News from the Office of the Provost
February 2023
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Dear Faculty and Staff Colleagues,
We in the academy have a special responsibility to engage with Black History Month. Colleges and universities are, after all, the place where most of the public’s understanding of history originates and where the next generation of historians is being formed. Considering the many ways in which Black history has been excluded from the American story, we owe it to our students and ourselves to reflect on how we can bring a fuller understanding of Black history and Black voices to all our scholarship. We need to make this reflection an ongoing process throughout our lives—and act in ways that move us toward authentic equity and justice.
This February has provided many opportunities to reflect on Black history and how racial justice intersects with everything we are trying to accomplish as a university. On Feb. 7, I was privileged to meet with Dr. Shirley Weber, California’s Secretary of State, and hear her speak about reparations. Weber authored the bill that created California’s Reparations Task Force and has served as the moral compass as the state considers how to fairly compensate the millions of Californians whose lives continue to be negatively impacted by the legacy of slavery. It was inspiring to realize that meaningful action to address the harms inflicted on generations of African Americans by slavery is becoming reality—and that California is leading the way. Last week, I addressed the Men of Honor program, an annual event of the Male Empowerment Collaborative that supports and encourages our young male students, particularly men of color, to stay on their educational paths. As a first-generation college student who had to defy expectations as a Latinx man when I began my college career, I feel a special affinity for the struggles and triumphs of these young men and am gratified that Sacramento State is building the multi-layered support network to help them meet their goals.
In these and other events this month, I find hope in these troubled times that a more equitable future is, finally, just ahead. As Dr. King said, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” I believe he was right, but it will not happen without all of our efforts. For us as educators, that means connecting our BIPOC students with the extra support they may need, while abandoning the deficit-based mindset that ignores their potential. It means regularly evaluating and reevaluating our own pedagogy and curricula to guard against anti-Blackness and other biases. And it means making every month, not just these 28 days, Black History Month.
Carlos Nevarez
Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs
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| From our campus to the worldNew Senior International Leader poised to help IPGE cultivate global citizens at Sacramento State
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With his extensive background in international education, Piram Prakasam is committed to helping international students feel welcome and supported at Sac State. As the new assistant vice president of International Programs and Global Engagement (IPGE), Prakasam will play a crucial role in promoting cross-cultural exchange and understanding, and in preparing students to succeed in a globalized world.
Prakasam’s appointment was driven by our university’s strategic imperative of student success as well as the imperative to build greater justice, diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. International students contribute greatly to the intellectual and cultural diversity of the campus and help to create a vibrant and inclusive community; IPGE is an invaluable resource for students looking to expand their horizons and broaden their worldview. With a wide range of programs and services, IPGE provides students with the tools they need to thrive in an increasingly globalized world.
The IPGE team works closely with faculty and staff across the university to promote international engagement and to support the needs of international students. The IPGE office offers a wide range of opportunities for students to explore new cultures and experiences, including study abroad programs. Beyond study abroad, IPGE facilitates exchange programs with partner universities worldwide, creating valuable opportunities for students to gain a deeper understanding of different cultures and ways of life. Additionally, the office also collaborates with faculty and staff across the university to develop and implement internationalization initiatives, including the integration of global perspectives into the curriculum.
One of Prakasam's key priorities is to ensure that international students at Sacramento State feel supported and included, even during holidays and breaks. To achieve this, he plans to expand the services offered by IPGE and integrate the interests and needs of international students with those of domestic students. The goal is to build a vibrant community that celebrates diversity and fosters a deeper understanding of different cultures.
Another priority for Prakasam and the IPGE team is to increase international student enrollment. Along with that, they aim to provide opportunities for faculty, staff, and domestic students to experience different cultures through study and teaching abroad programs. Ultimately, IPGE aims to become a bridge that connects Sacramento State with a larger community and promotes open-mindedness and acceptance of diverse cultures.
“With Piram at the helm, IPGE is poised to continue its important work of preparing students to be global citizens,” says Vice Provost for Student Success David Zeigler, who oversees IPGE. “By providing a wide range of programs and services for international students, as well as promoting cross-cultural understanding and exchange, IPGE is helping to shape the next generation of leaders who will make a positive impact on the world.”
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Letters of recommendation for employees: The new rules
Last summer, the Chancellor’s office established a systemwide policy regarding employee letters of recommendation that prohibits endorsing employees accused of conduct violations for positions inside or outside the system. This policy applies to current or former employees who have been found to have engaged in misconduct that may result, or has resulted, in that employee being non-retained, terminated, or separated through mutually agreed upon settlement terms. This policy applies only to employment recommendations, not academic recommendations, and includes oral, written, or electronic recommendations.
Please adhere to the following guidelines going forward:
- If an employee is currently under investigation, recommendations by CSU employees must wait until the investigation and any appeals have concluded.
- Before writing a recommendation, you must verify that the potential recommendee does not have conduct violations. Do this by contacting Cheryl Johnson in the Provost’s office at cjohnson@csus.edu. Once you have ascertained that the recommendee is free of conduct violations, you may proceed with a letter of recommendation.
- Recommendations for graduate student workers should follow the above process if the recommendation is for employement. Requests for information pertaining to the conduct violation history of undergraduate student workers should be directed to HR.
- You are free to write a personal letter of recommendation for anyone you wish, but it must not be on Sacramento State letterhead or contain any other imprimatur of the CSU system.
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Plagiarism, Privacy, and AccountabilityWhat happens when the student is the victim of plagiarism?
By Tracy Igbinigie, Academic Affairs Student Assistant
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The discovery
I value my privacy, so I don’t post anything online myself that would reveal sensitive information. So imagine my surprise when, after searching my name out of curiosity, personal things that could identify me came up on the essay-writing site bartleby.com. I won't get into details of what was contained in that paper, but just imagine everything you could be asked to put on a resume; that's the level of security breach I was dealing with. The information was part of two academic essays that should have only been seen by the admissions office of the university I submitted them to. Stunned, I immediately contacted the website by email to remove those papers as they were uploaded without my consent or knowledge. It seemed like a straightforward request. What followed however, was a drawn out process that uncovered an insidious form of academic piracy.
So, what is bartleby.com anyway?
As per their website, bartleby prides itself on being “a student success hub, developed by Barnes & Noble Education, Inc….as part of its ongoing mission to serve all who work to elevate their lives through education. Bartleby products and services are designed to improve student success and outcomes…” Upon seeing this statement, I assumed, for integrity's sake, bartleby would want to work with me to remedy this situation swiftly. I made a simple game plan:
1.Contact the website.
2. Inform the website’s support team one of their users posted stolen property.
3. Have the stolen property removed.
4. Move on.
However, what transpired was anything but simple.
Email ping-pong
It took multiple emails and suggesting legal action before I saw any movement toward the removal of my essays. In addition to ongoing communication with bartleby, I attempted a delisting with Google which was ultimately unsuccessful. It was nerve-wracking thinking about how my essays were just sitting there online, displaying my personal information and experiences on the web for who knows how long, to who knows whom.
Sleuthing
I did some sleuthing online and found another instance of a student going through a similar issue with bartleby.com. In an article for Her Campus, political science and journalism major Juliette Kimmins documents an unnervingly similar experience of discovering her papers on bartleby. Reading this account I realized one possible similarity in our experiences:
Both essays may have passed through a third-party service. Kimmins mentions in her article that her teacher required the third-party service Turnitin, an application used by instructors to check the validity of essays penned by students. Although not proven to be linked to the incident of the essay theft, it got me thinking: Could it be possible for a third party application or service like Turnitin to be the source of my essay upload? How secure were any of these services?
It isn’t too far-fetched to imagine a sleep-deprived version of my teen self running my essay through a third-party service. Maybe I had given it to a classmate for feedback who had an extension installed. Or perhaps an instructor may have scanned it through a service like Turnitin after I asked for a review. At this point I cannot recall. It is this uncertainty that leads me to my final point.
Privacy and plagiarism
After this account it should be evident that plagiarism or theft of intellectual property can arise in the most unexpected of places. Whether or not Kimmins' or my account happens to be the norm, it’s clear faculty and students alike should be hypervigilant to the online services and individuals they share their work with. The best practice is to make certain they know who had and currently has access to their work and that work is properly disposed of and not haphazardly stuffed into a random desktop folder. One can never be too careful, as Ben Franklin once said “distrust and caution are the parents of security”. To me, a healthy skepticism of the integrity of every third-party service may be the best line of protection against such a thing from happening again.
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| Ask a student: First week of class feedbackBy Sharon Han, Academic Affairs Student Assistant
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Academic Affairs interviews Sac State students to see things from students' perspectives on a variety of issues. Our goal is to provide an inside view into students’ classroom experiences and elevate the learning experience for the students.
Students are back for spring semester. For the January newsletter, we asked what students would like to hear from their professors on the first week of class. As a follow up question, this month we asked: Did instructors meet students’ expectations for the first week of class?
A sophomore graphic design student says their professors did an outstanding job:
“I was impressed that all my professors had detailed bullet points for all the assignments, homework, and exams. They encouraged students to ask questions as well.”
A senior student in philosophy says they appreciated easy transitions into the fall to spring semester from the professors:
“I am already adjusted to the schedule and the syllabus helped me to remember important dates and how the class is going to be overall.”
Not everyone was satisfied with how their professors kicked off the semester, however. A senior finance student says they expected more:
“I wish the professors would not only go over the schedule and class information but also go through all the resources that are available at Sacramento State such as health and counseling service, food pantry, and computer labs.
Lastly, a junior student in business administration student says, overall, it was a good start of semester:
“The first day all the professors talked through the schedules for the whole semester. And, since we still have school for President Day, professors were flexible to switch dates for people who had [holiday] plans. It was good to see professors have an open mind to take any questions or suggestions.”
Do you have ideas for what we should ask students for upcoming newsletters? Send your suggestions to shan2@csus.edu.
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Male Empowerment Collective speed mixer - Male Empowerment Collaborative (MEC) offers an environment for various professionals to have a fast-paced roundtable discussions to share about their career, experiences, education, and possible next steps to the next level. Tuesday, Feb. 21, 5-6:30 p.m. For any questions or to request ADA reasonable accommodations that would allow you to participate in this event, please contact Martinique Baker mbaker@csus.edu or Jerry L. Blake at blake@csus.edu. Register here.
Stingerstudio Makerspace grand opening - A project seven years in the making, StingerStudio Makerspace will open its doors in the University Library on Wednesday, March 1, 2023. This brand-new 4-room makerspace features textile and AR/VR areas in addition to a 2,600 sq. ft. workspace with 3D printers, Arduino kits, and laser and vinyl cutters. StingerStudio Makerspace is a hands-on, collaborative learning environment where students of all backgrounds can engage in making. More than a science lab, design or art room, or virtual reality lab, this is the ultimate versatile space with a shared goal: to make things happen. The grand opening on March 1 at 4 p.m. will have demonstrations of the equipment, words from President Nelsen, and light refreshments. RSVP here.
Learn more about the future of water in the western U.S. - Sacramento State’s Office of Water Programs (OWP) is hosting a Zoom presentation by Rich Juricich, MS, PE, Principal Water Resources Engineer Colorado River Board of California. Titled, Colorado River Basin Governance, Decision Making, and Alternative Approaches, this presentation will summarize current hydrologic conditions and challenges facing the basin today, and the programs and institutions in place to manage these challenges. March 17, 12-1 p.m. via Zoom. Register here. For more information visit the OWP website.
Filming interviews in the library - Dean Amy Kautzman and the University Library staff are proud to offer the use of their building as a location for faculty to film media interviews. Whether it be for local news, expert interviews or documentaries, the space is open for faculty use. The University Library’s filming policy can be found here. For more information, or to reserve space for an interview, please contact Maria Ramirez at maria.ramirez@csus.edu.
Out of Darkness Kings Game Fundraiser - Join the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and Student Health & Counseling Services for an Out the Darkness Walk fundraising event with the Sacramento Kings! Come out with your family and friends on at the Golden 1 Center on Sunday, April 2 at 3 p.m. to cheer on the Kings as they play the San Antonio Spurs. We will have our own section and $5 from every ticket will be donated back to AFSP for the Sacramento State’s 12th annual Out of Darkness Campus Walk. Tickets are selling fast due to the Kings winning streak so get yours ASAP if interested. Click here to purchase tickets and here to register for the walk. For questions, email Ali Orlando at orlando@csus.edu.
New fellowship program for Japanese American Archival Collection Research - The University Library is proud to announce a new fellowship program for current California State University undergraduate and graduate students. The Japanese American Archival Collection Research Fellows Program (JAAC RFP) provides two fellowships of up to $3,000.00 for individuals or research teams who wish to use Sacramento State’s vast Japanese American Archival Collection (JAAC) for research or creative-end products relating to the Japanese American experience. Fellowship applications are now being accepted and first review begins April 1, 2023. For more information on the program and how to apply, visit the Japanese American Archival Collection Research Fellows Program. The JAAC RFP is funded through the California State University, Sacramento University Library’s Endowment for the Japanese American Archival Collection.NSM and ECS team up for D3 Faculty Research Symposium - The Department of Natural Sciences & Mathematics (NSM) is partnering with the College of Engineering & Computer Sciences (ECS) to co-host the D3 Event: Discussion, Discovery & Dissemination. This faculty research symposium is held each spring to bring together faculty from the ECS & NSM colleges and provide a platform to display their research. The D3 event allows faculty to share and discuss their research in a social setting and to discover and disseminate their colleagues' work. All Sacramento State administration, faculty, staff and alumni are welcome to join the event. There will be will food, music, and drinks. D3 will be held on Wednesday, April 26, 2023, from 5-7 p.m. in the Alumni Center. Questions can be directed to Amy Macias Stowe macias-stowe@csus.edu.
Counselor Education Symposium - The College of Eduction’s Counselor Education program is holding its 2023 symposium: Counselor Ed Fall Retreat & New Student Orientation with the theme: Fostering Professional Identity in Counseling Through Advocacy, Leadership, and Collaboration. The two-day event will be held March 10 and 11 and include continuing education workshops, roundtables, and our student poster presentation session all taking place in the University Union. Friday will host both our Site Fair and inaugural alumni mixer and networking event as we initiate our Counselor Education Alumni Network. We will celebrate our inductees to our Chi Sigma Sigma chapter of Chi Sigma Iota and honor an Outstanding Site Supervisor, Faculty, and Student Rising Star at our Awards Ceremony on Saturday. This event is geared to both students, alumni, and community partners with multiple events throughout the day. For questions, contact Dr. Bita Rivas at b.rivas@csus.edu or 916-278-5950.
University-Wide Pitch Competition - Introducing the Sacramento State: University-Wide Innovation & Entrepreneurship Competition – an opportunity for innovators and entrepreneurs to showcase their ideas, technologies, and/or businesses while receiving mentorship, and the opportunity to win prize money and a seat at a CSU-wide pitch competition. If you are a student - innovator, researcher, or entrepreneur looking to or already working on building a venture or turning an idea into reality the University-Wide Innovation & Entrepreneurship Competition is for you. The competition is a new competition on campus providing innovative student ideas, technologies, and/or startups with the opportunity to compete for $2,500 in addition to a spot at the Sunstone CSU Startup Launch Competition in an in-person pitch event on April 5, 2023. Apply HERE
Melissa Holland’s article, "Risk Assessment and Crisis Intervention for Youth in a Time of Telehealth" is the most-read article from Contemporary School Psychology for publications 2019–2022. The article has over 3700 requests. Holland, a Professor of School Psychology in the College of Education, is a regular editor of the Journal of Contemporary School Psychology, the official publication of CASP (California Association of School Psychologists). You can find out more about Dr. Holland’s scholarship excellence by viewing her Sac State Scholars profile here.
AACSB recognition for Sacramento State’s work to enhance wisdom on well-being - The College of Business Organizational Wisdom Studio has been featured in AACSB Insights, a thought leadership digital platform published by the AACSB to help shape and inform the societal impact leadership framework. Articles published in this platform are globally disseminated to educational leaders, academics, students, and businesses. The article demonstrates the societal impact of Sacramento State’s interdisciplinary efforts as a leading institution in co-creating wisdom to enhance well-being in our society. You can read the article here.
Commencement contingency plans - If the Sacramento Kings continue their winning ways, Golden 1 Center may be occupied by the NBA playoffs during Sacramento State's planned commencement ceremonies May 19-21. Contingency plans are currently being made. Please let graduating students know that they should be aware of a possible change of venure and to watch for updates as commencement approaches.
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