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

#54

Congresswoman Grace Meng—seen here flanked by Urban Studies faculty member and former City Councilmember James Vacca '01 and Provost and Vice President Elizabeth Hendrey—visited campus on Thursday, August 29, for a tour of the Tech Incubator in connection with Congressional Startup Day, a national observance sponsored by Engine, an entrepreneurship advocacy organization. Congresswoman Meng joined Interim President William Tramontano (see video) and also stopped by the college’s Small Business Development Center, launched last May with funding she provided. These facilities extend QC’s contributions to the economic development of Queens and New York City.

The incubator is launching a series of services to its member companies and the community at large, including website design and development, mobile app development, data analytics, social media, and marketing. Anyone can make a service request; click here .

Couldn’t be on campus for Welcome Day?

Not to worry. Experience the fun and excitement of that day by watching this video.

The American Debate League concluded its summer camp—held on QC’s grounds—with an awards ceremony on August 23 in Rosenthal 230. Assembly Member David Weprin attended the event, an uncontested element of a program that teaches upper elementary to high school students the fundamentals of public speaking and argumentation skills.

Google-QC Collaborate on Second Summer Institute

Before a packed audience in the QSide Lounge on August 13, members of the second cohort to participate in Google’s Computer Science Summer Institute (CSSI)-Extension program at QC offered previews of the mobile apps, blog, and website they created in the remarkably short span of 15 days.

The 21 students—incoming freshmen with an interest in computer science—had worked in three-person teams to come up with their computer wares, such as CS Passion, a blog by three incoming computer science students; Anxious Intern, an organization tool for students applying for internships; Lingo Learner, a translation app; Jotto WebApp, an app to allow users to play the popular game Jotto online; and Cup of Paws, a website promoting the concept of a coffee shop where customers could hang out with and possibly adopt puppies.

Competitively selected from groups historically underrepresented in the computer sciences, the students received intensive hands-on training that included learning to work in multiple computer coding languages.

“They are working 9 to 5 on basic computer science skills, the kinds of things that get them prepared for the first level of the computer science degree. So, they really do hit the ground running,” says Deputy Provost Eva Fernandez, who oversees the program as part of her responsibilities as director of QC’s Center for Teaching and Learning.

“We prefer to take in students with fewer skills so that we have a more even playing ground, and because the program is geared not for the kid who’s been coding in her basement for a decade but for the person who is interested in tech, passionate about tech, and has ideas but hasn’t had the opportunity to learn. We’re very much in line with Google: The real goal of this is to get groups who are underrepresented in tech.”

Queens College is one of ten colleges, including one other CUNY school (Medgar Evers), participating in Google’s CSSI Extension program, in which students are trained on campus by college faculty schooled by Google in the CSSI curriculum. In a component added this year, students received training for one week at Google’s Manhattan office through the Grow with Google program.

At least a quarter of last year’s cohort became computer science majors. One female participant received a “Winternship” from WITNY (Women in Technology and Entrepreneurship in New York), a CUNY-Cornell Tech collaboration dedicated to closing the gender gap in tech. Additionally, two members of that group got internship offers from Google.

English Language Institute Offers Free Classes to DC37 Members

Members of DC37 are eligible for free classes on campus, courtesy of the English Language Institute (ELI). Courses range from English as a Second Language to workshops in resume writing, English grammar, academic skills, and speech and communications. Basic Mandarin is also offered. Classes start this week; for more information, contact ELI at eli@qc.cuny.edu or 718-997-5720, or stop by its office in Kissena Hall, Room 100.

This ELI initiative grew out of a cross-campus collaboration. “Through an introduction from Vice President William Keller and Vice President Jay Hershenson, the English Language Institute was approached by the DC37 Education Fund to offer a Saturday ESL course for the union’s members, to run in January 2018,” says Donna Smith, ELI's executive director. “As the union members in that course began asking teachers for other offerings, we expanded beyond languages.”

This experience prompted ELI to open another unit, the Center for Academic and Communication Skills (CACS), to make these new classes—suitable for native or near-native speakers of English—available to the general public, at reasonable fees.

“ELI’s expertise in education and teaching is transferring well in the area of academic skills and languages other than English,” adds Smith. “Now more than ever, community members face challenges in the ever-changing workplace, and an increasing amount of needs are not being met. The ELI—part of QC since 1945—is honored to creatively strengthen existing offerings and contribute to new ways to service the community.”

Tramontano and Matos Endorse Letter Supporting Dreamers

Interim President William Tramontano has signed on to a letter to the United States Congress urging elected officials to pass legislation protecting Dreamers—undocumented young people who came to the United States as children. The letter, timed in light of the second anniversary of the rescission of the federal executive order establishing the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program (DACA), was organized by the American Council on Education, which is requesting chancellors and college presidents across the nation to sign on. Interim President Tramontano and CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez are among the signatories calling on congressional leaders to “do the right thing for these outstanding young people and for our country.”

Fair Outlook for Part-time Student Employment at QC

Faculty and staff looking for part-time help, and students looking for part-time work, will have the opportunity to connect at the QC Dining Hall Midway Court on Monday, September 9, from noon to 2 pm, when the Center For Career Engagement and Internships hosts its first Part-Time Job Fair. On-campus employment opportunities for students include college assistant and graduate assistant jobs, federal work study, internships, and tutoring. All majors are welcome. For reservations, go to www.qc.cuny.edu/hireqc; select Student > Events > Workshops > RSVP.

Board of Election Seeks Poll Workers

Paid poll worker positions are available in all five boroughs of New York City. You must be a city resident be eligible. To apply, click here and complete the form online. This is also the link to use if you’ve previously served as a poll worker but have never filled out an electronic application. Before being hired, poll workers must attend paid training and pass an exam.

Exhibition and Panel Explore Events of Half a Century Ago

Campus Unrest at 50: Commemorating the Legacy of Dissent at Queens College, on display in Benjamin S. Rosenthal Library, explores the tumultuous campus events of 1969 that both changed Queens College and contributed to larger struggles for social justice in American society.

Campus Unrest features rarely seen black-and-white photographs of protests on campus; behind-the-scenes records of a reappointment battle over Sheila Delany, an English professor; the program of a student-led Counter-Commencement; original fliers, correspondence, and news articles; and an unpublished memoir written by then-Dean of Students George Pierson. Curators Rachel Kahn and Annie Tummino wrote explanatory labels for the exhibition, which was mounted May 1 and will run through December 31 in the area next to the Tanenbaum Room (Room 300-I).

The show documents a momentous year. In 1969, Black and Puerto Rican students organized for self-determination on campus, more diversity in the curriculum, and greater autonomy for the SEEK program. Through their efforts Lloyd Delany, a strong supporter of minority students’ goals and interests, was appointed the program’s first African American director. Simultaneously, QC student organizations led protests against the Vietnam War and on-campus recruitment by the military and military contractors. Met with suspensions and arrests, the students agitated for greater rights and academic freedom. They also demanded Sheila Delany’s reappointment, a more inclusive governance system, boycotted Commencement, and organized their own Counter-Commencement.

One of the outcomes of this period was the creation of an Academic Senate, including seats for undergraduate and graduate students and non-tenured faculty. According to Tummino, previously only the tenured faculty had a voice. "With the SEEK Program, the demonstrators really did transform the curriculum of the SEEK program itself," she says. Today, Delany Hall is named after former SEEK director Lloyd Delany.

Though Sheila Delany was not reappointed, she went on to a distinguished academic career at Simon Fraser University. On September 12, from 5:30 to 7:30 pm, she, other faculty, and student leaders from that period will discuss the events of 1969 in an evening hosted by Rosenthal Library in the Charles J. Tanenbaum Room. SEEK officers also will speak about the enduring legacy of that year.

To mount this exhibition, Kahn and Tummino conducted archival and oral history research on a topic that had not been previously studied in depth by archives staff. They also collaborated with Carol Giardina (History) and Clare Carroll (Comparative Literature) in incorporating the exhibit and related assignments in undergraduate courses.

“The thing that stood out to me the most was the power of students to make change and to have very serious impacts on the life of the college,” says Tummino. “The late 1960s is a time that’s well known for student movements. It was exciting to see that it wasn’t just Columbia or Harvard where these things were happening, but that Queens College had a really rich history of its own that I would like to be more known.”

Crunching Data for the New York Hall of Science

Brett Turner, director of audience and business analytics at the New York Hall of Science, was born and raised in Queens, where he attended public schools. “I had role models growing up who really instilled the importance of education in me at a very young age,” he says. He credits Queens College for giving him the skills he needed to earn two degrees and advance in his career.

As Turner was pursuing his undergraduate degree in psychology, he held a job at the New York Hall of Science. His work to fulfill the Corona museum’s mission—bringing STEM education to local schoolchildren—increasingly involved analyzing data. Consequently, he remained at QC to pursue an MA in Data Analytics and Applied Social Research. “I was able to work during the day, be a student at night, study on the weekend and still manage to complete my master’s degree in the two years that I expected to complete it in,” he says. Now, he uses data science to inform the Hall of Science’s strategy.

Turner appreciates the fact that faculty in the Sociology Department regularly email listings of employment opportunities to current and former students. The department also routinely offers seminars on the latest techniques in the field to faculty and former students, to help keep their skill sets up to date.

“I would suggest to aspiring data analysts that they come to Queens College, because they’re going to learn valuable skills that they don’t even recognize that they need,” he says. “The program is certainly going to teach the skills necessary for data analysis. But you’re also going to learn how to be a good and responsible researcher, which allows you to more than just analyze data but conceptualize exactly what data you need to answer the questions that are important to society.”

Worth the Ride: QC Alum Elliot Ganz Bicycles 77 Miles To Fund Scholarship for Foster Children

Only 2.5 percent of foster children graduate from college. 

When Elliot Ganz ’77 learned of this statistic, he rode into action. Ganz and his wife have fostered kids for nearly 20 years and have an adopted daughter who was a foster child. So he decided to pair his love of cycling with his longtime passion of helping foster children by biking 77 miles—in honor of the year he graduated from QC—throughout Long Island on September 1. In the process, he raised more than $25,000 for a Queens College scholarship earmarked for foster children.

“It’s not unusual for a kid in the foster system to be in eight or more homes,” notes Ganz. “Just imagine how hard it is to succeed with all that volatility and all that uncertainty. Now imagine making it to college—which is heroic on its own—but you don’t have any family support. You have to do all the things that many, many people take for granted. It’s just really hard for [foster kids] to get through.”

Ganz, a general counsel at The Loan Syndications and Trading Association, has spent more than 15 years participating in established charity bike rides, but this time he took his fundraising efforts solo. With the help of Queens College and the crowd-funding website Crowdrise, he was able to reach his impressive fundraising goal.

Ganz completed his ride in 5 hours and 30 minutes, starting at Old Westbury High School and traveling through the hilly roads of the North Shore, which included 3,343 feet of vertical climbing. 

Although he reached his goal of $25,000, he is now looking to raise an additional $5,000 for the scholarship fund. To make a donation, visit the Crowdrise page here.

Joseph Cohen (Sociology) and Pyong Gap Min (Sociology) were honored at the American Sociological Association’s annual meeting last month. Cohen was recognized for his contributions to public sociology through his podcasts; Min received a lifetime achievement award for his work on Asians and Asian Americans . . . Douglas Rushkoff (Media Studies) was interviewed for Gander, a web show expected to launch next month . . . John Waldman (Biology) is co-author of a paper Nature Sustainability published about solar power as a replacement for dismantled hydro-dams that produced electricity. He was also asked to do a blog post. On August 20, as part of a rapid assessment survey led by Williams College faculty to identify non-native marine invertebrates in the region, Waldman hosted a group of naturalists in his lab. . . . Dana Weinberg (Sociology) and Adam Kapelner (Math) published a paper on a randomized experiment on consumer responses to author gender in Socius: Sociological Research for a Dynamic World.