President's Report for November 2020

Enrollment Management Update

 

The Office of Admissions, in conjunction with the Office of New Student Engagement, has been hosting several virtual information sessions for students and their families to campus. Due to Covid-19, in-person recruitment to local high schools and college fairs is limited. The Admissions staff is working diligently to build a pipeline of enrollment by attending virtual college fairs and working closely with counselors to provide virtual private visits for interested students. The first delivery of admission recommendations from the Central Office is anticipated by late October, and the staff is already working on communicating with students that deferred from the fall 2020 semester and preparing them for registration, which is set to begin in early November.

The continuing student advising and registration process is underway in Academy Advisement. As part of an effort to have continuing student register as early as possible, Marketing and Academy Advisement have promoted a campaign for “October is Advising and Registration” month. Advisers are seeing students by appointments, and creating “schedule recommendations” using the registration tool Schedule Builder for our first semester freshmen. We have also organized an “On-the-Spot” Virtual Advisement and Registration event on October 29^th through our virtual office in Blackboard Collaborate. Students will be able to connect with advisers live, on the spot, for help with registration. Lastly, registration appointments for incoming spring 2021 students will begin on Tuesday, November 3^rd.

 

Faculty & Staff Resources

 

The Counseling Center is offering Virtual Faculty and Staff Consultation Hours via Zoom in lieu of departmental visits. They will share counseling center procedures, discuss your concerns, and explore ways to support students.  Their remaining schedule for the Fall 2020 semester is as follows: November 18^th at 11:00 am, and November 30^th at 10:00 am.  To register, send an e-mail to Dr. Wilma Fletcher-Anthony, Professor and Senior Director of The Counseling Center, at WFletcherAnthony@qcc.cuny,edu indicating the session you would like to attend.

 

Student Honors/Achievements

 

QCC student Ms. Sumaiya Nasrin was recently profiled on the Queensborough website.  In the profile, Ms. Nasrin details her story of childhood medical setbacks, triumph, and how it fuels her passion to study in the field of Medicine.  Her story mirrors the old adage “a setback is a set-up for a comeback”, and serves as inspiration for students who have faced/are facing similar hurdles in their own personal life.  Ms. Nasrin is enrolled in the ASAP Program, was recently inducted into the Lambda Sigma Chapter of the Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society as well as the Psi Beta National Honor Society, and is an eligible candidate for graduation at the conclusion of the Fall 2020 semester.

 

 

Student Resources

 

• Faculty and staff are asked to encourage our students to avail themselves of the valuable and free resources through the QCC Single Stop Program. Services provided include (but not limited to) public benefits screening, financial coaching, legal assistance, tax preparation services, housing assistance, food pantry referrals, and more.

 

• Black Mental Health Group – presented by Dr. Wilma Fletcher-Anthony on Thursdays at 2:00 pm. The groups focuses on current and historic events that affect the mental health and wellbeing of Black QCC students. Associated issues pertaining to social justice, systematic racism and segregation, disparities in healthcare, socioeconomic status, and unequal opportunities to education, along with the impact of the pandemic are also discussed. Interested students should contact Dr. Wilma Fletcher-Anthony via e-mail at WFletcheranthony@qcc.cuny.edu for information on how to join the group.

 

• LGBTQ+ Support Group– This group is facilitated by Dr. Dorith Brodbar on Thursdays from 3:10-4:30.  The group deals with issues that affect students who identify as LGBTQ+ or may be questioning their sexual and/or gender identities.  The goal of this group is to be able to provide a safe space where students can share and discuss their experiences and/or concerns among their peers.  Further discussion may focus on the COVID19 Pandemic as it presents uniquely difficult social, emotional and health challenges particular to this marginalized group.  Interested students should contact Dr. Dorith Brodbar via e-mail at DBrodbar@qcc.cuny.edu for information on how to join the support group.

 

• First-Generation Student Group - This group will be for students whose parents did not attend college in the United States.  ​In a supportive environment, students will share common challenges confronted in and out of college work demands and discuss tips on how to prepare oneself to be a successful college student.​ This group will be meeting on Fridays from 10:10 - 11:30 am. Students who are interested in joining this group must register by contacting Dr. Jannette Urciuoli via e-mail at JUrciuoli@qcc.cuny.edu.

 

• Emergency funding is available to students who face a financial crisis that puts at risk their continued enrollment toward their QCC degree. Supported through a grant from The Carroll and Milton Petrie Foundation, the funds provide one-time, emergency grants to students in good standing with short-term financial emergencies to enable them to remain in school, rather than being forced to leave or drop out. Please refer students with short-term financial emergencies to Ms. Karen O’Sullivan, Associate Director of Financial Services, via e-mail at KOsullivan@qcc.cuny.eduor Ms. Amawati Gonesh, Single Stop Administrator, via e-mail at AGonesh@qcc.cuny.edu.  Additional information can be found online at QCC Scholarships.

 

• The Senator Jose Peralta NYS DREAM Act (DREAM Act)allows undocumented and other eligible students to apply for New York State financial aid. The NYS DREAM Act application is used to determine student eligibility under the provisions of the NYS DREAM Act. Students who meet the NYS DREAM Act's eligibility requirements for high school attendance, high school completion, in-state SUNY or CUNY tuition, and citizenship or immigration status will be able to apply for one or more NYS student financial aid programs. Students who qualify under the NYS DREAM Act can separately apply for NYS student financial aid programs. The program is administered by the New York State Higher Education Services Corporation.

 

• CUNY continues its partnership with The Dream. US Scholarship Program to assist undocumented students in obtaining scholarships. The Dream.US Scholarship Program provides college scholarships to highly motivated undocumented students who entered the United States as minors under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) or Temporary Protect Status (TPS), and who, without financial assistance, cannot afford a college education. All funding is provided by private donations to The Dream.US organization. Scholarships are available to currently enrolled high school students and community college students who will be completing their degrees by the end of the 2019 -2020 academic year. The annual application period to award scholarships for the fall 2020 cohort opens on November 1, 2020 and the deadline is February 25, 2021. Please refer students to visit Dream US Scholarship Program to apply.

 

• The CUNY Ethics and Morality Essay Contestis funded by an endowment gift of $100,000 to the City University of New York by Dr. K. York Chynn and his wife Noelle Chynn. This annual award is intended to promote and stimulate thinking by college students at CUNY about the topic of ethics, morality, and virtuous behavior in their lives. More than ever, these issues arise not only in the personal relationships of individuals and family and friends, but also in the context of corporate, government, and social responsibility, whether it is about treating others fairly and honestly, or food safety. The topic of this year's essay is Virtue and the deadline to apply is November 16, 2020.

 

• The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Undergraduate Transfer Scholarshipmakes it possible for the nation's top community college students to complete their bachelor's degrees by transferring to a selective four-year college or university. The Foundation provides up to $40,000 per year to each of approximately 45 deserving students selected annually, making it the largest private scholarship for two-year and community college transfer students in the country. Each award is intended to cover a significant share of the student's educational expenses – including tuition, living expenses, books and required fees – for the final two to three years necessary to achieve a bachelor's degree. Awards vary by individual, based on the cost of tuition as well as other grants or scholarships he or she may receive. The deadline to apply is January 6, 2021. 

 

• The Women's Forum Education Awardprovides a scholarship of $10,000. The awards will be given to women aged 35 and over who have faced and overcome adversity and now, after an interruption in their education, have resumed the pursuit of their first Associate or Bachelor degree. Applicants must demonstrate noteworthy promise and resilience in the face of challenges, demonstrate a commitment to helping others, and to making a difference in their community, large or small, when their own career goals are achieved. Financial need and academic excellence are not the primary determining factors in the selection of recipients, although true financial need should be evident and the candidate should be in good academic standing. The deadline to apply is February 1, 2021.

 

• Applications for The Guttman Scholarship for High-Achieving Community College Graduatesare open for eligible students. Faculty and staff are asked to encourage our students to apply. To be eligible for a Spring 2021 scholarship, students must earn an associate degree from a CUNY community college during the Winter 2019, Spring 2020, Summer 2020 or Fall 2020 semester, and must currently have a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher. Students must also be transferring to Brooklyn, City, Hunter, Lehman, or Queens College in Spring 2021, and must enroll full time (at least 12 credits/semester). Scholarship priority will be given to students who qualify for financial aid. Students who are awarded a scholarship will receive up to $4,000 paid over two years (four semesters at up to $1,000 a semester).  The deadline to apply is November 11, 2020.

 

Upcoming Events

 

• On Thursday, November 12^th at 12:00 pm, the Office of Career Services will host “Learn How to Use the QCC Super Skills to Help You Guide Your BMI Mentees”. Sandra Strauss, Career Advisement Coordinator/Placement Adviser, will serve as the guest speak for this event in which BMI Mentors will be trained in how to teach BMI  mentees the QCC Super Skills (NACE Competencies). For additional information, please click here.  To join the session the day of, please click here.

 

• The Office of Career Services will host the “QCC Council for Airport Opportunity Employer Information Session” on Thursday, November 19^th at 11:00 am via Blackboard Collaborate. Cherrone Charles, Account Manager at Council for Airport Opportunity, (COA) will be speaking to students about several job opportunities at JFK and LaGuardia Airports, including Baggage Handlers, Security Guards, Ramp Agents, Import Agents and GSE Mechanics.  Interested students must register to attend this session by clicking here.  To join the session the day of, click here.

Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) and The Office of Educational Technology (OET):

 

The Center for Excellence in Teaching & Learning (CETL) continues to offer virtual professional development opportunities and individual consultations regarding instructional practices and strategies for using educational technology. In collaboration with QCC's Accessibility Committee, CETL's upcoming workshop series "Universal Design for Learning (UDL): A framework for Inclusive Pedagogy" will provide modes of instruction for addressing the learning needs of all students-- especially in the online classroom. All faculty are encouraged to visit the CETL and OET homepages to see a complete listing of all upcoming events, webinars, and professional development opportunities.

 

 

Continuing Education and Workforce Development

 

CUNY campuses (QCC along with 5 other colleges) are selected winners for the national cohort for the Education Design Lab's Community College Growth Engine Fund. The Fund selected six of the most forward-leaning community colleges and systems in the country to lead a demonstration of how community colleges can leverage innovation capacity, regional partnerships, and dynamic labor market data to identify and build sub-degree “micro-pathways” with designated credentials that employers validate. These micro-pathways will enable learners to earn at-or-above media wage salaries and stackable credit for degree attainment. See below for official announcements. 

 

• https://eddesignlab.org/project/growthenginefund/
• https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/community-colleges-in-six-major-workforce-hubs-selected-for-ambitious-new-credentialing-initiative-301141889.html

 

QCC CEWD will collaborate with faculty, industry experts and New York Jobs CEO Council to co-design stackable micro-credentials leading to Software Engineering pathways. Program will be offered to currently enrolled CUNY students, starting January 2021. 

 

Dr. Hui-Yin Hsu, Dean of Continuing Education and Workforce Development is elected to the Executive Board of Directors for Continuing Education Association of New York (CEANY), effective Nov. 1, 2020. This year the CEANY Virtual Conference is FREE and will take place on Nov. 5 and 6. 

 

Dr. Hui-Yin Hsu led 5 other colleges to submit a grant proposal ($5M), entitled “Co-Designing an Integrated Accelerated Pathways Model with Employers and the Workforce Development System: Driving System Changes through the CUNY Communities College Consortium,” to the United States Department of Labor for the Strengthening Community Colleges Grants Program.

 

Dr. Hui-Yin Hsu was invited by the Senate to present “Stackable Credentials” during October Senate virtual meeting.

 

CEWD Google IT Professional Support training program and employer engagement model was highlighted by Jobs For the Future (JFF)/Google. This program is FREE and is in collaboration with JFF/Google. We are now accepting applications for the 2nd cohort. 

 

CEWD Hemodialysis Training has been funded for the year 2021. This is a NYC Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD) funded training that targets the underserved “Out-of School Youth” population; 18 - 24 year olds who are out of high school and not enrolled in college. The program has successfully trained and placed these individuals into highly specialized, front-line Allied Healthcare positions.

 

 

Grants and Sponsored Programs

 

                                                                        Start Date        End Date

Grants awarded:                                             9/25/2020        10/22/2020

 

Mathematics and Computer Science:

Northeast Big Data Innovation Hub: Seed Fund Grant, Data Science Workshiop, $25,000, PI: Danisman, Yusuf

 

 

Programs

 

Business Administration – Offering the Program in an Online Format.

The substantive change request for Business Administration, adding an alternative delivery mode through distance education, has been submitted to MSCHE. The college should hear in December whether the substantive change has been approved.  Our thanks to Prof. Kathy Villani and faculty members in the Business department for their support of this effort. In addition, a NYSED application for delivering this program in an alternative delivery format has been submitted with other curricular matters to CUNY OAA, for approval by the Board of Trustees, after which the application will be forwarded to NYSED for approval.

 

Academic Momentum Plan

 

STEM Tuition Waiver

The program will continue in FY21.  Historically, we have had robust program participation from our students and maximized use of the funds.  Along with other funding sources, the balance of the funds will be spent during the summer 2021 session.

 

The goal of the STEM Tuition Waivers is to promote credit accumulation in STEM courses while not jeopardizing TAP eligibility.  QCC students who are in good academic standing, and enrolled in a degree or certificate program will be offered a chance to receive a waiver for enrolling in one STEM course (includes lab) during the winter 2021 session, on a first come, first serve basis. Usually during the summer session, students are allowed to take one STEM and one non-STEM course.  Student fees are not covered by the waiver.

#CUNYTuesday – December 1, 2020

#CUNYTuesday is on December 1, 2020 and Queensborough is again participating in the 24-hour giving challenge. Faculty and staff can donate to #CUNYTuesday online at CUNY Tuesday website, by check - make check payable to the QCC Fund, Inc., memo line: #CUNYTuesday and mail to the College, Room A-508 or through payroll deduction- enrollment for payroll deduction runs from November 1 – December 3 and will be online ONLY.

 

Fight Campus Hunger Campaign – Wednesday, December 16, 2020

Fight Campus Hunger, the grassroots student fundraiser in partnership with the SGA and the student clubs raises desperately needed funds for the QCC Food Pantry. The next Pop Culture Trivia Night is on Wednesday, December 16^th at 9:00 p.m.  Students, alumni, faculty, and staff are ALL welcome to participate and/or become fundraising champions like Haris Khan, a 2017 graduate who asked friends and fellow QCC alumni to donate to Fight Campus Hunger for his birthday on Facebook and raised a whopping $342 for the QCC Food Pantry. Student players are asked to contribute $5 and the suggested minimum contribution for alumni, faculty, and staff to participate/sponsor a student player is $10. To register go to QCC Fight Campus Hunger.

 

All funds raised support the QCC Food Pantry.

 

Annual Fund Campaign

Faculty and staff may choose to support faculty development, merit scholarships, the QCC Food Pantry, the Coronavirus Community Fund, or another key service or program that resonates deep within them.  You can visit QCC contribution page and can make your selection from the drop-down menu. Checks must be made payable to the QCC Fund, Inc. and mailed to Queensborough Community College, Office of Institutional Advancement, Room A-508, 222-05 56 Avenue, Bayside, NY 11364. 

 

During these unprecedented times, your gift will make both an immediate and life-long impact on Queensborough students.

 

 

Art Gallery

 

Fall 2020 - Virtual Gallery Internship

In conjunction with the Department of Art and Design, Bayside High School and Cultural Homestay International, a virtual internship is available this fall semester to accommodate students working remotely. Students of QCC and partner programs will continue their Gallery Museum studies through a 10-week internship that will develop the student’s understanding of conducting research and identifying artwork through observational techniques. The program will also offer digital marketing development techniques.

QCC Art Gallery’s Virtual Artist Talk

November 16, 2020 - 9:00 a.m.

Facebook and YouTube

QCC’s Julia Rothenberg, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Sociology holds an open Q&A with artist Peter Pacheco.

A discussion takes place that details current projects, as well as how his experience as a nurse working during a pandemic has influenced his art.

Virtual Gallery Film Series

A series of films highlighting collaborations with recent artists and faculty featuring films, interviews and performances recently held in the Gallery.

The virtual series will be available on the College’s YouTube channel, Facebook and the Gallery’s web page.

 

Kupferberg Holocaust Center

 

Virtual Kristallnacht Commemoration

Tuesday, November 10, 2020 at 7:00 p.m.

Keynote Presentation: 'November 1938 as Turning Point' with Peter Hayes

Join us for our annual Kristallnacht commemoration featuring a keynote by Peter Hayes. This year’s event is co-sponsored by the KHC, the Holocaust, Genocide, and Interfaith Education Center at Manhattan College and the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at West Point Academy. Peter Hayes is Professor of History and German and Theodore Zev Weiss Holocaust Educational Foundation Professor Emeritus at Northwestern University, where he taught from 1980 to 2016. The author or editor of thirteen books and a multiple prize-winning teacher, he served as chair of the Academic Committee of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum from 2014 to 2019.

Click HERE to register for the virtual event

 

KHC/NEH Colloquium Event

Creating a Concentration Camp Society: How Governments Push for Mass Detention and How People Resist

Thursday, November 12, 2020 at 12:00 p.m. [Rescheduled Date]

The development of the German concentration camp system reveals how ruling parties engineer mass detention of civilians without trial. While the horrors of Nazi extermination camps remain unique in history, the first several years of German concentration camps parallel how governments in other places and times have adopted mass detention for similar political purposes. Join Andrea Pitzer, author and journalist, for a discussion about what gives rise to camps, including why their use expanded exponentially in the last decade, and what strategies have been successful in opposing them. This event is co-sponsored by the KHC and the Nancy & David Wolf Holocaust & Humanity Center.

Part of the 2020-2021 KHC/NEH Colloquium –

Internment & Resistance: Confronting Mass Detention and Dehumanization

Click HERE to register for the virtual event

 

KHC/NEH Colloquium Event

Contain and Control: The American Obsession with the Black Body
Wednesday, November 18, 2020 at 12:00 p.m.

An overview of the ways the bodies of Black Americans have been represented in the dominant (white) American culture from slavery to the current moment of mass incarceration and over-policing reveals the tension between an impulse to destroy and the desire to exploit. In American imagery and reality, Black bodies are trapped by the cruel paradox of being treated as simultaneously expendable and profitable. Dr. Agnieszka Tuszynska, Associate Professor of English at Queensborough Community College, will offer examples from visual culture, literature, and legal history to illustrate how myths and stereotypes about Black people have been used to justify various forms of control and containment of Black lives.

 

Part of the 2020-2021 KHC/NEH Colloquium –

Internment & Resistance: Confronting Mass Detention and Dehumanization

Click HERE to register for the virtual event

KHC VIRTUAL EXHIBITION

The Concentration Camps: Inside the Nazi System of Incarceration and Genocide

This new, original exhibition at the Harriet & Kenneth Kupferberg Holocaust Center surveys the scope and brutality of the Nazi system of incarceration and genocide, underscoring the horrific consequences of intolerance, racism, and authoritarianism. Approximately 44,000 concentration camps and ghettos existed across Nazi-occupied Europe and North Africa during World War II. These incarceration sites, which Adolf Hitler used as a mechanism to terrorize and eliminate non-Aryan groups (those seen as “subhuman,” “useless eaters,” and not part of the pure, white, Germanic race), ranged from small barns to compounds with populations of a medium-sized city. These extensive networks of ghettos, transit camps, women’s camps, forced labor camps, and extermination camps, to name a few, played a central role in the Holocaust—the annihilation of six million Jews—as well as the mass murder of millions more Poles, Roma and Sinti, homosexuals, people with disabilities, social outcasts, Jehovah’s Witahnesses, as well as other political and religious opponents. In addition to the exhibit’s text, images, and artifacts, personal testimonies from local Holocaust survivors offer painful insights into these excruciating landscapes of degradation and dehumanization. This exhibit is curated by Dr. Cary Lane, KHC 2020-21 Curator-in-Residence and Associate Professor of English at QCC.

Visit khc.qcc.cuny.edu/camps to view the virtual exhibit.

 

PLEASE NOTE:

The KHC is physically closed and all programming will be held virtually for Fall 2020.

Visit the Education page of the KHC website for a complete listing of our comprehensive library guides and to view recorded events from our past NEH colloquia.

 

 

Queensborough Performing Arts Center (QPAC)

 

Sunday, November 8, 2020 – 7:00 pm. EDT

SPECIAL EVENT: KEITH DAVID – BROADWAY, GREENLEAF & NAT KING COLE

Film credits include the summer blockbuster The Nice Guys, alongside Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling, Oliver Stone's Academy Award winning Platton, Academy Award winning Crash, There's Something About Mary, Armageddon, Pitch Black, The Chronicles of Riddick and Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Currently, Keith David stars in the OWN (Oprah) Network drama series Greenleaf, which is in its 5th season! Noted for his deep commanding voice, Keith is also an Emmy Award winning voice over artist and an accomplished singer, earning a Tony Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Broadway's Jelly's Last Jam. His latest venture is a joyful, swinging and theatrical journey into the music and life of one of America's greatest artists, Nat King Cole. Music & live Q&A, Streaming. 

 

 

Tuesday, November 10, 2020 – 7:00 p.m. EDT FREE

Name That Tune with The American Pops Orchestra
Join us for a new twist on the classic game – Name That Tune!
The American Pops Orchestra joins QPAC to test your knowledge of music for a family fun night.

 

Different themes each time. On-line scoring sheet and an Amazon Gift Card for the winner! All donations received will go to support both The American Pops Orchestra and QPAC! Any amount accepted. You will not want to miss these exciting interactive games on-line. Hosted by the very talented Luke Frazier. 

 

Tuesday, November 24, 2020 – 7:00 p.m. EDT FREE

Name That Tune with The American Pops Orchestra

Join us for a new twist on the classic game – Name That Tune!
The American Pops Orchestra joins QPAC to test your knowledge of music for a family fun night. Different themes each time. On-line scoring sheet and an Amazon Gift Card for the winner! All donations received will go to support both The American Pops Orchestra and QPAC! Any amount accepted. You will not want to miss these exciting interactive games on-line. Hosted by the very talented Luke Frazier. 

 

Tuesday, December 8, 2020 – 7:00 p.m. EDT FREE

Name That Tune with the American Pops Orchestra

Join us for a new twist on the classic game – Name That Tune!
The American Pops Orchestra joins QPAC to test your knowledge of music for a family fun night. Different themes each time. On-line scoring sheet and an Amazon Gift Card for the winner! All donations received will go to support both The American Pops Orchestra and QPAC! Any amount accepted. You will not want to miss these exciting interactive games on-line. Hosted by the very talented Luke Frazier. 

 

Saturday, December 12, 2020 – 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

 

Virtual Gotta Dance for the Adults!

 

Choreography as seen on Broadway and in the movies is re-created to provide a fun way of working out.

 

Get ready to have an absolute blast!

 

ONLY $5 per workshop

 

Tickets can be purchased online: QPAC Website or by calling the box office (718) 631-6311.