OAA THIS WEEK | Oct 29, 2020
A news update and community connection for the Office of Academic Affairs of The City University of New York
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Healthy CUNY publishes pandemic resource guide
To assist CUNY students in coping with the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and its attendant crises, Healthy CUNY has prepared the Guide to Surviving and Thriving at CUNY. The guide to be a useful resource for finding aid for food insecurity, mental health, educational challenges, and similar matters.
_____CUNY faculty, staff, and student leaders are encouraged to use this guide as a resource for helping students and peers navigate through these challenging times. The guide was produced by students for students and has a different tone and messages than other important and useful resources provided by CUNY.
_____The Healthy CUNY COVID-19 work group of faculty, staff and students that produced the guide will release an updated version in Spring 2021. The group welcomes suggestions for additions, updates, and corrections, which can be sent to healthycuny@sph.cuny.edu.
CUNY promotes expansion of student SNAP benefits
Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez and SUNY Chancellor Jim Malatras co-authored a Newsday opinion piece titled “We need to extend help to college students,” in support of a new state directive making SNAP more accessible to economically vulnerable New York college students. The article lauded Governor Andrew Cuomo’s new policy, in partnership with SUNY, CUNY and the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, that removes barriers to SNAP for roughly 75,000 students.
_____Under the new ruling students enrolled at least half time in career and technical education programs through SUNY or CUNY no longer need to fulfill a separate, 20-hour-a-week work requirement to qualify for SNAP benefits. The policy change is part of the Governor’s No Student Goes Hungry Initiative, which led to establishment of food pantries at or near every CUNY and SUNY.
CUNY finds new partners for student internships
In a Bronx Times opinion piece titled “Partnerships with employers boost students, bolster economy,” the Chancellor applauded new partnerships with businesses and organizations that will provide CUNY students with a broad range of new job and paid internship opportunities. He highlighted the partnership with the New York Jobs CEO Council, slated to create job opportunities for 25,000 CUNY students, with a focus on low-income and Black, Latinx and Asian communities.
_____The Chancellor also lauded the recent launch of the Federal Work-Study Experimental Site, a program that will allow companies and non-profit organizations to hire some 9,000 CUNY students for paid internships, as well as the CUNY 90-day Upskilling Challenge, which is providing free virtual skills training and includes partnerships with Google and IBM.
Hunter, BMCC receive grants for Asian American support services
Asian American students at Hunter College and BMCC will receive enhanced academic and student support services through two new five-year grants totaling $3.5 million from the U.S. Department of Education’s Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions (AANAPISI) Program, part of the federal Minority Serving Institutions initiative.
_____While the primary beneficiaries of the grants will be high need Asian American students, other students are also eligible, including first-generation college students, English language learners, and students from immigrant families, the article reported. One of the grants will create a partnership with BMCC to support 200 transfer student mentees and train 100 student mentors. It will also support 800 Hunter and BMCC students through free academic writing and speaking skills seminars, and will reach 250 Hunter and BMCC faculty and staff through professional development seminars focused on student-centered and culturally relevant pedagogies.
Free Mindfulness Meditation offered to OAA
The wellness website 10 Minute Mind has been offering meditation courses to CUNY students, faculty, and staff. The 10 Minute Mind mindfulness course is a daily, mindfulness meditation exercise accessed online for stress and anxiety management. With over 25,000 CUNY users, the course is offered free to all students, faculty, and staff. Sign up here.
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CUNY experts weigh in on COVID-19 effect on City economy
CUNY experts continue to comment on the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, and to shine a spotlight on the deep impact on low-income New Yorkers. John Jay economist Michelle Holder weighed in on a New York Times story titled “Economy’s Big Rebound Leaves a Shortfall as Progress Slows.”
_____“If we’re thinking that the economy is recovering completely and uniformly, that is simply not the case,” said Holder. “This rebound is unevenly distributed along racial and gender lines.”
_____Hunter College professor of urban planning and policy Sigmund Shipp, who is surveying internet access problems among Hunter students, spoke to Gothamist for an article titled “It’s 2020: Why Is The Internet Still Treated Like A Luxury, Not A Utility?” that examines the pandemic’s deepening of the city’s digital divide, particularly for at-risk students.
_____In an opinion piece for Gotham Gazette titled “New York City Needs a Resiliency Plan that Creates Green Jobs for New Yorkers” mayoral hopeful Shaun Donovan proposed a “NYC Climate Corps” that would build on the Clean Energy Service Corps (an AmeriCorps program established by the Obama administration) as well as on local programs including CUNY Service Corps and CUNY’s “existing pathways to a green economy.”
CUNY faculty, staff, monitor coronavirus resurgence in City
_____In the latter, Nash was among a number of experts who projected that any virus outbreak in the city would lead to broader community spread. "I think what we are seeing is that a tailored block or neighborhood strategy is not going to contain it," said Nash. "The city has to do everything in their power to have all of us be on the same page and looking at the same information as we make decisions about what to do."
_____A study co-authored by Hunter College public health professors David Himmelstein and Steffie Woolhandler and a Harvard medical school colleague was noted in a Healthline story titled “In Trump’s First 3 Years, 2 Million Americans Lost Healthcare, Thousands Died Prematurely.” The study found that losses in health insurance occurred despite the economic prosperity that preceded the pandemic.
____SPH distinguished scholar Lyndon Haviland wrote an opinion piece for The Hill titled “Serious public health issues await the next POTUS.”
_____She wrote: “To stop the coronavirus and promote public health, the next president must implement a national COVID-19 plan, one based on science and not politics, that includes: reliable and accessible testing for all, robust and rapid contract tracing, mask mandates, quarantine protocols, hand washing and social distancing. He must inspire all 50 states, and unify the American people around a singular focus of working together to defeat COVID-19. And he will need to communicate the value of vaccines and articulate a plan for vaccine delivery.”
John Jay faculty sought for comment on City, national police reform
John Jay professors continue to provide insights on a wide range of criminal justice related issues under scrutiny around the country. The Austin Statesman quoted professor Brian Higgins in an article titled “Austin police probe whether issues with less-lethal rounds led to protesters’ injuries.”
______Professor Preeti Chauhan weighed in on a St. Louis American story titled “Study: Misdemeanor arrests decline while racial disparities persist.” Professor Dorothy Schulz contributed to a National Review piece titled “Criminal Justice Programs Embrace ‘Wokeness’”which highlighted an essay by Schulz positing that “hardly any police officers go through criminal justice programs and suffusing those programs with ‘anti-racism’ isn’t going to improve the education of those students who are in those programs.”
_____Jim Dooley, who teaches policing at the college, was quoted by Gothamist in a story titled “Most Subway Crime Is Down, But Decrease Hasn't Kept Pace With Plummeting Ridership.”
_____Finally, the Seattle Times cited data from John Jay’s Data Collaborative for Justice in an article titled “A criminal defense for poverty, behavioral health? Seattle officials to weigh controversial proposal.”
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City Outings
If the double whammy of pandemic stress and election stress feels overwhelming, here are some out-of-the-ordinary local adventures to help you leave that all behind and cope. If you partake in any of these, take a selfie or shot of your companions, email them to us, and we will post it next week!
Go Fishing
Yes, you can go fishing without leaving the city. Can you think of a more meditative outdoor sport? Ordinarily, anyone over the age of 15 must get a fishing license to fish in the city’s freshwater lakes and rivers. However, next Wednesday, November 11, is a free fishing date. Anyone can fish on that day, no license required. If you can’t go then, NYS residents can get a one-day license for $5 online. Our state has even provided some tips for taking your children on their first fishing expedition. You must provide your own fishing gear. Additionally, all fishing in NYC is catch-and-release, so don't plan on bringing home dinner. Here are OAA This Week’s favorite spots.
_____Bronx: Van Cortlandt Park. This park houses the largest freshwater lake in the entire borough. To get there, take the 1 train to the 242nd Street/Van Cortlandt Park station. Walk east through the park to the lake.
_____Manhattan: Central Park Lake. Did you know that this 18-acre lake is home to at least nine different species of freshwater fish, including yellow perch, black crappie and bluegill? To get there, take a train to any 72nd Street Station and walk toward the middle of the park.
_____Brooklyn: Prospect Park Lake. At the southern tip of Prospect Park, this 55-acre lake is home to the state’s largest concentration of large-mouth bass. Although bass are the lake’s biggest attraction, bluegill, black crappie, yellow perch, pumpkinseed, chain pickerel, and golden shiners can also occasionally be found.
_____Queens: Kissena Lake in Kissena Park, 164th Street and Oak Avenue. Bluegill sunfish and black crappie flourish in this 8.5 acre lake, along with the largest carp in the city. Make sure to use lures, not bait, or you run the risk of catching one of the lake’s many turtles.
Go Kayaking, Canoeing, or Rowing
You don’t even need your own watercraft at these locations!
_____Staten Island: Sign up for the Kayak Tour at Freshkills Park on Staten Island taking place on Saturday, November 7, from 11:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m. Everything will be provided except for a sturdy pair of shoes, water bottle, and sunscreen. Register online soon before it fills up. Free, but a $20 donation is suggested.
_____Brooklyn: Lefrak Center at Lakeside Prospect Park has pedal boats and kayaks that you can rent. You can also get a bike or surrey there. Marine Park is another location where you can rent a kayak (temporarily unavailable) or a stand-up paddleboard (plenty currently on hand). If you go for the stand-up paddleboard, take a selfie so we can post it next week!
_____Manhattan: Rent a row boat or paddle boat (first-come, first-served only) at the Loeb Boathouse in Central Park before the season ends this month. Classic Venetian Gondola tours are also available, weather permitting.
Join a Walking or Biking Tour
NYC Parks holds organized walking/hiking and biking events throughout the year. Here are just three that are taking place this weekend.
______On Staten Island this Saturday, November 7, join the Urban Park Rangers from 11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. on a Discovery Hike in Clove Lakes Park, and explore the hidden habitats of life that exist in places you never thought to look. Free
_____On Saturday, November 7 from 11:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m., take part in the Central Park Ranger Bike Tour and pedal through the city’s most iconic park. Bring your own bike and helmet and meet the group at Grand Army Plaza in Central Park, Fifth Avenue between West 58th and West 59th Streets in Manhattan. Free
_____On Sunday, November 8 from 1:00 p.m.–3:00 p.m. join an NYC Parks arborist for a guided Tree Tales Walking Tour in Staten Island’s Von Briesen Park to learn about the many species of trees there. Feel your stresses fade away as you breathe in the fresh air. Meet in the Von Briesen Parking Lot. Free
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In each edition, OAA This Week asks our colleagues about the work their unit is doing in the face of the COVID-19 crisis, and how they’re personally faring in the era of remote work. If you would like to be featured as a Colleague Connection, please contact Duffie Cohen at Duffie.Cohen@cuny.edu.
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Alevtina Verbovetskaya, University Director of Library Systems
What does your role as the new University director of Library Systems entail?
I am responsible for all aspects of library information systems at the CUNY Libraries. The work my team does is invisible to most but it is the backbone of the CUNY Libraries. We support the library system that makes the acquisition, description, and circulation of our 6 million physical materials possible. We ensure continuous access to our massive electronic collections so all users (students, staff, and faculty) are able to retrieve material while working/studying remotely — now more important than ever. We also provide assistance to the 600-plus library staff and faculty across the University, allowing them to carry out their functional duties at the campus libraries.
How has OLS adapted during the COVID-19 crisis? How has the work changed and what are some of the new challenges OLS and the CUNY libraries are facing? In the midst of the pandemic, my team led a CUNY-wide migration to a new library system (after spending almost 20 years on the previous one!) that’s used by 600-plus staff and faculty across the CUNY Libraries for their professional duties to deliver access to all of our collections to the entire University. We were responsible for coordinating the training effort to ensure everyone got up to speed — all remotely and all without physical access to our libraries and collections. There is so much about our new library system that works in theory only! At the same time, we are trying to navigate the unsystematic closing/re-opening of the CUNY Libraries to try to ensure equitable access to our patrons while worrying that the workload is not distributed equally within libraries or across them — while also trying to plan the work that needs to happen on the back-end with my shrinking team.
What was it like to start your new position as CUNY transitioned to remote work? I was very lucky that I already had years of experience working with my colleagues in OLS and building relationships with colleagues at the CUNY libraries. In that regard, the transition to remote work was simple. However, there are other aspects of my job that are difficult to do remotely: I have multiple coworkers retiring this year and we cannot celebrate in-person; we miss the informal chats that happen when we drop by each other's desks or during morning coffee breaks; we can't look over each other's shoulders as we try to troubleshoot problems; and so on. Technology can solve a lot of problems but it's a poor substitute for making actual human connections.
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What’s your home workspace like? What kind of challenges or disruptions are you dealing with while working from home? My workspace has evolved over the last 8 months. I originally shared a home office with my partner, Phil, in a spare bedroom in our home. However, as the Alma implementation project wore on and I was in meetings for 5 to 6 hours out of the workday that no set of headphones could tune out, something had to change. Luckily, our 2-year-old son started daycare around the time the meetings were ramping up — leaving his room unutilized during the day. Phil and I moved a desk into our toddler’s room and I now spend my days with my two cats in the room that gets the best sun.
What’s your daily routine these days? My toddler wakes up around 6 a.m., which means I wake up around 6 a.m. (Luckily, Phil — who wakes up at 4:30 a.m. — makes sure I have hot coffee waiting for me so I start off my days caffeinated, even if bleary-eyed.) I get my son dressed and fed, and walk him to pre-school. My workday begins at 8:30 a.m. and entails email correspondence, meetings, calls with vendors, interactions with colleagues at the CUNY Libraries, support material creation, etc. I pick up my son from daycare around 3 p.m. and we spend a few hours together (snacking, watching TV, literally running laps around the living room, etc.) before my partner ends his day and I return to work for a couple of hours. I then hide while my partner handles the nighttime routine with our toddler (shoutout to parents of young children who understand this struggle!), busying myself by preparing a quick dinner for one before plopping down on the living room couch and finding something to watch on the TV in an attempt to encourage my brain to think about something other than work.
Do you have a self-care practice that has helped you deal with the current situation? Does staying up late binge-watching bad TV and over-indulging on junk food count as self-care? Because I have been doing a lot of that! It helps somewhat. Maybe one of these days I’ll pick up powerlifting again? I have the equipment at home but I keep making excuses.
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In tandem with the Chancellor's #MaskUpCUNY photo initiative, EVC José Luis Cruz is urging OAA colleagues to share their own pictures of themselves, friends, or family members with their COVID-prevention masks on. The best entries will be posted here on November 19. You have until November 17 to send them to us. To enter, please send your pics to Karen Rostron. |
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Despite the tumult of the Presidential election, we ought to pause for the perspective of those new U.S. citizens who are first-time voters.
With cold weather setting in, a major concern for restaurants is how long they can keep outdoor dining going. One writer took a crack at navigating the al fresco scene as the temperature dropped.
Meanwhile, in sunny Arizona, one retirement community is committed to surviving and thriving during the pandemic. But this should overshadow Arizona’s growing COVID rate and its ravaging of the Navajo communities there.
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OAA This Week is published every Thursday. OAA This Week's editorial staff is comprised of Jason Brooks, Duffie Cohen, and Karen Rostron. For comments, questions, or suggestions, contact Jason Brooks, professional communications writer for the Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor and University Provost, at Jason.Brooks@cuny.edu.
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