 |  | Last month I told you about two new programs we recently launched to help formerly incarcerated people come to LaGuardia for associate degrees or vocational training. This month there’s more: Professor Cory Rowe taught a class this fall on Rikers Island for nineteen inmates, all of whom will receive college credit that they can apply toward a LaGuardia degree should they decide to enroll in the college when they’re released. This innovation is the result of tireless advocacy by Dr. Rowe, Associate Professor of Criminal Justice, to ensure that her incarcerated students be awarded full academic credit for their coursework at Rikers. She explained, “This marked the first time that men in custody at Rikers’ George R. Vierno Center had access to a college course for credit.” After teaching for several years in NYC correctional facilities Professor Rowe had become frustrated over the fact that students who passed her courses were not granted actual college credit. Thanks to LaGuardia’s new Office of Credit for Prior Learning, funded by the Robin Hood Foundation, which awards academic credit for learning outside a traditional college classroom (think military service, on-the-job training, work, and, yes, classes in prison), Dr. Rowe was able to reverse the policy. When she welcomes new students to her Rikers classroom next March she can promise them college credit if they complete her course requirements. In the meantime, we’ll reach out to the students she had this fall and see if they are ready to continue their educations here at LaGuardia.
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LaGuardia Alum Tapped to Speak at Ford Foundation Event
I thought about skipping a recent meeting of the New York City Workforce Funders Collaborative at the Ford Foundation’s swank headquarters on East 42nd St. because I wasn’t sure how my favorite community college would profit from my attendance. The agenda was short on details, so how was I to know that the main event would be a panel of students that had participated in new apprenticeships at NYC financial services firms earlier this year, and that one of those panelists would be LaGuardia graduate, Ghizlane El Haddad? When the emcee introduced Ghizlane I almost fell out of my seat. I can’t recall anything the other speakers said, but I can assure you that Ghizlane was brilliant.
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The LaGuardia ’23 graduate majored in Network Administration and Information Security. She scored a coveted apprenticeship at Mastercard, thanks to a partnership created by the New York Jobs CEO Council, led by Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase & Co. When the apprenticeship ended Mastercard offered Ghizlane a full-time job. In fact, all the LaGuardia apprentices at Mastercard were offered full-time jobs. In her remarks, Ghizlane, who is from Morocco, described how her success at LaGuardia and at Mastercard has helped her and her family—providing financial stability and boosting her self-confidence. No doubt Mastercard feels fortunate to have signed Ghizlane. As a cardholder I’m comforted that she’s part of their cybersecurity team. | | |
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For Accounting Major Tyshawn Washington Fatherhood Academy is Pathway to Success
When Tyshawn Washington, 30, graduates from LaGuardia in Spring 2024, he will be one of the first people in his family to earn a college degree. Growing up, Tyshawn says he, “got caught up in the wrong crowd,” in his Brooklyn neighborhood. Between the ages of 14–19, he was in and out of jail. He dropped out of high school and found work in construction, and as a mover. Tyshawn discovered the CUNY Fatherhood Academy at LaGuardia and enrolled to earn his GED. Today he's an accounting major at LaGuardia, with a 3.5 GPA, working hard to make a better life for him and his family. I hope you will join me to celebrate Tyshawn's graduation in June.
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LaGuardia Professors Recognized for BRESI Leadership
CUNY recently hosted an event to recognize faculty and students who created projects through the Black, Race and Ethnic Studies Initiative (BRESI). The initiative was announced in 2020 as part of a historic gift of $10 million from the Mellon Foundation to develop initiatives in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and to support efforts to advance social and racial justice. CUNY collected profiles of these projects in, “Black, Race and Ethnic Studies Initiative at the City University of New York (BRESI): Asking the Right Questions, Changing the Narrative," a publication presented at the October 26 event at the CUNY Graduate Center. The report recognizes several LaGuardia colleagues for their innovative BRESI projects. You can see the full list here.
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NYS Funds LaGuardia to Train Film Production Accountants
LaGuardia has been awarded $212,584 from Empire State Development (ESD) to train students for accounting jobs in the entertainment industry. We Count -- Pathways to Production Accounting for the Entertainment Industry is a free, six-week program that we developed in partnership with the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 161 Production Accountants and Trevanna Post, an accounting firm serving the entertainment industry. With the Writers’ and Actors’ strikes finally settled there is a backlog of film and television production in NYC and a shortage of number crunchers to track daily expenses in studios and on locations. Twenty-three students pursuing various majors in our Business and Technology Department signed up for the training, which started this month. Aside from their classes in film and TV finances, they’ll get stipends, job placement assistance, and other benefits. If you like math and movies, this show’s for you.
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5th Annual Hunger Banquet
Faculty and students from Nutrition and Culinary Management hosted LaGuardia’s Fifth Annual Hunger Banquet on October 25 in partnership with LaGuardia CARES. Open to LaGuardia students, faculty, and staff, the Banquet featured an interactive, role-playing exercise designed to foster understanding of food insecurity among different populations and income levels, both locally and around the world. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three tables: high-income, middle class, or low/no-income, and were served meals, provided by college caterer MBJ, in accordance with the socioeconomic level of each table. Moderators led attendees in discussions about issues of food insecurity and encouraged participants to share their reflections. The event concluded with a brainstorming session exploring potential action steps to address poverty, global hunger, and food insecurity.
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Prez Joins Mayor to Open Civic Hall at Union Square
On November 1 NYC Mayor Eric Adams formally opened Civic Hall at Union Square. A gaggle of your LaGuardia friends showed up for the festivities. We were there to help the mayor cut the ribbon, network with tech entrepreneurs, feast on the free buffet, and check out our new classroom. That’s right: we signed up for Civic Hall when it was in the planning stages, making LaGuardia the project’s lead college partner. As a result, we can teach classes and host meetings and events in this beautiful facility next door to NYU and down the block from Union Square. The cutting-edge, 85,000-square-foot tech center includes classrooms, offices, an entrepreneurial hub, and event spaces. Founded by Andrew Rasiej, Chairman of the New York Tech Alliance and LaGuardia Fan Club Member, Civic Hall was built by the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) and The Fedcap Group. This month LaGuardia’s ACE Division will start offering courses there in IT Help Desk Support and Cybersecurity.
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