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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. | | LaGuardia Launches into Spring 2026 Semester at Opening Sessions | | On Tuesday morning, President Kenneth Adams presented Opening Sessions, kicking off Spring 2026 with brief remarks on the state of the college followed by a series of panels with faculty, staff, and students from across the campus. After sharing updates on enrollment data and recent faculty and staff accomplishments, President Adams spoke with panelists about transfer initiatives at LaGuardia, efforts to support immigrant students, the new CUNY Beyond initiative, and the responsible use of artificial intelligence tools at LaGuardia. If you missed this semester’s Opening Sessions, click here to watch the recording; for pictures from the morning’s event, click here. | | Center for Urban Future Hosts “Ideas” Symposium | | The Center for an Urban Future hosted its "Ideas for a Stronger and More Equitable Queens" Symposium at LaGuardia Community College on March 5. The half-day symposium presented ideas to address the borough’s biggest challenges, take advantage of its many opportunities, and lay the foundation for a stronger, and more equitable Queens. The solutions-focused event was based on the Center’s May 2024 report, “50 Ideas for a Stronger and More Equitable Queens,” which featured ideas for the borough’s future from a diverse mix of 50 leaders from across Queens. President Kenneth Adams was among the 12 Queens-based community leaders who presented three-minute idea pitches. President Adams pitched an idea to develop a summer program to help prepare high schoolers for college, following the continued impact of the pandemic on students’ learning challenges. Elected officials who attended included New York City Council Deputy Speaker Dr. Natasha Williams, Councilmember Julie Won, and Councilmember Shanel Thomas-Henry. Additional community leaders in attendance included: Pedro Rodriguez, Executive Director of La Jornada, Thomas Grech, President and CEO of the Queens Chamber of Commerce, and Karesia Batan, Founding Executive Director of Queensboro Dance Festival. The event also included a fireside chat with Queens Borough President Donovan Richards. | | LaGuardia Partners with LGBT Network for Second Annual Gender-Affirming Resource Fair | | On Wednesday afternoon, the LGBTQIA+ Consortium and the LGBT Network partnered to host the Second Annual Gender-Affirming Resource Fair in the E-Building Atrium. The fair was an opportunity for LaGuardia students and members of the Queens community to learn more about local transgender-affirming healthcare providers, organizations, and businesses. Attendees were able to meet with representatives from 37 community partners about gender-affirming medical care, clothing, employment opportunities, and other specialized services for transgender, gender non-conforming, and non-binary (TGNCNB) individuals. Fair-goers also enjoyed a series of performances by 10 local TGNCNB artists, led by host Mx. LeStrange, a Queens-based drag king. | | For much of his early adulthood, Michael Moura was searching for a path that made sense and a career that matched his interests in technology. Today, that search has brought the 37‑year‑old Rio de Janeiro native from a GED classroom at LaGuardia to his role as a Senior Ruby on Rails Engineer at SerpApi, a global technology company. Michael credits LaGuardia’s supportive professors for helping him grow and the President’s Society for instilling the importance of building a professional presence. “Consistently publishing content online helped me land my job at SerpApi,” he explained. Michael traces his journey from Rio to LaGuardia to a career in global search technology back to one guiding principle: “Keep searching for your passion!” LaGuardia has inspired thousands of students and alumni like Michael to go on and thrive in New York City and beyond. Students are finding success by taking advantage of a vast collection of support services and opportunities like LaGuardia CARES, Veterans Services, and Student Government Association, to name a few. Read their stories on LaGuardia’s new “We Are LaGuardia” page. | | | LaGuardia announces its 2026 Women’s History Month programming, celebrating the contributions, achievements, and advocacy of women and all those who advance gender equity. This year’s “HERStory in the Making” highlights the historic and ongoing work of women who have shaped, and continue to shape, our communities. The series, organized by a robust and cross-divisional committee of faculty, staff, and students, kicks off on March 10 with keynote addresses from political consultant April Cardena (Criminal Justice ’20) and occupational therapist Natasha Scott (Occupational Therapy Assistant ’02). Additional events throughout the month explore relationships during times of upheaval, financial literacy, and motherhood, featuring visits from author Michelle Millar Fisher and artist Shellyne Rodriguez. The series also includes a Women in Politics discussion on March 18 with panelists Bianey Garcia, LGBTQ Justice Organizer for Make the Road NY; Rana Abdelhamid, founder of the anti-violence training organization Malikah; and Chanel Lopez, Deputy Director of LGBTQ+ Affairs for Governor Kathy Hochul, and the 12th Annual Women’s Literary Salon, hosted by the English Department on March 25. See the full list of events here. | | La Casa to Host Open House March 11 | | | | On Wednesday, March 11, Casa de las Américas (la Casa), LaGuardia's center offering academic and career services to Latinx students from all countries of the Americas, will host its Spring Open House in M-144 and the M-Lobby from 2 to 4 p.m. This semester's Open House is called "La Vida es un Carnaval," and will serve as a vibrant kick-off for la Casa's Spring programming. Members of the LaGuardia community are invited to experience the joy of the carnival and learn more about the center's offerings. | | Sign Up to Host an SYEP Intern This Summer | | This summer, LaGuardia’s Summer Youth Employment Program will welcome more than 3,500 young people ages 14 to 24 for paid summer work and learning opportunities. Please consider supporting a young person this summer by providing an opportunity for them to work with you in your office. SYEP participants ages 16 to 24 will work up to 25 hours a week, earning $17 per hour from July 6 through August 21. Younger participants (ages 14 and 15) will earn a stipend of $700 for engaging in project-based learning activities in a classroom setting. Hosting an intern comes at no cost; all wages are fully funded by the New York City Department of Youth & Community Development. To participate or learn more, contact Kareem Freeman at ext. 5034 or Kareem.Freeman34@lagcc.cuny.edu or Dr. Claudia Baldonedo at ext. 5236 or claudiab@lagcc.cuny.edu. | | | CUNY Case Reporting System | | | | CUNY takes all reports of discrimination, harassment, and retaliation seriously, including reports pertaining to sexual misconduct. Recently, the university enhanced the process for reporting these incidents. We encourage individuals who may have experienced or witnessed discrimination, harassment, or retaliation to submit a report through the university’s updated reporting form, which is designed to facilitate prompt review and coordinated follow-up. We also encourage the campus community to visit the CUNY Discrimination, Harassment and Retaliation Homepage for more information about the reporting system, CUNY policies on discrimination, harassment, and retaliation, and available campus and external resources. | | CUNY to Launch New Student Email System | | CUNY is launching a new email system to streamline the way students access their college and university emails. Beginning April 13, all CUNY students will have a single inbox for CUNY and LaGuardia-related emails. Students will access the new inbox using their CUNY Login information, and will receive an @cuny.edu address as well as a campus-specific address using the domain @stu-mail.lagcc.cuny.edu; they will be able to send and receive messages from/ to both of these addresses using the new inbox. | | | CUNY Faculty, Staff and Students to Receive Free LinkedIn Learning Access | | | | CUNY has recently announced an agreement with LinkedIn Learning to offer free access to LinkedIn Learning courses to all faculty, staff, and students at the university. You should have received an activation email from LinkedIn Learning that you can use to activate your account and receive free access to the platform’s 16,000+ online courses taught by experts in seven different languages, starting this week. For more information on how to access the platform's content, review your Tech Advisory email from February 23. | | LaGuardia offers resources to support students, regardless of their immigration status. The college has published LaGuardia’s Know Your Rights webpage, which features a series of resources and general guidelines for interacting with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE). Faculty and staff are encouraged to share this page with students so that they can be better informed. | | | 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. Sign up for a timeslot during one of next year's photo days:
Book your timeslot here. For more information contact Anastasia Figuera, photographer, Ext. 7471.
| | LAGUARDIA AND WAGNER ARCHIVES | | Dr. Robert W. Snyder, Professor Emeritus of American Studies and Journalism at Rutgers University–Newark, has been selected as the recipient of the 2026 Fiorello LaGuardia Book Prize for his book When the City Stopped: Stories from New York's Essential Workers (Cornell Press, 2025). Established in 2024, the Fiorello LaGuardia Book Prize recognizes exceptional scholarship that draws upon the collections of the LaGuardia and Wagner Archives. The award reflects the Archives’ mission to support research that deepens public understanding of New York City’s past and present. Dr. Snyder will deliver the annual Fiorello LaGuardia Book Prize talk on Thursday, April 23 at 12:30 p.m. at the LaGuardia & Wagner Archives Gallery, C-Building, C-760. The event will also feature LaGuardia student photography and reflections created during the COVID-19 pandemic, along with select archival materials used in his research. The talk is free and open to the public. Reservations can be made here. | | | INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH AND EFFECTIVENESS | | Institutional Effectiveness Service Request Form | | | | Institutional data is available on the OIRE webpage; however, where needed, additional data or evidence may be required for college officials with a legitimate education or administrative need. If a faculty or staff member need access to data, they can submit an Institutional Effectiveness Service Request (requires CUNY Login). | | LAGUARDIA PERFORMING ARTS CENTER | | For more than two decades, Rough Draft Festival of LaGuardia Performing Arts Center (LPAC) has offered a first public view to bold new theatrical work in development, serving as a proving ground for writers and performance-makers in Queens while remaining deeply connected to New York City’s wider creative ecosystem. Running March 10–19, 2026, the festival brings audiences, artists, and the field into the room at-the-moment when big ideas are becoming buildable theater. This year, LPAC will present five works-in-progress selected through a highly competitive review process led by a panel of arts professionals from across New York City’s creative community, as well as one returning artist. Together, the 2026 slate reflects a wide range of voices and forms, from choreo-poem to musical theater to experimental performance, offering audiences an early look at stories being developed with ambition, craft, and urgency. Tickets are free for students (student ID required at door); $10 General Admission. Tickets can be purchased here. | | In Memoriam: Dr. Rachel Boccio, Associate Professor of English | | On March 2, Dr. Rachel Boccio, Associate Professor of English at LaGuardia Community College, passed away after her battle with breast cancer. Her scholarly interests ranged widely across the American nineteenth century with a focus on literature, education, incarceration, and personhood. Her work appeared in Pedagogy, Rethinking Schools, The Edgar Allan Poe Review, The Nathaniel Hawthorne Review, Configurations, and in the edited collection Critical Insights: Frederick Douglass. Before joining the faculty at LaGuardia, Dr. Boccio taught English and American literature for two decades at John R. Manson Youth Institution, a maximum-security prison for adolescent males in Connecticut. An essay drawing on this work appears in the MLA volume, Approaches to Teaching Literature and Writing in Prison (2022). In 2024, Dr. Boccio received the Provost’s Recognition of Excellence in Teaching Award from the City University of New York. | | | In Memoriam: Lenore Beaky, Retired English Professor | | | | Lenore Beaky passed away in January. She was an English professor at LaGuardia for more than 30 years and retired in 2011. In addition to her academic research and presentations, Lenore also served as editor of the CUNY University Faculty Senate newsletter. Lenore was also an active runner and a member of the Front Runners of New York, the city’s largest LGBTQ+ running club. In February, during their annual Awards Night, FRNY decided to rename its President’s Award after Professor Beaky to honor her significant contributions to the club, which included developing the club’s current by-laws and serving as FRNY’s first woman president. There will be a celebration of life for Lenore on March 20 at 1 p.m., in Rutgers Presbyterian Church, 236 W. 73rd Street. All are welcome. Light refreshments will be served. Individuals who are unable to attend, but have memories to share, can email them by March 19 to Debbie Bell at deb2@columbia.edu. | | Local Teachers Gather for First Session of Veterans Legacy Education Initiative | | On Saturday, February 28, 24 K–12 educators gathered in E-500 for the opening seminar of “Voices from the Past: The Veterans of Cypress Hills National Cemetery,” a project led by Dr. John F. Shean, Professor of History, and Daryl Griffin, Student Life Manager for Veteran Services, and supported by a $280,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ Veterans Legacy Grant Program (VLGP). The seminar featured presentations from David Price, Executive Director of the National Museum of Civil War Medicine; Antonio Addessi, education technician with the Veterans Legacy Program; and James S. Price, historian with the National Cemetery Administration. Educators from nine nearby high schools—including Aviation, Bard, Baccalaureate, Jamaica Gateway, Middle College, and Newtown—attended the session. “We’re off to a promising start; attendees seemed deeply engaged by speakers who brought the medical realities of the Civil War era vividly to life,” said Dr. Shean. “This project is about illuminating the stories of the veterans interred in Cypress Hills National Cemetery. Through monthly seminars, we’ll introduce the participating educators to key themes in veterans’ stories and familiarize them with the historical resources needed to research the lives behind the headstones. The teachers will then develop lesson plans to guide students in producing biographies that will be published on the Veterans Legacy Memorial Website, ensuring these stories continue to be discovered and shared long into the future.” | | |
Faculty Invited to Apply for EDIT Professional Development Grant
The Educational Development Initiative Team invites full-time faculty, as well as part-time faculty in continuous service at LaGuardia for the past two academic years, to apply for funding of professional development projects. Grants awarded by EDIT cover costs incurred by LaGuardia faculty in designing and implementing professional development projects, such as travel expenses to conduct and/or present research and scholarship, expenses personally incurred by faculty to conduct research and scholarship and projects that enhance their professional growth and development. The deadline is Monday, March 30, 2026 by 11:59 p.m. Click here for more information about EDIT Professional Development grants and to apply.
| | Brightspace Resources Available | | |
Need help making the most of Brightspace in your classes? Visit LaGuardia's Brightspace webpage or reach out to the transition team at BrightspaceTeam@lagcc.cuny.edu.
For technical questions, reach out to Brightspace Support:
- Office: B-127 (first floor of the B-Building)
- Phone: (718) 482-6121
- Email: LMS-support@lagcc.cuny.edu
- Hours: Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Faculty are also encouraged to fill out this survey regarding their use of Brightspace. The insights and responses from this survey will inform the Brightspace Transition team’s plans for ongoing support.
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Students looking for enrollment services support can 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 following offices:
- Admissions
- International Student Services
- Registrar
- Student Financial Services
- Student Information Center
- Transfer Credit Evaluation
- Testing
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- Welcome to the Spring Semester! Check out our available services here.
- MoneyBoss workshops are back! Register for our Spring workshops on the MoneyBoss website.
- Tabling is back at the Library! Check out our Events calendar to see what departments will be in the Library.
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If you know a student who’s interested in joining a book club, the Library is interested in sponsoring one! Please fill out the form here.
| | Get to Know HR: Join us for Connection Café | | |
Come join Human Resources for a casual conversation outside of our typical office setting. This is a fantastic opportunity to connect with HR and get answers to specific questions. The first 100 people to attend will receive a free LaGuardia mug. Here are the details:
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When: April 1, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
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Where: E-501
| | TIAA to Host Webinar on Living Well in Retirement | | TIAA is hosting a webinar on the human factors of retirement—learn how to find your purpose, stay health, and create community at “Your Guide to Living Well in Retirement” on Wednesday, March 11 from 11 to 11:30 a.m. To attend the webiner, register here. | | LaGuardia Seeks to Fill Open Faculty and Staff Positions | | |
Current faculty and staff are welcome to share the openings below with individuals who they believe may be a good fit for the role or apply for the positions themselves. For all LaGuardia openings, visit Employment Opportunities.
| | DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (DoIT) | | Cybersecurity Awareness Training on Brightspace | | The 2025-26 LaGuardia Community College Cybersecurity Awareness Training course is available on Brightspace. All faculty and staff must complete this mandatory, annual 40-minute training by April 1, 2026 to strengthen our cybersecurity defenses, and safeguard your own and university data. If you have any questions, contact Maritza Acero at macero@lagcc.cuny.edu. | | LAGUARDIA IN THE HEADLINES | | "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. Tuesday to be considered for publication on Thursday. |
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