SUBJECT: February 2024 - Provost Communication

Dear Colleagues,

The semester is off to a great start with overall enrollments slightly up, a 20% increase from fall 2022 in student organization events (with 90% of them in person!), and a thought-provoking Chancellor’s video club on “Liberalism and its Discontents.” It has been heartwarming to see many of you around campus and everybody’s engagement in our commitment to provide the best possible education and experience for our students.  As usual, here are some important announcements and reminders that we hope you will find useful.

Provost Listening Sessions

The Office of the Provost has organized two virtual listening sessions for the Winter semester. Each session will revolve around a theme: Recruitment and Retention and Digital Education/More Online Programs. We invite you to come and ask any questions/share any thoughts you may have revolving around these topics. Space is limited, so please register for one/both of the online sessions below:

• Recruitment and Retention: Monday, March 18th, 2-3 PM
• Digital Education/More Online Programs: Tuesday, March 26th, 9-10 AM

Save the Date for Seed Grant Launch (OCEL)

The Office of Community-Engaged Learning’s annual Community-Based Research (CB-R) and Community-Based Project (CB-P) Seed Grant applications will go live on Monday, February 12, 2024.  Fund requests for seed grants may range from $500 - $5,500. Priority will be granted to applications that include student participation and SURE student research projects.

The Provost’s Office and OCEL are also co-sponsoring a workshop with the Ginsberg Center called Publishing Community Engaged Scholarship.  The workshop will be held virtually on March 5th from 1:00pm to 2:30pm.   For more information or to register for this event, please visit. If you’d like to know more, check out OCEL website or feel free to reach out to Molly ([email protected]) or Elspeth ([email protected]) with questions.

Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE)

A faculty information session is set for February 20, 2024 (zoom link to attend) where the SURE team will share information about the faculty mentoring role, as well as the benefits and challenges related to working with undergraduate students.  The deadline for faculty applications is March 11th.  For more information, visit the SURE website.

Winter Cycle Competitive Campus Grants Open for Applications Now through Feb 15th

The Winter cycle of the Office of Research Campus Grants offers three competitive programs to all UM-Dearborn tenured/tenure-track faculty. Check out the Campus Grants webpage for program details, funding levels, faculty eligibility, previously funded projects, and frequently asked questions.  Questions? Email: [email protected].

Engage Detroit Workshops Grant

Once again, the Provost Office will sponsor the Engage Detroit Workshop funding for one grant up to $15,000.00. The Deadline for application is March 3, 2024. For additional information and for applying to this great opportunity to get involved with the Detroit community, please visit the site and review the application process.

Upcoming NSF CAREER Workshops

The Office of Research will offer two NSF CAREER Workshops in the upcoming months: a 14-week writing workshop for all assistant professors interested in the program and planning to submit a new NSF CAREER proposal in July 2024 or July 2025; and a separate NSF CAREER workshop for faculty resubmitting a CAREER proposal. Information about the workshops will be shared as it becomes available.   Questions? Email:  [email protected]

Reminder! Travel Expenses with a Personal Credit Card or Cash

Beginning January 1, 2024, any out-of-pocket expenses that are submitted for reimbursement more than 45 days after the transaction date—or end of the trip for travel expenses—will be treated as taxable income and need to be processed through Payroll. This only applies to expenses paid for with a personal payment method—card or cash—and does not apply to PCard, Travel Card, or CTA transactions. For more information, please read this article on the Procurement Services website. If you have any questions about the taxation of late expenses, please email [email protected]. For general procurement and travel policy questions, please email [email protected] or call 734-615-2000 (option 3, then option 1).

Talk Teaching at Hub Pop-Ups Across Campus

The Hub is coming to you and will be in buildings across campus (with yummy goodies) throughout February.

• CECS, Feb. 9th, 10:30am-12pm in the PEC Atrium
• Fairlane, Feb. 13th, 10-11:30am in 142 FCS
• CASL, Feb. 21st, 11:45am-1:15pm in 2021 CASL Bldg

Or if you prefer a virtual event, the DigPed Learning Community will meet Friday, February 16th, from 1-2PM to talk about GenAI. Anyone is welcome; the zoom link and passcode is 472195.

Early Warning Reminder

Take advantage of our campus's early warning program which is designed to help to support student learning and success by identifying students who are in need of additional help.  All faculty can submit an early warning system. This link can also be accessed on the Faculty and Staff website, under “Grading and Course Resources” or the Early Warning webpage.  We encourage you to submit your alerts early in the semester, ideally before the selective drop date (March 18), to ensure the most options for your students’ success in the course.

Important Dates

• Spring Recess: Saturday, February 24th - Sunday, March 3rd
• Student Honors Convocation: Tuesday, March 26th
• Classes End: Friday, April 19th
• Final Exams: Monday, April 22nd - Friday, April 26th
• Commencement: Saturday, April 27th

Religious Holidays

As with each academic semester, there are many religious holidays (for example, Ramadan begins in mid-March) that will require us to remain flexible and accommodate student needs. Please remember the university has a policy in place to protect religious devotions and obligations.

Please help us spread the word about the upcoming Graduate Open House events!

As always, you can see previous Provost Office messages on our website linked here:  Communications from the Provost | University of Michigan-Dearborn. Thank you for all you do and please reach out to me if you have any questions or suggestions.

All the very best,

Gabriella

Gabriella Scarlatta
Provost & Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs