President's Report for November 2019

Enrollment Management Update

• The Office of Admissions, in conjunction with the Office of New Student Engagement, have hosted a series of campus tours and information sessions to welcome new students and their families to campus for the Spring 2020 enrollment cycle. In addition, the Admissions staff has been busy recruiting for Spring 2020 and building the pipeline for Fall 2020 enrollment by attending college fairs, private visits and networking with counselors to share the benefits of attending QCC.  On Monday, October 21^st, the Office of Admissions admitted their first group of new students for spring 2020 delivered by the Central Office via the full admissions process. Business practices to introduce the new proficiency index for Spring 2020 are currently being worked on by the Offices of Admissions, Academy Advisement and Academic Affairs.

• The Spring 2020 advisement and registration enrollment cycle for continuing students is underway. To promote the importance of continuing students registering as early as possible, the Office of Marketing and Communications, in conjunction with the Office of Academy Advisement, launched the “October is Advisement and Registration Month”   A raffle will award a $50 gift card for every 100^th student that registers within the first week of registration opening.  Academy Advisers are seeing students by appointment, and have flexible walk-in opportunities, in order to serve as many students as possible.  Utilizing social media to promote the event as well as candy and photo opportunities for Instagram, the Office of Academic Advisement held a Halloween-themed event that provided “On-the-Spot Advisement and Registration” in the Science Building Lobby on Wednesday, October 30^th.  On Monday, November 18^th and Monday, December 2^nd, Academy Advisement will be hosting their first ever Q&A session for advising on Instagram Live, utilizing the social media platform to connect with our students. Lastly, on Wednesday, December 11^th, Academy Advisement will host another “On-The-Spot Advisement and Registration” event in order to capture any students in need of assistance before finishing up their fall semester.  Registration appointments for incoming students began on Tuesday, November 5^th. 

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, located in the Library Building - Room 440.  Services provided include (but not limited to) financial benefits screening, financial counseling, legal assistance, tax preparation services, food bank, housing assistance and more.  Additional information can be found online at QCC Single Stop.

• 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.edu  or Ms. Amawati Gonesh, Single Stop Administrator, via e-mail at AGonesh@qcc.cuny.edu.  Additional information can be found online at QCC Scholarships.

• The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship makes 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 November 20, 2019.  Additional information can be found at QCC Scholarships.

• The Women’s Forum Education Award provides 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 and must also 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, 2020.  Additional information can be found at QCC Scholarships.

• 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, 2019 and the deadline is February 27, 2020. Please refer students to visit Dream US Scholarship Program to apply.

• The Belle Zeller Scholarship Trust Fund is now available for eligible students to apply. The award shall consist of the yearly undergraduate tuition for in-state students as set by the university. The deadline to apply is March 6, 2020. For additional information, including eligibility requirements and scholarship application, please visit New York City Tech Belle Zeller Scholarship Trust Fund.

Student Achievements

• Chemistry major Biling Chen is the only student within CUNY to receive the 2019 CUNY Thomas Tam Scholarship this year which awards $1,000 annually to a qualified undergraduate student who has demonstrated creativity in the communication of the concerns of the Asian American community in areas such as health, education, and culture. Congratulations to Biling and her mentors Dr. Sasan Karimi and Dr. Paris Svoronos.

Upcoming Events

• The Veterans' Day Remembrance and Reflection Ceremony will take on Wednesday, November 13^th at 9:30 am at the Charles F. Bova Veterans Memorial Grove. The ceremony will be held to honor our military members, past and present.  In the week honoring our veterans, let us recommit to showing our respect and gratitude to those who have served, especially the veterans on our faculty, staff, and among our student body.  We invite the Queensborough community to join us!

• On Wednesday, November 13^th, the Office of Career Services will hold its annual Internship & Cooperative Education Forum from 12:00 – 3:00 pm in the Student Union-Upper Level.  The Internship & Cooperative Education Forum provides an opportunity to currently enrolled Queensborough students to learn about internships being offered by more than 50 employers in fields related to the curricula of the College. Also in attendance will be Cooperative Education Coordinators who can educate students about the steps they need to take to complete an internship for credit. All students are urged to attend this event and bring copies of their resumes.

• The SGA Multicultural Festival will take place on Wednesday, November 27^th at 12:10 pm in the Student Union Lounge. The event will showcase the culture and diversity of the college by way of music, dance performances and international food. All QCC students, faculty, and staff are invited to attend.  QCC ID Required.

• The World AIDS Day Health Fair will take place on Wednesday, December 4^th at 11:00 am in the Student Union. Hosted by the Office of Health Services, this event will feature information tabling on nutrition education, fire safety, HIV & STI prevention, tobacco cessation as well as free blood pressure screenings, HIV & STI testing, Hepatitis B & C screening, and much more.  This event is open to all QCC students, faculty, and staff with zero charge.

• The Counseling Center will host a Therapy Dog on Wednesday, December 4^th at 12:00 pm in the Medical Arts Building Lobby. The event will promote relaxation among students as they prepare to take final exams in the coming weeks following the event.

Academic Master Plan

The response to the call for participants in the faculty survey on possible themes for the Academic Master Plan (AMP) was very strong: nearly 150 faculty members and CLTs participated, prioritizing a series of possible themes for the development of the AMP. Development of the AMP will progress throughout 2019-20. A final draft for campus distribution should be available by the end of the academic year. Open forums for review and discussion of the document will commence in fall 2020; following that, the final version of the AMP will be submitted to the Academic Senate for review and approval. The survey results are an important early part of the planning process; many thanks to those who participated.

ABET

 The evaluation team site visit for ABET reaccreditation took place on October 20-22. The team reviewed Queensborough’s three ABET-accredited programs—Computer Engineering Technology, Electronic Engineering Technology, and Mechanical Engineering Technology. Team members interviewed administrators, instructors, students, alumni, and industry partners. They toured our campus, reviewed numerous documents, and observed classroom and laboratory exercises. They came away suitably impressed with our facilities and with the dedication of our faculty and staff. The preliminary report noted just one weakness (and one concern common to two of the programs); the Engineering Technology department is already taking steps to address these issues. Congratulations to the Engineering Technology department!

 QCC Athletics

• The women’s volleyball team are the 2019 CUNYAC Champions for the fifth consecutive year, and heading to the Region XV Tournament this weekend at Orange CC to defend the Regional Championship that they won last year. Sophomore Tiffany Garcia-Lawson was named CUNYAC Player of the Year and Sophomore Paige Hughes was named CUNYAC Tournament MVP, while Head Coach Jason Demas recorded his 200^th career win and was named CUNYAC Coach of the Year. Three other team members were also selected all-conference and/or all-region.
• The men’s soccer team are the 2019 CUNYAC Regular Season Champions after finishing the season a perfect 3-0 in conference play. Led by first team All-Region selection, Luis Flores, the Tigers finished the season 6^th in the region and Head Coach Aziwoh Ayafor was named CUNYAC Coach of the Year for their efforts in the regular season.
• Women’s Volleyball Coach Jason Demas recorded his 200th win as a head coach, making him the winningest coach in Queensborough history.

Faculty and Staff Accomplishments

• Chantale Damas, working with NASA, received a $412K grant that will enable, among other things, six undergrad engineers to work alongside astrophysicists and other experts at Goddard space center outside of Washington. They will be working on what’s known as CubeSats, or cereal-box sized satellites, that will investigate the ionosphere – that part of the atmosphere affected by solar activity which often disrupts our terrestrial communication. That’s undergraduate community college students working in space on things that have a direct application to the telecomm systems we all use and benefit from.
• Queensborough’s dance program received accreditation from the National Association of Schools of Dance (NASD). We now have the same accreditation as the Alvin Ailey School and the Martha Graham School; and we’re one of only three community colleges in the nation to be accredited by NASD. Congratulations to Andrea Salis, Emily Berry, Aviva Geismar and Nicole McClam.

Continuing Education & Workforce Development

Upcoming events:

• Hui-Yin Hsu, Lori Conkling and Jacqueline Montgomery will present a workshop entitled, “Working with Faculty to Create Innovation Stackable Micro-Credentials” at Continuation Education Association of New York on Nov. 7, 2019, White Plains, New York.
• CEWD will host 1st advisory committee meeting at Oakland, December 6, at 10:00 am -12:00 pm.

Grants Update

Grants Awarded September 25, 2019 through October 22, 2019

• No grants awarded during this time period.

QCC Facilities Update

QPAC: The Queensborough Community College Performing Arts Theater capital project continues and is scheduled for completion for the Fall semester in 2020 (FY 21). This project is updating the facility to be ADA compliant and will also improve the acoustics, seating and various amenities in the facility. Additionally, a much needed additional ADA compliant elevator will be added, improving access to not only the theater venue, but the entire Humanities Building.

QCC Chiller Plant: During October, the final stage of a major sustainability improvement to replace QCC's chiller plant has kicked off.  The extensive, and outdated chiller plant at QCC creates the air conditioning we all rely on during the warm weather months. The modernization will create an efficient and energy savings plant which will greatly improve the computer-automated climate controls systems of our facilities. The large machinery in place in the Boiler Room, and in other machinery rooms throughout the campus, will be dismantled and replaced with little disruption anticipated for our faculty, students and staff. However, there will be a 6 - 8-week disruption to faculty and staff parking in Lot 4 (located between the Medical Arts Building and RFK) as an excavation will be necessary to remove and replace the large chiller machinery located below the lot. We are pushing to have this excavation phase occur during late December and January to minimize parking issues. 

Student Cafeteria: The long awaited phase II of the Cafeteria and Atrium enclosure is underway with bidding of the final construction documents by DASNY (Dormitory Authority of the State of New York) which will manage the project for QCC. During this phase, the Atrium will be enclosed with activated heating and cooling, an audio visual capability will be added (thanks to a legislative grant), a new state-of-the-art kitchen will be constructed in the Science lower level and a new and expanded cafeteria servery will be added in the current cafeteria location. The construction phase is expected to begin after the Spring 2020 semester end, at which time the existing facilities and the Atrium will be closed for up to 18 months. During this winter, we will be developing plans with our food services provider to determine alternative methods and locations for food delivery, particularly for students.

Cloverdale Center Acquisition Update: The Purchase and Sale Contract is still under review by the New York State Attorney General (AG).  Currently, CUNY has assigned a design team which has been reviewing the site for the immediate work necessary to take occupancy after the sale is concluded. We anticipate the bidding, vendor selection and construction work will last several months.

Facility Work Order Requests: during the summer, QCC and CUNY launched an updated work order system for all facility maintenance requests. It is imperative for the college to track work order to ensure the most efficient use of our limited staff and to identify issues that require a change in procedures or management intervention. Each academic and administrative department has at least one representative who can request work orders. Please encourage staff to utilize this tool.

Custodial Resources: due a reduction of staff and overtime resulting from budget constraints, we will be striving to provide custodial services at the level the college has been accustomed to, however, we need your assistance to maximize our limited staff resources. Please report concerns to B&G if you see issues, particularity in our many bathrooms--if you see something, please say something. We will make every effort to keep up with the daily use of our facility by thousands of students and staff.

Last year, Fight Campus Hunger, the grassroots student fundraiser, #CUNYTuesday, the 24-hour giving challenge and our direct mail appeal, collectively raised almost $20,000 in support of the food pantry on campus!

This year, Fight Campus Hunger kicked off with a dodgeball and soccer tournament in October. A basketball and volleyball tournament are scheduled for Wednesday, November 13^th during club hours and students, faculty and staff are ALL welcome. Faculty and staff may choose to participate or sponsor a student player. For more details visit QCC Fight for Campus Hunger. Student players are asked to contribute $5 and the suggested minimum contribution for faculty and staff to participate or sponsor a student player is $10.  All funds raised support the food pantry on campus. We invite all to attend the tournaments to show their support.

This year #CUNYTuesday is on December 3rd and Queensborough is again participating in the 24-hour giving challenge. To make a gift online in support of student success for #CUNYTuesday, visit QCC CUNY Tuesday.

The Donor Appreciation Reception, hosted by President Lynch and the QCC Fund, Inc., will be held on Tuesday, November 5, 2019 at 5:30 p.m. in the Oakland Dining Room to thank supporters of the College.  A program following the cocktail reception will engage our guests in conversations with Dr. Nidhi Gadura, Professor and Chairperson, Biological Sciences and Geology and two (2) of her students.

We held our annual Celebration of Service last week to pay tribute to our honorees who attained 20, 30, 40 and 50 years at Queensborough.

Art Gallery

Eve Clone: Augmented Reality

October 14 – November 27, 2019

Taiwanese artist Pey-Chwen Lin embraces digital technology to create an interactive experience using iconic imagery from Italian master Leonardo DaVinci. The result is a digitally enhanced character named - Eve Clone. The final touch uses AR techniques that transform Eve Clone from a static print into dynamic video simulation that interacts with the audience.

Sakura Obsession – Chin-Lung Huang

October 25 – November 27, 2019

The QCC Art Gallery is featuring an exhibition by renowned Taiwanese painter Chin Lung Huang, a professor from National Taiwan Normal University. The show is based on his interpretation of cherry blossoms and the style of his works is designed to bring the east and west together.

Bronx Triennial Latino Independent Film Festival

December 12, 2019

In partnership with Bronxartspace, the QCC Art Gallery is presenting a day of films directed by local and international independent Latino film makers. The Broad range of Triennial artists includes representation from Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Spain, Uruguay and Venezuela. The Project will create awareness of the rich international network with Latin American artists, many with strong links to New York City.

Kupferberg Holocaust Center

Survivance and Sovereignty on Turtle Island: Special Tour with Curatorial Team

Wednesday, November 13, 2019 at 12:00 p.m. at the Kupferberg Holocaust Center

Join the curators of Survivance and Sovereignty on Turtle Island: Engaging with Contemporary Native American Art  on a guided tour through the KHC’s new exhibition, on view throughout the 2019-2020 academic year. Bringing together sixteen artists from across the continent, Survivance and Sovereignty on Turtle Island interweaves the government-sanctioned atrocities of the past with the continued resilience of the first peoples of this land. On this tour, you will have the opportunity to learn about the process of how the exhibition came together firsthand from co-curator Kat Griefen. There will be a short Q & A following the tour.

Ideologies of Racism Past and Present

Wednesday, November 20, 2019 at 12:00 p.m. at the Kupferberg Holocaust Center

Notions of race, racialization, and racism are often used to construct authoritarian ideologies. Our speakers will address strategies for opposing such racism and racist ideologies in the United States today. Speakers include Dr. Trevor Milton, Assistant Professor of Sociology and Criminology at QCC-CUNY and Dr. Judy Yu, Professor and Project Director of the Department of Secondary Education and Youth Services at Queens College-CUNY.

Part of the KHC/NEH 2019-2020 Colloquium: Authoritarianism on the Continuum

Nativism, Nationalism and Immigration Policy

Wednesday, December 4, 2019 at 4:00 p.m. at the Kupferberg Holocaust Center

Nativism and nationalist ideology have frequently been utilized to bring populations on board with authoritarian-leaning governments and public policy, exacerbating xenophobic tensions. America’s societal and political history with nativism, nationalism, and immigration, in relation to previous, current, and potential government policy, will be examined during this lecture. Speakers include Dr. James Nichols, Associate Professor of History at QCC-CUNY, Laura Wooley, Esq., Immigration Staff Attorney at Brooklyn Defender Services, and Marisol Silva, Esq., Immigrant Justice Corps Fellow at Safe Horizon. 

Part of the KHC/NEH 2019-2020 Colloquium: Authoritarianism on the Continuum

Queensborough Performing Arts Center (QPAC)

Saturday, November 23, 2019 - 8:00 p.m.

The Boy Band Project

The Boy Band Project is an interactive boy band cover group that expertly reimages the sound, movement and energy of the world’s most fascinating musical phenomenon obsession! With talent direct from Broadway, and featuring the music of NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, Hanson, One Direction, Boyz II Men, and more, the room is instantly transformed into a euphoric gathering of super fans the moment the boys take the stage.  Grab everyone you know, and join us for a night of singing, dancing and fist-bumping excitement.  The Boy Band Project reunites our favorite bands.  Part parody, with talent that is off the charts, these boys will make you want to get up and dance!  Presented at The Lexington Center, 25-26 75^th Street, East Elmhurst, NY 11370

Sunday, November 3, 2019 – 3:00 p.m.

Let There Be Love

QPAC continues to present shows at off-campus venues while the renovations to the theatre are progressing. Remaining shows this season are Let There be Love-Keith David Celebrates the Music of Nat King Cole and The Boy Band Project, to be performed at St. John’s University and The Lexington Center in Manhattan, respectively.