Newsletter Editor Jane Weiss
College Council Legislative Committee Meeting
The Legislative Committee of College Council is scheduled to meet Thursday, 3/21 at 3pm in room E-332. The Legislative Committee proposes amendments to the Constitution, monitors election procedures and proposes amendments to the by-laws of the Council. It also may review legislation concerning the College. Information about the committee can be found here. Contact maria.patestas@kbcc.cuny.edu, the Chair of the committee, with any questions.
The meeting is open to the college community.
Feedback Form for English 2400 Curriculum Revisions
As promised, Greg Bruno has created an anonymous feedback form based on our discussion around the ENG 2400 curriculum revision at the last department meeting. This document was developed in collaboration with the CRC. The feedback form has been sent to your KCC email address. Please take a moment to review and complete the short form. It will give the CRC a read on general feelings about the course revisions amongst our department ahead of the scheduled vote at the next English Department meeting on 4/9.
Composition Coordinators Office Hours For Spring 2024
The English Department’s composition coordinators are available on campus and on Zoom this spring:
Gregory Bruno (Gregory.Bruno@kbcc.cuny.edu):
Tuesdays in C309B: 11:00 am – 3:00 pm (later on Dept. and CRC meeting dates)
Wednesday in C309B: 8:30 am – 12:30 pm
And by appointment via Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6372657798?pwd=L28zMVBxenZzR05vbU1GRis5ajRUZz09
Rachel Ihara (Rachel.ihara@kbcc.cuny.edu)
Tuesdays in C309B: 11:30 am – 12:30 pm and 2:30 pm – 4:00 pm
Thursdays in C309B: 11:30 am – 12:30 pm and 2:30 pm – 4:00 pm
Fridays, 9:00 am – 11:00 am and by appointment via Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5834566892
Faculty Mentor and Support Hours in E219
A message from Hope Parisi:
Hope Parisi will be in E219 this semester, available for informal chats with new and experienced part-time faculty, and all faculty, on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12:40pm-2:30pm, with more availability by phone or Zoom according to wish or need. Please come by this welcoming environment if you’re on campus. Hope’s email is Hope.Parisi@kbcc.cuny.edu.
English Department Protocol for Faculty Absences
A reminder of the department protocol when you cannot meet your students during a regularly scheduled class meeting, whether in-person or online synchronously: You must report all absences to our department immediately, ideally before the class session that you will miss. Please send an email to Shelly Benjamin (please cc Christine Marchese), who will initiate the absence paperwork process for you. Please be advised that it is against CUNY and NYSED policy for a faculty member to modify a course’s modality during a semester, so it is not acceptable to meet students online, whether synchronously or asynchronously, when you cannot meet them in person. In such a case, you must cancel class and take an absence for that class period.
When you know in advance that you must be absent, remember that you can contact Shelly Benjamin and request that she try to find another faculty member who can sub your class for you. Please do not arrange for a sub on your own because many of our faculty members are at their maximum hours for the year and cannot be paid more for additional teaching hours.
Writing Center Asynchronous Tutoring
A message from Tony Iantosca:
Tony has sent the sign-up instructions for the writing center’s new asynchronous tutoring program (which are, incidentally, nearly identical to the sign-up instructions for any tutoring appointment) to English department faculty members at your KCC email. As Tony mentioned in the announcement last week, the Writing Center will be piloting the program only with students in English 12 and 24. Our aim is to see how things go, and hopefully to expand this initiative to all students seeking help with writing. This tutoring format is open to all English 12 and 24 students, not only those enrolled in asynchronous English courses. In addition, the KLC’s website has a set of new handouts, with more to come (especially research related handouts). Typically, the tutors and and Tony develop these during the summer and winter modules when tutoring is less busy. Here is the link to those handouts:
https://www.kbcc.cuny.edu/KLC/TutoringResources.html#english
Informational Video: Access-Ability Services (AAS)
A message from Christine Rudisel:
The link below is for an informational video about Kingsborough’s Access-Ability Services (AAS). Please consider posting it on your course sites and/or including it in your syllabi. In addition to providing information about the services offered by the college, this video is a good way to remind students who need accommodations (or think they might need accommodations) to contact AAS at the beginning of the semester.
As always, if you have questions about AAS, would like to discuss strategies for working with atypical learners, or have students who might benefit from registering with AAS, please feel free to contact me at Christine.Rudisel@kbcc.cuny.edu.
Video Link: https://youtu.be/17KBAKkUv_g?feature=shared
Upcoming English Department Meetings
Upcoming English Department meetings are on 9 April 2024 and 21 May 2024, both in V219 from 3:00 to 4:30 PM.
Plan Ahead: C309 Closure During Spring Recess
Please make a note that the English Department office will function remotely from April 22, 2024 through April 30, 2024; during that period, which is Spring Recess at KCC, C309 will be closed and the best way to reach the office will be via email.
A Note about the Newsletter
A message from Jane Weiss, the Newsletter editor:
The next issue of the Newsletter will come out on Monday 25 March 2024. Please send newsletter items by Friday, 22 March 2024 to Jane Weiss at Jane.Weiss@kbcc.cuny.edu. Please keep items brief (preferably 100 or fewer words). Longer items will be abridged. At the English Department retreat, many faculty members said they’d like to learn more about colleagues’ areas of scholarship, so if you would like to share what you’re working on, the Newsletter will welcome descriptions of your research and recent or upcoming presentations, publications, or performances.
