Thank you for lively and productive discussions at chairs and directors meeting on Monday. At the bottom of the email is a summary and highlight of follow-up/to-do items from the chairs and directors meeting. 

I would also like to share a few reminders. These topics will also go out in our next "administrative update" email to all faculty and staff in our Dean of the Faculty administrative-division. I add them here for easy reference. In addition to looking through your inbox for these and other past documents, you can always check the DoF Canvas page. If there are documents that you'd like to see shared on Canvas, please email to let our office know.

Potential topics to highlight for colleagues, especially newer colleagues:

• Don't forget to apply for the Mellon Humanities for All Times Grant (deadline extended to 4/23/2022)
• 
  
• Don't forget to apply for the Dean of the Faculty Summer Grants (deadline 4/10/2022)
  
• 
  
• Did a faculty colleagues do something special? Brag about them in the new ACColades portal so that we can follow up to learn more and to share the news. This form is in pilot testing and will be expanded to include staff accolades soon.
• 
  
• Nominate a colleague (staff and faculty) to receive a Gratitude Gift: email a short note with the following to [log in to unmask]: Subject line: Gratitude; Name of the CC employee you are nominating; Short explanation (50 words maximum) of why you appreciate this person.
  
• 
  
• Performance review of staff is ongoing--reach out to HR if you need support.
• 
  
• Board meeting is happening Thursday to Saturday this week. Please join us at the Board of Trustees town hall meeting with Board Chair Jeff Keller ’91, P ’22, Vice Chair Ryan Haygood ’97, and Secretary Heather Carroll ’89, on Monday, 4/11, from 4-5 p.m. on Zoom. Please make sure to register to get the zoom link.
• 
  
• Final call for comments on course evaluation revisions on the Course Evaluation Revision Input Survey. The presentation made in the fall is posted on Canvas.
  
• 
  
• Looking for a location for an off-campus summer retreat for your program or department? You can book meeting rooms at the El Pomar Foundation's Penrose House for FREE. It's a nice location off campus that is available to nonprofit organizations for meetings and retreats. You can book directly on the El Pomar Foundation website.
• 
  
• Students have shared their appreciation to faculty who are supporting their wellness, helping them with managing stress. As we enter the final stretch of the semester, check in to see how fellow colleagues are doing, offer support, and let our office know if we can be a resource.
• 
  
• For faculty members who are teaching, encourage them to include practices to help reduce stress and communicate to students what stress-reduction and student-care strategies you have introduced into your course. For example, faculty have communicated new course policies of flexible deadlines, student wellness/mental-health day policies, how the course has changed from previous years, grade-track change option, writing center and QR center resources, counseling and other student support resources.
• 
  
• If you are ever concerned about a student (e.g., no shows, concerning changes in behavior, shared information with that caused you to worry about their safety), please contact Campus Safety at 389-6911. They can do wellness-checks on students and activate student support resources to follow up with students.
• 
  
• CCSGA (student government) is proposing a campus-wide, student-initiated day-long pause in block 8 Week 2 Tuesday. They also plan to organize a forum in block 8 week 1 to bring the community together to discuss wellness and mental health need.

Stay well, and please reach out if we can support you, your colleagues, and students. I appreciate the work you do as chairs and directors.

Best,

Emily

-------- SUMMARY OF BLOCK 7 CHAIRS AND DIRECTORS MEETING (4/4/2022) -------