By Duvall, Matt. Published on October 10, 2022

October 10, 2022

Greetings, Colleagues,

I hope you all are having a productive and enjoyable semester thus far. First, announcements.

Steve Engel from the Dean of Faculty’s office wrote with an update regarding the upcoming registration period for Winter 2023 courses.

Winter 2023 Course Registration Process and Timeline

October 31, 2022—The Winter 2023 Schedule of Courses will open to students so that they can review the array of courses offered next semester
November 5, 2022—Students can start registering for courses and can register at any time between 12:01 AM on Saturday, November 5 and 4 PM on Friday, November 11.
November 11, 2022—Registration closes at 4 PM
November 14, 2022–the Registrar’s Office will run what is called the Optimization Process
November 15, 2022—students will be notified by Garnet Gateway of which courses are on your schedule.

PETITION PROCESS: If students did not get a seat in any of the courses they were hoping to take, they may draft a brief petition (a short statement explaining why they want to take the course, e.g., it fulfills a requirement, it is a needed prerequisite for future courses in an area of interest they have, etc.) to the instructor. Students file the petition via Garnet Gateway. About 1 to 3 seats are held aside to be available for students who petition for entrance into the course.

The petitioning process opens on Wednesday, November 16 at 8 AM and ends at 4 PM on Friday, November 18.
November 19—November 30, 2022—Faculty review petitions between November 19 and November 30 and select whether to admit students who have petitioned. All of this is done via Garnet Gateway. All accepted petitions will be processed by the Registrar’s Office and all accepted students will be registered into the course by the start of the Add/Drop period.
December 5, 2022–Finally, the Add/Drop period opens on Monday, December 5 at 7 AM. It works the same way all the Add/Drop periods have worked, which is to say if a course has an open seat according to the Schedule of Courses on Garnet Gateway, you can add it to your schedule at any time from December 5 onward.

Resources to Support You in Your Role as Academic Advisor

Email Templates: There are email templates (as requested by the faculty) at the Academic Advising Portal that you can use to communicate with students, set up meetings, and provide them with consistent information. You can find them by clicking on “Advising Meeting Resources” in the login-required yellow box below the “drop-downs.”

Registration Meeting Timeline Recommendation: The Registrar is aiming to release the schedule of courses on Monday, October 31 to provide about 2 weeks of advising time. You can meet with students from October 31 onward, even though students cannot register until November 5. You can also meet with them during the registration period (November 5-11) since registration is not first-come/first-serve. Please schedule your meetings to end by Noon on Friday, November 11 to avoid any last-minute scrambling by students to get their “Advisor Holds” lifted. Students cannot register for classes until their Advisor Holds are lifted.

Short Video Describing the Registration Process: The Registrar is producing a short (about 5 minutes) video (as they did this past March for the Fall 2022 registration process) that describes the entire registration process and timeline. We are aiming for this video to be posted on or near October 24. This video will be accessible in 3 locations: the Student Advising Portal, the Academic Advising Portal, and for First-Year Students only (Class of 2026). This video will be included in the Winter 2023 Course Registration First-Year Experience Workshop on the FYE Workshop Lyceum Page, which is tethered to their First-Year Seminar. We aim to post it to that Workshop on or near October 24.

Advising Portal: The Academic Advising Portal contains information that should help you assist students in identifying and completing requirements. Information on the General Education Requirements (Major +1, 3 W credits, 5 MOI credits) can be found under Basic Information. Other resources, e.g., pre-health requirements, global education information, etc., can be found under Additional Academic Resources.

Malcolm Hill from the Dean of Faculty’s office wrote to provide a greater understanding of the context of the call for the Faculty Governance Review Committee (FGRC). Many colleagues have joined the Bates community over the last 3 years, and there have been some fairly significant global events that have transpired in the meantime, so I hope what follows is useful for context.

My remarks from the January 2019 meeting can be found on the DOF website, and many topics are covered therein. Several of the initiatives imagined have been completed while others are still in progress. In terms of governance, the following can be found in the remarks, “there is an opportunity to explore governing structures – to clarify, for example, on this campus the distinctions between elected and appointed committees, the types of work that our committees do and don’t do, the expectations of this work as part of our social contract, and the communication that occurs to the community about this work.” Previous accreditation reviews had also pointed to a need for review of governing structures, and the need to increase trust in the model of faculty governance used at Bates was often cited by faculty in my early conversations.

In the spring of 2019, the Committee on Faculty Governance (CFG) used a thoughtful nomination process to select colleagues to serve on a Tenure and Promotion Review Committee (TPRC) and the FGRC. The CFG also provided useful charges to both committees, and the TPRC completed its work in the winter of 2021. The FGRC had three goals:

Goal 1. Propose a cohesive statement of the need for and impetus behind faculty governance at Bates College.
Goal 2. The FGRC should review the current committee structure. The FGRC should inventory committees at Bates (e.g., procedural and standing, ad hoc, etc.), and determine how these committees contribute to shared governance. The FGRC should review the charges to these committees, and understand how the committees communicate their work on behalf of the broader community. The FGRC will look for efficiencies, redundancies, and opportunities for improving what we do at Bates.
Goal 3. Interface with external advisor(s) who will provide perspectives from other liberal arts colleges with strong faculty governing practices.

The FGRC’s guiding principles can be found here. Colleagues new to the FGRC proposal can find the model and rationale here.

I know that faculty governance is a key, essential, and cherished institution that must be borne by the faculty. I am thankful to the faculty of the FGRC for their hard work to meet the goals that were set for them. I believe the FGRC’s principles of governance motion that passed last year was an exceptionally important moment for how faculty governance will work at Bates. While the ultimate decision to move the final motions forward belongs to faculty willing to lead the discussion, I do believe something this consequential deserves the careful attention of faculty. Changes to something so important, if changes occur, must be done in a considered manner after the full range of ideas are expressed.

Mike Milliken from Human Resources wrote to us regarding Wolf Pine Farm’s CSA. Wolf Pine Farm is a MOFGA Certified Organic farm, raising food, family, and community along the banks of the Mousam River in rural Alfred, Maine. Their vegetable shares are available in the fall and winter. To make the fall-and-winter vegetable shares abundant with exciting seasonal offerings, WPF partners with a dozen or so other farms to bring an amazing variety of local foods to our shareholders. Brought directly to the HR porch on campus, picking up your share is as easy as we can make it! There will be 6 deliveries in total, beginning in late October and ending in mid-February. Exact dates and days of delivery will be announced soon.

The B Well program has arranged for a discounted rate for Bates employees, bringing your cost down to $435, normally $535. You can pay in full now OR pay half now and half by 12.01 OR you can send monthly payments between now and January 1st OR you can pay with your SNAP benefits. Simply mail your payments directly to: Wolf Pine Farm | 259 Mouse Lane | Alfred, Maine 04002. If paying with SNAP, check in with Kim at the farm. Bates also offers the option of paying through payroll deduction. If you would like to pay using payroll deduction, please fill out this form.

To place your order, please fill out the farm’s simple online order form and choose “Lewiston (Bates Faculty/Staff Only)” as your delivery location. If paying via payroll deduction, please make a quick note of that in the “questions or comments” field on the online order form, otherwise choose your payment schedule on the form. You can check out the farm’s website – wolfpinefarm.com – OR email questions to Kim at farm@wolfpinefarm.com.

Kristen Cloutier from the Harward Center wrote with information for students interested in applying for a 2023 Davis Projects for Peace award. Interested students should plan on attending an informational meeting on Monday, October 24th at 4pm at the Harward Center for Community Partnerships, 161 Wood Street.

The Davis United World Scholars Program has decided to re-fund “Davis Projects for Peace” at Bates for the upcoming summer. The awards will be made to a student or group of students at each college who design the most promising and do-able project, funded at $10,000 each, which they will implement during the summer of 2023 anywhere in the world.

The objective is “to encourage and support today’s motivated youth to create and try out their own ideas for building peace in the 21^st century.” The grants are made possible by a gift of $1M for this purpose by Mrs. Kathryn Wasserman Davis. She wants today’s students—tomorrow’s leaders—to be challenged to design and test their own ideas for world peace.

This is a wonderful opportunity to make a difference in the world. Information and particulars on the project are available at the project website: http://www.davisprojectsforpeace.org/

Alison Keegan from the Dean of Faculty’s office wrote with information on this year’s Dana Scholars. Each year twenty students are selected as Dana Scholars from among the first-year class. Since the 1960s, the Dana Scholars Program has recognized achievement and promise among students who have completed their first year at Bates. First-year students may be nominated by faculty, staff, coaches, and student leaders. Nominees are asked to write an essay and complete a short application. Dana Scholars are selected on the basis of academic excellence, service to the college and the community, and leadership potential. Being named a Dana Scholar is one of the highest distinctions we bestow on underclass students, and is remarkably predictive of future success at the college and beyond.

We are pleased to announce the Dana Scholars selected from the Class of 2025. These individuals have already made rich and diverse extracurricular contributions and they have excelled academically. They submitted thoughtful essays in support of their candidacy. We thank all who took the time to nominate students from the Class of 2025.

Class of 2025

Aneeza Ahmad
Blessing Akinmade
Sophie Alexis
Maggie Amann
Joe Bianchi
Maple Buescher
Leyi Duan
Noah Forman
Inez Johnson
Rashad King
Morgan Lee
Dani Levy
Boro Lugunda
Oyukhishigt Lyndon
Rosie McKerley
Bryn Murray
Liv Myers
Ruslan Peredelskyi
Anotida Viazhero
Brandon Villalta Lopez

Pat Schoknecht from Information and Library Services wrote asking that we complete a set of Cybersecurity training modules. A link should have come to your email last week from Chad Tracy, our Director of Information Security, Privacy & Compliance. The email subject line was Bates Cybersecurity Training – Action Required.

There will be 6 required assignments, but all together they can be completed in about 20 minutes. You will also see three optional modules that we are providing simply as a service. They discuss topics such as protecting your social media accounts and tips for protecting your children. Totally up to you if you wish to look at the optional modules. We ask that the required modules be completed by Friday, November 4th.

Alison Keegan from the office of the Dean of the Faculty wrote with the annual call for professional activities for 2021-2022. Please submit your current CV and the optional PAR form electronically by 31 October 2022. *Please note that the form to submit has been recently revised. Click here to submit your CV and report.

Human Resources would like to invite you to come to Wallingford’s Fruit House on Saturday, October 22nd from 1:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m. Employees can enjoy cider and donuts while exploring Wallingford’s expansive property full of fun activities. Don’t forget to grab a pumpkin (maybe two!) before you leave, compliments of Bates. Although it’s not a part of the event, Wallingford’s does offer hard cider and there will be a cash bar available for purchase on your own if interested. We will be located in the barn and hope to see you there! To sign up, please click here. Sign-ups are not required to attend, but helpful so we can anticipate how many delicious donuts we will need!

Next, upcoming events.

Beyond Apologies: Coming to Terms with the Legacies of Indian Residential Schools
October 10, 2022, 4:15 pm
Pettengill G52

With Esther Anne (Passamaquoddy), Wabanaki REACH; and Allan Tremblay (Wolastoqey), Elder and Educator. This talk is co-sponsored by Anthropology, Education, Gender and Sexuality Studies, History, and Religious Studies.

COVID-19 Boosters and Flu Shots In the tent outside of Commons
October 11th, 12th, and 13th
9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. This is a walk-in clinic, without appointments

If you are unsure about your eligibility for a booster, please see this page; there’s a little tool – scroll “When am I up to date” You will need to confirm your health insurance plan name, group number, and ID number; please have your health insurance information with you. Please also bring your existing COVID-19 vaccination card. Sponsored by Bates Health Services and the B Well Program will be offering students and employees

Discreet Personalized Pricing
Benjamin Shiller, Associate Professor of Economics, Brandeis University
Oct. 11, 2022 ~ Tuesday
4:15 – 5:30 PM in Pgill G21

Sponsored by the Casey Lecture Fund – Department of Economics

Defending Democracy: The State of Free & Fair Elections in Maine and the U.S.
A Talk with Secretary of State Shenna Bellows & Professor John Baughman
Thursday, October 13 – 7:30pm – 9pm
Fireplace Lounge, Commons
Register here: https://bit.ly/Bates-Votes-Oct13

Historic Bates Campus Tour
Friday, October 14, 10 am
Meet on the front steps of Hathorn Hall.
Sign up here: https://forms.gle/3syTD1X3YRNtM7vy8

and

Riverside Cemetery Tour
Friday, October 28, 10 am
Meet inside the front gates of the cemetery.
Sign up here: https://forms.gle/3syTD1X3YRNtM7vy8