Discimus ut serviamus: We learn so that we may serve.
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Queens College Smart
AVP for Student Affairs Jennifer Jarvis and President Frank H. Wu rolled up their sleeves, donned their QC Knights masks, and took a flu shot for the team, as well as themselves. In conjunction with MaskUpCUNY, QC is urging members of the college community to not only wear a mask, but also to get this year’s flu vaccine. In years past, free flu shots were available on CUNY campuses through the WorkWell NYC Free Flu Vaccination Program. With campuses closed due to COVID, WorkWell NYC is making free flu shots available at WorkWell NYC clinics, participating pharmacies, and offices of in-network physicians. Information, including locations, can be found here.
Members of the college community are invited to send us their photos ([email protected]) to help us promote via social media mask wearing and flu shots as colder weather nears and there is more indoor activity.
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Broadmark Asset Management CEO Ricardo “Rick” Cortez ’72 gave the keynote and received the Presidential Medal, QC’s highest administrative honor, at this year’s Academic Achievement Awards on Thursday, October 22.
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The virtual event celebrated Dean’s List Scholars, Provost Scholars, and Presidential Scholars for academic year 2019-2020. Those students will receive their lapel pins, albeit not immediately. “When we return to working in our offices and students are allowed to visit us, I will send the students an email inviting them to pick up their lapel pins in our office—Honors Hall, Room 16—during work hours,” says Essie Smolar (Honors and Scholarships). “They should bring their ID. If a friend is picking it up for them, they should email us from their QC email in advance with the name of that person, who should also bring their ID.” |
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Speaking as individuals on behalf of under-represented groups, panelists discussed Women and Minority Voices in the Arts on Wednesday, October 21, in the latest QClass offered by Aaron Copland School of Music. Participating, Top, left to right: Jane Cho, Emily Wilbourne, Meghan Healey. Bottom, left to right: Julia Del Palacio, Maria C. Pio, Chloë Bass.
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Wow! Four Score and Three Reasons to Brag about QC
To mark the 83rd anniversary of a campus where students speak 83 languages, the Office of Communications and Marketing has announced 83 Queens College “Wows”.
Visit this page to learn of the many incredible achievements associated with the college, such as:
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#6, Business Insider ranks QC fourth among all colleges in the nation for offering the best return on investment.
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#28, Marie Maynard Daly ’42 was the first Black woman in the United States to earn a doctorate in chemistry.
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#76, to date, four QC alumni and one QC professor are among the recipients of MacArthur “Genius” Awards.
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Watch for social media featuring your favorite “Wows” about the “College of the Future”, as it was dubbed in 1937. |
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Voting Your Wallet
Wondering what the outcome of this election could mean to your personal finances? Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America assembled information on how the Democratic and Republican platforms could affect a range of issues, such as investment and the markets, retirement, the economy and jobs, and taxes. Read the TIAA report, 2020 Election Perspectives.
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Speaking of the presidential race, New York City’s early voting sites—which the Board of Elections opened in all five boroughs on Saturday, October 24—will remain in operation through Sunday, November 1. (QC’s Student Union is a voting site in the Borough of Queens for residents of the local election district.) Hours vary from day to day; complete details are posted on the Board of Elections website .
To determine the early voting site serving your district, click here.
Reminder: All visitors to Board of Elections facilities must wear masks and maintain social distance.
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Examining Activism of an Earlier Era |
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Some 50 years ago, QC was at the forefront of student movements that would have long-term social and political impact—and provide a foundation for later generations of activists. Annie Tummino, head of Special Collections and Archives at Benjamin S. Rosenthal Library, will take alumni back to that era in a virtual multimedia program on Friday, October 30, at 2 pm.
“Revisiting Campus Activism 1968-1970,” presented by the library and the Office of Alumni Relations, is based on an exhibition that Tummino organized on campus in 2019. “The digital format is a great way for interested folks who weren't able to make it to the exhibit last year to experience this material and history,” says Tummino, who will use images from the college’s Civil Rights Archive. To help bring the period to life, she has arranged for two SEEK students to read excerpts from primary sources.
Alumni who would like to attend can register for the presentation here.
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Get in Shape and Compete Against Peers with QC’s Virtual Fitness Options |
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Although many of Queens College’s talented student-athletes cannot take part in intercollegiate competition right now, there are still many opportunities for the college community to compete with each other and get in shape.
Each month QC Athletics holds running challenges through the Nike Run Club App. To join, simply download the app on your phone and request to be friends with “Queens Recreation-Fitness.” From there you will be invited to take part in the challenges. In September the challenge was to run 15 miles. Ann Grimshaw of QC’s softball team and Byron Herrera were the first to meet the challenge. In October the challenge was upped to 35 miles, with Grimshaw and John Barreto winning.
Yoga, Fitness and more
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Classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays are led by Robyn Cascio (pictured), head coach of the Queens College dance team and a certified strength and conditioning specialist. Her classes are equipment-free and use a combination of high-repetition isolation movements and advanced body-weight exercises to promote improvements in muscular strength and growth. Classes are carefully designed for individuals of all levels, with modifications provided for both the novice and the advanced trainee.
On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, Danielle Keen (FNES) will lead virtual yoga classes at noon. They are open-level yoga classes that help to build both strength and flexibility and increase confidence. Keen has an MS (’16), and a BS (’07) in nutrition and exercise science from Queens College and 17 years of experience as a personal trainer.
For additional information on any of QC’s virtual fitness classes, contact the recreation office at [email protected]. |
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Food Pantry Available for CUNY Students in Need |
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The Queens College Knights Table Food Pantry is continuing to operate even while most classes are being held remotely. The pantry, which offers a variety of non-perishable food and drink items at no cost, is available to any CUNY students who are enrolled in courses during the academic year. Students can get enough food for themselves and for immediate family members living in the home.
The pantry is open Monday–Thursday from 12 pm–4 pm by appointment only. It is located in the Student Union, LL29. To book an appointment click here. Please note that same-day and next-day appointments are not possible due to campus access restrictions resulting from the COVID pandemic. Campus visits should also comply with campus access guidelines. Further details can be found at here.
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Dale Nussbaum, Director of Venue Rentals, to Retire after 12 Years at QC |
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Dale Nussbaum, director of venue rentals, will be retiring after 12 years at Queens College. Nussbaum’s hard work and dedication has brought in millions of dollars of revenue to help supplement departmental budgets and finance infrastructure improvements and special programs on campus.
Nussbaum, who is a QC alum, has also brought Queens College into movie theaters and living rooms around the country, securing campus rentals for the filming of numerous major television and movie projects over the years. Thanks to her efforts, television shows such as Saturday Night Live, Madame Secretary, Elementary, Billions, and Blacklist as well as movies such as Life Itself, Second Act, Punisher, and Tick had scenes filmed at Queens College.
During her time at Queens she says she has been fortunate to meet all types of interesting people—from dedicated alums to people all around the world who rented locations bringing the many actors and directors who filmed at Queens College.
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Dale Nussbaum with Madame Secretary's Tea Leoni.
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Dale Nussbaum with Tommy director Adam Arkin.
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Dale Nussbaum with Manifest's Josh Dallas.
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“I will miss all the people at QC,” said Nussbaum. “They were all so wonderful to work with, from VP Keller—whom I reported to—to my team at Venue Rentals, and all the college support staff (B&G, PS, legal, etc.). Without them, my department would not be successful. I’ll also miss all the friends I've made in the various departments across campus wherever we have filmed.”
Nussbaum even got the opportunity to star on camera during the production of Life Itself. While filming on campus, writer/director Dan Fogelman (This is Us; Tangled; Cars; Crazy, Stupid, Love) asked her to play a professor in the movie, and she became a member of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) as a result. However, what she values most during her time at QC is how the rentals she secured helped improve her alma mater.
“As an alum who then became a department director, I am most proud of giving back to the college by creating a department that raised millions of dollars to help support the much-needed additional income to aid with all the college expenses,” added Nussbaum.
In retirement, Nussbaum hopes to travel more with her husband, Michael, and spend more time at their home in Florida (as soon as things open up again). They are also expecting their third granddaughter next year, and she is looking forward to spending more time with friends and family as well as taking some classes and attending lectures.
Nussbaum’s final full day of work will be this Friday, but she will work part-time to allow for a smooth transition. A search is underway for Nussbaum’s successor.
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Centered on Career Engagement and Internships |
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When Queens College was forced to abruptly close down in March in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Director Zavi Gunn and her staff at the Center for Career Engagement and Internships lost no time in determining how they could ensure that internship opportunities continued to flow uninterrupted to Queens College students.
“We have a system called HireQC,” says Gunn. “That’s our online career management system where employers post jobs and internship opportunities. With that we were able to track which positions were being posted by employers.”
This was a period, notes Gunn, when the employers were unsure of things such as their own budgets going forward. Consequently, she says the center’s Employer Engagement Team sent a survey to employers to assess their immediate hiring needs in light of the pandemic that might require them to update their postings in HireQC.
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Employers Adjust to Pandemic
“One thing we realized with employers, because of COVID they were going to push back the start date of when students were going to do their internships. Some employers also made the internship period shorter. Instead of doing the internship for eight or twelve weeks, they had the student do it for a month, and it was actually remote.”
Gunn says she told her staff that she didn’t want to be posting any unpaid internships in their system. “We wanted to provide students with paid opportunities because of what was happening. So, we were very strict in vetting the type of posting, because sometimes there are academic internships that are unpaid. But we wanted to focus on paid internships. Ideally it would be paid and also an academic opportunity, as well.
“Something that I can say is that I’m really proud that our Career Center team was able to implement within this time was the Dr. Félix V. Matos Rodríguez Internship Fund. This was $98,000 that was raised by the Queens College Foundation board. The alumni were committed to giving the students a stipend.”
Stipends Matter
Gunn emphasizes the importance of the stipend in allowing students to not have to forgo the career experience offered by an internship because of the need to earn money. “We were able to award 42 students that internship stipend,” she notes. “That’s $2400 for doing 150 hours of work either in the summer 2020 or fall 2020. We were able, for example, to help students in Health and Nutrition who were doing their field work to get academic credit while also receiving a stipend from the Career Center.”
With much of the Career Center’s services already available online, it was already well-positioned to continue providing service during the closure of campus. Things that usually required in-person meetings were simply shifted to online platforms. All Career Center staffers, for example, now include a hyperlink in the signature section of their emails that allows students to schedule virtual appointments using QC Navigate.
Some employers, notes Gunn, also came through in different ways to help the Career Center by doing such things as allowing it to use their corporate Zoom accounts and video conferencing platforms to do a workshop and recruitment of QC students in March and April.
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Google Meet to the Rescue
“We were able to use Google Meet to do group interviews, and it was a learning experience for our students because most of them are not accustomed to doing interviews virtually, much less in a group setting,” she says. “We had three staff members who would do an interview of maybe eight or so students on a call, and it was really amazing. We were also able to teach students how to conduct themselves professionally during a virtual interview and to be aware of what’s in the background when they appear on screen so as not to give a negative impression.”
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The Career Center Assessment Team also created a Quick Internship and Jobs Survey that was emailed to students in May. Respondents received a follow-up email that included information about summer career program events and a comprehensive career tool kit resource that in a single-page pdf provided descriptions and links to many of the center’s internship tools, including resume help, career research, a self-assessment tool, preparation for interview questions, online tutorials, and a link to register with HireQC.
Students, says Gunn, can find the internship application process daunting. Consequently, she says the Career Center coordinated a workshop with QC’s CUNY Service Corps office to teach students about application “dos” and “don’ts,” interview etiquette with a focus on virtual interviews, and guidance in how to deal with rejections: “If you don’t get an offer there are still opportunities out there,” she emphasizes. “There are still other doors that can open so you can successfully find other internship opportunities. And the Career Center is here to help them.”
“Internship applications closed in April,” says Gunn. “We interviewed students in May, and then we had our orientation training in June. . . At the end of June, we conducted a workshop for students who didn’t get stipends to teach them how to search for internships and how to access virtual interviews. That was really helpful.’
Surprisingly, notes Gunn, the pandemic provided some unanticipated internship opportunities with the movement to put all instruction online: “All of a sudden, education was going remote and we wanted students in the tech center and education departments to work with employers who needed support with the technology needed to provide some services remotely.”
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Increased Internship Offerings
Reflecting on the overall placement record of the Career Center since the spring, Gunn reports, “There was a significant increase in offering internships for students during the pandemic. During the first quarter we had 649 postings from employers on internship opportunities and then in the second quarter of this year we had about 220 internships posted. The first quarter number was up 131 percent from the previous year. For the summer, however, the numbers were down 49 percent.”
Among notable employers where QC students interned were the CUNY Chancellor’s Office, Baker Tilly, BDO, City Living Laboratories, Deerfield Management, Elevate Education, Google, HAVAS Media, IBM, JetBlue, Morgan Stanley, NBC, NYC Department of City Planning, PwC, Schneps Media, and Verizon. Additionally, the Queens Chambers of Commerce Internship Connection offered a summer stipend of $3,000 each for nine QC students and recent alumni to work remotely with local businesses impacted negatively by COVID.
“Another thing that’s trending now,” says Gunn, “is that employers are reaching out to CUNY. They’re reaching out to Queens College because of diversity and equity and inclusion programs. So, we’re seeing quite an increase in employers reaching out to us in those regards. These include employers such as JP Morgan and Bloomberg. And they’re using their alumni networks in order to connect with the recruitment of students at Queens College.”
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Heard Around the Virtual Campus |
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Karol Vigoya and Lisbeth Bustos, QC students, were mentioned by PIX reporter Monica Morales for their volunteer work with Latin Women in Action, a nonpartisan organization sharing information on when and where to vote . . . . Timothy Pugh (Anthropology) received a $350,000 grant from the National Science Foundation for his archaeological work on “State Emergence and Routes to the Rise of Social Hierarchy in Guatemala” . . . . Mihaela Robila (FNES) received the 2020 Florence Kaslow Distinguished Contribution to International Family Psychology Award from the American Psychological Association - Division 43, Society for Family Psychology . . . . Edisa Weeks (DTD) received a New England Foundation for the Arts National Dance Production grant of $56,500 to support the creation and touring of 3 RITES: Life, Liberty, Happiness. Through a remote residency, Weeks is collaborating with the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on the development of a tour-able, environmentally sustainable set and lighting design for 3 RITES. The design will help to communicate the enormity of plastic waste in our contemporary culture, and how the production and consumption of plastic affects life, especially in communities of color. 3 RITES will premiere in fall 2022 at 651 ARTS in Downtown Brooklyn . . . . President Frank H. Wu is quoted in Bloomberg Businessweek’s article about Chinese visa holders accused of spying.
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