Make Plans to Participate in this Year's One Book Program

August 26, 2022

This year’s One Book selection is Haben: The Deafblind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law by lawyer, activist, author, and disability rights advocate, Haben Girma. As the fi­rst Deafblind person to graduate from Harvard Law School, Girma advocates for equal opportunities for people with disabilities in higher education and beyond. We are excited to welcome Girma as a return guest lecturer early next month and invite you to make plans to incorporate this year’s One Book selection into your curriculum.

Each academic year, the Sacramento State One Book Program selects a book to share with the university community and greater Sacramento region that can spark meaningful discussions on social justice. This year’s One Book program will kick off with a Green & Gold Speaker Series lecture from Girma on September 12 from noon to 1 p.m. This will be a hybrid event taking place in the University Union Ballroom and via webinar. You can register for the webinar here.

A fireside chat with select campus stakeholders will follow from 1:30 – 2:15 p.m.

In coordination with the September 12 One Book discussion the Office of Undergraduate Studies is planning three follow-up conversations with subject matter experts in late September to early October. We welcome faculty, staff, students, and community members to join us in these three discussions.

For faculty, staff, and students who are interested in leveraging disability justice resources, please take time to explore the supplemental materials by clicking on the following link. For updates on UGS One Book events, please visit the One Book home page.

Message from the Provost - Fall COVID-19 Guidance for Faculty

August 18, 2022

Dear Colleagues,

As we begin the third full academic year in the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic, you have shown admirable resilience as you have juggled the competing priorities of educating your students and protecting public health. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 threat is still with us and will require faculty to continue to be flexible and accommodating as we work together to ensure students complete their work and move forward academically.

If you have not already, please read President Nelsen’s guidance on Sacramento State’s COVID-19 plan for fall semester. Here are the latest updates:

Vaccinations will continue to be required to access all campus facilities and programs per the CSU’s COVID-19 vaccination requirement. Exemptions for religious or medical reasons will remain in effect and those with an exemption on file will not need to reapply. To find out more, visit the Sacramento State COVID-19 FAQ page. You can schedule a vaccine at My Turn California and find out more about vaccines and booster eligibility on the CDC website.

Testing will be focused only on symptomatic faculty, staff, and students. Our program to require unvaccinated individuals to be tested twice a week was discontinued over the summer (except for weekly testing for employees represented by CFA) and will not be re-introduced at this time. Instead, faculty, staff, and students are required to test if they are symptomatic and report positive tests to the University. You can find a link to report a positive faculty, staff, or volunteer test here. Per state law, employees will continue to be notified of close exposure to a person testing positive in the workplace, and test kits will be made available in these instances.

Indoor masking will be optional. However, the University strongly recommends face covering indoors and urges the campus community to show respect for each other’s choice to mask or not. Masks and other COVID-19 protective supplies can be ordered here.

Faculty members are asked to be flexible regarding student absences. To avoid confusion and lax deadline adherence, I encourage you to set clear expectations for your students in your syllabi. Make sure they know how to report to you if they are impacted by COVID-19 and how you expect them to make up their work. By setting these expectations in advance, we can lessen or eliminate misunderstandings and encourage students to continue their academic progress while also taking care of their health and the health of the campus and greater community.

To assist you, we have created a sample script or handout (below) that you can personalize and use to welcome students back to class and communicate your expectations. I hope you find them helpful.

Sincerely,

Carlos Nevarez

Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs

SAMPLE SCRIPT FOR FALL 2022 IN-PERSON CLASSES

Safety and wellness

Welcome! It’s great to be together on campus. You should be aware by now of Sacramento State’s Fall 2022 COVID 19 policies. You can find out more at Sacramento State’s COVID-19 page. We will be following those policies in this classroom. Vaccines are required for everyone on campus except those who have been granted a religious or medical exemption per the CSU’s COVID-19 vaccination requirement. Masks are NOT required at this point but are recommended indoors. Please respect your fellow students’ decision to mask or not mask. You can schedule a vaccine at My Turn California and find out more about vaccines and booster eligibility on the CDC website. Remember that COVID-19 is still a threat, even for those who are vaccinated and boosted. Please practice self-care, monitor your health for any possible symptoms of COVID-19, and contact a health care provider immediately should you believe you may be infected.

Attendance

Do not come to class if you have COVID-19 symptoms or test positive. COVID-19 tests and safety supplies are available at many locations around campus. The University will continue to offer free testing to students who are symptomatic through Student Health and Counseling Services. To increase safety on campus, you are required to report a positive COVID-19 test. You will find a confidential reporting form on the Student Affairs COVID-19 web page. Everyone who tests positive, regardless of vaccination status, is required to stay home for at least 5 days. You should stay home for up to 10 days if your symptoms are not resolved or you continue to test positive. If you come into contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, please refer to this flowchart.

If you need to isolate, please notify me immediately.

• If you are isolating and not ill, I expect you to stay up to date with your academic work remotely as best you can. Checking in with me for assignments will be your responsibility.
• If you are ill, please contact me as soon as you are well so we can work together to catch you up with the rest if the class.
• You will find the latest updates to academic continuity during COVID-19

Flexibility

The degree to which COVID-19 will impact the Sacramento State campus this fall is hard to predict. We want to focus on making your time as a Hornet a memorable and fulfilling experience. But patience and flexibility on all our parts will still be necessary as we navigate COVID-19 -related absences. Communicating with me in a clear and timely manner will help you stay on track academically and help all of us stay healthy.

Art History Professor Helps Students Encounter Centuries of Mexican Art

The mission of Sacramento State's Academic Affairs division is to inspire transformative educational experiences for our students. For Assistant Professor of Art Mya Dosch, that means getting students out of the classroom whenever possible and immersing them in rich and vibrant art scenes, something she was able to do this past July through a study abroad trip to Mexico City.

From July 16 to July 25, Dosch guided 14 Sacramento State Students through museums, historical sites, cathedrals, and artists' studios in Mexico's capital city. But Dosch wanted more for her students than just sight-seeing. So she structured their days to include plenty of time for reflection and discussion and encouraged them to journal their thoughts about what they were seeing. Originally scheduled for summer 2020, the trip allowed students to experience culturally significant art in person and is a perfect example of how Sacramento State faculty can open new worlds. for their students.

Dosch, whose specialty is Art of the Americas, knows the impact a trip like this can have on students who have had few opportunities to travel and are eager to see the real-world embodiments of what they are studying. While an undergrad at Carleton College in Minnesota, Dosch took a study abroad trip to the Netherlands and, like her students in Mexico, found herself thinking differently about art—and the world.

"It made a huge difference for me. My idea of art history was blown open," Dosch says, explaining she wanted the same for her students. "It is a life-changing experience. It expands student's visions of what is possible for them, which is important for students at a California State University."

Thanks to the help of Atraves Arte, a business that arranges Mexico City art experiences, the student's days were filled with local cuisine and fellowship as well as museum tours. Along with encountering Mexican Muralism, the art-focused activities Dosch and Atraves Arte guided the students through included visiting Mexico City's Zocalo (or main plaza), The Templo Mayor museum, Chapultepec Park, The Frida Kahlo museum, and the pyramids at Teotihucán.

The impact of the trip on students was clear. After a visit to the Colegio San Ildefonso, where murals by José Clemente Orozoco depict Spanish colonizers as garish and gluttonous creatures unaware of the pain and suffering they created in indigenous populations, Studio Arts major Kelsey Sorg imagined 1920s students questioning the Spanish-centric history they were being taught. "[They were] challenged to critique their lessons by their own hallways," she wrote of the murals. "To me, this was very exciting."

Dosch encouraged all the students to journal their impressions throughout the trip, going beyond merely lecturing at the sites they visited by giving the students space to process their thoughts and experiences. For those students pursuing a life in the arts like Studio Art major Gina Geissenger, the impact was profound. "I feel ready to express who I am authentically in my artwork with support and encouragement from so many inspiring people," she wrote.

Dr. Carlos Nevarez, Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, says these broad, life-changing educational experiences are key to Sacramento State's core mission of inspiring knowledge creation.

"We want to support our faculty to be agents of change in student's lives," says Nevarez. "Going forward, we will be looking for more ways to provide culturally diverse and meaningful impact through academics."

Dosch says the Art Department is hoping to coordinate a similar trip every year with next year's visit planned for June 22 to July 1. To read more student reflections and see pictures from the trip, visit the CSUS Mexico Study Abroad blog here.

More information on this program and other faculty-led study abroad opportunities is available from the College of Continuing Education here.

New Childcare Slots Available for Faculty and Staff

August 5, 2022

Dear Faculty and Staff Colleagues,

We recognize that supporting those of us who care for children and family members is integral to building and maintaining a high-quality, diverse faculty and staff workforce. Therefore, I'm pleased to inform you of a new child development center that will be opening near campus in October. I urge you to apply in a timely manner to secure space for your family should you need it.

The new center, Bright Path to Learning, is scheduled to open October 3, 2022, and offers priority childcare placement for employees of Sacramento State, SMUD, and UC Davis Health. The new center will accommodate up to 214 children at its 6011 Folsom Boulevard location.

For Sacramento State employees and students, eligibility to enroll a child is as follows:

• Tier 1: Full-time Sacramento State and auxiliary employees. (Parents or legal guardians only. Lecturer faculty/coaches/counselors with 0.75 time base and higher are included in Tier 1.)
• Tier 2: Part-time Sacramento State employees (Temporary and student employees are not eligible. Lecturer faculty/coaches/counselors with less than .75 time base are included in Tier 2.)
• Tier 3: Sacramento State students taking at least six units per semester and unable to enroll their child in the ASI Children's Center. (Tier 3 applies only if allocated slots for Sacramento State are not filled by Tier 1 and Tier 2 applicants.)

Bright Horizons operates more than 700 centers across the U.S. and is committed to high-quality early childhood education and will obstain National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) accreditation.

APPLY NOW

In order to track Sacramento State applicants when registering in Bright Horizon's Family Information Center, please be sure to choose "Bright Path to Learning" as the center #1 choice, type in "Sacramento State" as the employer, and email contact information is a Sacramento State address.

For more information and FAQs, please visit: #https://https://www.enterprises.csus.edu/property-services/bright-path-to-learning-child-development-center/.enterprises.csus.edu/property-services/bright-path-to-learning-child-development-center/

Carlos Nevarez

Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs

Message from the Provost June 8, 2022

June 8, 2022

Hello Faculty and Staff Colleagues:

I hope this email finds you safe and well after a busy year full of successes, changes, and optimism in looking to the future. As noted in President Nelsen’s email (below), COVID-19 is still impacting the community. Our priority must be the health and safety of each other. If cases continue to rise, the likeliness of requiring face coverings indoors will be most likely. While wearing face coverings is not required at this time, it is strongly recommended when indoors.

The University values the personal choice of wearing a face covering and suggests that members of our community carefully consider the recommendations of the Sacramento County Department of Public Health. Those who wish to continue to wear face coverings regardless of vaccination status are free to do so without fear of backlash. Face coverings will continue to be available for any student or employee who wants to wear one.
Thank you for your diligence in following the campus health and safety guidelines, including reporting COVID-19 cases or exposures and testing “on as-needed basis”.

Sincerely,
Carlos Nevarez
Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs (interim)

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Sacramento County strongly recommends wearing face coverings indoors

Sacramento County Public Health this week issued a statement strongly recommending that people wear face coverings in all indoor public settings, regardless of vaccination status or individual risk level. Since the beginning of this pandemic, we have followed the recommendations of county public health officials, and we will continue to closely monitor local conditions and local recommendations. As always, we remain ready to pivot back to an indoor face covering requirement if necessary. Meanwhile, I want to urge everyone to remain vigilant against COVID-19 by wearing a face covering in indoor public spaces when you are vulnerable to exposure, particularly in crowded places with a large number of people.

Vaccination remains the best form of protection against serious illness and hospitalization from COVID-19. If you are not vaccinated or up to date on your booster, visit MyTurn.ca.gov to find a clinic near you. Information about booster eligibility can be found on the CDC website.

Employees and students can access free face coverings and N95 masks at several campus locations, such as the Library checkout counter and the University Union information desk. As always, please do not hesitate to reach out to Risk Management Services if you have any questions and/or if you need to order COVID-19 Supplies.

Thank you for continuing to do your part to keep one another safe and healthy. Stingers Up!