Friday, May 21, 2021 | Vol. 2 No. 17, Spring 2021 Semester
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MESSAGE FROM INTERIM PRESIDENT DAISY COCCO DE FILIPPIS |
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Dear Colleagues and Students,
I am happy to greet you this morning, as we prepare for a beautiful digital celebration of Commencement, next Friday, May 28 at 2 p.m. Much has changed since I wrote to you last week. On Friday, Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez distributed a memorandum on Returning to Campus at CUNY. See link. President Biden announced recommendations from the CDC about protocols for the use of masks. See link.
As you have often heard me say, at Hostos we understand that we are engaged in an ever-evolving landscape of planning, always keeping in mind the safety of all, as we respond to our students’ educational and student support needs. Thank you for your generous and thoughtful engagement.
I wish you a very celebratory commencement weekend and a reflective, restful and productive summer.
Mil gracias y bendiciones, Daisy
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A Note on Planning:
I am happy to share a follow up memorandum sent to colleagues who participated in the President’s Retreat on the mornings of April 28 and 29.
The retreat was designed to begin the process of engagement in planning for the closing of the Hostos Strategic Plan 2017-2022, sharing updates on the process of drafting the Middle States Self-Study report and inviting a preliminary discussion of drafting of the Hostos Operational Plan for Academic Year 2021-2022. A group of faculty and staff joined the Extended Cabinet in the retreat’s discussions. Please click here for the list of participants and the agenda.
The memorandum that follows summarizes some of our early conversation. It will be shared with Extended Cabinet, Senior Leadership Council, Community Advisory Council and members of the SGA and with all of the readers of the Hostos Weekly/Semanario Hostosiano. We are planning September town halls to invite feedback on the Middle States draft Self-Study Report as well as the draft Operational plan, to be scheduled during the Fall semester. Mil gracias.
The Memorandum follows:
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"How do we get back to the struggle over the
future? I think you have to hope, and hope
in this sense is not a prize or a gift, but something
you earn through study, through resisting the ease
of despair, and through digging tunnels, cutting windows,
opening doors, or finding the people who do these things.
They exist. ‘You gotta give them hope,’ said Harvey Milk
long ago, and he did exactly that."
Rebecca Solnit in Hope in the Dark, Untold Histories,
Wild Possibilities. P. 142
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The generous journey that has been Academic year 2020-2021 is soon coming to a close, and we prepare for a heartfelt celebration of commencement for many, a digital ceremony that will honor all of our efforts. This year’s journey could be characterized in Neruda’s words, by “a burning patience.” We stayed the course during a cruel pandemic, riding close to our mission and values, innovating means for educating students, and keeping hope, purpose and meaning alive for us all.
At the end of April, we gathered for two mornings to reflect on this year’s journey. Thank you for engaging in this very important conversation on planning and envisioning strategies to support our students and to enhance opportunities for us all to grow as educators. These two mornings we explored, however summarily, where we have been, where we are and where we would all hope to be as we envision academic programs and student support activities, designed to support learning, careers, workforce, and transferability to baccalaureate institutions in a post-pandemic New York.
During this time together, we discussed the importance of mission in defining the work of institutions in the public sector, as markers of movement in the journey from good to great, as per the Jim Collins monographs (click here for the Social Sectors Monograph and here for the Turning the Flywheel Monograph and this “Map” video from author, Jim Collins) assigned as preparatory readings. We spoke about our aspirations too, in Einstein’s words, “create the conditions under which students can learn.” In this regard, the Hostos TEAM has worked valiantly to ensure that so many efforts in support of students exemplified our mission to transform lives, to ensure student success, to make a difference in the communities we serve, in defining our work as one of collaboration with each other, our students and our communities. Mil gracias.
This ability to create conditions is at the heart of the flywheel effect referenced in Jim Collins' monographs. It is about building together an environment that allows us all to dream, dream big and for the betterment of how we live our mission. It is exactly what this brief retreat aimed to discuss. We are challenged in many ways by our role as a bridge: a bridge to the workforce but also a bridge to transferability to other institutions. How are our students finding employment? Do we understand and have connections with industry and other partners to ensure we can facilitate the process for our students as they receive their certificates, credit and non-credit and as they graduate with an associate in arts, associate in science or applied associate in science degrees? How are our students transferring to senior colleges in CUNY and other baccalaureate institutions? Is there anything we need to change to make that easier? Is there any advocacy that needs to be made on our students’ behalf? Are academic program maps as helpful as they could be?
In other words, as we consider our Strategic Plan coming into its final year, what has worked? What has changed? What has been discarded? What needs to occur, even this coming year or as we plan our next strategic plan? What does the document on Environmental Scanning reveal to us? How is the Middle States Self-Study assisting us in our understanding of accomplishments and challenges? How do each of us, in our own areas, embrace the flywheel effect and apply it to working generously with colleagues to bring about continued growth and celebration of lives changed for the better because of our generous work?
Love, hope and a good dose of reflection guided much of our work these two days. I am attaching notes prepared by Dr. Stachelek and Ms. Pond, see here, with granular notes about the proceedings, and which identify a Hostos flywheel that moves when we pay attention to the student experience, student learning and student success. Briefly summarized in the broader sense, and to be discussed much further with multiple constituent groups, we envisioned, among other things:
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- putting intentionality at the forefront when it comes to our students’ onboarding, evaluation of prior learning for credit and continued progress from orientation to advisement
- growing stackable workforce non-credit and credit certificates
- establishing or strengthening community academic advisory boards that link programs to jobs, and increase career educational opportunities tied to employment;
- partnering with the Hostos Community Advisory Council (CAC), building on this year’s five CAC roundtables, to create opportunities to benefit students that begin implementation in Fall 2021;
- creating support to encourage faculty and staff research and to foster and increase a culture of grant writing at the College by means of the engagement of the Committee on Sponsored Programs and Grants;
- regularizing assessment, particularly academic program reviews and other means of assessing how effectively our degree programs and support services help students learn and achieve career and transfer success;
- mapping out all the component elements that contribute to student transfer with special emphasis on frequent touchpoints and assessment of students’ progress; and
- using environmental scanning to assist us in determining what academic programs need some revisions, and what programs need to be created to ensure that access is closely tied to career and transfer opportunities.
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In other words, we centered our conversation on paying close and frequent attention to retention to graduation as well as establishing solid connections for our students either leading to jobs or to baccalaureate education.
I appreciate your thoughtful and very important recommendations, as I look forward to continued dialogue, planning and engagement with multiple constituencies on behalf of our beloved Hostos and our students.
Mil gracias y bendiciones!
Daisy Cocco De Filippis, Ph.D.
Interim President
Eugenio María de Hostos Community College, CUNY
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A POEM TO HONOR JEWISH HERITAGE MONTH |
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“My Child Wafts Peace”
My child wafts peace.
When I lean over him,
It is not just the smell of soap.
All the people were children wafting peace.
(And in the whole land, not even one
Millstone remained that still turned).
Oh, the land torn like clothes
That can't be mended.
Hard, lonely fathers even in the cave of the Makhpela*
Childless silence.
My child wafts peace.
His mother's womb promised him
What God cannot
Promise us.
*The traditional burial place in Hebron of Abraham and the other Patriarchs and Matriarchs of Israel.
Translated by Benjamin and Barbara Harshav © by owner. Provided at no charge for educational purposes
About the Poet | Yehuda Amichai is recognized as one of Israel’s finest poets. His poems, written in Hebrew, have been translated into 40 languages, and entire volumes of his work have been published in English, French, German, Swedish, Spanish, and Catalan. “Yehuda Amichai, it has been remarked with some justice,” according to translator Robert Alter, “is the most widely translated Hebrew poet since King David.” Amichai’s translations into English have been particularly popular, and his imaginative and accessible style is credited with introducing contemporary Hebrew poetry to American and English readers. For further reading on the poet’s life, visit poetryfoundation.org
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MIDDLE STATES SELF-STUDY UPDATE |
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Submitted by MSCHE Steering Committee Co-Chairs Professor Kate S. Wolfe, Professor Nelson Nuñez-Rodríguez and Professor Thomas Beachdel
The Hostos Research Day as evidence of Professional Growth and Innovation
The recently held Hostos Research Day represents an arena to demonstrate our institution’s creative activity, innovation and professional growth. Faculty and staff members’ scholarly work were presented in over a dozen virtual presentations during the day on a newly created Research Day website. This digital repository documents faculty and staff research and ability to secure funding. In addition, fifteen 2020-2021 PSC-CUNY-awarded grants demonstrate institutional support for professional growth and innovation. As the Hostos Self-Study builds the final narrative of our daily efforts, this faculty and staff celebration uncovers institutional achievement and the process sustaining it. The re-accreditation exercise requires showing scholarly inquiry and creative activity appropriate to the institution (Standard I: Mission and Goals), a cadre of faculty and staff members engaged in a scholarly inquiry process (Standard III: Design and Delivery of Student Experience) and the institutions effort nurturing this intellectual endeavor. The Hostos Research Day demonstrates we remain in compliance with these accreditation expectations.
This Research Day aims to promote, highlight and share faculty’s innovative research. The effort is organized by The Senate Grant Committee members under Prof. Thomas Beachdel’s leadership and Hostos Grants Office led by Kelba Sosa. Middle States also wants to appraise our support mechanisms behind success. Thus, we can show achievement sustainability over time. Our grants office supporting processes reside behind the rainbow of secured grants and presented works. As part of the scholarly professional assistance, the event has a website serving as a research hub, online repository and research community for Hostos faculty and to foster collaborations. Prof. Victor Torres-Velez, Humanities Department, oversees this online effort. As the self-study narrative germinates from our daily efforts, the depth and breadth of both recently PSC-cycle secured grants and presented works during Research Day speak to faculty and staff ability to enrich the intellectual climate of our institution which definitely represents a springboard to draw students into a myriad of intellectual experiences both inside and outside the classroom.
References:
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INSTITUTIONAL EFFECTIVENESS |
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Submitted by Associate Director of Institutional Research and Assessment Dereck Norville-Bowie
AES Assessment Year in Review: How Far We’ve Come
Hostos Community College has been (and still is) working diligently to transform assessment into what it was always intended to be: a meaningful opportunity for reflection, discussion, and informed decision-making. On the academic side of assessment, much amazing work has happened, which my colleague Dr. Anders Stachelek, Director of Assessment, wrote about in last week’s bulletin. On the AES assessment side of the house, we’ve seen unrivaled and audacious progress in the reimagining, redesigning, and implementation of multiple aspects of AES assessment. Look at all that’s been accomplished in AES Assessment in just one academic year:
AES Program Review Process (Redesigned Periodic Assessment)
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August 2020 – Redesign of newly reimagined AES Program Reflection Process completed
September 2020 – Kick-off and orientation to new process via webinar
October 2020 – Inaugural cohort of AES units begin pilot of new process (Units: STEP/CSTEP/Proyecto Access, CUNY Edge, CUNY Fatherhood Academy, Student Leadership Academy, Athletics and Recreation, Library)
January 2021 – Inaugural cohort wrapped up this year’s process
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Annual Planning and Assessment Report Templates (APARTs) |
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October 2020 – AES units began 2nd year of the new Annual Planning and Assessment Reporting Process
November 2020 – AES units participated in workshops on developing outcomes led by Meredith Reitman (layering on new learning from 1st year implementation)
February 2021 – AES units participated in second, redesigned set of workshops on developing outcomes, led by AESAC
March 2021 – AES units submitted drafts to AESAC
April 2021 – AESAC returned drafts with feedback
May 2021 – Present – AES units are assessing their identified Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) and/or Support Outcomes (SOs)
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Institutional Advisement Outcomes (IAOs)
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September/October 2020 – Conversations and potential plan for determining a way to assess student outcomes across advising units began
November 2020 – Leadership of AESAC and CDAC formally met with Meredith Reitman to begin planning a workshop to engage advisement units in the process of developing outcomes
December 2020 – First draft of new Institutional Advisement Outcomes (IAOs) developed in cross-advisement unit workshop
January 2021 – Draft of IAOs refined
February 2021 – Second draft of IAOs shared back with advisement units and CDAC via workshop and “finalized”
March 2021 – IAO to be assessed this year identified and shared with advisement units in first workshop on methods of assessing IAOs
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AES Assessment Committee (AESAC) |
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July 2020 – Formal establishment of the college’s first ever AES Assessment Committee (AESAC)
September 2020 – Colleagues were invited to be members of AESAC
October 2020 – AESAC membership was finalized and new committee was kicked off (Co-chairs: Dereck Norville-Bowie & Dean Babette Audant; Members: Pearl Shavzin, Elbagina Bonilla, Silvia Reyes, Maria Cano, Sam Byrd, & Carlos Rivera)
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And (as if that’s not already a lot in one year) AESAC has also worked tirelessly this year to support AES units, in myriad ways, with the different assessment processes; including:
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Developing the curriculum and leading cohort meetings for the inaugural AES Program Reflection process cohort
Developing additional resources to support implementation of the Annual Planning and Assessment Report Templates (APARTs)
Planning and delivering multiple workshops to support AES units develop SLOs and SOs
Developing a process to provide systematic feedback to AES units on APART drafts
Numerous communication efforts
Instituting “Office Hours”
. . . and so much more.
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Today, I'd like us all to take a look back at all the work that’s been accomplished in building and implementing the College’s new structures, processes, and supports around AES assessment. What’s been accomplished this year is nothing short of a Herculean feat that could not have been possible without the unending collaboration and support of many colleagues, or the willingness, patience, and engagement of all AES units across the college. Although we’re certainly not done with this year, we hope that you will have as much faith as AESAC and OIERA do that what we’re building at Hostos is going to yield the kind of reflection, learning, and (ultimately) growth and improvement that is going to make Hostos Community College the talk of CUNY and beyond. Stay tuned for what’s to come. |
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Submitted by Executive Counsel & Labor Designee Eugene Sohn, Esq.
Policy 5.14 Multiple Positions | Statement of Policy on Multiple Positions
1. Preamble
Each full-time faculty member is obligated to view his/her appointment to a college or university faculty position within The City University as his/her major professional commitment. This commitment obligates the faculty member in two ways: he/she is at once a member of the national and international world of learning and a member of The City University community.
To learn more about the Statement of Policy on Multiple Positions visit the CUNY page here.
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OFFICE OF GOVERNMENTAL AND EXTERNAL AFFAIRS |
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Submitted by Eric Radezky, Ph.D., Director of Governmental and External Affairs
Dear Hostos Community,
Thank you for welcoming me as your new Director of Governmental and External Affairs. Spring 2021 was my first semester at Hostos and I am very excited to be here! I look forward to many more semesters to come and I will continue to work on behalf of all Hostos students, faculty and staff to highlight your achievements to our city, state and federal elected officials. Wishing you all a happy and joyous spring, and congratulations to all of our graduates!
Eric Radezky, Ph.D.
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Announcements:
Emergency Broadband Benefit – You Might Qualify
The Emergency Broadband Benefit is a new program by the Federal Communications Commission to help families and households struggling to afford internet service during the COVID-19 pandemic. It provides a discount of up to 50% per month for broadband service for eligible households and a one-time discount of up to $100 for the purchase of a laptop, desktop or tablet from participating providers. The program is limited to one monthly service discount and one device discount per household. If you qualify for Medicaid, SNAP, free or reduced school lunches, Lifeline or Pell Grants, you are eligible. Households that lost a significant amount of income in 2020 may also qualify. To find out more information, check eligibility requirements, and to learn how to apply, visit: https://www.fcc.gov/broadbandbenefit.
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Excelsior Pass
Check out New York State’s Excelsior Pass, a download now available for your digital device that can be used to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination or negative test results. Participation in Excelsior Pass is voluntary. New Yorkers can always show alternate proof of vaccination or testing, like another mobile application or paper form, directly at a business or venue.
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Restaurant Revitalization Fund
Last week, Congressman Adriano Espaillat hosted an online information session with representatives of the federal Small Business Association (SBA) to discuss the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF). The program is open to restaurants and other eligible food-related businesses struggling to keep their doors open. RRF recipients do not need to repay the funding as long as it is spent on eligible uses no later than March 11, 2023.
Eligible entities who have experienced pandemic-related revenue loss include:
- Restaurants
- Food stands, food trucks, food carts
- Caterers
- Bars, saloons, lounges, taverns
- Snack and nonalcoholic beverage bars
- Bakeries (onsite sales to the public comprise at least 33% of gross receipts)
- Brewpubs, tasting rooms, taprooms (onsite sales to the public comprise at least 33% of gross receipts)
- Breweries and/or microbreweries (onsite sales to the public comprise at least 33% of gross receipts)
- Wineries and distilleries (onsite sales to the public comprise at least 33% of gross receipts)
- Inns (onsite sales of food and beverage to the public comprise at least 33% of gross receipts)
- Licensed facilities or premises of a beverage alcohol producer where the public may taste, sample, or purchase products
RRF Funds may be used to cover a qualifying business’ payroll, mortgage payments, rent payments, utilities, maintenance, operating expenses and more. Visit www.sba.gov/restaurants for a complete list of allowable expenses.
Prioritization for RRF awards will go to restaurants owned by women, veterans and disadvantaged individuals up through May 23. After that, applications will be processed based on the order in which they are received.
If you have questions, you may call Congressman Espaillat’s office at 212-663-3900 and ask for Debbie or Rolando. If they are not available, leave a name and number and they will get back to you. Or call SBA at 844-279-8898 or visit www.sba.gov/restaurants for more information.
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Affordable Housing Opportunity: New York City Opens Section 8 Waiting List for First Time Since 2006, Apply Before May 28.
Thank you to Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for providing the following information on affordable housing. New York City has opened its Section 8 Voucher Waitlist. Section 8 Vouchers provide a subsidy to help low-income renters afford safe, decent housing.
Applicants must apply while the waitlist is open. The Homes and Community Renewal office will then select 15,000 households for the waitlist through a lottery. Those selected for the waitlist will then be offered a voucher as one becomes available, and will be subject to additional eligibility screening. Applying for the waitlist does not guarantee a voucher.
The waitlist is open only until Friday, May 28, so please complete and submit your application at your earliest convenience.
Click here for details on eligibility, how to apply, and answers to FAQs, or call their hotline at 833-990-4001. The online application is available in multiple languages here.
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HOSTOS REOPENING UPDATE: WEEK OF MAY 17, 2021 |
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Submitted by Esther Rodríguez-Chardavoyne, Senior Vice President of Administration and Finance and Interim Vice President of Student Development and Enrollment Management
Campus Reopening: Frequently Asked Questions
We recognize that many members of our campus community still have questions about reopening, and people are often wondering about the same things. It’s important to us that everyone has accessible information as we prepare for Fall 2021.
If there are details you would like to see included on our website, let us know so we can consider adding them! Please send feedback to our COVID-19 Communications email address.
This week’s FAQs: Masks and Campus Safety Guidelines
Question: Do masks need to be worn at all times, even while teaching?
Answer: Face coverings/masks are still required for everyone—vaccinated or not—on the Hostos campus. Changes in face covering/mask requirements for vaccinated people, announced by Governor Cuomo on May 17, 2021, do not apply to school settings.
Instructors should continue to wear masks/face coverings while teaching. The Hostos Reopening Plan requires face coverings/masks for situations where someone may come within 6 feet of others; this includes a presenter in a classroom.
Faculty should speak with Raymond Perez (Director of the Accessibility Resource Center) about addressing accommodations if a student reports that their disability makes it difficult to understand an instructor wearing a mask/face covering.
Question: How will the College handle situations where a student, employee, or visitor does not wear a mask/face covering? What is the plan generally for anyone who refuses to follow required safety guidelines?
Answer: Instructors can and should address issues with a student’s use of face coverings/masks in the same way that instructors can address any disruptive or unsafe behavior in the classroom. Additionally, student behavior that violates any campus guidelines—including those around masks—are subject to existing disciplinary actions.
Public Safety can intervene if someone refuses to follow Hostos guidelines when asked. However, Public Safety should not be called unless necessary.
Behaviors that violate any campus guidelines—including those around masks—are subject to existing disciplinary actions for students, employees, or visitors.
Question: How does the College’s Reopening Plan match official guidelines and recommendations?
Answer: The Hostos Reopening Plan was developed in reference to the following sources:
All the safety measures recommended through these sources are described in the Hostos Reopening Plan and have been in place since the Fall 2020 semester. This also means that the Hostos Reopening Plan matches any other guidance or recommendation documents that refer to these sources.
Question: Will instructions be placed throughout the College to point out safety guidelines?
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NEWS FROM THE OFFICE OF ACADEMIC AFFAIRS
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Spotlight on Faculty
Professor Henry Lesnick is retiring as professor emeritus. OAA is proud to share a few highlights from his career as a member of the Hostos Community College faculty.
Henry Lesnick, Hostos CC Professor Emeritus, taught and developed courses in Language and Cognition, English, and Humanities departments. He was an active member in multiple national professional organizations, chairing committees, organizing presentations, and publishing in journals. Professor Lesnick helped organize the Hostos committee to stop English only and worked to defeat the national effort to pass the English language amendment (ELA). He spoke to the NY State Senate education committee on the discriminatory and educationally destructive effects of the amendment and the white nationalist agenda of its prime promoters. And, wrote a paper on the ELA for Governor Mario Cuomo, at his request, and worked with Jose Serrano who was the major opponent of the ELA in congress.
Professor Mohammad Usman has a new article in the International Journal of Housing Policy titled, “Urban informality in the Global North: (il)legal status and housing strategies of Ghanaian migrants in New York City.” The article focused on how documented and undocumented Ghanaians access housing in the Bronx. The findings reveal how strong ties to one's ethnic social network critically influence access to housing, irrespective of legal status.
Mohammad Usman, Sabina Maslova, and Gemma Burgess (2020). Urban informality in the Global North: (il)legal status and housing strategies of Ghanaian migrants in New York City, International Journal of Housing Policy, DOI: 10.1080/19491247.2020.1814189
Professor Elys Vasquez-Iscan was appointed Co-Chair of the NYS AIDS Institute HIV Advisory Body in the fall of 2020. In spring of 2021 She received a scholarship to attend a certificate program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Professor Herve Fossou, who graduated in 2015 from Hostos in the Community Health degree program has been accepted in a Ph.D. program in epidemiology at Washington State University. He will start in the fall 2021.
Professor Iris Mercado applied for the Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) initiative, and the Mindset GPS (Growth Mindset, Purpose & Relevance & Sense of Belonging) course. Professor Mercado was quoted in an article published in Consumer Report magazine earlier this year, and is a serving Board Member of the BronxCare Martin Luther King Jr. Health Centers.
English Department | EdCast
This year, CUNY TV's EdCast, hosted and produced by Dr.Linda Hirsch, devoted five episodes to addressing the effects of the Pandemic on education:
- The Digital Divide and COVID-19
- Returning to Campus during COVID-19
- Children, Trauma and COVID-19
- Education 2020: How COVID-19 Shaped the Curriculum
- Reaching Vaccine Resisters: CONVINCE USA
Assistant Professor Ana Ozuna was a $40,000 Grant Awardee recipient from the Mellon/ACLS Community College Faculty Fellowship from Spring 2020-Spring 2022.
Professors Helen Chang and Norberto Hernández Valdes-Portela, two of the faculty in the Behavioral and Social Sciences Department, were named inaugural Andrew W. Mellon Transformative Learning in the Humanities Faculty Fellows. Read more here.
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Spotlight on Students and Alumni | Incredible Achievements of Hostos Writing Center Tutors
The Writing Center (WC) is incredibly pleased to announce that seven WC tutors are graduating from their Bachelor's degrees, with three entering graduate programs in Fall 2021. When these tutors were recommended to the Writing Center by their Hostos professors, we knew they were going to accomplish great things. We are proud of all of them!
Jenifer Vivar, was awarded a prestigious NOAA-CESSRST scholarship to pursue a Master of Science in Data Science and Engineering at City College; only ten fellowships are awarded each year to promising stars in Data Science. Alyesha Alston will be commencing a Master of Arts in Forensic Mental Health Counseling at John Jay, having soared to the President's list, Dean's list, and been a June 2018 Honors Convocation Speaker at Hostos, she graduated from SUNY Potsdam with a B.A. in Psychology. Ashley Barreto will be entering a Master of Fine Arts (Studio Arts) program at Michigan State University after graduating magna cum laude from Lehman College. Victor Valerio, a former fellow of the competitive Skadden Arps Honors Program in Legal Studies at City College, graduated magna cum laude with a double major in Political Science and English. He was also selected to be a Partners for Change Fellow in 2019 and completed 150 hours of service in community organizing. Eva Soriano earned a B.B.A. in Marketing Management and a minor in Theater, for which she has been awarded outstanding performance in the theatrical arts. Ashley Thomas, Hostos class of 2017, received a B.A. in Social Work from Lehman College, having interned at Bronx Parent Housing Network Promise Place as well as Lanet's Place. Shaneka Crossman, graduated magna cum laude from City College, received an NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates Internship to apprentice as a developmental and comparative psychology researcher at Yale University.
Please help us to offer hearty congratulations to these Hostos alumni who have built on the foundations Hostos has provided them to shine big and bright, as well as to Maya Abdoussala, who is graduating from Hostos with the Presidential Medal of Honor. What a year!
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Scholastic Achievement Candidate Reflection | Class of 2021
Mark W. Davy, candidate for the Scholastic Achievement Award, shared the following reflection with Provost Drago and the Office of Academic Affairs.
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I am humbled by this recognition. I've had to knock down so many more obstacles than the front doors of Hostos to enter these hallowed halls. Even this acknowledgement, near the end of my junior college journey, found me in need of uplifting. It has bolstered my faith beyond imagination into certainty, for I know now that I am not alone. Hostos has aided me in that realization. My journey, however personal, is not unique- nor my burden the heaviest. I have seen young children sitting quietly beside single mothers, and shared notes with young fathers late to class from work. I have felt the weight of the world lifted off my back by the combined strength of a thousand bright minds laboring together. I have become part of a communal struggle, and I am better for it. Thank You, Dreams! Thank You, Hope! Thank You, Hostos!
—Mark W. Davy '21
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Honors Convocation | May 25, 2021 at 6 p.m.
The Senate Scholarship and Awards Committee (SSAC) and the Office of Academic Affairs will host the 37th annual Honors Convocation virtually on the Hostos YouTube channel and is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Tuesday, May 25. The virtual ceremony will include remarks from the Interim President and Acting Provost. The ceremony honors the valedictorian, salutatorian, Scholastic Achievement students (students graduating with cumulative 3.7 GPA or higher), Dean’s List students, General Academic Excellence Fund recipients, as well as departmental and special program award recipients. Participating in this event is an amazing way to support and congratulate our highest achieving Hostos students. We look forward to celebrating and honoring our Hostos student scholars! The Hostos YouTube channel link will become available on May 25 on the link below. Last year was the first ever virtual Convocation. The ceremony video producer is Rocio Rayo, program coordinator for Hostos Lincoln Academy in the Office of School College Partnerships. Last year’s ceremony is accessible here.
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NEWS FROM THE DIVISION OF STUDENT DEVELOPMENT AND ENROLLMENT MANAGEMENT
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Hostos Community College To Celebrate 2021 Graduating Class With Digital Commencement Ceremony (Recurring notice)
Graduation Information
All are welcome to join the Hostos Community College 2021 digital commencement ceremony on Friday, May 28, 2021. at 2 p.m. on Hostos’ YouTube.
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NEWS FROM THE DIVISION OF CONTINUING EDUCATION AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
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Student Spotlight Story from CEWD
Michael Tolbert
Student Receives Compassion, Encouragement and a High School Equivalency
Michael Tolbert did not take the traditional path to achieving his high school diploma. As a high school student in the New York City educational system, he encountered obstacles that would have left most discouraged and unwilling to continue. Michael unexpectedly found himself 10 credits short of graduating with his peers, though he had successfully passed the Regents Exams in the core subjects while in high school. At this point, he and his family made a calculated decision. Instead of remaining in high school for an extra year, Michael decided to pursue his High School Equivalency (HSE) diploma.
Enter Inocencia Nieves-Tolbert. Inocencia is not only a Hostos alumni who graduated in 1998 with an Associate Degree in Secretarial Science, she is also a Parent Coordinator for the Proyecto Access Program at Hostos Community College and most importantly, she is Michael’s mom. Inocencia knew that the Division of Continuing Education and Workforce Development (CEWD) at Hostos offered an HSE Test Preparation through the Division’s Adult Learning Center.
In March of 2020, she reached out to the ALC, Michael took and passed his HSE placement tests, and then the COVID pandemic shut everything down. Thinking the opportunity for her son to achieve his HSE had come and gone, Michael and Inocencia unexpectedly received a call a few months later from Mr. Yobani Ramos, the Director of the ALC. Mr. Ramos informed them that the HSE Test Prep had transitioned to virtual classes due to the pandemic and asked Michael if he was still interested in the program.
Michael attended the ALC’s virtual orientation where he learned that in 2018, the NY State Education Department began offering an additional pathway to earn an HSE. This new pathway allowed eligible TASC (Test Assessing Secondary Completion) examinees to use passing scores on certain Regents Exams in place of the corresponding TASC subtests. With the help of the ALC and his former high school, Michael applied for a TASC waiver and he was approved.
Fast-forward to February 2021, Michael successfully completed the required prep courses in two subject areas of his choice at CEWD. In March of this year, he received his HSE via the HSE Board of Regents Waiver processed through the HSE Office at the Department of Education. Michael stated that the compassion and encourage- ment that he received from his HSE teacher and Mr. Ramos gave him the hope and strength to continue on and complete the process of earning his HSE.
Michael has now applied to Hostos Community College in the hopes of pursuing a degree in Graphic Design. Coincidentally, he discovered his passion for the field and made many friends by attending the Proyecto Access STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Summer programs since third grade.
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Hostos Continuing Education and Workforce Development Awarded Consolidated Funding Application
The Division of Continuing Education and Workforce Development (CEWD) and the Division of Academic Affairs was awarded $430,000 by New York State through the Consolidated Funding Application (CFA) process in Next Generation Job Linkage funds. The Hostos Job Linkage Proposal is intended for expanding opportunity by building more robust partnerships between employers, the public school system, and the public university system to ensure that public education is relevant to the demands of the contemporary workplace. Efforts will rely on collaborations between Hostos and industry partners and will provide a pathway from high school through Hostos, into a 4-year degree, and then career employment. The Divisions will work collaboratively to create a fully integrated, comprehensive workforce development system that enables people to move up the career ladder by targeting state funding to projects and programs that lead to gainful employment and upward mobility. Congratulations to Dean Ann Meister of Academic Affairs; Lisanette Rosario of Career Services/CEWD; and Evelyn Fernández-Ketcham, Executive Director of Workforce Development/CEWD for their collaborative work.
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Assemblymember Amanda Septimo Speaks with the Center for Bronx Nonprofits
On the morning of Friday, May 14, The Center For Bronx Nonprofits hosted a conversation with Amanda Septimo, the newly elected State Assemblymember of District 84 in the South Bronx.
Septimo discussed her winning campaign strategy and the goals she will pursue in the Assembly and engaged in a Q & A session.
“We were thrilled to host Amanda Septimo. Her passion for the community is truly inspiring,” said CBNP Executive Director Eileen Newman. “Assemblymember Septimo embodies what an elected official can and should be. We can’t wait to have her return for another visit.”
The Center for Bronx Nonprofits is a convening, training, and resource-sharing organization, which strengthens the capacity of local community leaders and organizations serving the Bronx and other boroughs. It makes its home at Hostos Community College.
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The CUNY Recovery Corps at Hostos
Hostos Community College has launched the CUNY Recover Corps, a partnership between CUNY and New York City. The CUNY Recovery Corps has created opportunities for 5000 students to join efforts to meet the challenges faced by our community’s small businesses, public health organizations, community-based non-profits, schools, universities, and beyond during the COVID-19 pandemic. This summer, CUNY students will continue to write their history of service to this city as they help revitalize, reinvigorate, and rebuild NYC.
The CUNY Recovery Corps at Hostos, led by Lisanette Rosario, is working hard to identify both Hostos students and match them to meaningful work experiences.
Hostos is currently at 262 Hostos students completed applications on a goal of 300. We are committed to reaching the goal.
Your support is needed to help identify departments/offices within your Divisions that can provide virtual workplace opportunities for the students.
Please share and prioritize with your unit Directors, Chairs & Coordinators. This is an amazing opportunity to engage our students in meaningful work that will help contribute to student retention and success.
Next Steps and Immediate Action Required:
- Identify someone from your area to serve as a liaison to work with Lisanette and Career Services.
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The liaison will complete the DYCD Worksite Application including the total number of students per division - https://www.cuny.edu/hirerecoverycorps/ Use PIN#: WPA159964 at the end of the application.
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Your liaison will complete the Campus Virtual Worksite Interest Form (The work is both flexible and virtual and the wages are covered).
- Lisanette will contact each liaison and assist with steps 2-3.
Here are examples of the kinds of work that CUNY Recovery Corps students could do for Hostos Community College:
- Peer Advisors/Mentors/Tutors
- New student welcome/orientation
- Coordinating groups of students to serve on a calling campaign for new and returning students
- Supporting summer bridge programs/summer orientations
- Faculty support on research and projects, etc.
- Extending Federal Work-study assignments
- Summer programs
- Support work your areas need assistance with
To learn about CUNY Recovery Corps at Hostos, please reach out to Lisanette Rosario.
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NEWS FROM THE DIVISION OF INSTITUTIONAL ADVANCEMENT |
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May Alumni Mixer
The next Hostos Alumni Mixer will be hosted via Zoom on Wednesday, May 26 at 5:00 p.m.
Mr. Ricardo Cosme Ruíz '10, Executive Director of Intergovernmental and Community Affairs at Neighborhood Association for Inter-Cultural Affairs (NAICA) and Ms. Madeline Cruz '91, Administrative Coordinator of the Hostos One Stop Program for Health and Wellness, will share resources to help students and alumni with a variety of housing-related issues.
Topics will include:
- Free legal services available to individuals and families faced with eviction or rental arrears in the Bronx
- Resources for those seeking affordable housing
- Advice for those with homes in need of repairs
- Assistance with required applications for housing-related services
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Support the Hostos 20.21 Class Campaign and Student Success
The Hostos 20.21 Class Campaign, culminating at the College’s Spring Commencement Ceremony in May 2021, invites you to celebrate our newest graduates while enabling student success. Gifts of $20.21 or more will make a significant, collective impact on our students, helping them to persist and earn their degrees. Hostos equips its students to carve their own pathways and launch their futures – and now the next generation of Caimans is preparing to soon go forth and achieve their goals.
Support the Hostos 20.21 Class Campaign, our growing alumni family, and student success by making your $20.21 gift today!
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Submitted by Chief Arnaldo Bernabe
The NYPD and the Hostos Public Safety Team: Acts of Great Policing
I wanted to acknowledge the Hostos Public Safety team for their tremendous dedication and seriousness by sharing with the campus about an act of great police work coming out of the Bronx.
At about 8:02 a.m. on May 14, 2021 Hostos Community College Public Safety Officer Raul DeJesus was standing outside of the A-475 Grand Concourse Building when a subway rider exiting the subway station in front of the college pleaded for his assistance and told him that there was an incoherent man walking around aimlessly on the subway platform with a very small infant. Officer DeJesus immediately notified his supervisor and NYPD via his two-way radio. He then entered the subway station with Sergeant Rodríguez and Sergeant Pinzón. Inside the subway station they encountered the incoherent individual inside a waiting subway train holding an infant.
Officer DeJesus and Sergeants Rodríguez and Pinzón coached the male subject out of the subway car and onto the subway platform as NYPD Transit Officers arrived. The incoherent individual was taken into custody by NYPD and EMS transported the baby to the local hospital. Our officers learned that a 911 call for a missing baby had been made by the baby’s mother who reported that her domestic partner had taken the baby from her crib as the baby and mother slept this morning. A hospital source informed the public safety officers that the incoherent man was admitted to the hospital for further observation and the baby is doing well. The baby's mother has filed an official police complainant for the abduction of the child.
The College commends these officers for their situational awareness and service to both the University and its surrounding community.
We look forward to honoring these officers at the next University Awards Ceremony!
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Office of Educational Technology (Recurring Notice)
EdTech has developed a series of workshops which offer resources to help students familiarize themselves with Blackboard and other technologies used for online learning. To enroll for an instructor-led online workshops, click here.
EdCast Gifted and Talented Education | May 18 to June 8 Broadcast dates
Professor Linda Hirsch speaks with guests Jonathan Plucker, Ph.D., the Julian Stanley Professor of Talent Development, Johns Hopkins University and April Wells, Gifted Coordinator, Illinois School District U-46. Broadcast dates here.
Memorial Day Week | May 23 – 31, 2021
The Hostos Office of Veterans Affairs shares a list of both in-person and virtual events in observance of Memorial Day 2021. For more information visit the Hostos VA Events page.
The 51st Virtual Dental Hygiene Pinning and Candle Lighting Ceremony
Monday, May 24, 2021 at 10 a.m.
Honors Convocation | Save the Date
12th Annual CTL Professional Development Day (aka CTL SPA Day)
May 26 | 9:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
Speaking Up for AAPI at Hostos: A Roundtable
Wednesday, May 26 | 12-1:30 p.m.
Spring 2021 Commencement Ceremony
Office of the President | Friday, May 28 | 2 p.m.
Live streamed on via the Hostos YouTube channel
Virtual Career Fair for Recent Graduates
Career Services Office | Wednesday, June 9 | 12-4 p.m.
Meet employers with internships and job opportunities. Connect individually or in a group live video chat.
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ABOUT EL SEMANARIO HOSTOSIANO/THE HOSTOS WEEKLY
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El Semanario Hostosiano/The Hostos Weekly is a weekly communication vehicle designed to unite our multiple voices as we share news about members of the Hostos family, provide updates on our work and upcoming events, and disseminate policy that impacts our work.
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This is our last release for Academic Year 2020/2021.
We thank you for the generous support of over 30 weekly bulletins and
look forward to the Fall 2021 semester.
Enjoy the summer!
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For inclusion in the Hostos Weekly, please send your items to:
Please keep submissions to no more than two paragraphs of written content and note,
we are unable to add attachments to our publication.
Look for the Hostos Weekly each Friday.
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