Discimus ut serviamus: We learn so that we may serve.

#56

Both undergraduate and graduate life are much enriched by all the activities on campus. On Club Day—Wednesday, September 11—representatives of QC’s many student organizations and partners filled the Quad during the afternoon, where prospective members were able to weigh all their extracurricular options.

The Academic Senate convened its first session of the fall semester on Thursday, September 12, in the Dave Fields Lecture Hall, Room 170, Kiely Hall; Interim President William Tramontano spoke to those assembled about his impressions of the college, its assets, challenges, and potential. He answered questions and thanked the college community for the welcoming reception he has received since his appointment June 1. On Tuesday, September 11, the interim president met with the college’s department chairs and chaired the first fall meeting of the Personnel and Budget Committee.

(l to r) Bill Keller, Vice President for Finance and Administration, Sahar Kosari, and Brian Cohen, Vice Chancellor for Technology and University CIO, CUNY.

Two Students Honored at Inaugural Staci Hope Cohen Event

QC students Hira Mohammed and Sahar Kosari were recognized for their contributions to sustainability on campus during the inaugural Staci Hope Cohen Award Ceremony on September 13 in the Benjamin S. Rosenthal Library.

Staci Hope Cohen was in charge of QC’s Office of Sustainability until her untimely passing in 2016. Shortly after, family and friends established the Staci Hope Cohen Fund to celebrate her memory, support student-inspired sustainability initiatives, and recognize students’ contributions to the college’s sustainability efforts.

Mohammed, a recent QC graduate with a degree in applied mathematics, worked closely with Cohen as a work-study student. She demonstrated energy and passion and proved to be a leader in sustainability. Mohammed is now employed in the role of energy analyst at CUNY Conserves, where she focuses on improving energy efficiency in facility operations and maintenance throughout the university.

Kosari, a QC graduate student who aspires to be a registered dietician, led a student team that developed and submitted the successful CUNY sustainability proposal for the Family, Nutrition, and Exercise Science (FNES) garden. Sahar has also contributed many hours of her time and energy to make the garden a success and has managed to inspire many other students in issues related to sustainability.

“I didn’t get to meet [Staci], but I’ve heard all about her and the significant contributions she made to our campus,” said Kosari. “Everything we’ve done over the past couple of years is to commemorate her and her vision for sustainability. I’m so honored and grateful to be a recipient of this award. I know Staci would be proud to see the progress.”

Following the award ceremony, the attendees visited the FNES garden near Remsen Hall for the unveiling of a plaque dedicated to Staci’s memory. The plaque reads: In Memory of Staci Hope Cohen. A Queens College Champion of Sustainability and an Advocate for Student Success.

SEEK Director Norka Blackman-Richards; former QC faculty members Sheila Delany (English), George Held (English), Tony O’Brien (English), and Frank Warren (History); former SEEK Counselor William Modeste; and QC alumnus Wally Rosenthal reflected on protests and political movements from half a century ago during “1969 Revisited,” a panel discussion held on the evening of Thursday, September 12, in the Charles J. Tanenbaum Room in Benjamin S. Rosenthal Library. The library hosted the discussion in connection with the exhibition Campus Unrest at 50: Commemorating the Legacy of Dissent at Queens College. Campus Unrest, curated by archivists Rachel Kahn and Annie Tummino, will remain on display next to the Tanenbaum Room through October 31. Click here to see additional photos.

Business and Technology Career Expo

Students can explore opportunities in potentially lucrative sectors on Wednesday, September 18, from noon to 2 pm, when the Center for Career Engagement and Internships presents the Business & Technology Career Expo on the Quad. To reserve a place, RSVP at www.qc.cuny.edu/HireQC.

Lecture on Artificial Intelligence

Keith Furst, managing director of Financial Crimes Technology and co-author of AI Supremacy, will present “Artificial Intelligence: A Deep Dive,” on Wednesday, September 18, from 12:15 to 1 pm, in the Science Building, Room C203. Furst’s lecture is part of the Technology Exploration Series co-sponsored by the Department of Computer Science and the Tech Incubator. Click here to register.

Coffee with Bill

Faculty and staff are cordially invited to “Coffee with Bill” on Thursday, September 19, from 9:30 to 11 am in the President’s Lounge at the Dining Hall, hosted by Interim President William Tramontano. Employees are invited to attend anytime within the 90-minute window to start their day with coffee or tea, a snack, and conversation with the college’s top administrator.

Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month for Almost Eight Weeks

“Progressive transition” is the theme of the New York Latin American Art Triennial, debuting this week with group shows at the QC Art Center and other institutions in the Bronx, Manhattan, and Queens. The triennial, which features more than 100 Latino artists, is scheduled to coincide with Hispanic Heritage Month, from September 15 through October 15. The Art Center’s exhibition will open with a reception on September 19, from 6 to 8 pm; work will remain on display through November 5.

Citizenship Drive at John Jay College of Criminal Justice

Citizenship Day is Saturday, September 21, and CUNY Citizenship Now! is honoring it in the best way possible: hosting a city-wide event at John Jay College of Criminal Justice from 10 am to 2 pm to help permanent residents apply to become naturalized Americans. Green Card holders will be able to consult John Jay staff and volunteers free of charge for help in completing forms and, if eligible, seeking fee waivers.

“CUNY takes great pride in its historic mandate to help people of all backgrounds realize the American dream,” said CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez in a statement released on September 12. “CUNY Citizenship Now!, the first university-based immigration law program in the country, constitutes an important and increasingly necessary pillar of that commitment.”

To find out about the requirements for citizenship, what documents to bring to the event, or to register, permanent residents should call 646-664-9400.

High Tech Meets Higher Education at Forum

QC’s signature Business Forum Breakfast resumes this semester with a special event on Wednesday, September 25, from 9 to 11 am in the Student Union Ballroom: “High Tech Meets Higher Education,” featuring panelists Martha Pollack, president of Cornell University, and Félix V. Matos Rodríguez, chancellor of CUNY. QC Interim President William Tramontano will serve as moderator for the discussion, which will explore topics ranging from what higher educational institutions can do to improve the digital literacy of all Americans, to how to foster effective partnerships with business and industry. The morning will conclude with a Q&A session. Seats can be reserved at www.qc.cuny.edu/businessforumRSVP.

Coping with the Devastation of Dorian

In the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian, CUNY is organizing two types of help: counseling support for students, faculty, and staff affected by the storm, and disaster relief for the people of the Bahamas. At QC, these efforts are being coordinated by Dwayne Jones, director of the Office of Student Development and Leadership.

Seating Opens in Kiely Hall

Among the facilities upgrades recently completed by the QC Facilities team, one project stands (or sits) out as an immediate hit with students: the installation of 20 wall-mounted cantilever folding chairs in some of the corridors of Kiely Hall.

“We placed them in hallways around the lecture halls on the first and second floors where we noticed more students were sitting on the floor,” says Amparo Barrera (Campus Planning, Design and Construction), who oversaw the project.

The placement of the folding chairs, she explains, required thorough planning as well as approvals from CUNY Facilities Planning, Construction and Management to satisfy building egress and fire codes. The chairs automatically retract when not in use, projecting just over three inches in their closed position and posing no obstruction. As they do not touch the floor, they also present no obstacle for housekeeping staff’s maintenance of hallway floors.

No sooner were the seats installed than they quickly began being occupied by students waiting for their classes to begin. “We’re presently studying additional buildings to install more such chairs where this solution is appropriate,” says Barrera.

Associate Producer at WNYC Public Radio

An associate producer for WNYC Public Radio’s popular news program “The Takeaway,” Robert Gunther credits Queens College for giving him the skills he uses in his​ work daily.

The oldest of six children, Gunther grew up in Valley Stream. While he was in high school, his mother was obtaining her undergraduate degree from QC. He was impressed by the way the college accommodated her work and family responsibilities, “which I think speaks to the realities of students in New York,” he says, “They have a lot going on; they have a lot to do; and Queens College makes it happen.”

Gunther got his own undergraduate degree at Fordham. “Private school was fine,” he says. “But when I was looking for a graduate program, I had a better sense of what I wanted to do and the kind of value that I wanted for my education. Queens College was a natural choice.” 

“The [MFA in Creative Writing and Literary Translation] program offered small classes where everyone is really passionate about the work they’re doing,” he continues. “I thought it would be the way to take my writing to the next step.” The opportunity to be taught by professors who were, themselves, well-published really appealed to him when he compared QC’s MFA program to others he had explored in the New York City area.

“It’s one of the only MFA programs in the country that offers literary translation as something you can center on,” he notes. “I focus on fiction, but I also had a lot of translation experience from my time in the Peace Corps.” Through the program he was able to translate a novel by an Ecuadoran writer, and through a relationship the program had with a publishing house, the novel was published for an American audience. “Without Queens College I would have never had that opportunity.”

Also through QC, Gunther was able to secure an internship at the “Brian Lehrer Show” at New York Public Radio, WNYC, which in turn led to his current position with “The Takeaway.” “I know it’s a cliché to say it, but this really is my dream job,” he says. “Not a day goes by that I don’t use the skills that I learned at Queens College at WNYC. The experience that I got at Queens College’s MFA program is invaluable.”

Sowmya Dechamma Chotteyandamada, a professor in the Centre for Comparative Literature at the University of Hyderabad in India, is part of QC’s Comparative Literature Department this year as a visiting Fulbright Scholar. She will give a public lecture this semester and teach a class in modern Indian literary cultures in the spring . . . Meghan Healey (DTD) has been nominated for a Barrymore Award for Outstanding Costume Design for last November’s production of Mr. Burns: A Post-Electric Play at the Wilma Theater in Philadelphia . . . Jianbo Liu (Chemistry and Biochemistry) received a three-year, $420,000 grant from the National Science Foundation for his project on "Guided ion beam and computational studies of singlet oxygen reactions with guanine radical cations in nucleobases, nucleosides, and their native and mismatched base pairs” . . . Karla Manning, director of QC’s Big Buddy Program, reports that it has received significant grant commitments from three local Queens legislators for fiscal 2020. Councilmember Eric Ulrich will donate $40,000 and Councilmember Paul Vallone will donate $5,000. Councilmember Peter Koo has indicated that he will also support Big Buddy . . . The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has approved a grant of $500,000 to Queens College to continue support for a new faculty development and diversity initiative. The allocation will allow the college to build on the acknowledged success of the current three-year program, developed by Dean Michael Wolfe, under the auspices of Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Elizabeth Hendrey . . . U.S. Representative Grace Meng, a member of the House Appropriations Committee, announced that QC has been awarded more than $3 million in grants from the National Science Foundation. The awards include $2,172,613 for an effort to develop undergraduate STEM courses, in partnership with the New York Hall of Science; $399,988 for a computer science project that will involve undergraduates at QC and graduate students at the CUNY Graduate Center in the effort to solve a 40-year-old conjecture; and $499,995 for a project that examines color changing in a fish, the African cichlid, as it adapts to the algal blooms of Lake Tanganyika . . . Investment News referenced QC and Interim President William Tramontano in an article about the need for students and their families to develop financial literacy.