[Sshagradstudents] Fall 2020 SSHA Newsletter

[SSHA Dean]

School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts
SSHAwesome News
Fall 2020
Message from the Dean:

Greetings SSHA Faculty and Staff-

COVID lingers. As you know, there are no plans for SSHA courses or staff to be on campus in Spring, and in the background facilities continues with plans to complete the Dean’s suite renovations, and departmental moves like for AHS, the MWP, EBM, among others. So campus is active, though empty!

This newsletter contains some updates as to staffing, and you can see that we continue to adapt and change our processes to better serve our constituents. At a forthcoming SSHA town hall I will present additional information about budgets, planning, and how well we are doing.

I want to thank you again for all that you have done and for your persistence under these difficult circumstances. Let us hope for a better year, good health, and continued energy and engagement, be it in-person or remote.

Jeff


Holiday Giving Options:

Bobcat Pantry (https://ucmerced.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=df1b3d84678244bec7b71868b&id=babe65085f&e=1ff9558755)
Merced County Food Bank (https://ucmerced.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=df1b3d84678244bec7b71868b&id=fb1435847f&e=1ff9558755)
Merced City Community Toy Drive (https://ucmerced.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=df1b3d84678244bec7b71868b&id=940d839280&e=1ff9558755)
New SSHA Senate Faculty (Started on July 1, 2020):
* Tesalia Rizzo, Assistant Professor, Political Science
* Tyler Marghetis, Assistant Professor, Cognitive & Informational Sciences
* Stephanie Canizales, Assistant Professor, Sociology
* Rachel Ryskin, Assistant Professor, Cognitive & Informational Sciences
* Daisy Reyes, Associate Professor, Sociology
* Anna Epperson, Assistant Professor, Psychology
* Zachary Grossman, Associate Professor, Economics & Business Management
* Amanda Mireles, Assistant Teaching Professor, Sociology
* Elif Isbell, Assistant Professor, Psychology
* Briana Ballis, Assistant Professor, Economics & Business Management
* Cassandra “Beth” Scaffidi, Assistant Professor, Anthropology & Heritage Studies
* Alec Chan-Golston, Assistant Professor, Public Health
* Felicia Rhapsody Lopez, Assistant Professor, Literatures, Languages & Cultures
* Fatima Burney, Assistant Professor, Literatures, Languages & Cultures
* Nicosia Shakes, Assistant Professor, History and Critical Race & Ethnic Studies
* Meredith Van Natta, Assistant Professor, Sociology

Personnel Services:

Planning to Hire? Let us help you!

To initiate a hire or contract, please contact:
· Joe Swann (mailto:jswann at ucmerced.edu) – Undergraduate Students and Independent Contractors
· Vanessa Woodruff (mailto:vwoodruff at ucmerced.edu) – Academic Readers and Unit 18 Lecturers
· Jeff Fuller (mailto:jfuller7 at ucmerced.edu) – Senate Faculty
· Rebecca Smith (mailto:rsmith7 at ucmerced.edu) – Staff and all other academic appointments

Reminder:
To ensure that there are no unintended consequences to the employee or contractor, it is imperative that all hires are processed through the appropriate procedures. Please reach out to our staff as listed above to consult on your hiring situation. Please note that no work can be conducted before the hire is completed, or after the end date of the appointment or contract.

Having an employee or contractor begin work prior to the final hiring or procurement approvals in place can significantly delay processing and payment to the individual or entity. This can result in Damage Payments (https://ucmerced.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=df1b3d84678244bec7b71868b&id=6ee1fece9d&e=1ff9558755) for employees, or Documentation of Unauthorized Purchase (https://ucmerced.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=df1b3d84678244bec7b71868b&id=d57add0e28&e=1ff9558755) for contracts. Exceptions will be rare and require additional approvals, possibly up to the Chancellor.

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Academic Advising:

We are excited to have filled our vacant academic advisor position!

Amandip Singh joined our team on October 19th as our Academic Advisor, Student Engagement Coordinator. Amandip will be the assigned academic advisor for continuing, non-transfer students majoring and minoring in the following programs: Anthropology, Economics, Management and Business Economics major and minor and Community Research and Service, and World Heritage minor. Please join us in welcoming our new team member!

We are continuing to work with and assist students via our virtual walk-in hours and appointments. Students may access their academic advisor’s walk-in and appointment availability via the ** Meet With Your Advisor (https://ucmerced.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=df1b3d84678244bec7b71868b&id=5b34bcf1ef&e=1ff9558755)
webpage.

Over the Fall semester, our team will be working on the following:

* ** Jump Start Your 3^rd Year Meetings (https://ucmerced.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=df1b3d84678244bec7b71868b&id=3587269ccf&e=1ff9558755)
* ** Transfer Transition Meeting (https://ucmerced.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=df1b3d84678244bec7b71868b&id=48a49201d6&e=1ff9558755)
* ** Mid-Semester Grade Interventions (https://ucmerced.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=df1b3d84678244bec7b71868b&id=87a8bbae0a&e=1ff9558755)
* Spring 2021 Registration
* Fall 2020 Graduation Clearances


We are looking forward to a great 2020-2021 academic year!
Center for the Humanities:

This Fall the Center for the Humanities is hosting several capacity-building workshops on publishing, digital tools, writing OpEds, and oral history. Our public outreach events have been focused on virtual film screenings and conversations with filmmakers, including the:
* Wild and Scenic Film Festival
* Singing Our Way to Freedom
* Songs That Never End


We hosted a symposium on community-engaged research and we worked with Robin DeLugan and graduate students to create 3 films on their community engagement projects that were funded by the Luce Foundation.
Instructional Services:

In addition to officially taking over the SSHA Course Articulation process this summer, we were happy to virtually welcome Yazmin Colin, our Course Articulation Analyst, to our team!
In the world of scheduling, it has been a busy few months with Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 adjustments as we shifted to online teaching and learning, but a highlight was meeting with all ten departments (and some of our graduate chairs) to strategize planning for AY 2021-2022 (including Summer 2021!).

Preparations for Fall 2020 course evaluations have begun! The annual window for revisions to the General Catalog is upon us, and we will be working with Department Chairs to move the AY 2021-2022 revisions through the workflow.  Be on the lookout for invitations to our virtual office hours that we will be holding throughout the semester - we hope see you there!
Although we are not able to connect in person right now, we look forward to continuing to collaborate with you all in this new virtual world!

As always, please feel free to reach out to ** ssha.curriculum at ucmerced.edu (mailto:ssha.curriculum at ucmerced.edu)
if we can be of assistance.


Graduate Services:

We are excited to announce new events and workshops this year presented ** by SSHA Graduate Services (https://ucmerced.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=df1b3d84678244bec7b71868b&id=5373db93ee&e=1ff9558755)
for students in all seven graduate groups.

Forty new graduate students joined us this Fall including the new Economics Graduate Group’s first cohort!

We kicked off our first ** SSHA Graduate Services Monthly Virtual Office Hours (https://ucmerced.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=df1b3d84678244bec7b71868b&id=ba78e227f1&e=1ff9558755)
in September and the first edition of the ** SSHA Graduate Services Monthly Digest (https://ucmerced.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=df1b3d84678244bec7b71868b&id=dd549aa397&e=1ff9558755)
was released October 1^st.
SSHA Graduate Services, in collaboration with the SSHA Faculty Research Liaison and the Office of International Affairs will hold informative workshops this year. Our proposal for a Student Success Internship was also selected and we are excited to welcome the Digital Marketing and Communications Project Intern this fall.

Our new website is coming soon! In the meantime, please visit SSHA Graduate Services to request a ** Graduate Student Researcher (GSR) (https://ucmerced.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=df1b3d84678244bec7b71868b&id=611cdfd7dd&e=1ff9558755)
, check our office hours, for upcoming events, and more information.
Staff Appreciation Day!
Financial & Administrative Operations Services:

New Financial System – Oracle
* UC Merced’s legacy financial systems hosted by UCLA are being replaced with Oracle Cloud application as part of the Alpha Financials Project in January 2021.
* In the upcoming months, SSHA Finance team will be participating in the trainings and transitioning into the new system.

Purchasing – Transition to Oracle Cloud Application
* Starting in January 2021, CatBuy will be retired and purchases will be placed through Bobcat Buy supported by Oracle.

How will this impact you?
* November 20, 2020 – Last day to issue non-emergency purchase orders in CatBuy.
* Any orders made in the legacy system after end of day November 20, 2020 will need to be manually created as requisitions and approved by departments in the new Oracle system with a reference back to the CatBuy Purchase Order.
* Please plan your purchases accordingly to avoid any delays.

New Travel & Expense Management Platform – Concur
* The new expense reimbursement system, SAP Concur, will replace UC Merced’s current UCLA-owned Express system which will soon be eliminated. Concur provides a user-friendly interface that will enhance the reimbursement experience for all users.

What do I need to do to prepare for the launch?
* Users & Delegates (proxy) - Submit any outstanding travel or entertainment reimbursement requests into Express, data will not be converted, all reimbursements must be processed in Express prior to November 30, 2020. Or hold until Concur is live.
* T&E Card holders – Submit reimbursements through November 25, 2020. Once Concur is live, submit request for transactions Nov 26-Dec 25, 2020.
* PCard holders – Submit reimbursements through November 15, 2020. Once Concur is live, submit request for transactions Nov 15-Dec 15, 2020.
* Personal Information – Your payroll information will automatically be available in the new system, however, make note of any personal information keyed into Connexus such as frequent flyer number, rental rewards as these need to be re-keyed into Concur Request after going live on January 4, 2021.

Sanitizer vending machines on campus:

Vending machines that contain 4-ounce containers of hand dispenser have been placed in key locations across campus by the third week of August. People can get a dispenser from the blue Fastenal machines once every two weeks with a swipe of your CatCard. There is no charge for the dispenser.

The vending machines are in five locations:
* The Pavilion
* Lantern Café
* Yablokoff-Wallace Dining Center
* Science and Engineering Building 2 (SE2)
* Administration Building (3H)

Face coverings

Face coverings purchased by UC Merced are available now at no cost to faculty, staff and students. Because of the COVID-19 health crisis, face coverings required by California outside of homes or personal spaces, or when physical distancing is not possible.

The box office in COB1 will be open 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Friday for anyone with a Cat Card to receive up to two face coverings. Those who had earlier picked up only one face covering can get a second. Those with damaged campus-issued face coverings may return them for a replacement. Other distribution locations will be opened as demand and campus operations expand.

The coverings do not have UC Merced logos. While we understand the desire for branded coverings, they cost 10 to 30 times more than the purchased coverings, which we were able to buy in bulk. Because of the broad financial strain on the university caused by the pandemic, we must save costs wherever possible and preserve funding for our core mission of learning, research and public service.

UC Merced departments are not allowed to purchase their own face coverings with university funds. All university coverings should be obtained from the source described above. We are working to have face coverings with a UC Merced logo available for individuals to purchase at the campus store at a later date.

Shipping equipment home:

Shipping equipment and supplies to a personal address can be done at the discretion of the unit's chief administrative officer or management services officer (CAO/MSO) in accordance with campus guidance and policies. Faculty and staff can work through the Center for Business Services and Solutions (CBS2) formally known as ACT, by submitting a ServiceNow purchasing request that includes home delivery.

All home deliveries will be facilitated by CBS2 through a Procurement Card once the purchase and home delivery request are approved with appropriate documentation to justify the use of a personal address to support remote work requirements logged with the purchase. CAOs log is maintained by the unit to ensure the necessary tracking of department equipment per university policy.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) - COVID19 Related Expenses:

With the transition of classrooms to the virtual environment, SSHA Financial Services received a high volume of questions regarding home-office-setup expenses. We have compiled those question into a list of FAQs and posted on our website for easy reference. Here’s a ** link to these FAQs (https://ucmerced.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=df1b3d84678244bec7b71868b&id=09ef5673e2&e=1ff9558755)
on our website.
Department Support Services:


Department Support Services (DSS)
* COVID-19 introduced a new set of challenges and opportunities for the Department Support Services Team. Here’s a brief update for the reporting period.
* Mohabbat Ahmadi joined the SSHA Department Support Services (DSS) team as Department Support Supervisor in April.  Welcome Mohabbat!
* SSHA Events and Seminars is now part of the Department Support Services team.
* Department Support Services created a generic email account to receive any overflow service requests, send frequent updates, and receive feedback on their services. Please feel encouraged to send feedback to ** ssha.deptsupport at ucmerced.edu (mailto:ssha.deptsupport at ucmerced.edu)
.
* Department Support Services recently added an abbreviated list of services to their ** web page (https://ucmerced.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=df1b3d84678244bec7b71868b&id=410fd8af12&e=1ff9558755)
. You are welcome to visit their page and share it widely. Any feedback is appreciated.
* Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) - Honorariums Payments. In consultation with the Instructional Resources Team, we have recently developed a list of frequently asked questions/answers about honorarium payments. Our hope is that these questions and answers will clarify any confusions or misconception previously held and will simplify our thought process when it comes to honorarium payments. Here’s a ** link to these FAQs (https://ucmerced.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=df1b3d84678244bec7b71868b&id=9c9af950f5&e=1ff9558755)
on our website.

Administrative Support
* Effective June 1st, Marta Holtz (Department Specialist) accepted a position with SSHA Financial Services.  Unfortunately, her departure as Department Specialist coincided with the UC’s hiring freeze.  Although multiple requests have been made for an exception to replace Marta, as of October, we don’t have a clear timeline of when (or if) we can expect to fill this position.
* In the interim, Nancy Higareda and Heidi Green will each be providing support to five department chairs each.
* Nancy is supporting A&HS, CIS, HCRES, PH, and PSY
* Heidi is supporting EBM, GAMWS, LLC, POLI, and SOC
* To help ease their workload, we are requesting that all event related requests be sent to ** ssha.seminars at ucmerced.edu (mailto:ssha.seminars at ucmerced.edu)
.

SSHA Events and Seminars:
SSHA Events & Seminars has taken the opportunity to specially design Event Support for the virtual environment and all the challenges it entails.
Over the summer, we created a new Flyer Templates for each SSHA Department through our SSHA Seminars ** Flyer Template Library (https://ucmerced.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=df1b3d84678244bec7b71868b&id=ac4cd945af&e=1ff9558755)
.  The templates in the flyer library are available for all faculty to edit and use for any of their events, but our staff still work directly to design flyers with events supported through SSHA Seminars.
At beginning of the Fall semester, we shared resources to help the faculty and instructors plan and execute engaging events during the fall semester such as the ** SSHA Seminars Virtual Event Checklist (https://ucmerced.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=df1b3d84678244bec7b71868b&id=7ad7a27191&e=1ff9558755)
and ** SSHA Seminar Virtual Event Guide (https://ucmerced.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=df1b3d84678244bec7b71868b&id=1c50817c1f&e=1ff9558755)
. We understood that virtual events introduced a new set of challenges to the faculty, so we simplified our process and relaxed our early semester deadline. Logistics for planning virtual event can be less complex than in-person events, and so we’ve adjusted our timeline to ask for at least a two-week lead time for virtual event support requests. Requests can be submitted on our ** Virtual Event Request form (https://ucmerced.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=df1b3d84678244bec7b71868b&id=54abba92bd&e=1ff9558755)
.
We anticipate that SSHA Seminars will soon be able to offer Zoom Webinar support; in the meantime, our virtual event support services include: Event Design Consultation, Zoom Meeting Set Up,  Zoom Webinar (by special request & coming soon), Zoom Meeting Moderation (controlling microphones, break out rooms, chat/time monitor, etc), Zoom Event Registration, Live Broadcasting, Flyer Design, Online Advertisement, Record Meetings, and Guest Speaker Arrangements and Payments.

We look forward to assisting you with your next event! Please feel free to contact us at ** ssha.seminars at ucmerced.edu (mailto:ssha.seminars at ucmerced.edu)
with any questions.
Important Dates & Deadlines:

November 2020

* November 25: Last day to enter T&E card transactions in UCLA Express.
* November 30: Last day to enter non-travel reimbursements in UCLA Express.

December 2020

* December 11:  SSHA School Townhall
* December 4: Last day to enter travel reimbursements in UCLA Express; Last day to submit funding changes or salary cost transfers using legacy FAU (direct retro) to UC Path
* December 11: Last day to issue emergency orders in CatBuy
* December 22: Fall 2020 Final Grades Deadline
* December 24 - 31: Campus Closed

January 2021

* January 1 - 3: Campus Closed
* January 4: SSHA Deadline for AY 2021-2022 Course Proposals (Fall 2021, Spring and Summer 2022): Oracle Cloud is LIVE!
* January 4: SSHA Deadline for General Catalog Revisions effective AY 2021-22 (revised majors, minors)

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