Student Affairs

Student Affairs is part of the Queens College effort to educate the whole person. This group of caring and talented professionals are committed to a student development concept of facilitating emotional, psychological, social, and intellectual growth and development.

Welcome Message

Welcome to the Fall 2024 semester at Queens College!

Positioned on the highest point in the borough of Queens, our campus is 82 acres in size and is comprised of 30 buildings and numerous outdoor spaces. On behalf of the Division of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management, I want to welcome you to the Fall 2024 semester. For those of you who are new to our campus, I hope you’ll find this to be the start of an exciting chapter in your education! At the same time, I want to welcome back those of you who have been with us previously! There have been some big changes on campus so as you prepare for the start of classes, I want to share important resources that will assist you while you are with us.

First and foremost, please read this important letter from Wendy Hensel, Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and University Provost from CUNY Central regarding important policy updates that will directly impact all of our students. You will find the full letter on our website at this link.

QC EMAIL ACCOUNT: Queens College uses your QC email account as their official line of communication. If you have not yet done so, please set up your account so that you can receive important notices from the college while you are with us. To do so, you will need to claim your CAMS account which will also assist you with obtaining a QCard for identification purposes. 

BRIGHTSPACE: Queens College is now using Brightspace. Brightspace is the learning management system used by the college where you will be able to communicate with your instructor, review your course syllabus, submit assignments, and more. If you are new to this platform, please visit the Getting Started page which links on how to create your account, log-in, and more! It is crucial that you make time to review this information prior to the start of classes so that you can stay on track.

CAMPUS ACCESS: Queens College has several access points for you when you visit and you can view the Campus Map prior to your arrival so you can plan which entry point is right for you. To access campus, you may be asked to show your identification. This can be in the form of a college ID Card or your state-issued ID Card. Access-A-Ride access to campus: If you plan to use Access-A-Ride services to come to campus or to leave, the process is easy! You can find four (4) dedicated pick-up & drop-off points on campus that are identified on the Campus Map and have been provided to NYC Transit. Simply instruct your driver to arrive at the stop that is most convenient for your arrival, and Public Safety will allow them access. Uber/Lyft drop-off locations: When using a ride-share service, we ask that you find a drop-off outside of campus that is nearest the gate you plan to access. Please keep in mind that it is best to have the driver pull up 50-100 feet beyond that gate entrance so that they do not cause congestion for other traffic driving in that same area while they wait for you. 

BOOKSTORE: Queens College uses an online bookstore for textbooks. Please visit www.vitalsource.com and create an account. From there, you can order the textbooks you need from what your professors have listed in their syllabus on Brightspace.

PARKING: Parking on campus is limited to those who have a parking decal. If you entered the lottery and received a decal, please visit the Student Parking webpage to familiarize yourself with where you can park on campus. If you were unable to obtain a parking decal, you may opt to park off campus in the local neighborhood or you can park in the underground parking garage at the Student Union for an hourly fee.

CAMPUS SAFETY: While Queens College takes pride in being a safe campus for the QC Community, we recommend that all members take an active role in keeping it that way. If you see something that seems out of place, please contact Public Safety and report it. There are 20 blue-light emergency phones around campus with a direct line to the Public Safety office. We also encourage you to add them to your cell phone contacts for easy access. Public Safety can be reached at (718) 997-5911 and their office is at the Main Gate entrance on Kissena Boulevard. 

LIBRARY: The Queens College Library is available to all students enrolled in classes at our campus with your QCard, CUNY ID Card, or QC Alumni ID Card. Please visit their website for more information regarding their hours of operation as well as to learn more about what services they provide. 

FOOD ON CAMPUS: We are excited to welcome QC Campus Eats to our campus! Over the coming weeks, you will see our newly-chosen vendor opening various concepts around campus to meet the diverse population on our campus. QC Campus Eats will be providing breakfast, lunch, and dinner options daily across campus in various locations including the Dining Hall, the Student Union, the Library, the Science Building, and Kiely Hall on the second floor. These concepts will be opening on a staggered basis, so please be patient over the next few weeks as they continue to build out their services. QC Campus Eats will offer a wide variety of options including Kosher, Halal, Vegetarian/Vegan, Asian-inspired, Mexican, burgers and sandwiches, pizza, salads, smoothies, coffee, and more. Be sure to continue to visit them throughout the semester to see what’s new! 

Student Success Resources: Your success is important so we want to make sure you are aware of the following resources on campus:

• QC Navigate – QC Navigate is a tool to help you succeed in college and stay on track for graduation and beyond; learn more about it at https://www.qc.cuny.edu/navigate/.
• UKnighted – Sign up to get involved on campus and stay in-the-know about all of the events taking place.
• First Year Experience – First Year Experience guides incoming students, both freshmen and transfers, through programming and peer mentorship to support them in developing community and finding their academic paths during their first year at Queens College.
• Tutoring – The QC Learning Commons offers peer tutoring, workshops, study spaces, and other services.
• Counseling– Counseling Services is here to enhance students’ academic, intellectual, personal, and social growth.
• Student Health – The mission of the Health Services Center is to provide free or low-cost resources, consultations, referrals, and educational programs to help achieve optimum well-being.

CUNY Alert: If you have not already done so, please take a moment to sign up for the CUNY Alert service. This is a text and e-mail-and-text messaging service that will keep you updated with important announcements from Queens College and the City University of New York such as closings, delays, etc. To sign up, visit CUNY Alert – The City University of New York and scroll down to “Subscribing to CUNY Alert.”

We look forward to seeing you on-campus this semester!  If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to email us at vpsa@qc.cuny.edu or stop by our office in room 327 of the Student Union. Our office is open Monday through Friday, from 9:00am to 5:30pm.

Sincerely,

Sean J. Pierce
Interim Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs