President's Report for October 2024

Center for Excellence in Teaching and Leaning (CETL) 

The Center for Excellence in Teaching & Learning (CETL) will be hosting a workshop on "Finding Venues for Publication" (Oct 18) and "Assessment & Best Practices for Designing an Effective Survey" (Oct 25) in collaboration with QCC Library. These workshops will familiarize faculty with various issues regarding academic publishing: Open access; Author rights; Evaluating journals; CUNY repository. Please REGISTER for these workshops. At the upcoming workshop on "Classroom Management" (Oct 23), participants will discuss strategies of classroom management for student success. The "Faculty Fellowship Project Presentations" (Nov 15) will provide an opportunity for faculty to share the outcomes of their research. All Faculty are encouraged to visit CETL and OET homepages to see a complete listing of all upcoming events and professional development opportunities. 

Workforce Development 

I. Overview

Workforce Development, formerly a division of the Office of CEWD, now reports to the Provost in the Office for Academic Affairs. The division leads and implements Workforce Development Industry Certificate and short-term skills-based courses for students, alumni and adult learners throughout Queens and NYC and supports their career pathways to family-sustaining Good Jobs in the NYC region. Workforce Development collaborates with Senior Administration, Faculty, Academic Departments, Continuing Ed and Administrative Depts. to secure funding from government agencies, foundations, organizations & corporations for Workforce Development Initiatives. 

II.  Accomplishments 

• U.S. Department of Labor Strengthening Community Colleges Grant, $4,999,002 (2021-2025): Lori A. Conkling co-authored the proposal, “Co-Designing an Integrated Accelerated Pathways Model with Employers and the Workforce Development System: Driving System Changes through the CUNY Community Colleges”. In January 2021, $4,999,002 was awarded to QCC as the lead college, and five other CUNY Community Colleges, including BCC, BMCC, HCC, KBCC and LaGuardia CC, enabling CUNY Community Colleges to implement macro systemic changes to manage and coordinate Workforce Development Programs throughout the CUNY system and to offer targeted Technology, Health Care and Education training programs to CUNY students, alumni and unemployed and underemployed New Yorkers. In 2023-2024, over 300 students were trained in the following Technology Certificate programs: Amazon Web Services (AWS) Cloud Computing (Solutions Architect, DevOps, Big Data & Machine Learning Certifications), Software Engineering Micro-Credential Career Track in Web Development and Google IT Support Professional Development Program. Students also worked with a Job Developer, who facilitated students’ entry into internships, part-time and full-time employment. 

• CUNY Central ACE Upskilling Opportunity Grant, $304,940.59: In July 2023, Lori A. Conkling wrote and submitted a proposal on behalf of QCC/CEWD entitled, “Creating Inclusive Technology Pathways & Sustaining Careers for CUNY Students, Alumni & the Broader NYC Community”. QCC was awarded this grant in September 2023 to achieve the following:

-Two Virtual Technology Microcredential Job Readiness Training Programs, linking non-credit certificate courses to credit-bearing college-level courses in Technology, through both established MOU’s and CUNY’s Credit for Prior Learning Policy (CPL) 

-Faculty & Employer Engagement Advisory Collaborative (FEEAC): Funding for hiring Employer Engagement Specialist, Heather Binen under the leadership of the grant’s PI, created a Faculty and Employer Engagement Advisory Collaborative (FEEAC), which convened several times                a month for the duration of the grant, consisting of employer partners in Technology, including Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google and  Bank of America, as well as other industries that employ Technology professionals, and QCC faculty. Courses offered included Six Software Engineering Micro-Credential Career Track in Web Development Boot Camps, four introductory and two advanced Certificates and two Amazon Web Services (AWS) Cloud Computing & Cybersecurity Training courses leading to AWS Certifications. 450 students were served. 

• New York State Department of Workforce Development, Consolidated Funding Application, Office of the Governor, $499,994: In March-April 2022, Lori A. Conkling wrote and submitted a proposal entitled, “New York State Consolidated Funding Application (CFA) Proposal for Certified Recovery Peer Advocate (CRPA) Workforce Development Programs: Advocating for Integrated CRPA Career Pathways for Talent Pipelines in the Post-Pandemic NYC Workforce”, QCC was awarded the funding in summer 2022. This funding enabled QCC to offer two cohorts of the QCC Certified Recovery Peer Advocate (CRPA) Program to 46 participants in 2023-2024 and our Second Annual CRPA Conference in 2024. QCC offered 2 cohorts of two CRPA Programs to 46 students, consisting of the 64-hour Certified Recovery Peer Advocate Certificate and the 3-credit, 45-hour QCC Addictions & Dependencies course taught by Dr. Edward Diller. Students were placed in Internships and job positions in the Behavioral Health Field.

• College App RFP: QCC Action Plan: Implementing The College App to Increase Student Enrollment: $10,000: In April 2023, Lori A. Conkling collaborated with VP Brian Mitra, Office of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management, and wrote Action Plan, proposal, which was awarded to QCC in May 2023 by CUNY Central.

• Education Design Lab (EDL) Grant: $49,991.24: In June 2023, Lori A. Conkling wrote a proposal for the Education Design Lab (EDL)/Community College Growth Engine Fund (CCGEF) College Transformation Funding Request. QCC/CEWD was awarded the grant and we offered an Advanced Software Engineering micro-pathways course, purchased CREDLY badges for credit and non-credit students and collected and shared micro-pathways completion data with other EDL community colleges, including several CUNY community colleges.

• U.S. DOL Building Pathways to Infrastructure Grant: Lori A. Conkling, worked with the NYC Department of Youth & Community Development and LaGuardia Community College on this grant, which was awarded directly to DYCD, and which is sub-contracting to both community colleges. The total amount awarded to DYCD was $1,790,293, with $291,335.28 awarded to both QCC and LaGuardia to implement an MTA Electrical Pre-Apprenticeship Program for Out-of-School Youth. 60 students will be trained over a three-year period.

• CUNY “English Language to Work” Proposal: $249,903: In January 2024, Dr. Maz Nikoui-Tehrani and Lori A. Conkling worked on the proposal: Empowering and Transforming “New Yorkers” through QCC’s Contextualized Teaching Assistant/Paraprofessional Certificate Program for Career Pathways throughout the NYC Department of Education System. Shortly thereafter QCC/CEWD was awarded the proposal funding, which will train up to 75 “New Yorkers” in 2024 and 2025.

• New York City Department of Youth & Community Development: In 2023-2024, Lori A. Conkling served as PI for several grants offering industry-recognized credentials and jobs to out-of-school youth in Certified Hemodialysis Training, 5G Mobile Technician Training and HVAC Training, managed by Rodney Shannon, Project Director.

• Pre-College Grants:  In 2023-2024, Lori A. Conkling served as PI for three QCC pre-college grants, including the NYSDOE-funded STEP (Science & Technology Education Program), the NYSDOE-funded Liberty Partnerships/Project Prize and the CUNY Explorers Program.

• Service to QCC in 2023-2024 included the following:

- QCC Academic Senate, Continuing Education Committee, Secretary

- Perkins Grant Local Advisory Council Member

- STEP (Science & Technology Education Program) Advisory Council Member

- President’s Office: Achieving the Dream (ATD) Introductory Workshop

- President’s Office: Achieving the Dream (ATD) Workshop #2

 - Safe Zone Training

• Professional Development:

- Co-Chair of Continuing Education Association of New York (CEANY) 2023 Conference Planning Committee

- Co-Author, with Dr. Andrea Salis, Chair and Professor Edward Diller, Department of Health, Physical Education & Dance:  Manuscript (HPP-23-0454) entitled "Establishing a Model for Certified Recovery Peer Advocate Training Program" submitted to Health Promotion Practice.

-Participated in U.S. Department of Labor Strengthening Community College Conference in Washington, D.C., June 12-14, 2024, in Washington, D.C.

Enrollment Management Update

The Office for Academy Advisement has begun early advisement and will officially kick off October is Advisement month on October 1. A communication campaign will begin encouraging students to book early advisement appointments, followed up by a tabling event on October 16, from 11:00 am – 2:00pm to assist students with booking appointments and coming in for walk-in advisement that day. This campaign will also include a social media push for advising using the QCC Instagram/TikTok, in coordination with Marketing and Communications, to run several short videos about advising and registration. In addition, Academy Advisement is partnering with the Division of Academic Affairs to host adviser training with the academic department faculty/chairs on September 25 and October 9 from 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm. This series will provide crucial updates from the Office of Academic Affairs to the advisement community before the winter/spring 2025 registration cycle. Lastly, we will host a Student Services training session for advisers on October 7, from 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm. 

Student Support Resources

• The Office of Financial Services will be hosting weekly FAFSA Fest events to assist students with completing their financial aid applications. For the fall 2024 semester, events will take place on Wednesday afternoons from 1:00 – 4:00 pm in Library Building – Room117 (Academic Computing Center area) starting on September 18 and running through November 20 (click HERE to view upcoming dates). Additional events may be added and will be posted to the QCC Campus and Virtual Events Calendar. Please encourage students to attend. If students have any questions, please refer them to the Office of Financial Services located in the Administration Building - Room 106 or email FinancialAid@qcc.cuny.edu. 

• Faculty and staff are asked to encourage our students to avail themselves of the valuable and free resources through the Advocacy Resource Center. Services provided include public benefits screening, financial coaching, legal assistance, tax preparation services, housing assistance, food pantry referrals, and more. 

• 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. Students with short-term financial emergencies should be referred to Ms. Amawati Gonesh, Advocacy Resource Center Program Manager, via email at AGonesh@qcc.cuny.edu.  Additional information can be found online at QCC Scholarships. 

• The Point Foundation Flagship Scholarship empowers LGBTQ students who are earning their undergraduate, graduate, & doctoral degrees at accredited colleges in the United States by offering financial support, community resources, and professional development. Eligible applicants must be enrolled or intending to enroll at an accredited college or university based in the United States, including Hawaii and Alaska. Community college students must be transferring to a bachelor’s degree program at a four-year college or university for the academic year of the scholarship. The application will open at 12:00 pm EST on September 10 and close on December 5 at 8:00 pm EST. Additional information can be found on the Flagship Scholarship website. 

• The 2024 Dr. K. York & M. Noelle Chynn CUNY Ethics and Morality Essay Contest is 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 deadline to apply is November 1, 2024. Feel free to visit the CUNY Ethics and Morality Essay website for additional information. 

• The 2024 CUNY Thomas Tam Scholarship was established in honor of Dr. Thomas Tam's many contributions to the City University of New York. The scholarship awards $1,000 to a qualified undergraduate student currently enrolled in any CUNY institution, Asian or Non-Asian "who has demonstrated creativity in the communication of the concerns of the Asian American community in areas such as Health, Education, and Culture." Display of communication of the concerns of the Asian American community can be in the form of written reports, film, video, new media techniques, and the development of performances or materials in the arts and sciences. The deadline to apply is November 1, 2024. Additional details can be found on the Thomas Tam Scholarship website. 

• The Women's Forum Education Award provides a scholarship of $10,000 to women age 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's 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, 2025. For more information, visit the Women’s Forum Education Award website. 

• The Point Foundation BIPOC Scholarship aims to mitigate generations of racism and an education system born from discriminatory policies by providing financial support, community resources, and professional development to LGBTQ students who identify as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. The application will open at 12:00 pm EST on September 10 and the deadline to apply is October 24 at 8:00 pm EST. Additional information can be found on the Point Foundation BIPOC Scholarship website.

Upcoming Events

• The Office of Accessibility Services, sponsored by CCSD@QCC (CUNY Coalition for Students with Disabilities), will host a Bake Sale on the Humanities Quadrangle on Wednesday, September 25 (10:00 am-3:00 pm), Tuesday, October 22 (10:00 am-3:00 pm), and Thursday, October 31 (10:00 am-1:00 pm) to raise funds for scholarships and awards for students with disabilities. At the end of the Spring semester, funds will be awarded to students who've achieved exemplary academic success. The bake sale is open to all QCC students, faculty, and staff. For additional information, please contact Mr. Leonard Blades, CCSD@QCC Club Advisor, via email at LBlades@qcc.cuny.edu. 

• Free HIV/STI/STD Testing will be provided by Northwell Health every Wednesday beginning October 9 through December 18 from 10:00 am – 3:00 pm in the Office of Health Services (Medical Arts Building – Room MC02). The AIDS Center of Queens County (“ACQC”) will provide free testing on Tuesday, October 15, October 29, and November 12. 

• Health Insurance Enrollers will be present on the QCC campus in the Science Building Lobby. Fidelis Care will be present on Wednesdays from 9:00 am – 1:00 pm beginning October 9 through December 18 and Anthem Blue Cross will be present on Thursdays from 10:00 am – 3:00 pm starting October 10 through December 19. Students who are looking to enroll in a health insurance plan are invited to stop by their information table for assistance. Contact the Office of Health Services at HealthServices@qcc.cuny.edu for additional information. 

• The Queensborough Male Resource Center (“QMRC”) will host a Barbershop Day event on Monday, October 21 at 2:00 pm in the Student Union – Upper Level in Room 107. Get Fresh for Free! The Male Resource Center is offering students free haircuts on a first come, first-served basis. We recognize the growing cost of many routine self-maintenance services students need in order to present their best selves, and we would like to help. 

• The Office of Health Services will host the Annual Fall Blood Drive on Tuesday, October 22 from 9:00 am – 3:00 pm in the Student Union Building – Upper Level. There is an ongoing blood supply shortage that strains the ability of our community to meet the critical health needs of its people. As a member of the Queensborough community you can make a difference. Every drop counts. All students, faculty and staff are welcome. To donate blood, you must be 17 years of age, or older, and weigh at least 110 pounds and have not received a tattoo or body piercings within the past year. Please be sure to eat a meal before attending the blood drive. Contact the Office of Health Services at HealthServices@qcc.cuny.edu for additional information.

Events Report 

GOOD NEWS!

The QCC Fund Board has allocated $200,000 for the Promise Scholarship which provides critical financial support to students with an outstanding tuition balance of $500 - $1,000 (85% of students with a tuition balance of $500-$1,000 do not return the following semester). This allocation will help to remove holds on the students’ accounts and permit them to register for classes. 

DO GOOD. GIVE! Annual Fund Campaign

You will be receiving a letter in the mail from Davia Willis, ’24 our SGA President last year. Davia is enrolled in the dual-Joint B.S./M.S. Program in Criminal Justice at John Jay College. She invites faculty and staff to join her in supporting the College, because she believes “Queensborough.is everything to brag about.” You can choose to support the Lucille A. Bova Food Pantry, the LGBTQIA+ Center, and the Promise Scholarship. Click here to make your donation online and select from the drop-down menu. Please make checks payable to the QCC Fund, Inc., and mail to

The College, Division of Strategic Initiatives and Advancement, Room A-508. 

Your donation to the Annual Fund Campaign creates both an immediate and lasting impact on students like Davia. Thank you for your continued support and for always caring!

MAJOR GIFTS/GRANT FUNDS RECEIVED - FY24-25 Academic Year:

• Caryn Giananti donated $40,000 for scholarships for part-time students.
• Amazin Mets, and the Alexandra & Steve Cohen Foundations awarded $30,000 for merit scholarships.
• Skanska USA donated $5,000 for scholarships for Engineering Technology students.
• The Robin Hood Foundation awarded $265,000 in grant funds for the Male Resource Center.

 

                                                                       Art Gallery 

Internship Program: 

• Since February, three students from the Gallery and Museum Studies Program have been participating in the internship program in the Department of Art and Design.
• One (1) high school student completed a five-week internship from the Summer Youth Employment Program through the NYC Department of Youth and Community Development.  

List of Exhibits/Events - October 12, 2024 – November 22, 2024

Oakland Building – Monday - Friday 9:00 a.m.- 5:00 p.m. 

• Kyunglim Lee

Homage of Gyemjae

Kyunglim Lee creates artwork with corrugated cardboard. Her paintings are part 3D sculptures made with resin on paper. Corrugated cardboard is an inevitable by-product of modern mass production and transportation systems. Cardboard, with winding symmetrical curves on its surface, stands for its necessary usage in today's commercial society as a reliable packaging medium. In her work, cardboard that has tacitly and humorlessly finished its role as containers, protectors, and transporters of mass-produced goods symbolize a regeneration and a revival. In fact, she feels limited when it comes to using colors as a sole medium of expressing textures. Instead, she cut and formed soft and attractive cardboard into small pieces and attached them together before adding the color and creating a sense of a sculpted paper form. Kyunglim Lee is currently attending a Continuing Education class at QCC. 

• Md Saidur Rahman

City Life

The theme of "City Life," reflects his experiences growing up in a city where he observed a world rife with injustice. This artwork presents various scenes from city life, each carrying different messages and titles. Through these pieces, a crucial message is conveyed to the world as we are losing our humanity. He aims to convey a crucial message to the world, as people stand by as people suffer and injustices occur, whether it is witnessing death, violence, or discrimination, without acting. Presently, Md. Saidur Rahman is currently attending Flushing International High School and completed his internship at the QCC Art Gallery in the Spring of 2024..

• Christopher and Genevieve McConnel:

Selection of African Artwork

Christopher and Genevieve McConnell have been collectors of African art for over 40 years. Slowly and with a discerning eye they have amassed a collection of objects from Western and Central Africa that explores African notions of beauty and power. 

The McConnell’s always purchased pieces they loved, not pieces that they believed were for investment or their own prestige. Their collection, including a rare Fang reliquary guardian figure from Gabon formerly exhibited in the Baltimore Museum of Art for decades, and Dogon figures purchased from some of the most famous dealers over the last half-century showcases gentle and beautiful forms and surfaces and exacting detail of workmanship. 

As longtime friends of the QCC Art Gallery, it is with pleasure that we present these selections from their collection – allowing a broad audience of aficionados of African Art to see these powerful and beautiful objects which have been in private hands for so long. 

                                                                   Kupferberg Holocaust Center

 

2024-25 KHC-NEH COLLOQUIUM

Circuitous Exchanges:

https://khc.qcc.cuny.edu/neh-programs/

Circuitous Exchanges, the theme for the 2024-2025 Kupferberg Holocaust Center-National Endowment for Humanities colloquium, focuses on the various exchanges that exist among historically oppressed and marginalized groups. Our use of the word exchanges refers to the connections, ideas, and creative productions shared among these groups. We use circuitous to emphasize that these connections, ideas, and creative productions are not always apparent, do not always travel from one direction to the other, and are often recursive in nature.

We center the lived experiences of these groups as they negotiate their outsider status with their host (or inhospitable) insider culture and devise ways to create a cultural identity regardless of their treatment. The events of Circuitous Exchanges build on the Kupferberg Holocaust Center’s mission to use the lessons of the Holocaust to educate current and future generations about the ramifications of prejudice, racism, and stereotyping.

2024-25 Faculty Fellows:

Dr. Danny Sexton, Associate Professor, English Department

Dr. Raquel Corona, Doctoral Lecturer, English Department

Dr. Julia Rothenberg, Associate Professor, Social Sciences Department 

Finding Home: Exploring the Cuban Jewish Experience in the Caribbean and the United States: 

Wednesday, October 30, 2024, at 12:00 p.m. EDT

Click here to register: https://tinyurl.com/49wse6bp

Join us for a conversation surrounding Cuba’s long Jewish history with Dr. Ruth Behar, a cultural anthropologist and published children’s book author who has spent her career studying and sharing her own personal experience navigating her identity as a Cuban Jew. The discussion will encompass the ways in which Jewish immigrants reckoned with the creation of their new homes and identities as they migrated from Europe to the Caribbean and the United States.

HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE MUSEUM SERIES

This series brings together museum curators and other cultural workers who discuss the roles historical and cultural institutions play in addressing human rights, social justice, and genocide. This program is part of the Kupferberg Holocaust Center’s living Land Acknowledgment and ongoing commitment to feature Indigenous voices and viewpoints. The program is organized collaboratively by Kat Griefen, faculty member and Program Coordinator for the Gallery and Museum Studies program, and the Kupferberg Holocaust Center.

Regarding Repatriation: Museums and Native Communities Today

Wednesday, October 9, 2024 at 2:00pm EDT

Click here to register: https://tinyurl.com/2wf3jbty

 Join us for a conversation about the 2024 revisions to the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), including its effects on museums and Native communities featuring Danyelle Means, Interim Director of the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture in Santa Fe, NM and co-curator of the Harriet & Kenneth Kupferberg Holocaust Center’s (KHC) 2019-20 exhibition, Survivance and Sovereignty on Turtle Island: Engaging with Contemporary Native American Art.

HOLOCAUST MEMORY/ANNUAL KRISTALLNACHT COMMEMORATION

2024 Kristallnacht Commemoration: Rethinking Antisemitism in Our Times 

Monday, November 11, 2024 at 6:00 p.m. EST

Click here to register: https://tinyurl.com/3z7ze9u6

Against the backdrop of the troubling rise in antisemitism around the world, a complex debate about how to define what is known as the oldest hatred continues unabated. On the anniversary of the Kristallnacht pogrom that took place November 9th and 10th, 1938, join us for a conversation about the importance of rethinking how we study antisemitism, including what does and does not work featuring Dr. Magda Teter, Professor of History and the Shvidler Chair in Judaic Studies at Fordham University and one of the scholars consulted on President Biden's National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism.

 WELCOME READ 2024/QCC-CUNY DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH

Published in 2020, While the Earth Sleeps We Travel includes interviews with and artwork, poems, and personal essays by young refugees from Palestine, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Bangladesh, Somalia, Venezuela, Kenya, Nigeria, Sudan, and Afghanistan, including poems by editor and Iraqi refugee Ahmed M. Badr. The Welcome Read event series was created by Beth Counihan and Ilse Schrynemakers and is funded by the Kupferberg Holocaust Center, including free books for students.

Book Club Events:

Wednesday, October 9, 2024 - 10:45a.m.-12:00 p.m. - Student Union, Upper Level

Faculty-led Welcome Read Book Club Workshop: please bring your class! 

Wednesday, October 16, 2024 - 10:45 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. - KHC Classroom

President's Book Club Meeting: open to individual students (not entire class visit due to room capacity). 

Meet the Editor Event:

Tuesday, October 22, 2024 - 11:15 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. and 12:15 p.m. -1:00 p.m. - QPAC

Editor of While the Earth Sleeps We Travel: Ahmed M. Badr 

 KHC ORIGINAL EXHIBITION

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

On View and Online at: https://khc.qcc.cuny.edu/camps/

The KHC continues to offer self-guided audio tours of its original exhibition which surveys the scope and brutality of the Nazi system of incarceration and genocide, underscoring the horrific consequences of antisemitism, racism, and authoritarianism. 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.

RECORDED EVENTS

KHC public programs that took place during FY2023-24: https://khc.qcc.cuny.edu/recordings/

KHC curated playlists: https://www.youtube.com/user/CUNYQueensborough/playlists

                                                                     Queensborough Performing Arts Center (QPAC) 

This fall, the College will launch a national search for the next Director of QPAC, a position previously held by Susan Agin. An assessment will be conducted to determine how we can expand QPAC’s involvement in the borough and further integrate the Center with the College as we enter this next chapter in QPAC history. While a national search is launched and conducted, Mark Amsterdam, who has worked for QPAC for three decades, has been appointed Interim Director.

                                                                                  EAB Navigate360 

On July 1, Navigate360 replaced Starfish as the College’s student success tool, joining all CUNY colleges in utilizing the tool. All student-facing offices will be onboarded to Navigate360, allowing us to better serve our students and increase transparency for all faculty and staff while supporting student success. Intra-office referrals will be issued and tracked in Navigate360, allowing everyone to close the loop. A road show of in-office training started over the summer and will continue throughout the Fall semester.

                                                                      Facility Reservations/Coursedog Events 

The College has moved to a new system for requesting facility reservations. Coursedog, which is used for classroom scheduling by the Office of the Registrar, makes it easy for faculty and staff to submit a request with any needed resources while preventing scheduling conflicts and automatically notifying Buildings & Grounds, Dining Services, Media Services, and Public Safety of any needs. 

FACILITIES UPDATES: 

A major renovation project of all restrooms will soon begin in the Kurt R. Schmeller Library to enhance accessibility and compliance with ADA guidelines. This initiative marks the first phase of a comprehensive renovation plan for all campus restrooms, starting with those in our library.

Project Details:

• Scope of Work: The renovation will involve redesigning and reconstructing restrooms to meet current ADA standards. This includes reconfiguring layouts, replacing worn-out fixtures (such as stalls, mirrors, and air supply systems), and updating exhaust systems and lighting.
• Start Date: Construction will commence on Saturday, September 14th.
• Expected Completion: Next Year (1 Year duration)

Restrooms Affected:

• Men’s and women’s restrooms in the basement, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th floors.

Alternative Facilities:

• Single-use restrooms 218 and 219 on the 2nd floor, and 414 on the 4th floor, will remain open for use.
• Restroom facilities are also available in the Administration and Science buildings, which are close to the library. 

We apologize for any inconvenience this construction may cause and appreciate your patience and understanding as we work to improve our facilities. Thank you for your cooperation during this time.