Communications from the Office of the Provost

I’m guessing that you struggle, as I do, with maintaining a modicum of balance in your life, between the work that ties us to Queens College and to academe, and those activities that deepen our identities and grow us as people in general. In an effort to spend time on things I’m not expected to do for work, I read daily. At the moment, I’m two-thirds of the way through Homer’s The Odyssey. Yes, I read it in high school, but it is an absolute delight to reread this epic work with the perspective afforded by middle age.

Stories are entertaining, and we like to be entertained. Reading The Odyssey is for me, a person who does not watch television, great entertainment. I am struck, this time through the book, by how masterful Odysseus is as a storyteller. During his extended journey home to Ithaka, he spends much of his time telling tales of his travels to spellbound audiences. But stories can be more than entertainment. Postmodern writer Graham Swift is not the last (and likely not the first) to state, “…man (sic) is the story-telling animal. Wherever he goes he wants to leave behind not a chaotic wake, not an empty space, but the comforting marker-buoys and trail signs of stories…. As long as there’s a story, it’s all right.” Stories help us shape disparate events into a coherent and compelling whole, one that resonates with and reinforces shared values, membership in a community, and a vision for the future. Stories can be deployed strategically. Odysseus himself is a keenly strategic storyteller, using his gift of yarn to gain passage, lead in battle, exact revenge, and ultimately to survive.

Narrative is one of the most effective, but often overlooked, leadership tools we have at our disposal. It’s a way to connect on an individual level. In our higher education world, for instance, many people have as a keystone of their life’s journey their alma mater. Alumni associations are keenly aware of this and utilize this common connection to extend community beyond the college years and build community at a broader temporal scale. Certainly, when we think of outward-facing leaders with longevity, appeal, and a high level of public visibility, their innate ability to tell a compelling story is part of their power. Sometimes, it’s what got them the position in the first place; other leaders must develop the ability to shape a coherent and compelling narrative arc from the flow of events, and to do so in a way so compelling that others are willing to invest themselves in the story being told.

As you may have observed, our Queens College President Frank H. Wu is a talented storyteller. Take a moment, for instance, to view his interview for the NYC Men Teach “Education in Color” series. Notice how President Wu uses his life story to connect to people, places, institutions, and movements. His personal narrative provides reassurance through a sense of belonging, for our students but also for himself in his leadership role. Phrases such as “my family is just like yours” underscore that students who come from immigrant backgrounds—as so many of our Knights or their families do—belong at Queens College. We know from extensive research that a sense of belonging, the feeling that someone at the institution sees you, is the number one predictor of success for male students of color. When he tells the interviewer, “This is the only job I applied for,” he signals that Queens College is a destination school, not just for students but for a leader who could go anywhere—and chose to be here.

Over the course of my career, I’ve been keenly interested, both as a scholar and as an administrator, in storytelling. I’ve published academic scholarship on place, narrative, and belonging. Among the ways I’ve continued to engage with my academic home is through service to the American Association of Geographers as a workshop facilitator for new department chairs. One of the sessions focuses on department chairs as “storytellers-in-chief,” telling the story of the department in compelling ways, ones that attract majors and entice donors to contribute. It is truly a joy to connect with these chairs as they mature in their roles and hear how they have utilized effective storytelling to lead change in their departments, to promote the discipline of geography to skeptical administrators, and to turn around departments on the brink of closure due to low enrollments. Indeed, the discipline of geography—under siege in the 1990s and 2000s—has experienced a renaissance in part through practicing geographers actively reshaping the narrative of what geography is, what geographers do, and who can be a geographer.

Another way I’ve observed effective storytelling is through collaborating with the Queens College Office of Alumni Affairs. One of the most intriguing aspects of the alumni gatherings I’ve had the pleasure of supporting is when alumni are invited to share stories of when they were Queens College students. Though much about the student experience has changed—I’m pretty sure few of you recall using punch cards to register for classes, for instance—there are broad themes that unite generations of Knights. One of these themes is a history of engagement to secure and defend civil rights. Some of our most active and generous alumni were, and continue to be, deeply committed to social justice. In the spirit of strategic storytelling, Queens College’s prominence in this sphere has been recognized at commencement, memorialized in our Library’s archives, and explored in faculty publications. As an example, Professor Magnus Bassey (Secondary Education and Youth Services) recently published Student Activism in 1960s America: Stories from Queens College (Palgrave, 2024). This proud tradition of activism is a core feature of the identity of Queens College, providing a point of pride and an enduring aspect of our purpose. It may well identify a direction for our students and faculty to shape the emerging socio-political landscape.

In recent days, while writing this piece, I’ve run across further instances of powerful institutional storytelling. Sean Decatur, president of the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), visited Queens College recently. In discussing possible partnerships between the museum and Queens College faculty, he mentioned time and again the need for the AMNH to update their stories about human history, noting the colonizing themes in some of the older exhibits. We also noted our shared interest in strong narratives about science, truth, and shared purpose as we confront an evolving national political landscape that may prove to be less-than-friendly to such pursuits. In addition, the Office of Communications and Marketing is actively involved in telling the story of Queens College through a collection of videos that you can view here.

Paying attention to the power of storytelling can ensure that your accomplishments are seen, understood, and appropriately rewarded. This fall we have seen a veritable bumper crop of tenure, promotion, and Certificate of Continuous Employment actions. About three times the usual volume of cases is currently under consideration (reflecting past rounds of robust faculty hiring). As a result, those of us engaged in reviewing these cases are reading a lot of personal statements, written by the candidates to describe their contributions as scholars, teachers, and colleagues. The ability to tell a compelling tale, one that is accessible to people outside of the candidate’s immediate discipline, is vitally important for conveying impact and rendering it legible to a lay audience. In order to accomplish this, many faculty review examples of effective personal statements from colleagues (with their permission, of course), have peers or mentors review drafts of their personal statement, or even hire an editor to help craft their statements.

As an institution, we are similarly confronted by high-stakes opportunities to tell a compelling story of our purpose, impact, and vision. One example of such an opportunity is with our Middle States Self-Study. As you are no doubt aware, Queens College is currently in the midst of our reaffirmation of accreditation. The centerpiece of this process is our Self-Study Report. While the Self-Study Report ostensibly asks us to document how we meet Middle States’ seven Standards of Accreditation, it should also be viewed as a highly visible place to tell the story of Queens College. Doing so effectively will allow us to underscore our purpose, value, and impact with respect to our stakeholders. As our vice president liaison noted, we have a golden opportunity to “pull at the heartstrings” of our evaluators by demonstrating how Queens College positively transforms the lives of our students, enhances our community, and engages our motto of service. I know from personal experience as a peer evaluator that compelling Self-Study Reports are a powerful tool in a successful reaffirmation of accreditation.

I’d like to conclude by noting the importance not just of crafting a narrative, but owning it, as well. As a sector, public higher education has done a resoundingly poor job of telling our story. Instead, we’ve relied on passive strategies to ensure sustained enrollments, funding, and popular support. Clearly, that era has drawn to a close. In the Northeast we have gone over the demographic cliff and are effectively in free-fall as the traditional college-age population declines. New York City public schools—our largest provider of enrollments—graduated 12% fewer individuals over the period from 2017–2022, the sharpest decline of any region in the state. Community college transfers, constituting 60% of our enrollments in past years, now comprise less than 40%. Third-party service providers and for-profit institutions delight in telling potential students how inefficiently our services are delivered and how inattentive we are to today’s students. Politicians ranging from national, state, city, and local have introduced a deep skepticism about the value of a college education, one which they themselves appear to ignore as they send their own children to the finest schools in the land. The time for us to be clear about our purpose and value is now; not just in transactional terms but also in collectively urgent ways as we confront the climate crisis, the swift advent of artificial intelligence, and the crisis of democracy. Public higher education has and must continue to be a counter to elitism, privilege, and narrow-mindedness. Institutions like Queens College can shape the future. Let’s tell our story.

This is a reminder that the collection of “Department Dues” by any Queens College employee constitutes a violation of New York State ethical regulations, namely, Public Officer’s Law Sections 74 (3)(d)(h) and (f). The collection of “Department Dues” presents a conflict of interest that could be construed as leveraging one’s official position for personal gain. No employee is authorized to request or collect such contributions from faculty members.

New York State Public Officers Law §74(3)(d) states:
“No officer or employee of a state agency, member of the legislature or legislative employee should use or attempt to use his or her official position to secure unwarranted privileges or exemptions for himself or herself or others, including but not limited to, the misappropriation to himself, herself or to others of the property, services or other resources of the state for private business or other compensated non-governmental purposes.”

This section has been interpreted to prohibit the misuse of a position for personal gain. The collection of contributions may constitute a misuse of authority as colleagues may feel coerced into contributing. Moreover, such actions can be seen as leveraging one’s position for personal benefit.

New York State Public Officers Law §74(3)(f) states:
“An officer or employee of a state agency, member of the legislature or legislative employee should not by his or her conduct give reasonable basis for the impression that any person can improperly influence him or her or unduly enjoy his or her favor in the performance of his or her official duties, or that he or she is affected by the kinship, rank, position or influence of any party or person.”

Public employees should not use or attempt to use their official position to coerce or attempt to coerce others for financial gain or otherwise. If there is an implication that contributions are expected, it could amount to coercion if junior faculty feel they must contribute to avoid negative repercussions.

New York State Public Officers Law § (3)(h) states:
“An officer or employee of a state agency, member of the legislature or legislative employee should endeavor to pursue a course of conduct which will not raise suspicion among the public that he or she is likely to be engaged in acts that are in violation of his or her trust.”

The New York State Ethics Commission has previously explicitly stated that employees are prohibited from soliciting money from subordinates. See Opn. 97-28. The act of asking for contributions could lead colleagues to feel pressured to contribute, especially if they feel a refusal could affect them in the workplace.

If you are currently engaged in any collection of “Department Dues,” please discontinue this practice immediately and return all previously collected funds to the contributing faculty members. This action is required to ensure compliance with NY State ethical standards.

Thank you for your cooperation in upholding our commitment to ethical practices.

Greetings, faculty colleagues!

I trust this message finds you reinvigorated and ready to begin the fall semester. As we commence our work together, I would like to share with you some updates and important information. Before moving on to your next task, please take a moment to read through this material. I want to ensure that you are set for success as we head into another year. 

In the past months, several individuals have joined the college’s leadership ranks in key positions. Rebekah Chow was appointed as the associate provost for Institutional Effectiveness. Though she is new to CUNY, Rebekah lives in Queens and has connections to Queens College, so coming here is coming home in many ways. Jomy George is our new registrar. He joins the Enrollment Management team, reporting to Vice President Jennifer Jarvis. Jomy hails from Hunter College. John Chin, also from Hunter College, is stepping into the role of interim dean of the Asian American / Asian Research Institute (AAARI), a CUNY-wide Institute based in Manhattan and administratively housed at Queens College. The search for the permanent dean of AAARI will be held over the coming year. Additional searches for a permanent dean of Arts and Humanities, permanent associate provost for Academic and Faculty Affairs, and founding Frank Yu Dean of the School of Business will also unfold over the coming year.

We welcome several new department chairs this year: Sanjai Pathak (Chemistry and Biochemistry), Caroline Rupprecht (Comparative Literature), Annmarie Drury (English), JV Fuqua (Media Studies), and Amy Hsin (Sociology). The following chairs are returning to their positions after an academic leave: Michael Nelson (Art), David Gabel (Economics), and Ashima Kant (Family, Nutrition, and Exercise Sciences). Department chairs have a special place in my heart as they hold the most challenging academic leadership role—but also in many ways the most important—as their work makes such an appreciable positive difference for their students and colleagues. 

There are two new provost’s faculty fellows beginning their projects this year. Terry Gurl (Secondary Education and Youth Services) is the provost’s diversity faculty fellow and will work with the Office of Institutional Effectiveness, department chairs, and CUNY’s Office of Academic Affairs to identify and address student outcomes gaps in gateway courses. Peter Liberman (Political Science) is the Middle States provost’s faculty fellow and will work with the Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning, and Leadership (CETLL); the Academic Senate; and Institutional Effectiveness to improve our instrument and process for student evaluations of teaching. The college benefits mightily from the work of the provost’s fellows, and I want to thank outgoing fellows Susan Davis (Aaron Copland School of Music), for her work on creating an advisor hub for departmental advisors—to be launched this fall—and Christopher Williams (English) for designing and workshopping innovative faculty supports for engaging students.

Shifting gears, I want to ensure that you are aware of several new or revised policies and processes now in place. CUNY has adopted a revised uniform grade glossary, an updated camera policy for online and hybrid courses, and a policy governing the use of our new Learning Management System, Brightspace. In addition, on August 14, CUNY Executive Vice Chancellor Wendy Hensel issued a letter about compliance in academics with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Please take a moment now to review these documents and ensure that you are complying. 

We have worked diligently to ensure that the Provost’s Office web pages are updated and as user-friendly as possible. The above-mentioned documents are housed there under “Resources,” along with news on major academic initiatives, a repository of past communications, and other items. Please also check out student-facing policies and processes housed on the Dean of Students web page.

This year, you can expect positive forward movement on a number of important initiatives in Academic Affairs. Transfer students are a vital component of our Queens College community, comprising nearly half of our total student population. This year, we will work under the auspices of the Better Neighbors Initiative with our largest transfer partners, Queensborough Community College and LaGuardia Community College, to ensure that their credits transfer with a minimum of friction. As part of this initiative, we are updating our course equivalencies in T-REX, developing a transfer student landing page on the QC website, designing clear transfer maps for all our majors, and aligning more closely with our community college partners so that the substance of what students learn there scaffolds directly and transparently onto what they will learn here at Queens College. Assigned faculty will continue to be involved in reviewing transfer equivalencies and updating T-REX, with the expectation that significant progress will be made in the coming year. 

A group of your colleagues reviewed the COACHE faculty satisfaction data provided to the college last year. They wrote a report outlining the priorities for the coming years until the next COACHE survey. All stakeholders—individual faculty, departments and schools, college administration, and CUNY—have distinct roles to play in improving our workplace. While some of the priorities identified are not within the scope of our current staffing and budget, many are achievable, and I am appointing an implementation oversight working group to keep us on track. 

CUNY has begun the staged transition from the previous Learning Management System (LMS), Blackboard, to Brightspace. Queens College was in “Group One,” which implemented the new LMS over the summer, so as of this fall all courses should be taught using Brightspace. We have an LMS transition web page, and I urge you to consult it regularly to see where we are in the process, identify upcoming training opportunities, and familiarize yourself with applicable policies. Using platforms other than Brightspace is, in almost every case, unacceptable per the CUNY LMS policy as we cannot ensure the security of third-party platforms. Equally important, sticking with one system is important for students, who have expressed challenges with being expected to master multiple platforms and who benefit from the enhanced accessibility features offered in Brightspace.

Please note: I am asking each of you, whether you teach in-person, hybrid, or remote courses, to use the LMS at minimum to house your course syllabus and to utilize the gradebook to keep track of student grades as the semester progresses. If an instructor becomes ill or otherwise unable to continue teaching, having these two items available helps to ensure that students are credited fairly for the work they have completed.

Queens College is on the road to reaffirmation of our institutional accreditation by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE). The Self-Study Report, which is the centerpiece document produced by the college community, will be prepared over the coming year by the seven working groups. Accreditation is mission critical. It allows us to receive federal financial aid under Title IV and ensures that credits earned at Queens College are recognized by other accredited institutions. More to the point, accreditation is an opportunity for us as a community to document what we’ve accomplished over the past eight years and to confirm that we meet Middle States’ rigorous standards for accreditation. I encourage you to check the web page periodically to see how things are going and to look for the monthly Middle States Newsbreak messages in your inbox.

Budget was a challenging topic last year and will continue to be this year. Enrollments for this fall are, as of this writing in mid-August, trending slightly downward from the same date last year. Queens College is a tuition-dependent institution, so when we miss our enrollment target the negative financial repercussions are unavoidable. Faculty hiring will be very limited, and the academic deans will determine the hiring priorities for this year as they do every year. Staff hiring, as well, will be minimal. In an effort to focus our limited resources—the most valuable of which is the effort of our people—we are paying very close attention to scheduling and the allocation of discretionary (administrative) reassigned time. This coming year we will begin examining, with the assistance of data to support our work and in alignment with the elected faculty leadership and our existing governance structure, the distribution and scope of our academic inventory for alignment with where we are now and where we want to go.

Queens College is a public institution, and we reflect the communities we serve. This year, we will doubtlessly confront the same events, both abroad and domestic, as those faced by our society at large. When the waters become troubled, we do well to recall our North Star. Above and beyond the specific mission of the college, our purpose as an institution of higher education is to create, impart, and amplify knowledge. That work is not without controversy. Allow me to take a moment to remind all of us, as members of an academic community, that United States higher education is special among other systems worldwide, resting as it does on the three pillars of academic freedom, tenure, and shared governance. At Queens College, our diversity is a shared point of pride. Intimidation, harassment, retaliation, or any form of discrimination against those who hold differing views is antithetical to these founding principles and cannot be the way we as a community respond in times of conflict and crisis. 

Colleagues, I thank you for your time and your partnership as we strive to make this the best Queens College we can be.

I hope you have had a productive and enjoyable summer and are looking forward to the beginning of fall semester soon. I write today with critical information about actions needed from all administrators, faculty, and instructional staff members to support our students with disabilities at CUNY. 

A. Brief Background

CUNY is committed to providing access to higher education and ensuring equitable outcomes for all students, including qualified students with disabilities. This is consistent with our mission and required by a variety of state and federal laws, including Title II of Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, which provides otherwise qualified students with a right of reasonable accommodation.

Despite our best efforts and sincere commitment to these principles, at times the University has fallen short in its actions. In 2023, CUNY entered into a Voluntary Compliance Agreement (VCA) that applies to every campus and requires improvements across the institution in meeting the needs of students with disabilities. Ongoing action by administrators, faculty, and instructional staff is needed to comply with the terms of the VCA.  CUNY’s full set of ADA policies relating to students, which were revised this year, can be found here:  Effecting Reasonable Accommodations and Academic Adjustments Procedures Relating to Accommodations and Accessibility for Students

B. Actions Required

We remind all administrators, faculty, and instructional staff of existing obligations under law and CUNY policy:

1. Instructors: In accordance with state law and existing CUNY policy, textbook and course materials information must be entered in Akademos, your school’s bookstore, or CUNYfirst at least two weeks prior to the date the schedule of classes is made available (not two weeks prior to the start of the semester). Textbook information for fall 2024 not previously entered must be entered immediately. Courses which do not require a textbook must also be identified as such. This information is necessary to ensure that course materials are accessible to students with disabilities by the first day of class to the greatest extent possible. Department chairs are responsible for ensuring textbook information is posted for all departmental courses. Provost offices and department chairs have access to textbook compliance reports through CUNY’s Tableau site. If a department does not have access to the report, please complete the CUNY Tableau Server Access Request Form.
2. Instructors: Per Board of Trustees policy, all fully online courses, both synchronous and asynchronous, must be delivered in a University-supported LMS (Blackboard or Brightspace) or an alternative LMS that meets CUNY’s cybersecurity policies and complies with data privacy laws. See the complete policy for additional information: LMS Use Policy for Online Classes.
3. Instructors: We strongly recommend that instructors upload their course materials in the University-supported LMS (Blackboard or Brightspace) for each class regardless of modality. A course site in the LMS currently being used by each college has been created for every CUNY class scheduled for fall 2024. Uploading course materials in the LMS will help instructors identify accessibility problems using Ally, a tool within both Blackboard and Brightspace, and work with technical experts to improve accessibility of course materials. Ally generates alternative formats that enable students to choose how to engage with the course’s digital content. Resources on how to use Ally effectively can be found here:

• Ally for LMS Help for Instructors
• Ally Quick Start for Instructors
• Instructor FAQs for Ally

4. Instructors: In accordance with the ADA, NYS IT Accessibility Policy, and other laws, instructors should consider the accessibility of course materials, online learning products, platforms, and applications, including content they created, prior to use in the course. Ally will assist with this determination for content uploaded to Brightspace, and technical expertise will be made available to faculty as needed. In addition, you can seek technical assistance directly from D2L at 1-888-895-2511.
5. Provosts: Campus provosts must identify a point person to assist with technical issues for students with disabilities and faculty experiencing challenges with accessible course materials. At a minimum, this information must be provided to all students, faculty, and instructional staff at the beginning of each semester and posted in a prominent location on the college website.
6. Students and Instructors: Students remain responsible for self-identifying their disability status to the campus’ Office of Disability Services (ODS) to access necessary supports and services. Once notified of approved accommodations, the instructor is responsible for providing them as specified or seeking clarification from ODS regarding the appropriateness of an accommodation for a specific course. Instructors must follow the appropriate procedures with ODS before taking independent action to modify the accommodations. Instructors should direct all such questions to ODS, not the student.

To facilitate and manage student accommodation requests, we are pleased to announce the launch of CUNY Accommodate this semester, with full implementation by January 2025. Training will be provided to ensure all are well-versed with this new process and technology. We are committed to providing seamless support for all students with disabilities to bolster their academic achievement and advance equity across our institution.

C. Next Steps

In the coming days, we will provide additional information about new asynchronous training courses, accessibility, and universal design for learning. We also will continue to provide colleges with updates on their textbook adoption compliance rates. The goal of our collective efforts is not simply to comply with the VCA and the ADA, which has been in effect for more than thirty years. Instead, it is to genuinely meet the needs of our students with disabilities and ensure full access to equal educational opportunity. Thank you for your efforts as we continue this work together.

Best,
Wendy Hensel
Executive Vice Chancellor & University Provost

From time to time, someone outside of administration will ask me about what my job entails. To be honest, as a faculty member prior to becoming involved in administration, I too had little idea of what it was that a provost actually does. There are of course broad duties that are standard to the portfolio—hiring faculty and ensuring their success, overseeing institutional accreditation, developing and aligning curriculum, and providing leadership around the Academic Affairs budget, which tends to be the most sizeable chunk of a college’s overall operations (at Queens College, Academics accounts for exactly two-thirds of our budget). But that doesn’t say much about the provost’s day-to-day, which is what people are curious about. 

There is a colloquial phrase in Spanish that does a wonderful job of depicting the work of the provost: trabajo de hormiga. The phrase translates literally to English as “ant work.” It signals the detailed, repetitive, role-based nature of the quotidian existence of the ant—and the provost. But it also emphasizes the importance of teamwork to survival of the colony. In addition, “ant work” is cumulative in nature. Cutting up and carrying pieces of leaves, moving grains of sand, or endlessly laying eggs might not seem like much when viewed day by day. But, in stepping back after some time has passed to reflect on the impact of this ant work, we can see that it all adds up. 

Allow me to suggest, therefore, that the work of the provost is ant work. And after two years, the steps large and small that we have taken together have begun to bear fruit. As the spring semester draws to a close, it is heartening to glance back at some of the changes that have been made and to reflect on the continued building for what is yet to come.

CETLL (Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning, and Leadership) has transitioned to new leadership. Under the visionary direction of Soniya Munshi, we are rebuilding CETLL to support today’s Queens College faculty needs. Despite the persistent staffing headwinds from the Great Resignation, which have hit some offices—including CETLL—hard, we are finding creative ways to ensure continuity of essential functions. Chris Coleman, who you may know from his excellent work in the School of Arts and Humanities, will soon transition to a new position in CETLL where he will (fingers crossed) be joined by an additional member of the professional staff to provide much needed leadership and support around academic technology, among other endeavors.

The Provost’s Fellows for this year, Christopher Williams and Susan Davis, have made impressive strides in their projects. Christopher has held workshops for faculty interested in redesigning their syllabus to encourage more robust student engagement, which is a concern that many faculty have flagged since the pandemic. Susan has worked on creating a virtual Departmental Advisor Hub. Once it launches (soon!) advisors will have access to a wealth of supports in a one-stop shop model.

This year, we welcomed Interim Associate Provost for Academic and Faculty Affairs Maria DeLongoria to Queens College. Together with Associate Provost for Innovation and Student Success Nathalia Holtzman, now permanent in her role, we have embarked on a multi-pronged endeavor to develop a more productive relationship with our main feeder community college partners under what we have dubbed the Better Neighbors Initiative. Our partners include sister CUNY institutions LaGuardia Community College and Queensborough Community College, both co-located with us in the World’s Borough. In addition, we have initiated discussions with Suffolk County Community College and Nassau Community College, which are increasingly important transfer partners as we think strategically about the tremendous enrollment potential with students from Long Island. The Better Neighbors Initiative has assembled detailed data about who our transfer students are and what they need from Queens College to be successful during their time here and beyond. In addition, the associate provosts are developing a series of events and action items that faculty can engage to strengthen our local relationships and smooth the transition for transfer students. Look for more information soon on the Office of the Provost website under “Initiatives.” 

I’ve heard from faculty about the desire for more investment from the college in research. While it has proven difficult in the current budget environment to justify an additional administrator to provide dedicated oversight of research and graduate studies, we have made significant non-personnel investments to support our principal investigators (PIs). Over the course of 2022-23 and 2023-24, the Queens College Foundation has provided $300,000 in Research Enhancement Awards to Queens College faculty. These funds have supported research on everything from drones to machine learning to the impact of parental illness on student well-being. We are most grateful for the ongoing research support provided by the Queens College Foundation. In the coming year I will initiate a College Sponsored Project Support Fund to provide assistance to PIs whose funding comes from sources that don’t typically include operating costs. These expenses (e.g., filling a gas tank or buying life preservers for a boat used by researchers, first aid kits for fieldwork, or other incidentals) may be small in amount but are essential to running the project. The fund will be managed by the school deans.

There is a lot of well-deserved buzz around the launch of the Queens College Self-Study this past February. The Self-Study is the centerpiece of our reaffirmation of accreditation by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. There are over 70 Queens College faculty, staff—and in the fall, students—involved in working groups that will gather evidence to demonstrate that we meet the commission’s rigorous standards for accreditation. I am so grateful for the teamwork, energy, and dedication to our mission that the fourteen co-chairs of the working groups have displayed. When our Middle States vice president liaison visited Queens College just a few weeks ago, he was most impressed with the work we have done thus far. His words echoed my sentiments when he noted that institutions like Queens College are very special places, given our focus on delivering the trifecta of public higher education—access, excellence, and value—in the beautiful setting of our campus. If you haven’t read through the Queens College Self-Study Design draft yet, I encourage you to do so and to provide your feedback. It’s on the provost’s website, along with detailed information on the process and updates on our reaccreditation progress.

Utilizing data to inform our priorities and decisions has never been more important than it is now. As many of you are aware, the Great Resignation has presented unique challenges in recruiting staff in specialized areas of the college’s non-academic operations, particularly those with broadly marketable skill sets in Information Technology, Human Resources, and Institutional Effectiveness. While our search for executive leadership in the Office of Institutional Effectiveness is progressing, the work that needs to be done in that space also continues. That vacancy has provided an opportunity for me to engage deeply with the Office of Institutional Effectiveness and with the many connected needs of the college to build structures, processes, and a collective mindset that allows us to conduct assessment, strategic planning, and analysis of institutional data, as well as reporting that data to our many stakeholders. 

The recently administered COACHE survey of faculty job satisfaction has provided a wealth of data about faculty experiences, needs, and areas where the college is succeeding as well as where we may be falling short as an employer. I am grateful to Interim Associate Provost DeLongoria who teamed up with Lizandra Friedland in the Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Professor of Mathematics Christopher Hanusa—Queens College’s first Faculty Liaison for Evaluation and Assessment—to assemble a working group of deeply committed faculty who analyzed the survey results and developed a report with recommended action items to address some of the concerns surfaced in the COACHE survey. I very much appreciate the inclusive, action-oriented, and positive approach taken by this group and look forward to addressing the timely suggestions that have been made. This report and the COACHE survey results are available on the provost’s website.

Professor Hanusa’s role was created to span the need for data gathering and reporting that any college experiences, and the reality of the department chairs whose time and energy is pulled in a dozen different directions on any given day. Christopher’s long service at Queens College, his deep social capital as an esteemed member of the faculty, and his facility with the art and the science of data in all forms have been invaluable in building the framework for success in this space. He has worked alongside me and my team to update the Academic Program Review process, providing detailed resources, a thoughtful review schedule that goes until 2038, and standardized annual reporting that will help streamline the Departmental Self-Study process. He is exploring the structure and function of a college-wide Assessment Council to assist department chairs and other stakeholders in leveraging assessment data to focus and align departmental efforts. Over the summer we will develop position descriptions for assessment coordinators to support the schools.

No reflection on the accomplishments of Academic Affairs would be complete without recognizing the outstanding leadership of the school deans, department chairs, and center and institute directors. I’ve often said that people are our most valuable resource, and nowhere is this more obvious than with our amazing chairs, deans, and directors. Their vision, spirit of collaboration, and advocacy on behalf of their programs and people is remarkable. I’d also like to recognize the professional staff who provide expert leadership and management to the various offices, programs, and initiatives under the umbrella of Academic Affairs at Queens College. I am proud to work alongside them—they make us shine! 

Speaking of shining, I wish you all the best as you head into summer. Whether you plan to spend your time with family and friends, working on that big writing project, teaching, or any combination of these, there’s no time like the summer to reflect, renew, and reconnect. If you have a picnic, you may spot ants. If you do, be sure to think about how all that trabajo de hormiga adds up over time. 

See you in the fall, and until then, be well.

Now is a particularly challenging time to be a leader in higher education. While it has always been the case that the priorities of college leadership shift along with the changing landscape of which we are a part, today the evolving nature of work itself, political strife, and the societal fallout from COVID-19 make leadership roles particularly demanding. As a result, the average tenure of a college president has fallen to less than six years. Departing University of Texas system Chancellor William McRaven called it “the toughest job in the nation.” 

By way of comparison, the average tenure of a provost—4.6 years—is even shorter than that of a president. To illustrate the differences between these two roles, it is worth quoting an article on this topic in the The Chronicle of Higher Education, even though the issues laid out in the previous paragraph were hardly on the horizon in 2019 when this piece was published:

Presidents…have difficult jobs that require long hours and lots of travel, not to mention the daunting responsibility of setting the vision for places with stagnant or declining revenue. But the provost can have an even tougher job: to match the energy and hours of a president, sit in as the institution’s leader when the president is away, sell the president’s vision to skeptical faculty members, and shepherd solid research, effective teaching, and innovative pedagogy when there simply isn’t enough money to go around.

Leadership challenges in higher education are certainly not limited to the president and provost. Deans and department chairs find themselves increasingly squeezed between the noble goals of the faculty they oversee and the lofty ambitions of the students they serve, on the one hand; while on the other becoming increasingly called upon to keep departmental and divisional budgets down, ensure compliance with an increasing array of reporting mandates, and make seemingly impossible decisions linked to academic programming in a time of shrinking resources, rapid changes in the workplace, and shifting student desires. Indeed, having served in both roles, I can say with some certainty that these are in many ways the trickiest administrative roles in higher education, given the near-peer status of these leaders to those they lead. And, if we’re honest, everyone reading this newsletter is a leader: from faculty who exercise formal as well as informal leadership in their classrooms, disciplinary associations, and in the service roles they perform, to the president who officially leads the college.

While it may be tempting to succumb to despair, my strong personal preference is to prioritize the positive. For amidst the social and sectoral turmoil that we currently navigate, there is an enduring core comprised of teaching, learning, scholarship, and service that called so many of us to this work in the first place and that keeps us here despite the relentless headwinds. I have come to understand that my own outlook is a choice I make on a daily basis. I could choose to focus on those things I cannot change—demographic decline in the traditional college-age population, for instance—and spend my days handwringing; a stance that makes me feel, and act, from a profoundly disempowered positionality. Or I can choose to foreground in my mindset those aspects of leading at Queens College which reaffirm my faith in our mission and my conviction in our community. That’s not to say I avoid dealing with the difficult aspects of my job—declining enrollments and shrinking budgets, social and political unrest making its way onto campus, and rampant skepticism about the value of a college degree among them—but rather that I grapple with these factors secure in the knowledge that ours is largely a community of committed, creative, and talented individuals mostly rowing in the same direction, guided by the same North Star of service to our students, our communities, and our academic disciplines. 

Allow me to share three moments of positivity that have popped up over February and March.

President Wu formally kicked off our Middle States process on February 5. While the word “reaccreditation” is likely to elicit immediate groans of protest, the launch event was unabashedly celebratory. Over seventy members of our QC community—faculty and staff (students will join in Fall 2024)—gathered in the Patio Room of the Dining Hall to mark the beginning of our self-study process, which will form the centerpiece of our upcoming reaccreditation team site visit in the spring of 2026. I and the two other co-chairs of the Executive Steering Committee—Associate Provost for Student Success and Innovation Nathalia Holtzman and Professor of Mathematics and Faculty Liaison for Evaluation and Assessment Christopher Hanusa—were deeply energized by the enthusiasm, creativity, and commitment displayed by the members of the self-study working groups. I left that gathering deeply proud of our Queens College community and convinced that our future is bright indeed. 

On February 20, once again with President Wu along with Dean of Math and Natural Sciences Dan Weinstein and Psychology Department Chair Jeff Beeler, I had the opportunity to visit the Queens College Psychological Center. Led by faculty members Yvette Caro, Melinda Cornwell, and Veronica Hinton, we toured the clinical facilities in Queens Hall. The highlight of our visit was a meeting with Psychology students, ranging from PhD candidates to undergraduates majoring in Psychology. It offered me the chance to really listen to the reasons articulated in response to questions such as, “Why did you choose Queens College?” “What is the best way to communicate with undergraduates?” and “What can we do better?” Students are at the heart of our shared commitment and having the opportunity to speak directly with students on topics that matter to them is something I treasure deeply. 

Last chronologically, but not least in importance, on March 14 I attended a reception for distinguished professors at the Manhattan offices of CUNY. This event recognized faculty who had been awarded the status of distinguished professor, the highest academic honor that CUNY can offer its faculty. Interacting with the accomplished scholars in attendance who had achieved distinguished professor since 2019 (previous gatherings had been canceled due to COVID) was at once humbling and inspiring. The breadth and scope of the contributions of our CUNY faculty is nothing short of remarkable. Queens College is well-represented among the ranks of CUNY’s distinguished professors, not surprising given the well-deserved renown of our local talent. Ammiel Alcalay, Glenn Burger, Cecilia González-McHugh, Talia Schaffer, and José Miguel Martínez Torrejón are the Queens College faculty who were honored. Chatting with those Queens College distinguished professors I encountered there, I had an opportunity to hear more about their current research as well as their future plans and to be reminded of why I got into this profession in the first place. 

It is clear to everyone in a leadership position in higher education today that profound change is not just imminent, it is happening. How we engage that change, and ourselves, is of paramount importance. While routine change management is a skill that all leaders deploy sooner or later in their careers, “next-level” change management involves not just managing the change process itself, but also remembering to manage ourselves in the midst of change. Sifting our emotions from the logistics and dealing with each appropriately, remembering that we always have agency no matter how dire the situation, leading from where we are, and—as I hope I have conveyed in this Academic Affairs Update—keeping our focus on the things that matter the most are all vital to not just surviving, but thriving through the unfolding of change. 

It is understood that religious observance may impact class attendance, participation in examinations, and study or work requirements on particular days. Appropriate arrangements will be made to provide an equivalent opportunity to register for classes or make up any examination, study, or work requirements students may have missed because of such absence. Students should provide advance notice to their professors of any religious commitments and indicate when such observance and commitments will conflict with class attendance or other college responsibilities. Faculty will reasonably accommodate students’ religious commitments, provided that advance notice of these commitments is given by the student. To the extent possible, faculty will refrain from scheduling tests on such class days. The student may also contact the Office of Student Affairs to initiate such accommodations.

These provisions are explained in the University Policies section of the Queens College Undergraduate Bulletin (https://qc-undergraduate.catalog.cuny.edu) and the Graduate Bulletin (https://qc-graduate.catalog.cuny.edu).

If a faculty member does not accommodate a student’s request with regard to examinations, assignments, or quizzes missed for reason of a religious holiday or observance, students may pursue refused requests for such accommodation with the department chairperson and the chief diversity officer. See Religious Accommodations procedures, found at https://bit.ly/38Chw7m.

Consistent with Education Law 224, students will not be expelled or refused admission because they are unable, due to their religious beliefs, to attend classes or participate in an examination, study, or work requirements on particular day(s).

You may view CUNY’s Religions and Ethnic Holiday calendar at https://www.cuny.edu/current-students/student-affairs/religious-ethnic-holiday-calendar/.

Thank you for your support of out students.

Colleagues,

I hope you have had a productive and enjoyable winter break and are looking forward to the beginning of spring semester shortly. I write today to remind you about critical actions needed from all administrators, faculty, and instructional staff members to support our students with disabilities at CUNY.

Brief Background

CUNY is committed to providing access to higher education and ensuring equitable outcomes for all students, including qualified students with disabilities. This is consistent with our mission and required by a variety of state and federal laws, including Title II of Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, which provides otherwise qualified students with a right of reasonable accommodation.

Despite our best efforts and sincere commitment to these principles, at times the University has fallen short in its actions. In 2022, a complaint was filed with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) against one of our colleges alleging a failure to provide accessible course materials and accommodations for a student with visual impairments. In resolving this complaint, CUNY entered into a Voluntary Compliance Agreement (VCA) that applies to every campus. Action by administrators, faculty, and instructional staff is needed to comply with the terms of the VCA and meet the needs of our students with disabilities.

Actions Required

In fall semester, we began to introduce new CUNY-wide policies and procedures to improve our services to our students with disabilities and meet the conditions of the VCA. We implemented the following changes and now remind all administrators, faculty, and instructional staff again of existing obligations under law and CUNY policy for spring semester:

1. Instructors: In accordance with state law and existing CUNY policy, textbook and course materials information must be entered in Akademos (or your school’s bookstore) or CUNYfirst at least two weeks prior to the date the schedule of classes is made available. Textbook information for spring 2024 not previously entered must be entered immediately. Courses which do not require a textbook must also be identified as such. This information is necessary to ensure that course materials are accessible to students with disabilities by the first day of class to the greatest extent possible. Department chairs are responsible for ensuring textbook information is posted for all departmental courses.
2. Instructors: We strongly recommend that instructors upload their course materials in the University-supported LMS (Blackboard) for each class regardless of modality. A Blackboard course site has been created for every CUNY class scheduled for spring 2024. This action will help instructors identify accessibility problems using Ally, a tool within Blackboard, and work with technical experts to improve accessibility of course materials. Ally generates alternative formats that enable students to choose how to engage with the course’s digital content.
3. Instructors: In accordance with the ADA, NYS IT Accessibility Policy, and other laws, instructors should consider the accessibility of course materials, online learning products, platforms, and applications, including content they created, prior to use in the course. Ally will assist with this determination for content uploaded to Blackboard, and technical expertise will be made available to faculty as needed.
4. Provosts: You should already have a point person to assist with technical issues for students with disabilities and faculty experiencing challenges with accessible course materials. This information must be provided to all students, faculty, and instructional staff at the beginning of each semester and posted in a prominent location on the college website.
5. Students and Instructors: Students remain responsible for self-identifying their disability status to the campus Office of Disability Services (ODS). Once notified of approved accommodations, the instructor is responsible for providing them as specified or seeking clarification from ODS regarding the appropriateness of an accommodation for a specific course. Instructors must follow the appropriate procedures with ODS before taking independent action to modify the accommodations. Instructors should direct all such questions to ODS, not the student.

The goal of our collective efforts is not simply to comply with the VCA and the ADA, which has been in effect for more than thirty years. Instead, it is to genuinely meet the needs of our students with disabilities and ensure full access to equal educational opportunity. Thank you for your efforts as we join in this work together.

Best,

Wendy Hensel
Executive Vice Chancellor & University

In 2023, Queens College partnered with the Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE) to survey our faculty about satisfaction across many areas of faculty life including teaching, scholarship, service, academic leadership, governance, and work-life balance.

We are taking this opportunity to share with you the full survey results prepared by the COACHE team, which you can access at the following password-protected website: https://qcpages.qc.cuny.edu/coache/.

[ … Credentials redacted here. Please contact Christopher Hanusa for access the website … ]

To address the results, we are asking for volunteers or nominations of faculty from each academic school to be part of a faculty working group. The Working Group charge is to review the survey results in late Fall 2023 and cluster them into focus areas. They will have ownership of the collection of feedback from the campus community during the Spring 2024 semester. A final report that includes actions items to address the focus areas will be transmitted to the provost by April 5, 2024. 

Interested faculty need to be available on Thursdays, November 30 and December 7 from 3 to 4:30 pm for in-person meetings. If you are interested in participating, please complete the electronic form at https://forms.office.com/r/4U5NdqYEjD by Friday, November 17, 2023. We will work with your respective deans to select two representatives from each division. All faculty have the opportunity to suggest action items to address the focus areas.  

We hope that you will consider joining in this process as we move forward in addressing faculty satisfaction across many areas of faculty life. 

For more information about the COACHE process at Queens College, please visit https://www.qc.cuny.edu/provost/coache/.

Maria DeLongoria, Interim Associate Provost for Academic and Faculty Affairs,
Lizandra Friedland, Associate Director, Survey Research & Assessment
Christopher Hanusa, Professor of Mathematics and Faculty Liaison for Evaluation and Assessment

Dear Faculty Colleagues:

As you navigate these deeply challenging times, I wish to provide clarity and support to you in your role as faculty with respect to your rights and responsibilities to express your views.

Academic freedom is one of the three cherished pillars of American academe, the others being tenure and shared governance. These are what set us apart—in an enviable manner—from higher education systems outside of the United States. 

For over 100 years, the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) has provided insight to the faculty community about the meaning and exercise of academic freedom. On their FAQs page, the AAUP defines academic freedom as the freedom of a teacher or researcher in higher education to investigate and discuss the issues in his or her academic field, and to teach or publish findings without interference from political figures, boards of trustees, donors, or other entities. Academic freedom also protects the right of a faculty member to speak freely when participating in institutional governance, as well as to speak freely as a citizen.

Though they may overlap, academic freedom and freedom of speech are different. Academic freedom is held by faculty members and encompasses teaching, research, and speech within their academic field. Not all ideas are equal under the aegis of academic freedom, as all of our disciplinary bodies continually engage in various forms of winnowing the intellectual chaff from the wheat, as it were. 

By contrast, all of our Queens College community members—faculty, staff, and students—hold individual freedom of speech rights. The 1969 landmark decision, Tinker v. Des Moines, saw Justice Abe Fortas issue the enduring phrase, “It can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.”

It is important to underscore two caveats with respect to the exercise of free speech. First, no one, whether student, faculty, or staff, has the right to disrupt the educational experience of others (see the Henderson Rules). Second, employees may not use college or university resources—for example, distributing information from or to institutional email addresses or utilizing scheduled class time to distribute petitions—in the exercise of their individual free speech rights.

I am thankful to hold an academic leadership role at Queens College, where the recognized freedoms of the professoriate are upheld and execution of the educational mission of the college is front and center of all we do.

Wishing you comfort during these trying times.

One of the things I cherish most about working in higher education is the distinct annual cycle, which begins in the autumn with the return of faculty and students. Being on a traditional campus again underscores for me that, as a place, Queens College was built to be fully occupied by our community members. Sure, it’s nice to have a bit of breathing room for projects of longer duration, requiring focus and nuance, over the summer. But there’s nothing as exhilarating as feeling the campus come to life again each fall. As I encounter many of you in meetings, on the 64 Bus, or just walking around, I feel a sense of genuine delight. I’ve always thought that colleges are akin to states, or economies, or democracies, or cities: ultimately, all abstractions that at the end of the day are built of people who encounter one another in more-or-less structured ways. In encountering one another, we conjure the college into being. There is a sacredness to the joyful act of encounter when seen through this lens.

Among the more-structured encounters of the renewed academic year are the opportunities to address convened bodies. September has seen me speaking to groups ranging from new students on Welcome Day, professional staff in Student Affairs and Enrollment Management, department chairs, and adjunct faculty, among others. I treasure these opportunities to share priorities, ask for feedback, thank people for their efforts, and seed collaborations for the coming months. In these conversations, I find myself returning again and again to the framework of values and impact. By articulating the connections between substantive initiatives – for instance, noting that the imperative to make academic materials accessible to individuals with disabilities is directly aligned with our deeply-held value of inclusion – we can discern the compelling rationale for tasks that, if left unmoored from broader shared purpose, might appear to be mere make-work. Similarly, underscoring that the crafting of a mission statement for Academic Affairs allows us to both encapsulate and transmit the enduring impact we wish to have on our stakeholders makes that connection to a higher purpose, and in so doing we connect to each other.

Speaking of the evolving Academic Affairs mission statement – a QC first! – I invite each of you to view and comment on the draft arising from our joint planning work over the summer, here: https://forms.office.com/r/bxK5Uyq9xZ Please use this link to share your thoughts before November 15, after which the final Academic Affairs mission statement will become part of the refreshed landing page for the Office of the Provost.

One of the most important tasks before us is rebuilding our community in the Covid-endemic era. Community – another abstraction – is built upon the patterned intersection of people and processes. I have just alluded to establishing a critical process – the cycle of planning, evaluation, and assessment – that for all institutions constitutes the hallmark of continuous improvement. This year was kicked off by an inaugural annual Summer Plunge, which saw the day-long convening of leadership in Academic Affairs to engage in joint planning for the coming year and to reinforce the shared goals of our work together.

In the academic programs, planning, evaluation, and assessment will be supported by the newly established Faculty Liaison for Evaluation and Assessment. I have appointed Christopher Hanusa, Professor of Mathematics, to serve for a year in this role as a proof of concept. Professor Hanusa will provide a valuable support to Department Chairs by partnering with them as the College reestablishes the institution-wide use of data to support faculty success and student learning.

Other key appointments in Academic Affairs include Nathalia Holtzman as Associate Provost for Student Success and Innovation; Simone Yearwood as Interim Dean of Arts and Humanities; Maria DeLongoria as Interim Associate Provost for Academic and Faculty Affairs, Soniya Munshi as Director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning, and Leadership; Diana Pan as Interim Executive Director for the Asian American / Asian Research Institute; and Jim Mellone as Acting Chief Librarian. Each of these appointments diversifies, strengthens, and builds critical leadership capacity at Queens College. Together we will work alongside each of you to ensure that we are always the best Queens College we can be.

Feminist theorist Sara Ahmed defined ethics as rooted in the quest to find ways of encountering one another that are better. Better than what? Ahmed doesn’t say, and I’ve always appreciated that she leaves that part open-ended. As we venture forth into this new season, my hope is that we can productively partner to identify encounters that are better.

This is the leadership team in Academic Affairs, gathered on August 9, 2023 for our first Summer Plunge annual planning retreat.

Dear Faculty Colleagues:

As we head into the fall and winter seasons and more of our activities move indoors, we enjoy the company of family, friends, and our students in close quarters. Along with the positive aspects of togetherness, we often experience an increase in the incidence of seasonal respiratory illness. 

Should you feel sick, please stay home so that you can focus on your recovery and minimize exposure to others. As in the past, you should arrange for a colleague to cover the sessions missed. This is the preferred option as moving to remote instruction on short notice can be challenging for some students. As an alternative, you may conduct one or two sessions of an in-person class online, ensuring that those who cannot attend remote session(s) are provided appropriate support. You may not, however, permanently pivot your class to a modality other than its approved one.

It is polite to inform others with whom you have shared close quarters over a sustained period that you have become ill so that they can take necessary precautions. However you are not required, nor should you take it upon yourself, to report the illness status of another individual.

You can find information about the CUNY Employee Wellness Program here. CUNY Health and Wellness services for students can be found here. 

Best wishes for a healthy fall semester.

It is understood that religious observance may impact class attendance, participation in examinations, and study or work requirements on particular days. Appropriate arrangements will be made to provide an equivalent opportunity to register for classes or make up any examination, study, or work requirements students may have missed because of such absence. Students should provide advance notice to their professors of any religious commitments and indicate when such observance and commitments will conflict with class attendance or other college responsibilities. Faculty will reasonably accommodate students’ religious commitments, provided that advance notice of these commitments is given by the student. To the extent possible, faculty will refrain from scheduling tests on such class days. The student may also contact the Office of Student Affairs to initiate such accommodations.

These provisions are explained in the University Policies section of the Queens College Undergraduate Bulletin (https://qc-graduate.catalog.cuny.edu).

If a faculty member does not accommodate a student’s request with regard to examinations, assignments, or quizzes missed for reason of a religious holiday or observance, students may pursue refused requests for such accommodation with the department chairperson and the chief diversity officer. See Religious Accommodations procedures, found at https://bit.ly/38Chw7m.

Consistent with Education Law 224, students will not be expelled or refused admission because they are unable, due to their religious beliefs, to attend classes or participate in an examination, study, or work requirements on particular day(s).

You may view CUNY’s Religions and Ethnic Holiday calendar at https://www.cuny.edu/current-students/student-affairs/religious-ethnic-holiday-calendar/.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Dear Students and Faculty:

We trust you are enjoying the start of a new semester here at Queens College. We endeavor to be an inclusive and welcoming campus for all members of our community.

The Offices of Academic Affairs and Student Affairs are partnering to ensure that access for individuals with disabilities is a priority at all times. Access is not limited to the physical spaces of our campus. In addition, course materials must be accessible to individuals with disabilities.

If you wish to seek an accommodation, and you are a student, please register with the Office of Special Services. If you are an employee seeking an accommodation, please visit Human Resources.

If you are a faculty member or a student needing assistance with technical issues concerning the accessibility of course materials, please contact Wahidur Roni (QC.SPSV@qc.cuny.edu). 

Wishing you a successful semester,

Patricia Price, Interim Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs
Jennifer Jarvis, Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Affairs

To: Department Chairs and Deans
From: Spring 2023 members of the Committee of Seven (Professors Grover, Liu, Nelson, Pelliitteri, Repole, Ryba, and Swedell)
Cc: Interim Provost Patricia Price
Re: Summary of observations and recommendations
Date: May 5, 2023

We write pursuant to the recent Spring deliberations of the Committee of Seven. These deliberations concerned promotion to Full Professor and Chief College Laboratory Technician. The Committee summarized their observations and recommendations in the expectation that these will be communicated as appropriate so that changes to our practices, policies, and processes can be undertaken for the benefit of our faculty’s professional progression.

The Committee underscored the importance of active, constructive, documented, and ongoing mentorship on the part of the department chair and the dean. While intentional mentorship and institutional support traditionally focus on early-career faculty, mid-career faculty also benefit from – and need – mentorship as they navigate the next step in their promotion pathway. Indeed, one of the most important roles of the department chair is as a mentor and role model for all of the department’s faculty. Deans, too, can play an important mentorship role, through formal written feedback and informal interactions with individual faculty in their divisions.

In a related vein, it is a best practice for a faculty member intending to pursue promotion to have annual evaluations by the Chair and peer teaching observations for several of the years leading up to the submission of the promotion portfolio. This ensures a structure for constructive feedback and encouragement to be provided, and a documentation that the candidate has actively engaged in seeking such mentorship and guidance.

When promotion portfolios have relatively few external letters, missing documentation, or conflicting information (e.g., P&B reports and Chair reports that contradict each other) it can appear to the Committee that the mentorship mentioned above has not occurred. Alternatively, it can indicate that the candidate’s decision to pursue promotion was made late and the portfolio assembled in haste. The Committee suggests that the process of the candidate deciding to pursue promotion include discussions with both the Chair and the department P&B. In addition, the Committee suggests that the file be completed no later than July of the calendar year prior to the commencement of departmental deliberations, in order to provide ample time to seek sufficient and thoughtful external review letters. Finally, the packet should be carefully proofread by the candidate, chair, and dean, prior to its transit through the review process, to ensure completeness and alignment across the materials.

Another, related issue surfaced by the Committee’s deliberations is the role of service as a focus of the candidate’s effort. The Queens College Guidelines for Tenure, Promotion, and CCE (2014) discuss service expectations on pps. 5-6. These guidelines clearly articulate the expectation for service at a higher level than what was expected for promotion to Associate Professor. “For promotion to Associate Professor, candidates should show some College and professional service contributions, and for promotion to Full Professor, there should be a significant service record, such as contribu3ons to the College, including commi7ee work, accreditation activities, etc” (italics added for emphasis). Service, especially at the institutional level – whether that be to the College, the University, or the profession – is important. It exposes the candidate to a broad view of how these entities work, encourages networking beyond the candidate’s home department, and is critical to the functioning of these institutions. Shielding candidates for promotion to Full Professor from significant service shortchanges both the candidate and the institutions of which they are a member.

We trust that these suggestions will be received in the collegial spirit with which they were sent, and welcome your questions or feedback.

The trees on the Quad are bursting into early blossom and a Nor’easter is driving snowfall horizontally into my eyes—on the same March afternoon! Such oscillation between felicity and ferocity is not solely symptomatic of springtime—a season known for its rapid and contrasting excesses—but as well of many seasons and states precious to us as a species.

The spring season finds me pondering the re-emergence of many things, among them community. Perhaps it does you as well. After the long winter that is COVID-19, humanity seems to yearn for the tumultuous togetherness that once constituted the barely conscious rhythm of our days. As an example, on March 21 Queens College gathered to hear President Wu’s “State of the College” address. This despite (or perhaps because of) the challenges to the renewal of our academic community which typically occurs through the culmination of the annual faculty hiring cycle every year around this time. Our Queens College community, like any other, thrives on and through our differences. Rather than tearing us apart, these differences constitute a zone of positive growth.

As a geographer, I am perhaps primed to inquire about the spatial constitution of the collective. In my own scholarly work, I have been deeply influenced by the thinking of the late Doreen Massey, who was a longtime professor of Geography at England’s Open University. Massey’s “progressive sense of place” particularly resonates with me as a scholar and, given the parallels between community and place, merits some unpacking here. Massey cautioned against a static understanding of place, defined and contained by firm boundaries and relying upon insularity, sameness, and the search—rooted in nostalgia as opposed to lived experience—for uniformity. Rather, Massey’s understanding of place emphasized connections across space and scale to other places and peoples—to difference—as definitive of the human collective on Earth. This understanding of place relies on a radical openness that may feel quite raw and vulnerable, much the way that community feels now after such a long and bleak time confined inside our closely guarded COVID bubbles. 

The mission of public higher education is particularly resonant with this approach. Institutions like Queens College are radically open. Our community identity and purpose are strengthened by our outward connections with our stakeholders: our students, our sister CUNY institutions, our elected officials, and the great Borough of Queens. In the same measure, our academic work is strengthened by the work of our non-academic partners, our colleagues in ITS, Human Resources, Buildings and Grounds, the Budget Office, and all the myriad other divisions whose work supports and enables the teaching and learning core of the college. True, we don’t always agree with one another. There are differences, of perspective, of experience, and of opinion. The important thing is to listen, observe, learn, and honor those differences that connect us beyond the Queens College gates as well as within them, to one another, despite (or perhaps because of) the edges that have grown sharp over the course of our enforced time apart. Ours is a strong ecosystem because it is open and diverse. As we observe the stirrings of growth emerging from the winter darkness, manifest in the sudden busyness of campus wildlife or the stubborn emergence of the early purple crocuses, may we bear this in mind.

This final Academic Affairs Update of the Spring 2023 semester is all about expectations: great expectations, managing expectations, unmet expectations…you get my drift. To quote the late, great martial artist Bruce Lee: “I’m not in this world to live up to your expectations, and you’re not in this world to live up to mine.” In other words, the really important expectations are the ones we set for ourselves, so I’ll focus this month’s AAU on those.

Those delicious weeks before spring rolls fully into summer are full of all sorts of expectations. When I was a full-time faculty member, to be poised on the threshold of summer meant great anticipation of the wonderful writing and course preparation projects I intended to accomplish. Right alongside it, however, ran the nagging dread of not quite being able to capitalize on those three months that unfurled ahead like the blank pages on my desk—full of unrealized potential just waiting for me to do something with it.

Perhaps you feel the same way? One tool I found most helpful was to put together a summer plan. I never managed to follow my summer plan to the letter, and sometimes the plan I articulated in May had veered way off course by the time August wrapped up, but in retrospect it was always better to have a plan in the first place than to not. Allow me to recommend Kerry Ann Rockquemore’s Inside Higher Ed publication, “No More Post-Summer Regret,” as a great starting point for developing a summer plan that works for you.

Another aspect of expectations involves the rather daunting list of events, projects, and initiatives that have stacked up over the course of the pandemic years. So many of you have communicated to me your pent-up desire for more: more events to recognize the amazing accomplishments of our faculty and students; more funding for much-needed staff, administrative, and faculty lines; more unsponsored research reassigned time to allow faculty to pursue their scholarship; more nurturing of our interdisciplinary programs; more resources for our English language learners; more attention to pre-professional advisement in law and the health professions… The list is as worthy as it is long. 

I respect and support the expectation for more and better on our collective behalf. Allow me to encourage each of you to consider being a part of the solution. Help me to prioritize the most urgent matters. Step up to serve in college or CUNY roles that will propel these efforts forward. Participate in opportunities to exercise shared governance. Together, we can make great strides by gathering our energy and directing it toward turning our expectations into realities. For those of you who are interested in learning more about how administrators can figure into this equation, please consider applying for a Provost’s Fellowship. Look for the call for applications coming soon to your inbox. 

In previous Academic Affairs Updates I noted the importance of community. Key to building community is the simple act of showing up. On that note, I encourage each of you to participate in this year’s Commencement exercise on Thursday, June 1, 2023 at 9 am on the beautiful QC Quad. Commencement is a particularly meaningful celebration of the accomplishments and the beginning of a new chapter in the lives of our Queens College graduates. As you know, many in our student community overcome major challenges to complete their degrees. Faculty may serve as marshals or march with their departments. A special reserved seating section has been arranged for faculty participants. 

Thank you to all those who have already signed up to participate. If you have not had a chance to do so, there is still time! If you would like to attend Commencement, please RSVP to Sylvia Hernandez at sylvia.hernandez@qc.cuny.edu. Though the official deadline for ordering regalia has passed, I have confirmed that faculty may still order regalia by emailing Sylvia as soon as possible. For more information, please see the message from the Office of Campus Events and Commencement at https://conta.cc/3V3EX0H. 

Finally, a note on recent comings and goings in Academic Affairs. I am thrilled that Bobbie Kabuto has accepted the position of permanent dean of the School of Education. It has been such a pleasure to work with her in her role as interim dean, and I am excited for her and for the Education faculty, staff and students. Brenda Salas Velasco and Sadia Ishak have departed Queens College, and we wish them the very best in their new positions. Over the summer, Interim Associate Provost Meghan Healey will wind down her time in the Office of the Provost, once again serving as chair of the Department of Drama, Theatre and Dance this fall. The energy, vision, and sheer fabulosity she brought to this position were remarkable, and I am honored to have had a chance to work with her during my first months at Queens College. Finally, Senior Dean of Arts and Humanities Bill McClure’s transition to his new role as provost at SUNY New Paltz will happen over the summer. Bill has been a kind and patient mentor to me, and for that I am deeply appreciative. I am confident that he will be an outstanding provost and enjoy the role every bit as much as I am. 

While this may seem like a lot of shuffling—indeed, it is—I understand it is not unique to Queens College. Rather, the entire higher education sector appears to be undergoing a transition to new ways of working, leading, and serving our communities. Managing expectations across this time of transition will be a challenge, for each of us and for the Queens College community as a whole. I suspect, however, that these are merely growing pains, allowing for the emergence of new leaders, new ideas, and new ways to accomplish our mission of “We Learn So That We May Serve.” I, for one, have great expectations.

From: Patricia Price, Interim Provost & Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs

As you prepare your Fall 2023 schedules, I felt it might be helpful to share information about assignment of faculty to sections and determination of course modality. 

During the height of the pandemic, you may recall that CUNY issued guidance about the mix of modalities (i.e., what proportion of courses should be face-to-face, and what proportion should be online or hybrid). That guidance has since sunsetted and the colleges are expected to determine what makes sense for their campus. 

Our mission as a college is serving students. It is the North Star that must guide us in all decisions we make. As we move into this new era, we will do well to be thoughtful and strategic as we consider whether and how to offer sections to students, ensuring at all times that student needs and student success are at the forefront of these decisions. 

As department Chairs, you play a key role in “assigning courses to and arrang(ing) programs of instructional staff members of the department”. Indeed, this phrase is quoted from Section 9.3 of the CUNY Bylaws, Duties of Department Chairperson. In tandem with your faculty and with the advisement of your dean and provost as necessary, you are the best positioned to determine whether a course is appropriate for fully online delivery, or whether the substance of a given course is best delivered in a face-to-face or hybrid modality.  

It is incumbent upon us as an institution to ensure that faculty are supported to be successful in the modality in which they are teaching. I do expect faculty who teach online (fully and/or hybrid) to regularly engage in professional development that is geared to supporting their success in this space. I have asked the Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning and Leadership (CETLL) to resume workshops for faculty who teach online or hybrid. 

As always, you should continue to discuss ADA accommodation requests implicating online or hybrid teaching schedules with HR. 

The decision to offer a course online or hybrid must both be driven by the pedagogical suitability of the course material, as well as the faculty member’s ability to be successful instructors in the designated modality. As we look to the future of Queens College, I will partner with you and with your Deans in determining what sections, courses, and programs are best offered online or hybrid, to ensure that our faculty are set up for success, and to provide a mixture of modalities that addresses the needs of Queens College students, both today and in the future.  

From: Patricia Price, Interim Provost & Senior  Vice President for Academic Affairs

I would like to share the news that Sandra Mew will be retiring from Queens College. Sandra has been an essential part of the Queens College team for close to 26 years. The span of her career at QC includes service in the Office of the Dean of Students, the Office of the President, and the Office of the Provost.

We invite you to attend a reception in honor of Sandra’s retirement on Wednesday, March 1 at 3 pm in the Music Building Atrium. If you plan to attend, please RSVP here by Wednesday, February 22.

On behalf of my colleagues in the Provost’s Office and the many on campus who have worked with Sandra over the years, we thank her for her incredible dedication and contributions to the QC community.

From: Patricia Price, Interim Provost & Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs

This spring, CUNY’s Office of Transformation will welcome a new cohort of faculty Career Success Fellows. Queens College has the opportunity to participate in this initiative.

CUNY seeks a total of 50 new Career Success Fellows in Spring 2023, with two fellows per CUNY campus, one representing Liberal Arts, Humanities, Education, or Social Sciences, and one representing Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), Healthcare, or Business & Accounting. This fellowship is for faculty focused on students and student success.

Fellows will:

• take part in a collaborative professional development program on Monday, April 17, 2023 (10 am to 12 noon on Zoom) and Monday, April 24, 2023 (10 am to 12:30 pm at 205 East 42nd Street, NY, NY 10017).
• be actively engaged as campus leaders and cross-CUNY liaisons, including spearheading local events, from Spring 2023 through June 2024.

Interested faculty can apply here. The application deadline for the Career Success Fellows is close of business on Friday, March 3, 2023. For more information about this opportunity, including eligibility requirements and compensation, please review the Request for Applications.

If you have any questions, please email transformation@cuny.edu.

This morning, I went for a run around Randall’s Island with a few people from my Manhattan running group. We’ve been running together for nearly ten years, putting in eight to 12 miles at a go. It’s not a formal running club (those folks are too serious for me!), just a collection of individuals who like to run. Especially at this time of year, knowing they’re waiting for me is the encouragement I need to get up early and venture out on these dark, cold mornings. 

Running double-digit miles in the winter isn’t objectively fun, not even in concept. But I choose to focus on the positives: I get to know parts of New York City that I would not normally visit; I get to know people who come from backgrounds that I wouldn’t normally encounter; the benefits of regular fresh air and exercise are undeniable; and I’m guaranteed to feel mentally and physically better after the run than I did before it. In other words, whether you experience something as negative or positive is mostly about mindset and framing.

Speaking of your experience, COACHE has launched! The Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE) Faculty Job Satisfaction Survey is administered by the Harvard Graduate School of Education to faculty at approximately 300 institutions of higher education across the nation. CUNY colleges participate under the umbrella of the University, with data being gathered at the college level and benchmarked against other CUNY schools as well as comparable institutions nationwide. Each full-time faculty member has received a unique link to take the survey. I strongly encourage you to participate. COACHE goes to great lengths to de-identify qualitative remarks—I have seen results from two different institutions and truly couldn’t trace them to a specific individual if I tried—and your responses will be used to make changes that will improve your job satisfaction. As an example, the last time we administered a COACHE survey in 2019, the data showed overwhelming support for internal research enhancement funding, a program that we re-launched this year based on that feedback. I offer our thanks to Director of the Office of Institutional Effectiveness Zhili Liang and Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs and Curriculum Meghan Healey who have led the local rollout of COACHE at QC. Provost’s Fellows JV Fuqua and Mayank Goswami will assist with data analysis and with creating an action plan to follow up on the survey results.

New academic leadership at CUNY is proceeding with several important systemwide projects to support the success of our students. The CUNY Transfer Initiative is one of them. Our own Alicia Alvero, now an associate vice chancellor for Academic Effectiveness and Innovation at CUNY, is co-leading this initiative alongside City Tech’s Lubie Alatriste, executive committee member of the University Faculty Senate (UFS). Six discipline areas have been identified as candidates for the first wave of curricular alignment, as they represent popular majors for CUNY community college students who transfer to four-year CUNY colleges: Accounting, Business, Computer Science, Education, Engineering, and Psychology. Queens College faculty representatives have been named and will soon begin their work in collaboration with faculty in these disciplines from around the system. Want to learn more? Attend an upcoming Transfer Town Hall, to be hosted by CUNY (dates, times, and login information have been sent to all faculty and staff and can be found here). 

Among February’s comings and goings, we have the bittersweet news of Sandra Mew’s retirement from Queens College after 26 years of exemplary service. While we are excited to see what this next chapter brings for Sandra, her departure from the Office of the Provost leaves a distinct void. Please stop by the reception in her honor, to be held in the Music Building Atrium on March 1 at 3 pm (RSVP here).

In conclusion, I would like to touch upon the challenging budget environment in which we find ourselves. QC is solidly in middle of the pack with respect to our budget shortfall, relative to our sister CUNY colleges. As the federal stimulus funds sunset and enrollment challenges continue, we have been asked to assemble a savings plan for the coming fiscal year by identifying expense cuts and enhancing revenue. These days for the college are akin to my winter running routine—in a word, challenging. Please be assured that Chief Financial Officer Joseph Loughren and I are working closely with elected faculty leadership to develop a savings plan that addresses CUNY’s request, while looking toward the future with a positive mindset. Today’s challenge presents an opportunity for us to come together as a community and position ourselves for a stronger tomorrow. How can we be strategic with our limited resources to advance our mission? What new revenue streams can be cultivated and what existing revenues can be enhanced? How do we ensure that the success of our students is kept at the forefront of our decisions? As the coming months unfold, we will endeavor together to position the college to thrive in the years to come

From: Patricia Price, Interim Provost & Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs

If the college is closed to in-person activities due to weather or other emergency conditions, teaching activities should be conducted remotely for the duration of the closure, consistent with CUNY practice. Faculty who are unable to conduct classes remotely must contact their department chair to determine alternative options and communicate their plan to students via the learning management system and other appropriate means.

You can find out if Queens College will be closed due to a snowstorm or other emergency conditions by going to the www.qc.cuny.edu/alert web page. See the message sent to the campus about emergency notifications here.

From: Patricia Price, Interim Provost & Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs

Dear Faculty:

Final examination week runs from December 15-21, with final grades due by December 27. The academic calendar is set by CUNY and can be accessed here. As a reminder, Queens College has posted guidance around final examinations, underscoring best practices and alignment with CUNY policy. 

Late grade submission results in critical information flowing to students in a less-than-timely manner, causes downstream hardships for students and academic support personnel and systems, and ultimately impacts student progress in a negative manner. 

With that being noted, COVID is still with us, as are other respiratory viruses, all of which will likely increase in their incidence and severity across the winter months. Please develop a contingency plan for students who cannot come to campus for COVID-related reasons (see CUNY guidance here) at a time that a final examination is scheduled. Should you require some leniency in grade submission for students who test positive, or for grade submission delays arising from COVID illness on your part, please contact Registrar Jim Curry (james.curry@qc.cuny.edu) and copy Associate Provost Meghan Healey (meghan.healey@qc.cuny.edu) as soon as feasible to alert them to the situation so that they can work with you and ensure the impact on students is minimized.

If you need to report a case of COVID, please do so via the Coronavirus Exposure Reporting Form here.  

Thank you, and I wish you a joyous—and healthy—holiday season.

Patricia

From: Patricia Price, Interim Provost & Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs

It is understood that religious observance may impact class attendance, participation in examinations, and study or work requirements on particular days. Appropriate arrangements will be made to provide an equivalent opportunity to register for classes or make up any examination, study, or work requirements students may have missed because of such absence. Students should provide advance notice to their professors of any religious commitments and indicate when such observance and commitments will conflict with class attendance or other college responsibilities. Faculty will reasonably accommodate students’ religious commitments, provided that advance notice of these commitments is given by the student. To the extent possible, faculty will refrain from scheduling tests on such class days. The student may also contact the Office of Student Affairs to initiate such accommodations.

These provisions are explained in the University Policies section of the Queens College Undergraduate Bulletin (https://qc-undergraduate.catalog.cuny.edu) and the Graduate Bulletin (https://qc-graduate.catalog.cuny.edu).

If a faculty member does not accommodate a student’s request with regard to examinations, assignments, or quizzes missed for reason of a religious holiday or observance, students may pursue refused requests for such accommodation with the department chairperson and the chief diversity officer. See Religious Accommodations procedures, found at https://bit.ly/38Chw7m.

Consistent with Education Law 224, students will not be expelled or refused admission because they are unable, due to their religious beliefs, to attend classes or participate in an examination, study, or work requirements on particular day(s).

You may view CUNY’s Religions and Ethnic Holiday calendar at https://www.cuny.edu/current-students/student-affairs/religious-ethnic-holiday-calendar/.

Thank you for your cooperation.

From: Patricia Price, Interim Provost & Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs

What a lovely time of year to be on the Queens College campus. The foliage is ablaze with autumn colors, and I am enjoying the cool air during my laps around the track.

Over my years as an administrator as well as in my previous life as a faculty member, I’ve learned that effective communication is key. It is something I’m continuously working on. I believe that the launch of monthly Academic Affairs Update will help to establish a regular venue for conveying information that affects the academic enterprise at Queens College. While it’s not possible for me, as an individual with limited capacity, to know and convey the vast amount of information that might be of interest, I do hope that these Updates will become a predictable and welcome addition to your inbox each month.

Good communication requires a solid foundation, and strong relationships are the basis of that foundation. Building these relationships has been a major focus of my time and attention during these early months. Across the course of this academic year, I will meet one on one with each department chair. The purpose of these meetings is to get to know those dedicated individuals who, in my estimation, have the most difficult—and the most important—job in all of academic administration. Department chairs: You have my admiration, respect, and support, and I am truly enjoying getting to know you. I’ve also traveled to Manhattan to spend the day with Anthony Tamburri, dean of the John D. Calandra Italian American Institute and Soniya Munshi, who is the interim executive director of the Asian American / Asian Research Institute. Last but not least, this year I am supporting our sister institution, the Inter-American University of Puerto Rico – Guayama Campus, and the Middle States Commission on Higher Education by leading a reaccreditation team. I trust that all of these relationships, whether local, city-wide, or regional, will serve to strengthen and enhance the fabric of our Queens College community.

Another important way in which we communicate is through our web pages, and I will be the first to admit that the Office of the Provost web pages need some TLC. To that end, I have assembled a working collaboration between my staff and the ITS team to enhance our online presence and ensure that the material posted is accessible, accurate, and useful. Stay tuned.

Let me take a moment to share some updates on personnel changes in the Office of the Provost. As of July, Meghan Healey has stepped into the large (and stylish) shoes left by Alicia Alvero, to serve as the Interim Associate Provost for Academic and Faculty Affairs (those of you who know Meghan know that she has her own collection of very stylish footwear). Also joining us is Minonska Castellanos, who will assist Associate Provost Healey and serve as a resource for department chairs with respect to three-year adjunct appointments, faculty workload, and many other faculty affairs matters. Pat O’Connell’s role has been elevated to executive director of QC Global, and I look forward to his leadership as Queens College continues to make inroads in the international education and global partnerships space. And it is with a keen mixture of pride and sadness that we bid adieu to Richard Cardenas, who has recently begun his new job at CUNY’s Office of Academic Affairs.

In closing, I want to take a moment to thank everyone for your kind notes and words of welcome. After just a few short months, Queens College is beginning to feel like home.

From: Patricia Price, Interim Provost & Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs

Are you interested in creating impactful global learning for your students? Do you want to connect with faculty across national borders?

The Office of the Provost is pleased to announce the 2022-2023 Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) Faculty Fellowships. In keeping with the international goals of Queens College and working closely with the Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning & Leadership, the fellowships will offer select faculty the opportunity to learn about COIL, develop strategies for incorporating it into their courses, advance research with international colleagues, and expand QC’s global presence.

Adding a COIL component to your course offers your students an opportunity to interact globally through virtual exchange without additional costs associated with physical mobility. While the COIL component takes place solely online, your course may be face-to-face, hybrid or fully online. Courses may be existing courses or new courses.

Interested Queens College faculty from all disciplines are invited to learn more about COIL here: https://qc.cuny.edu/coil.

The application deadline to be part of the 2022-2023 cohort with a $600 stipend is October 4 at 5 pm. Apply at https://forms.office.com/r/s5b1VX5Uss.

For more information on the COIL Faculty Fellowship structure, eligibility, and application, go to https://www.qc.cuny.edu/coil/2022-2023/.

Please direct any questions to COIL Coordinator, Prof. Schiro Withanachchi at schiro.withanachchi@qc.cuny.edu.

From: Patricia Price, Interim Provost & Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs

Are you interested in creating impactful global learning for your students? Do you want to connect with faculty across national borders?

The Office of the Provost is pleased to announce the 2022-2023 Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) Faculty Fellowships. In keeping with the international goals of Queens College and working closely with the Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning & Leadership, the fellowships will offer select faculty the opportunity to learn about COIL, develop strategies for incorporating it into their courses, advance research with international colleagues, and expand QC’s global presence.

Adding a COIL component to your course offers your students an opportunity to interact globally through virtual exchange without additional costs associated with physical mobility. While the COIL component takes place solely online, your course may be face-to-face, hybrid or fully online. Courses may be existing courses or new courses.

Interested Queens College faculty from all disciplines are invited to learn more about COIL here: https://qc.cuny.edu/coil.

The application deadline to be part of the 2022-2023 cohort with a $600 stipend is October 4 at 5 pm. Apply athttps://forms.office.com/r/s5b1VX5Uss.

For more information on the COIL Faculty Fellowship structure, eligibility, and application, go to https://www.qc.cuny.edu/coil/2022-2023/.

Please direct any questions to COIL Coordinator, Prof. Schiro Withanachchi at schiro.withanachchi@qc.cuny.edu.

From: Patricia Price, Interim Provost &Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, and Zeco Krcic, Assistant Vice President for Facilities, Planning & Operations

We trust you are enjoying the start of the fall semester. CUNY’s Executive Vice Chancellor and University Provost, Wendy Hensel, has assembled the list of FAQs included below to assist in addressing questions that may arise concerning campus access.

As previously messaged, Assistant Vice President for Facilities, Planning and Operations Zeco Krcic is coordinating Queens College campus access. Please direct any questions to ReturntoQC2022@qc.cuny.edu. You are also encouraged to attend today’s virtual campus access briefing that will take place at 3pm. RSVP at https://bit.ly/3QzOrgT. Information on how to join the briefing will be shared with you after you RSVP.

CUNY – Return to Campus FAQs – Fall 2022

Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor and University Provost – Wendy Hensel

(8/23/2022)

Student Questions

For the most up-to-date information on CUNY COVID-19 guidelines, including key information for students, refer to the CUNY website.

Q: I am a returning student. Do I need to have a negative COVID test before classes start?

A: It depends.

• All students living in dormitories are required to take a COVID test at one of the CUNY testing site locations before moving in.
• All athletes are required to take a COVID test at one of the CUNY testing site locations before classes start.
• Students attending in-person classes or on-campus activities should take a COVID test before the first day of classes. However, students do not need to upload or disclose the results. If you have a positive test, you should not come to campus.
• Students who are taking online classes with no in-person component and will not be on campus are not required to take a test before classes start.

Q: How would I know if I’ve been randomly selected for testing and what do I do if I have been selected?

A: You will receive an email from “cleared4work.com” informing you of your selection. The email will be sent to your preferred email address (as indicated in CUNYfirst). You must take a COVID-19 test at any CUNY testing site within 14 days of the notification. Failure to do so will prevent you from coming onto campus.

Q: I’ve heard that the COVID booster will be required for participation in on-campus classes and activities. Is this true? If so, what is the deadline to comply?

A: CUNY encourages all members of the CUNY community to be vaccinated and boosted, but receiving a booster is not currently required for in-person course registration.

Q: My religious/medical exemption was rejected. Is it true that I cannot appeal?

A: All decisions of the committee are final and not subject to appeal. However, you are permitted to reapply if new documentation and information should become available.

Faculty Questions

Q: I know I can’t require students in my class to wear a mask, but I would like to request that they do so. Is that okay?

A: No. Mask wearing is optional on campus. Because of the authority faculty has in a classroom, a request may be interpreted as a requirement. However, you may inform your class that you (the professor) will be wearing a mask and explain why. For example, “I live with an immunocompromised person and will be wearing a mask in class to keep you and my loved ones safe.”

Q: The CDC recently changed COVID guidelines. Is CUNY following these new CDC guidelines?

A: Please refer to the CUNY COVID-19 site for regular updates to the guidelines.

Q: Can I switch my course modality from the one listed in CUNYfirst?

A: No. Course modality cannot be changed at any time after students have registered.

Q: I am not vaccinated and I do not have a religious or medical exemption. May I keep my Fall 2022 teaching assignment? What if I’m teaching an online class?

A: CUNY requires that all faculty be fully vaccinated to maintain employment (unless they have requested and been granted a religious or medical exemption).

Q: Can offices have reduced hours or coverage?

A: No, all offices must provide coverage during regular operating hours. Remote work agreements may not reduce hours of operation.

Q: Are gathering and meeting spaces open for use? (e.g. cafes, libraries, lounges, etc.)

A: Yes, all gathering and meeting spaces are open for use. Please refer to specific campus sites for specific information on hours of availability.

Q: What is the CUNY policy on student COVID-related absences when syllabi may state that attendance is required?

A: Faculty should show the same flexibility they normally would for any student illness/medical absence.

Administrator Questions

Q: Are Department/College Personnel & Budget committees permitted to hold virtual meetings for Fall 2022/Spring 2023?

A: Meetings can continue to take place virtually as long as Governor Hochul’s legislation extending virtual public meetings is in place. Any changes to the legislation will be conveyed to the campus’s executive offices.

Q: Will random testing of vaccinated members of the community continue?

A: CUNY’s random testing protocol is still in place. If anything changes, the CUNY community will be notified and the CUNY COVID-19 site will be updated.

Q: Will colleges be allowed to pivot to online instruction if there is COVID or Monkeypox incline in outbreaks?

A: CUNY will continue to monitor COVID & Monkeypox outbreaks and will provide guidance on any possible changes to course modality. Campuses may not pivot to online instruction without consultation with CUNY OAA/EVC Hensel.

Q: Are there any expectations of report monitoring for Monkeypox similar to what is already in place for the COVID pandemic?

A: At this time CUNY is not required to report monitoring for Monkeypox. If anything changes, campuses will be notified and the CUNY COVID-19 site will be updated.

Q: Many faculty and students may have ignored random testing over the summer and are no longer eligible to enter campus until they test and get a negative result, which may take several days. Will there be any grace period to allow faculty and students to enter campus once they test but are waiting for results?

A: It was assumed that those who did not respond to their Random Testing invitation during the summer were not on campus. As a result, CUNY removed them from the campus restriction list and entered them into the Fall Random Testing pool. They should have access to campus when they arrive. When they are called for random testing in the fall, failure to comply will result in their access pass being denied.