday, January 10th and Wednesday, January 12th. Any locations that receive a direct delivery by carriers UPS or FEDEX will get those deliveries. You may also pick up items at P&P on either of those days. We anticipate the route will be on track for Friday, January 14th. If we can resume earlier we will. As always, if you have any concerns or questions, please let Laurie know.

Bates CFG sent a message as a reminder that they are currently seeking nominations (including self-nominations) for the position of Faculty Secretary.  The Faculty Secretary, appointed by the President, is a critical position in our faculty governance structure and listed as a part of a faculty member’s service in CFG’s records. The new Secretary will continue the existing practices that are described under Robert’s Rules (Article II, Section 1), which are the rules and procedures that the faculty has collectively decided upon to conduct faculty meetings. While we collectively evaluate our record-keeping procedures and seek the best way to reflect the actions of the faculty as a body in the meeting minutes, we would like to ask the appointee to serve until the end of the current academic year or, in the event that the minutes are modified by legislation, until that legislation is enacted.  Please let CFG know if you are interested in nominating yourself or a colleague for this appointment by January 10th by contacting us at cfg@bates.edu. CFG will pass the nominations on to the President who will choose the appointee.

Malcolm Hill from the Dean of Faculty’s Office, sent this email regarding the new Associate Dean beginning in the upcoming academic year.   Malcolm is very happy to share the news that Dr. Don Dearborn has agreed to serve as an associate dean in the Dean of Faculty’s office starting July, 2022 for a three year term. Don will bring a wealth of experience and expertise to the office.

He will be a partner with Associate Dean Krista Aronson as we continue efforts to focus the work of the deans on important goal-oriented projects on campus.  In addition to taking on new initiatives, Don will work with chairs to develop and implement their foundational dialogue plans. He will also work with units as we think about curricular innovation focused on inclusive practices. Don will serve as a bridge among the HHMI, Mellon, and SSI initiatives. Krista and Don will continue to support chairs and all faculty in their day-to-day work. Our goal is to provide administrative support that enhances and enriches the professional experience of colleagues, while continuing to work on ambitious goals for Bates. We look forward to welcoming Don as a key partner in these endeavors. We will update the portfolios of responsibility (https://www.bates.edu/dof/our-staff/) for each member of the office over the summer. Stay tuned for an announcement on that front. 

Malcolm thanks Associate Dean Áslaug Ásgeirsdóttir for the excellent work she has done during her 5 year term in the office.  We have benefited from Áslaug’s keen insights and strong leadership, and she has been a valued colleague for everyone in the office. Her work on many initiatives has helped elevate the quality of what we have been able to do at Bates.

Please join me in congratulating and supporting Don as he begins the process of transitioning into this new role. We are eager to engage the community and facilitate our shared work.

Pat Schoknect, from Information and Library Services and the Library, wrote to us about check in for returning students this coming week.  One of the pieces of check-in this time is going to be verification that students have had their boosters. She needs some help doing that and is hoping some of you may have some time to give.  The times are as follows:
Monday, January 10th: 10am-7pm
Tuesday, January 11th: 10am-7pm

This process will be quite straightforward – look at their card and check them off a list. We will be doing it in Gray Cage and you will need to bring your college laptop.  If you are able, please let Pat know your availability.  Thanks for considering

Bridget Fullerton wrote with this announcement for faculty teaching writing-attentive courses this winter:

In years past, Writing@Bates has been able to fund a small number of CATs, or Course Attached Tutors for Writing (formerly known as “PWSAs”) to faculty teaching writing-attentive courses. This year, I am able to fund a CAT for up to five faculty teaching W courses this winter semester. Awards will be based on faculty interest, tutor availability and experience, and class size. If possible, I’d like to bring these five faculty together a few times over the semester to form a small community of writing pedagogy and practice in which we share ideas and challenges. If you think you may be interested, please email me by Wednesday, January 12 to begin the conversation.

Next, upcoming events. I will use these weekly emails to draw your attention to upcoming events, but you are also welcome to check this link for real-time updates.

Second reading of the faculty governance reform legislation Q&A Sessions 

All meetings will be on Zoom. 

Tenured Faculty and Senior Lecturers: 9-10 am Tuesday, January 11: https://bates.zoom.us/j/99209195393

BIPOC Faculty: 11-12 am Tuesday, January 11: https://bates.zoom.us/j/96923845711

Non-Tenured Faculty: 1-2 pm  Tuesday, January 11:  https://bates.zoom.us/j/98203984513

All faculty: 2:30-3:30 pm, Friday, January 14: https://bates.zoom.us/j/96465332951

Please note that the sessions on Tuesday invite different categories of faculty to each meeting. So that everyone can speak more freely and share views honestly, we ask that faculty only attend sessions where you match the invited category of faculty. 

As a reminder, here are the key documents. 

1. Legislation, with overview and explanation.  
2. Here is our proposal as to how to reformulate this section of the Faculty Handbook. It ended up being simpler to just do different colors rather than do tracked changes. We used three different ways to indicate changes:
   1. Minor editing changes are indicated in red in black typeface
   2. Blue typeface indicates no change to committee charge/membership, but we have reorganized this section
   3. Red typeface indicates our additions.