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"Campus Update" is a weekly e-newsletter published by LaGuardia's Division of Communications and External Affairs to provide news and information to the college community.

The Division of Communications and External Affairs offers various additional resources to help you share news with the campus, including an event calendar, photography, graphic design, and more.

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NEWS

Campus Life Welcomes Students to Campus with a Breakfast and Red Hawks Day

Students were met with a warm reception to campus earlier this week, thanks to Campus Life’s engaging welcome programming. On September 10, Campus Life hosted a Welcome Breakfast, offering a free hot breakfast to students. The following day, students got a chance to show off some school spirit for Red Hawks Day. In addition to a free Red Hawks t-shirt giveaway, students had a chance to meet and take photos with LaGuardia's student-athletes and our school mascot, Rebel the Red Hawk. For more information on future events hosted by Campus Life, contact campuslife@lagcc.cuny.edu or visit our Events Calendar.

President Adams’ Remarks at Opening Sessions Now Online

A recording of President Kenneth Adams’ remarks at last week’s Opening Sessions is now available online. In his remarks, President Adams highlighted several interesting developments here at LaGuardia, including the school’s status as the CUNY school with the second-highest enrollment growth rate as well as the new faculty who have joined the LaGuardia community this year. Focusing on this year’s theme of “Readiness & Pathways: Guiding Students Towards Success in Education and Beyond,” President Adams emphasized the college’s role as a bridge to a bachelor’s degree and all the career opportunities that come along with transferring to a senior college. Watch the recording of his remarks here.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

LaGuardia Division of Communications and External Affairs Provides Guidance on Using Flyers and Posters to Promote Campus Activities

LaGuardia takes pride in its effort to decrease its carbon footprint through digital content delivery—as such, the use of posters and flyers is limited and should only be considered if no other options are available. Please be sure to read through the division’s guide to using posters and flyers to promote your events and services; if you would like a flyer, poster, or other asset to promote your programming, please request it through the Division of Communications and External Affairs’ Project Request Form to ensure that it meets the college’s tone and style guidelines. Flyers and posters must be provided to the CEA division for approval before they can be placed on designated bulletin boards across campus. Note that posters on easels are not permitted, as they disrupt pedestrian flow in the hallways. Once approval has been provided by CEA, the division will send an email to the Print Shop so production can begin.

“Our CUNY” Aims to Call Out Hate and Defeat It

Last week in a letter to students, Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez announced the expansion of on-going anti-hate efforts through the launch of “Our CUNY: Hate Divides Us, Diversity Defines Us,” a student-developed campaign that celebrates who we are and provides support for creating campus environments that embrace the full breadth of CUNY’s diversity.

CUNY will introduce a systemwide campus climate survey this fall to assess students’ perceptions of issues surrounding inclusivity and experiences with discrimination. The results will be used to inform additional initiatives and programs and help CUNY to make measurable progress. In addition the Chancellor highlighted a brief introduction to free speech that includes what forms of expression are protected and which aren’t, and an overview of the Rules and Regulations for the Maintenance of Public Order. These are important reminders to keep in mind as a new academic year begins.  

CUNY Reminds Students to Familiarize Themselves with University Policies and Guidelines

In a letter to students sent on August 22, 2024, Dr. Wendy Hensel, CUNY Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and University Provost, shared information about new and revised policies and guidelines for students. Dr. Hensel mentioned beginning Fall 2024, the deadline for students to withdraw from a course and receive a grade of “W” has changed to the completion of 60% of the course rather than the last day of classes. The exact deadlines for the 2024-2025 academic year are posted on CUNY’s Academic Calendar

Remember that an official withdrawal (W) must be initiated by the student. A “WU” (Withdrew Unofficially) will be assigned where the student “attended class at least once, stopped participating, did not drop the class or receive approval for an incomplete, did not officially withdraw from the course, and did not complete enough work for the instructor to calculate an earned grade using the criteria outlined in the course syllabus.” Please remind students to familiarize themselves with CUNY's Uniform Grade Guidelines, which can be found here. Also, the CUNY Board of Trustees recently approved a new Learning Management (LMS) Use Policy (LMS Use Policy). The policy requires instructors to use the University LMS for synchronous and asynchronous online classes. The LMS is the primary tool students will use to access course materials for online courses. If students are enrolled in an online course (designated as "O" when they register), the course should be delivered in either Blackboard or Brightspace LMS. To learn more students can visit the LMS transition website or the LMS login page. Other new and revised policies students should familiarize themselves with include:


Sign Up to Add a Professional Headshot to Your Faculty Profile

LaGuardia’s Communications and External Affairs Division is hosting a series of “Photo Days” for faculty and staff who need to update their professional headshots! Your headshot can be used for a variety of purposes, and adds a personal touch to your Faculty Profile on the LaGuardia website. The Photo Days are scheduled from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. in Room E-509. Book your timeslot here for one of the following dates:


  • September 18
  • October 23
  • November 13
  • December 11


For more information contact Anastasia Figuera, photographer, Ext. 7471.

COLLEGE SENATE

College Senate Seeks Student Senators 

LaGuardia’s College Senate, the college’s policy-making governance body, is currently seeking out matriculated students to serve as student senators. Students who serve on the College Senate will have the opportunity to serve in a leadership role and work alongside faculty and staff at LaGuardia to take action on campus issues they believe are important. All matriculated students are eligible, including new students; if you know a student who you think would be a good fit for the College Senate, please direct them to apply here by September 23 at 11:59 p.m. Students can learn more about the College Senate here, or reach out to collegesenate@lagcc.cuny.edu with any questions.

LAGUARDIA AND WAGNER ARCHIVES

Archives Welcomes Students Back to Campus

Welcome back, students! We know you will achieve straight A's, just like P.S. 41 fifth grader John Kelly in 1921! His report card was donated to the archives as part of the Queens Local History Collection, probably by his proud parents! Check out more of this collection here

Applications for the LaGuardia and Wagner Archives’ 2024-2025 LGBTQ+ Fellowships Now Open 

The LaGuardia and Wagner Archives are excited to announce our LGBTQ+ Fellowships for the 2024-2025 academic year. These semester-long to year-long fellowships, which offer stipends of up to $2,000, present a unique opportunity for LaGuardia students to delve into the rich LGBTQ+ collections within the archives. If you know a student who may be interested in applying for one of these fellowships, please direct them to apply here by October 1. Students can also reach out to JR Caldwell at jcaldwell@lagcc.cuny.edu for more information.

ACADEMIC AFFAIRS

LaGuardia Humanitarian Initiative to Kick Off Programming on September 24 

The LaGuardia Humanitarian Initiative (LHI) invites faculty, staff, and students to its Fall 2024 Kick-Off on September 24 from 11:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. via Zoom. This year’s theme is “People, Prosperity, and Planet,” and the LHI will be working closely with six partners to explore the theme from both global and local perspectives. At the event on September 24, the LHI will welcome two new partners, Barefoot College International and Grameen America, a Nobel Peace Prize-winning organization. Upcoming LHI events include CARE, USA’s visit to campus on October 8th. RSVP for the Fall Kick-Off here.

Professor Bijoyeta Das Co-Leads Multigenerational Summer Storytelling Institute with Hostos Colleague 

This summer, Bijoyeta Das, associate professor of English and program director of the Liberal Arts: Journalism program, co-led a program designed to engage students from LaGuardia and Hostos Community Colleges with ideas about boundaries and crossings. The program, the Multigenerational Summer Storytelling Institute, was supported by a grant from the CUNY Interdisciplinary Research program. Ten students from LaGuardia and Hostos participated in the institute. Guided by Professor Das and co-director Tram Nguyen, Ph.D., associate professor of English at Hostos, the students produced multimedia stories about crossings of historical, sociological, geographical, or other divides across generations, based upon interviews with family members and individuals in their communities. Stories from the LaGuardia students featured family crossings from Albania, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and the Dominican Republic, and religious crossings in The Bronx. Stay tuned for details about a showcase of the students’ projects, on campus later this fall semester.

ENROLLMENT MANAGEMENT

Virtual Office Available Every Friday for Enrollment Assistance

Students looking for enrollment services support can now access virtual office hours every Friday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Virtual One Stop takes place on Zoom and allows students to drop in and meet with staff from the Admissions, International Student Services, Registrar, Student Financial Services, Student Information Center, Transfer Credit Evaluation and Testing offices.  

LIBRARY NEWS

Updates from LaGuardia’s Library

  • Have you visited the Library in E-101 yet? Find out the different services we have available for you. 
  • We have copies of almost all textbooks in the Library available to check out for 2 hours (you can’t leave the Library, though). If we don’t have it, please let us know. If you can’t make it into the Library, you can request a chapter scan
  • Students can borrow chromebooks, ipads, calculators, and laptops from our Media Help Desk on the second floor. 
  • MoneyBoss financial literacy workshops are back for the Fall semester and will be IN PERSON! Our first workshop is Sept. 19. To register, and find out more information, visit our MoneyBoss website

GRANTS DEVELOPMENT

Grants and Sponsored Programs Updates 


As the Fall 2024 semester begins, the office of Grants and Sponsored Programs welcomes faculty back to campus!  Our team is here to support you with applying to internal or external funding opportunities, as well as managing awards successfully.  

We are pleased to let you know that all faculty and staff have access to two important funding opportunity search tools: Pivot-RF and GrantForward. When registering as a user in the systems below, you must use your affiliated institution email (cuny.edu or rfcuny.org) to create a free account. In some cases, faculty profiles have already been established and just need to be claimed by creating an account. 

These tools are available thanks to the Office of Award Pre-Proposal Support (APPS) at the Research Foundation of CUNY. APPS will also be hosting the RFCUNY Wednesday Brown Bag Research Webinars for Academic Year 2024-2025 . We encourage you to check out these webinars designed to help faculty navigate the process of finding and applying for grants.  


As a reminder, Grants & Sponsored Programs supports all faculty and staff seeking to submit a grant proposal, either as an individual Principal Investigator (PI) or as a Co-PI in collaboration with other CUNY or non-CUNY institutions. All external funding applications involving LaGuardia faculty require an approved Proposal Development Questionnaire (PDQ) – even when another institution is the primary applicant. If you are planning to submit a grant application, we encourage you to reach out to us as early as possible in the proposal development process.   


Coming soon – CUNY is preparing to introduce a new electronic Research Administration system called Cayuse - a cloud-based proposal and grant management platform. Stay tuned to learn how Cayuse will streamline the grants lifecycle from application to closeout. 


Please visit our newly redesigned Grants & Sponsored Programs website with a faculty and staff resource page, and contact us with grant related inquiries at grants@lagcc.cuny.edu or ext. 5070

HUMAN RESOURCES AND PERSONNEL UPDATES

In-Person New Employee Orientations Are Back! 


We’re happy to announce the return of in-person new employee orientations. They’re a great way to help new employees feel more comfortable by learning more about LaGuardia’s history, values, work environment, culture, employee resources and more. Orientations are also a terrific opportunity for new employees to meet other newly hired colleagues and begin establishing strong working relationships. 


Scheduled for September and October: 


  • September 25 – New Employee Orientation - Faculty and HEO Series  
  • October 2 – New Employee Orientation – Adjuncts 
  • October 9 – New Employee Orientation – All Classified Staff – Full and Part Time 


Save the date that applies to you. More information will follow in future issues of Campus Update and other College communications channels. 


In the meantime, if you have any questions, contact Human Resources at HRHelp@lagcc.cuny.edu or at (718) 482-5075. 

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

IT Reminder: Complete Mandatory Cybersecurity Awareness Training 

This is an important reminder to log in to Blackboard and complete the Cybersecurity Awareness Training course. You can find this course under the “Organizations” tab, along with the other essential annual training courses required for CUNY employees. This course was developed specifically for CUNY and covers phishing attacks, spam, and best practices for protecting your CUNY accounts and sensitive data. We encourage you to take it as soon as possible to protect the University's data, as well as your own. Your active involvement is crucial to our collective security efforts.  If you have any questions regarding the training, please contact Maritza Acero.

Security Alert: Guard Against Increasing Phishing Email Attacks  


There has been an increase in phishing attacks directed at CUNY from a variety of Gmail accounts. Most are of the familiar job scam variety which students are prone to acting on. CUNY/CIS teams are working with Microsoft to block these attacks, which are not “spammy” or “phishy” in nature so they aren’t automatically blocked by email security measures. CUNY/CIS urges all to guard against responding to potential phishing emails, as well as to communicate with colleagues and students to generate greater awareness about the scam increase. 


Recommended User Actions Include: 


  • DO NOT reply to unexpected or unusual emails. 
  • DO NOT reply to emails with personal information or passwords. 
  • DO NOT click links or open attachments in unsolicited emails.  
  • DO read the CUNY Ransomware and Phishing Advisories.  
  • DO complete security awareness training at security.cuny.edu


If you suspect you’ve received a suspicious or phishing email, please forward it to spam@lagcc.cuny.edu. Do not forward it to the LAG Information Technology Division or other group distribution lists or employees, including IT personnel. If you already responded to a phishing email, immediately contact our IT HelpDesk by submitting a ticket through the Faculty & Staff Portal or by email at ITHelp@lagcc.cuny.edu, or call 718-482-6134. If you have questions, please contact LaGuardia's Information Security team

LAGUARDIA IN THE HEADLINES

DIVERSE: ISSUES IN HIGHER EDUCATION: Dr. Jessica Perez, director of LaGuardia's Center for Career & Professional Development, discusses how recommendations in a new report from Georgetown's Center on Education and the Workforce (CEW) aligns with what LaGuardia is currently doing to prepare students for potentially high-paying occupations. 


NSF NEWS: More than $530,000 was awarded to LaGuardia from the National Science Foundation (NSF)'s inaugural Innovation in Two-Year College in STEM Education awards. The project is led by principal investigators Dr. Reem Jaafar (MEC) and Ljubica Depovic (CTL director) at LAGCC. 


EVENTS

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"Campus Update" is produced and published by the Communications and External Affairs Division. Faculty and staff who wish to submit items for publication can email CampusUpdate@lagcc.cuny.edu. Submissions must be received by 5 p.m. Monday to be considered for publication on Wednesday.