May the Fourth, CARES Act, faculty recruiting

[Bill Maurer]

    Dear all,

    I hope everyone found some time to relax and enjoy the beautiful weather
    outdoors over the weekend--in a socially distant kind of way. I managed
    to take a tentative step back into gardening (in hopefully racoon-proof
    movable containers which I intend to bring inside every night this time).
    
    First, May the Fourth be with you, Star Wars fans (courtesy of Luis
    Fonseca), attached! Also, below you will find a picture from last week's
    SSARC Jackbox Games trivia session (on noble gases?!). Thanks to Karissa,
    Patrick and Jonathan Lui for creating these fun opportunities for our
    students to remain engaged.
    
    Grad students: I know you want more information about CARES Act
    funding. First, I learned that the money is not actually "here" yet,
    in a campus account. But Vice Provost Hayes told me that the Financial
    Aid office is getting ready to disburse it as quickly as possible
    once it is. She is waiting for details from Financial Aid office on
    the information they will require. Note that the first half of the
    money must be disbursed to "US citizens with demonstrated financial
    need." Obviously, this will not help all our students, and so the Grad
    Division is looking at alternatives for other students. Meanwhile however,
    grad students who are US citizens can help by filling out a FAFSA form if
    you have not already done so. Click here. The FAFSA will help Financial
    Aid distribute the money to those who qualify. Be on the lookout for
    additional information from Gillian Hayes.
    
    Faculty and others concerned about faculty recruitment for next year:
    We had a very productive budget meeting with the interim Provost this
    morning and learned that the campus process for requesting authorization
    to recruit will soon be released. The assumption is a hiring slowdown but
    not a hiring freeze--which is good, and puts us in a very competitive
    position. BUT: part of the slowdown is also going to be just the
    slowness of the authorization process. They'll release instructions
    in the next week or two, give deans a deadline of sometime in June to
    submit requests, and then likely will not authorize recruitments until
    July. If they do so before the end of June, I will dance a jig, and put
    it on TikTok. (You think I won't?!). So: I know chairs are anxious and
    department managers want to get things moving, but we just have to wait
    some more. I'll keep everyone posted. And remember this applies even to
    previously-authorized positions.
    
    That's about it for now. Enjoy Week 6!
    
    Bill
    
    and no, a fart is not a noble gas..... the answer is xenon, people.