Provost's Advisory Committees 

Standing Committees

General education advisory Committee

This advisory committee of 12 faculty and four administrators is jointly constituted by the University Senate and the Provost. 

It is charged with providing ongoing advice about the implementation, evaluation, and assessment of Stony Brook University's general education curriculum.

Charge

The General Education Advisory Committee is jointly constituted by the Undergraduate Council of the University Senate and the Office of the Provost to provide ongoing advice about implementation, evaluation, and assessment of Stony Brook University’s general education curriculum (the SBC). The Committee examines the extent to which the general education curriculum achieves its stated purpose for students, including outcomes for student learning, degree progress, and post-graduation outcomes, as well as impact on department, school and university operations.

Certification and de-certification of individual courses fall outside the purview of the GEAC.

• Responsibilities
  • Explore and understand how well students master and demonstrate the articulated outcomes of Stony Brook’s general education curriculum;
  • Recommend policies, structures, and mechanisms to ensure the general education curriculum fulfills its stated purpose, learning objectives, and external requirements; this includes making recommendations to the Assessment Council about parameters for the assessment of general education learning outcomes;
  • Consider periodically (no less than every five years) the purpose and scope of Stony Brook’s general education curriculum in terms of relevance and impact on students and departments;
  • Validate that Stony Brook’s general education program meets requirements of regulatory entities, including accreditors, the NY State Department of Education, and the State University of New York;
  • Review reports and make recommendations about:
    • • • The extent of student learning in each area of general education;
        • The sufficiency of available courses in each area of general education;
        • The satisfaction of students and faculty about the general education curriculum;
  • Prepare for the Undergraduate Council of the University Senate and the Office of the Provost an annual report about how the Committee has addressed each point of its charge.

   

• Members
  • Alexis Anagnostopoulos, PhD: Faculty, College of Arts and Sciences
  • Katherine Aubrecht, PhD: Faculty, School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences
  • Kara Desanna, EdD: Administrator, Provost's Office
  • Janet Galiczewski, DNP, RN, ANP, CCRN: Faculty, School of Nursing
  • J. Peter Gergen, PhD: Faculty, College of Arts and Sciences
  • Brenda Hoffman, PhD: Faculty, School of Communication and Journalism
  • Braden Hosch, PhD: Ex-officio administrator and deputy chair, Educational and Institutional Effectiveness
  • Kevin McDonnell, PhD: Faculty, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences
  • Hanna Nekvasil, PhD: Faculty, Chair, College of Arts and Sciences
  • Christine Pitocco, PhD: Faculty, College of Business
  • Catherine Scott, MA, MAPP: Ex-officio administrator, Office of Educational Effectiveness
  • Nancy Strein: Ex-officio administrator, Scribe, Provost's Office
  • Rose Tirotta-Esposito, EdD: Ex-officio administrator, Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching
  • Madeline Turan, MS: Faculty, College of Arts and Sciences
  • Suzanne L. Velázquez, PhD, LCSW: Faculty, School of Social Welfare
  • Deborah Zelizer, PhD, LCSW: Faculty, School of Health Professions
    • • • • Linda Shi: Undergraduate student, Undergraduate Student Government
• Annual Reports

  2023 - 2024 GEAC Annual Report

  2022 - 2023 GEAC Annual Report

Ad-Hoc Committees

Climate and Sustainability Structures Scoping Committee

Charged February, 2025

The committee will be charged with engaging relevant stakeholders and conceiving of potential ways to organize and structure our academic, research, and external engagement activities related to climate, energy, and sustainability. The committee’s work will build upon the town halls hosted by the Collaborative for the Earth in the fall semester that focused on bringing together our community of climate and environment researchers. There will also be a town hall for the campus community to offer ideas and feedback in the second half of the semester.

Charge

As a NYS flagship public research university, Stony Brook is committed to educating the next-generation scholars and workforce to address our climate, environmental, and energy challenges. it is an ideal time to take a step back and consider our strategic path forward and how our organizational structures at the university may or may not be ideal in supporting relevant curriculum, research, and outreach. The Climate and Sustainability Structures Scoping Committee will be responsible for drafting an outline of proposed scenarios, presenting those scenarios for campus feedback, and crafting a final report to submit to university leadership.

• Responsibilities

   

  The Scoping Committee must appropriately engage all relevant stakeholders from faculty, staff, and students doing this work to relevant department chairs, center/institute directors, deans, and university academic affairs leadership.

  Key Considerations: In discussion and the development of the scenarios, please consider the following:

  • Outcomes and recommendations of the Climate Change Tiger Teams
  • Financial feasibility of potential scenarios within existing budget structures/projections
  • Inclusivity of all parts of campus
  • Meeting the evolving needs of our current students 
  • Strengthening interdisciplinary research collaboration 
  • Leveraging SBU initiatives such as The New York Climate Exchange
• Scoping Committee Members

  Co-Chairs

  Kevin Reed, Associate Provost for Climate and Sustainability Programming; professor, School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences

  Heather Lynch, Director of the Collaborative for the Earth; IACS Endowed Chair for Ecology and Evolution

  Members

  JD Allen, lecturer, School of Communication and Journalism, University Marketing and Communications

  Stephen Baines, associate professor of ecology and evolution, College of Arts and Sciences

  Fei Chen, professor of pathology, Renaissance School of Medicine

  Rasheed Davis, clinical assistant professor of physician assistant education, School of Health Professions

  Ali Farhadzadeh, associate professor of civil engineering, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences

  Sara Hamideh, associate professor of sustainability studies, School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences

  Erin Kluge, sustainability coordinator, Campus Operations and Maintenance

  Zhenhua Liu, associate professor of applied math and statistics, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences

  Jaymie Meliker, professor of public health, Renaissance School of Medicine

  Amanda Mills, assistant director of undergraduate admissions, Enrollment Management

  Carrie Mongle, assistant professor of anthropology, College of Arts and Sciences

  Bremelin Romero, program coordinator, Center for Inclusive Education: Graduate School, and Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Intercultural Initiatives

  Michael Rubenstein, associate professor of English, College of Arts and Sciences

  Margaret Schedel, associate professor of music, College of Arts and Sciences

  Weisen Shen, associate professor of geosciences, College of Arts and Sciences

  Lesley Thorne, associate professor of marine sciences and associate dean for research, School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences

Upcoming Events

The committee will host a town hall conversation, open to all faculty and staff, to discuss options and ask for feedback and ideas from the campus community in spring 2025.