[Academic-Affairs] Spring 2023 Welcome Back

[Office of the Provost/SVPAA]

Hello Colleagues,


It is that time of the winter break’s winding down where we all begin to
look ahead to the spring.  It’s been a welcome time of quiet here on campus
with many fewer phone calls and student problems that require an immediate
response.  We’ve all been getting a lot done.

I have a few things that I’d like to update you on and/or request, so here
goes:

*Mental Health Supports*


   1.

   As you may be aware, I’ve been working this fall to help better support
   faculty and staff who work with students with mental health challenges.  As
   shared previously, the University has contracted with an outside service,
   Student Assistance Program, for 24/7 telecounseling support, free of charge
   and year round, for students who seek additional support.


My request of teaching faculty: Please consider putting a note on your
syllabi that reminds our students of this service.  We’re working on
getting posters in every classroom that will include the QR code for easy
scanning, but for your syllabi, you can include this contact information:

1-800-327-2251 or access portal.BHSonline.com, ID SUNYPLATTSBURGH

**Earlier, we put out a call to all of Academic Affairs to request referral
cards that were provided to us for distribution to faculty/advisors/staff.
A new batch of cards has just arrived, and Sue Bartlett has already sent
out an email offering more cards.  Please write Sue, if you haven’t already
contacted her, and would like more cards: sbart001 at plattsburgh.edu


   1.

   On a similar note, Christy Minck, one of our Health Center Counselors
   and a point person for this contract, has asked if teaching faculty would
   consider *reminding* students of our Telecounseling service during the
   first week of classes when they are introducing their courses.  Faculty are
   the most influential in making referrals to counseling, and our data
   tracking student usage of the service has shown that faculty have been
   critical.  THANK YOU, all!



   1.

   Perhaps you’ve been following the news and educator upset about ChatGPT
   and how artificial intelligence will impact classroom instruction–now and
   moving forward.  Jessamyn Neuhaus, our Center for Teaching Excellence
   Director, has planned a session *tomorrow at noon* on this very topic
   that I think many of you will find interesting.  There’s a lot of
   journalistic coverage of the questions swirling around educators, but if
   you haven’t been following them, here’s a quick read to update you:

 https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/19/tech/chatgpt-teachers-adjusting/index.html

*"Creating Writing Assignments for Authentic Student Learning or How to
Vanquish ChatGTP and Plagiarism"*

Tuesday, January 24, 12 p.m. via Zoom, Special Workshop, no registration
required.

Co-facilitated by Regan Levitte, Assistant Director of the Learning Center
and Writing Specialist, and Jessamyn Neuhaus, CTE Director

Zoom Meeting Link:
https://plattsburgh.zoom.us/j/95233551808?pwd=Y1ZET1pneThhN3VxdnNwcmQ3OG90dz09

Zoom Passcode: WritingWks


   1.

   At our May retreat, we talked about creating a North Country Scholars
   summer academy to bring promising students (High school? Middle school?) to
   our campus with potential future recruitment possibilities.  Also, I’ve
   spoken with faculty with young children who would be very interested in
   rejuvenating the Summer Safari program that was once very popular on our
   campus.  My question to everyone: Are you interested in helping to build a
   North Country Scholars program–maybe a STEAM program?  Alternately, are you
   interested in helping rejuvenate the Summer Safari program?  If you are
   interested in either–or both–please send a note to Sue Bartlett, who will
   collect names to gauge interest.  This morning, President Enyedi and I met
   with the CEO of CVPH, who is very interested in finding ways to encourage
   health careers in as many ways as possible.  She has ideas and excitement
   about how her team might collaborate with us on a summer program.



   1.

   Please consider attending and encouraging your students to submit to the
   SUNY Undergraduate Research Conference, hosted this year by Maritime
   College:  “The SUNY Undergraduate Research Conference (SURC) is a
   multidisciplinary spring semester event. SURC brings together undergraduate
   students and faculty mentors from across the SUNY system for a full day of
   activities, including sessions devoted to student presentations (oral,
   performance, artistic displays, and poster), luncheon, keynote speakers, a
   SUNY Graduate School and Career Fair, and professional development
   workshops for students and faculty. SURC is supported by the Offices of the
   Chancellor, Provost, and Research Foundation, as well as SUNY student and
   faculty governance organizations. All undergraduate students engaged in
   research and their mentors across SUNY are invited to attend.”  *Abstracts
   are due in February*, so there is still time to submit!  Encouraging
   student research experiences is a High Impact Practice that will support
   our retention and graduation rates.  For further info:
   sunycpd.eventsair.com/surc-2023


Space Utilization update: Before she left SUNY Plattsburgh, Josee
Larochelle had contracted a consultant to conduct a Space Utilization study
on our campus. This individual looked at every academic department,
classroom building, and the Library to assess our current space usage and
needs.  As a result, President Enyedi’s Cabinet has begun discussing the
opportunity we have to take some of our classrooms offline.  This will save
on electricity and cleaning, but even more importantly, IT can reduce its
costs of tech support in classrooms by reducing the number that need
supporting (while making sure the classrooms we *will* continue to use have
the best tech support we can provide).  Tyson Moulton (Assistant VP of
Facilities, Maintenance, and Operations), TJ Myers, our CIO, the Deans and
my Cabinet have begun to have initial discussions. More information to
follow.

I hope that this week is a good one for you with any final plans (fun or
work-related) that you have planned.  And for those of you in Academic
Affairs who have not been on break, take  some deep breaths as we get ready
for another semester of providing excellent support to our students!  It
will be good to everyone back on campus again.

Best,

Anne
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