Provost Communication, Wednesday, December 18, 2024

Hello everyone,

Happy Wednesday. I hope your week thus far has been super productive as we inch closer and closer to the winter break. My apologies in advance for the long provost communication today as I wanted to try and fit everything in prior to the break.

Community Conversations Update

You all may remember a communication that went out earlier in the semester identifying a Campus Well-Being and Stewardship Group. As a reminder, the purpose of this group is to begin community conversations and reflections on the events of April. These reflections will involve broad information sharing of after-action reviews; conversations about lessons learned; and action planning for supporting future efforts.

The Stewardship Group has been meeting regularly and most recently sought feedback from the Senate on December 3, 2024, and reported back on a tentative plan for campus engagement in the Spring 2025 semester during the December 17, 2024 meeting of the Senate yesterday. That tentative schedule is as follows:

• January 28, 2025- Senate (Extended meeting)- 2 pm-5 pm Goodwin Forum (Hybrid)

• January 28, 2025- Athletics- 6:30 pm-7:30 pm- KA 102 (In-person)

• January 29, 2025- Staff Council- 12 pm-1 pm Great Hall (Hybrid)

• February 4, 2025- Associated Students- 1:30 pm-2:30 pm (Hybrid)

• February 7, 2025- Campus Open forum 11 am-1 pm for campus- Location- TBD (Hybrid)

A campus communication outlining the above dates and activities will go out to the campus community on January 21, 2025, with additional details as well as describing some companion activities to the community conversations that are being planned. 

As a reminder, the membership of the Campus Well-Being and Stewardship Group includes:

• Eduardo Cruz (formerly Wysdem Singleton)- Associated Students President

• Megan Janikowski- Student Athlete Advisory Committee President

• Jim Woglom- Senate Chair

• Kathy Hudson- Staff Council Chair

• Jenn Capps- Administrative Representative

Free Speech Updates

Free Speech Support & Resource Team (FSSRT)

This fall, we have been working closely with faculty members— Julie Alderson, Joice Chang, John Meyer, and Suzanne Pasztor—to form a Faculty/Staff Advisory Team that will work directly with the Free Speech Support & Resource Team (FSSRT). This advisory group will help leadership and the FSSRT shape policies, practices, and educational programming to support free expression and civil dialogue on campus.

Membership for the advisory team will be determined through a combination of an election and ex-officio appointments in January 2025.

Educational Programming Funds

Cal Poly Humboldt received $75,000 from the Chancellor's Office to support educational programming on campus that supports enhanced understanding of the Time, Place Manner (TPM) policy, civil discourse/collegiality, elections and voter engagement, and effective organizing.  Some funds were set aside for a special grant program focused on civil discourse and engagement, which is currently open for applications. The administration of the system funds is being overseen by the Free Speech Support & Resource Team, with planned assistance from the advisory group.

About half of the funds have been expended (see Educational Programming page), with the remainder to be spent before the end of the fiscal year. 

Reminder about Professional Development Day: Friday, January 17, 2025 

We are excited to announce that Spring Professional Development Day will focus on Recruitment and Retention of students: What Works!  It will be co-hosted by Academic Affairs and Enrollment Management and Student Success and held on Friday, January 17, 2025, 8 am - 1 pm in Founders Hall. This event will explore what is working in recruitment and retention, focusing on practical strategies and creative approaches to enhance all academic programs. We look forward to engaging in discussions that will benefit our entire university community. Coffee and scones will be offered in the morning and lunch will also be provided. Please see the attached flyer for the detailed agenda. I am looking forward to seeing you there. 

Submit Your Staff Recognition Award Nominations by January 17, 2025

Staff Council and the Office of Administrative Affairs are currently accepting nominations for the Staff Recognition Awards. These awards celebrate the strengths and achievements of state and auxiliary employees, especially in areas such as innovation, mentorship, service, resource stewardship/sustainability, and ethics/social justice. Staff recognition awards are open to state and auxiliary employees. Students, management, faculty employees, and current Staff Council members are not eligible. 

Nominations should reflect achievements during the 2023-2024 academic year.

For reference, previous award recipients can be found on the Staff Recognition Awards webpage. Submit your nominations using our Online Nomination Form by Friday, January 17, at 5:00 pm.

Register Now: Spring 2025 Grant Workshop Series

The Sponsored Programs Foundation is pleased to announce our Spring 2025 Grant Workshop Series! This workshop is best suited for those who are very new to grants and unsure of where to start. If you have a project in mind, that’s even better! Please read the descriptions below, and see the attached document which outlines the content of each session, to see if this workshop matches your needs.

The workshop will be entirely online (via Zoom) with an optional in-person gathering afterward. The format will be a combination of lecture format, and small group work, and will include a number of guest speakers. There is a minimum of between 30 minutes and one hour of additional work for each session outside of workshop hours. 

The workshops will take place over six sessions of three hours each. Dates and times are to be determined based on participant availability. We will do our best to accommodate everyone but we aim to have one session per week with a break every two weeks. Click here to Register. Registration will close next Monday, December 23, 2024.

Eligibility: All Cal Poly Humboldt faculty and staff with approval from their supervisor.

Expectations:

• Please attend all of the workshop sessions. If you have to miss one for any unforeseen reason, please make an appointment to go over what was missed.

• Please complete the additional work in Canvas prior to each workshop so everyone can make the most of the group activities.

• The hope is that you will apply for some form of internal or external funding within a year of completing this workshop if you are eligible.

Expected Outcomes:

• You will know more about grants and what makes for a competitive proposal

• You will have identified at least one potential funding opportunity

• You will develop a solid abstract of your project

• You will develop  a draft work plan

• You will develop a draft budget.

CONTACT: Questions should be directed to Erika Wright, Research Development Lead,

Erika.Wright@humboldt.edu or 707-826-5166.

And with that, I conclude the Fall 2024 Provost Communications. I will resume again in the Spring semester on our first Green Day which is January 15, 2025. I hope you all enjoy some well-earned time off. Per usual, I plan to get outside as often as I can as well as take some time to reflect on the past semester and return in January refreshed and rejuvenated. Thanks to each of you for all that you do. See you at Commencement on Friday and congratulations to our graduates!

Sincerely,

Jenn Capps

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Jenn Capps, PhD 

Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs 

Cal Poly Humboldt