December 5, 2022 English Department Newsletter
Newsletter Editor Jane Weiss
TYCA Impact 2020 Task Force Survey
A message from Rachel Ihara:
TYCA Impact 2020 Task Force invites you to participate in a case study for the TYCA Impact 2020 Task Force: The Lasting Impacts of 2020 on Two-Year College English Faculty. Your participation will involve participating in an oral history interview, held via virtual conferencing software such as Zoom, which will be recorded and transcribed using the platform software. Interviews typically last about one hour but may run longer depending on how much information you share and how talkative you are during the oral history interview.
To sign up to participate, please complete this survey by Wednesday December 7, 2022: https://forms.gle/rUU1xFMRDseXmdXK9 . Members of the task force will select participants from among those who have self-selected to participate by completing the survey linked above and will reach out via email soon to schedule an appointment to collect your oral history. If you have questions about the project, please feel free to contact task force co-chair and case study primary investigator Sonja Andrus at andrussa@ucmail.uc.edu.
End of Term Calendar
The last day of class meetings for day and evening weekday classes is Monday December 12, 2022. Tuesday December 13, 2022 is the reading day, and the exam week is Wednesday December 14, 2022 through Tuesday December 20, 2022. If you are giving a synchronous, timed exam, you must schedule it for a day of the week and a time at which the class normally meets. If you are not giving a synchronous, timed exam, you should arrange to be available to your students for office hours at an appropriate time during the exam week. Grade rosters will be available in CUNYfirst beginning on Tuesday December 13, 2022.
English Department Remote Office Hours December 27, 2022- January 1, 2023
A message from Shelly Benjamin:
The English Department staff will be working remotely and the main office, C309, and C313, Audrey’s office, will be closed the last week of December 12/27 – 01/01/23. Normal hours will resume once the winter session begins. Please also add the following campus closures:
• Friday December 23rd through Monday December 26th, 2022.
• Friday December 30th 2022 through Sunday 01/01/23.
A calendar of important dates has been sent to your KCC email address.
English Department Sunshine Fund
A message from Enid Stubin:
We hope this finds you and yours all well and thriving. While more of us are teaching on campus, others have been meeting their classes in online formats. Although we haven’t gotten together as a group in almost three years, we believe the spirit of collegiality and camaraderie is alive in our department.
We’re asking for contributions to replenish the Sunshine Fund, the means by which our hardworking and dedicated staff members receive a holiday gift, joyful and sad milestones are acknowledged, and anyone in the department suffering from a natural disaster—fire or flood—can be helped. Our request:
$30.00 from full-time faculty (an increase of $5, the first in many years)
$10.00 from part-time faculty
Because the Sunshine Fund doesn’t have a PayPal, Venmo, or Zelle account, we ask that you make your contributions in cash. Those of you teaching off campus may send either one of us a check or electronic payment, which we will then convert to cash and place in the Sunshine Fund. Whether you pay by cash, check, or electronic payment, you’ll receive e-mail acknowledgment of your contribution. Please feel free to contact either Elroy Esdaille at Elroy.esdaille@kbcc.cuny.edu or Enid Stubin at Enid.stubin@kbcc.cuny.edu
Wishing you wonderful holidays and a successful conclusion to the semester.
December 5, 2022: Wear Red for Higher Ed
Next week, PSC-CUNY urges faculty to wear red and post selfies to social media in a show of support for higher education funding in New York City and New York State: “Wear #Red4HigherEd Mon., Dec. 5 to kick off Union Week and support our demands for a Strong CUNY Budget Request that aligns with the #NewDeal4CUNY and a Contract for #APeoplesCUNY with Real Raises.” For more information, see https://psc-cuny.org/calendar/wear-red4highered/ And if you’re not a PSC-CUNY member and would like to be one, you can sign up here: https://psc-cuny.org/join-psc/
Equity for CUNY Lecturers Petition
A message from Jean Mills, John Jay College of CUNY:
Dear fellow CUNY Faculty of all ranks,
Every seven years, our Union negotiates a new contract. The next round of negotiations is set to begin in January. We, the Equity for Lecturers Working Group at CUNY, need your immediate support.
We demand that the PSC-CUNY labor negotiations team include negotiation for promotional titles with correspondent salary steps for Lecturers, just as all other CUNY faculty have steps (such as Assistant, Associate, Full). Currently, Lecturers are the only CUNY Faculty members without any opportunities for promotion.
Further, CUNY recently broadcast its intentions to formalize Lecturer titles. The time is now to pressure the PSC for a seat at the table so that we have a say in the terms and conditions.
Please click here to sign the petition in support of pay equity for Lecturer Faculty at CUNY:
Reasons to sign:
Fellow Lecturer Faculty Colleagues: Here’s why you should sign the petition in support of pay equity for Lecturer Faculty: Lecturer Faculty are the only CUNY Faculty without promotional title ranks and salary steps in our contract. All other faculty have promotional titles (such as Assistant, Associate, Full). Lecturers should have options about their futures, too. For Lecturers not seeking conversion to TT lines, our jobs can become a “dead end” at the top of a single salary schedule.
Adjunct Faculty Colleagues: Here’s why you should sign the petition in support of pay equity for Lecturer Faculty: Many CUNY Lecturers are former adjuncts, and CUNY intends to hire hundreds more in the coming years. We work alongside each other in all faculty endeavors related to teaching and development. We are in this together! As such, we pledge to stand by you, too, in your efforts to achieve equity in all future negotiations.
Tenure Track Faculty Colleagues: Here’s why you should sign the petition in support of pay equity for Lecturer Faculty: We work alongside each other in all faculty endeavors related to teaching, assessment, curriculum development, committee work etc. Our success is your success, too. When Lecturers hit a “dead end,” everyone’s work is affected. Further, this inequity is out of step with the values of both our union and university.
To achieve pay equity for Lecturer Faculty and avoid the creation of “dead end” jobs, PSC-CUNY needs to step up for us now! Please sign the petition and also consider completing this contact form to help us track signatories’ ranks and campus affiliations.
CUNY Graduate Center Consortial Appointment: Applications Open Through December 9, 2022
A message from Tanya Agathocleous, Executive Officer of English, CUNY Graduate Center:
The English department at the Graduate Center seeks a CUNY colleague who specializes in any period before 1800 and whose work intersects with our program’s interests and strengths, which include African diaspora, colonial/decolonial/postcolonial studies, gender and sexuality, disability studies, digital humanities, ecocriticism, transnationalism, and transhistorical studies.
Please send a CV and cover letter by December 9th to Radika Kashyap (Rkashyap2@gc.cuny.edu). If you have questions, you can contact Prof. Agathocleous at tagathoc@hunter.cuny.edu.
PSC-CUNY Grant Applications Open through December 15, 2022
The PSC-CUNY Grants Proposal System (GPS) is now open for Cycle 54 applications: https://www.rfcuny.org/gp/welcome.aspx . The final, non-negotiable deadline to apply is Thursday, December 15th, 2022 at 11:59pm. Please visit the PSC CUNY Webpage, https://www.rfcuny.org/RFWebsite/principal-investigators/explore-pre-award-resources/internal-funding-psc-cuny-award-program/ , for more details about the process.
PSC-CUNY Research Awards are designed to encourage the scholarly and creative pursuits of CUNY faculty, especially junior faculty. Funds for research and creative projects are available to all Permanent, Full-Time members of instructional staff, and untenured members of the faculty in particular (untenured associate professor, assistant professor, instructor, lecturer); and Full-Time staff in HEO series. For the purposes of the PSC-CUNY Awards, junior faculty comprise those at the rank of untenured associate professor, assistant professor, instructor, and lecturer.
Please remember that the Grants Proposal System no longer allows attachments as Word Docs, only as PDFs. If you are unable to convert your project narrative to PDF, please send it as a Word document to Kathy Giaimo, who will then re-format it as a PDF and upload it to your application. Kathy will be happy to assist you with this or to answer any questions you may have. You can call her at 718-368-6858, or email her at Kathryn.giaimo@kbcc.cuny.edu
KCC’s Advancement Office will also offer seminars to help with the PSC-CUNY Grants application process, on Thursday, November 3, 2022 at 1PM EST and Friday, November 11, 2022 at 12PM EST. Please join these meetings from your computer, tablet or smartphone: https://meet.goto.com/667980101
You can also dial in using your phone: Access Code: 667-980-101
United States: +1 (872) 240-3212
Get the app now and be ready when your first meeting starts:
If you can’t attend, here are the links to watch the seminar videos: https://youtu.be/YOMsdiG4uTo
If you have any questions, or would like to meet with Kathy Giaimo to discuss your project or go over the process, please email her at Kathryn.giaimo@kbcc.cuny.edu, or call her at 718-368-6858. We encourage you to send her a draft of your proposal in advance of the non-negotiable, final, December 15, 2022 11:59pm deadline.
Please do not wait until the last minute to submit your application. The earlier you submit your proposal, the more time Kathy will have to review it and help you to address any issues with your submission. Again, the deadline for Cycle 54 applications is 11:59pm on Thursday, December 15, 2022. Please click here https://rfcuny.org/gp/welcome.aspx to apply.
CFP: The Illusion of Inclusion: Collaborative Solutions for Performative Diversity
A message from Doriane K. Gloria, CUNY Vice Chancellor University Human Resources
The CUNY Office of Recruitment and Diversity (ORD) will be hosting its sixth biennial conference on Inclusion, Diversity, Equity & Access. This two-day event is Thursday March 30 and Friday March 31, 2023 at the CUNY Graduate Center. The 2023 theme is The Illusion of Inclusion – Collaborative Solutions for Performative Diversity.
bell hooks, former CCNY Distinguished Professor of English, has described education as a practice of democracy and freedom, emphasizing that when we learn together, we learn best. This collective engagement reflects the theme of the 2023 conference. All want to move beyond illusion so that we can contribute to the best of our abilities.
On behalf of the Conference Planning Committee, we encourage you to submit a proposal. Details on the Call for Proposals can be found here: https://cunysps.swoogo.com/idea23/cfp. Please note that the submission deadline is January 4, 2023.
Conference registration will open at the beginning of the spring term. If you have questions regarding the conference, please contact the Conference Planning Committee via email at IDEA@cuny.edu.
Applications for Faculty Initiative on Teaching Reading Spring 2023 Collaborative Seminar
Kingsborough faculty are invited to apply for one of ten openings in the spring 2023 virtual FITR Collaborative Seminar on the Teaching of Reading. The deadline for applications is Friday, December 23, 2022. The FITR organizers encourage historically underrepresented faculty to apply.
The cohort of faculty involved will:
· Discuss scholarship on teaching college reading
· Explore ways to teach challenging, college-level texts
· Explore ways to integrate reading into coursework across disciplines
· Share existing successful practices
· Experiment with developing new approaches to using reading in our own classrooms
Seminar participants will have the opportunity to observe virtual synchronous, asynchronous, or in-person class sessions on reading and collaborate on creating reading related lessons.
Those who wish to publish about this work will also receive support.
Each participating faculty member will receive one credit hour of reassigned time or the equivalent in pay.
In order to apply, faculty must commit to the following:
1. Attend all virtual collaborative seminar meetings on the following dates: Wednesday, January 18th from 11:30 am – 1:30 pm; Wednesday, February 8th from 11:30 am – 1:30 pm; Wednesday, March 15th from 11:30 am – 1:30 pm; Wednesday, April 19th from 11:30 am – 1:30 pm; Wednesday, May 10th from 11:30 am – 1:30 pm,
2. Develop a reading lesson or activity to try out and report back on. The focus of this work will be shaped by participants’ own interests and classroom goals (or outcomes).
3. Participate in one classroom intervisitation (synchronous, asynchronous, or in-person) in Spring 2022.
4. Write a brief reflection on your semester’s work.
To fill out the brief application, please click here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScU6ftNi0tQpkVjN15H5ASuwy8IMbc1cut4FZvJm9p297U9Dg/viewform . For more information on FITR and our activities, visit the FITRKBCC website: https://fitrkbcc.commons.gc.cuny.edu/ or feel free to email the FITR organizers with any questions: Dominic Wetzel (Dominic.Wetzel@kbcc.cuny.edu); Ivana Espinet, BEH, Education (Ivana.Espinet@kbcc.cuny.edu); Delia Hernandez, BEH, Education (Delia.Hernandez@kbcc.cuny.edu)
Open Literatures Project: Help It Grow
A message from Elizabeth Dill:
We have a website for faculty teaching literature https://openlit.commons.gc.cuny.edu/ !
The Open Literatures Project is a website designed to help you explore resources related to teaching literature. It has works of literature organized by theme and genre as well as a gallery of authors with links to their works. All of these resources are available to use! Now Elizabeth needs your help to develop it. If you have suggestions for authors or works of literature you’d like to see added to the site, or a syllabus, an assignment, a lecture, or any other curricula you would like to share, please let Elizabeth know! Just email Elizabeth your ideas or any teaching materials you would like to share (elizabeth.dill@kbcc.cuny.edu).
Composition Office Hours
Office hours in C309B:
Greg: Mondays and Wednesdays, from 11:30 am to 1:00 pm;
Rachel: Mondays and Wednesdays, from 12:30 pm to 2:00 pm
Remote office hours:
Greg: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9:00 am to 10:00 am:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6372657798?pwd=L28zMVBxenZzR05vbU1GRis5ajRUZz09 ;
Rachel: Fridays, 9:00 am to 11:00 am https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5834566892
Campus Reopening Hub
For information about KCC’s reopening, visit the new KCC Campus Reopening Hub: http://kbcc.cuny.edu/campusentry/index.html . You can find information about the reopening plan, mask policies, on campus COVID-19 testing, the Cleared4 pass and visitor policies.
KCC Information Technology Services Office
You can call KCC’s ITS Help Desk at (718) 368-6679 or email helpdesk@kbcc.cuny.edu 9:00 – 5:00 on weekdays. For Blackboard support during hours when KCC’s Help Desk is not available, call 1-646-664-2024.
CUNY Alerts
To receive notifications by phone, text, or email regarding campus conditions, sign up for CUNY Alert by logging on to CUNYfirst. Once you have logged on, the CUNYfirst Main Menu will be near the top of the screen on the left side. Click CUNY Alert Subscription to sign up; you can update contact information at CUNY Alert Preferences. You can check KCC’s home page www.kbcc.cuny.edu/ for updates about campus conditions.
A Note about the Newsletter
The next issue of the Newsletter will come out on Monday 12 December 2022. Please send newsletter items by Friday 9 December to Jane Weiss at Jane.Weiss@kbcc.cuny.edu. Please keep items brief (preferably 100 or fewer words). Longer items will be abridged.
