Newsletter Editor Jane Weiss
New and Different PSC-CUNY Signs
A message from Emily Schnee:
As many of you know, the PSC is currently in contract negotiations with CUNY! One super easy and simple way to raise awareness on campus and support us getting the best contract possible is to put a PSC contract poster on your office door. There are now new and different contract signs (“Respect” “Quality Education” “Real Raises,” to name a few) in the English department office. Please feel free to swing by the office and pick up a sign for your office door!
PSC-CUNY KCC Chapter Meeting: Monday 30 October 2023 4:00 PM
A message from Scott Cally:
Please join us for our next union chapter meeting on Monday, October 30th at 4:00 PM via Zoom. We will be joined by Michael Foley from the PSC CUNY Welfare Fund who will give a presentation on the many benefits we receive from the fund. New employees and those who are considering making changes to their benefits during the upcoming open enrollment period are especially encouraged to attend.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85489538520
Also, please join us in the Breezeway at 3:00 PM on Tuesday, October 24th and help us make signs for our upcoming Brooklyn-wide rally at Borough Hall on November 1st.
Brooklyn PSC Rally at Brooklyn Borough Hall: 1 November 2023 4:30-6:30
A message from Scott Cally:
All the different Brooklyn Borough PSC chapters – City Tech, Medgar Evers, Brooklyn, and Kingsborough – will join together on Nov 1, 2023 from 4:30 to 6:30 in front of Brooklyn Borough Hall for a rally to fight for a good contract. Please RSVP here: https://psc-cuny.org/calendar/brooklyn-5-boroughs-in-5-weeks/ Wear a Halloween costume for “Treats Not Tricks!” There will be candy, hopefully music, and likely a few elected officials to speak in support of our contract fight.
Professional Development Session- Friday Nov 3, 2023: 12noon-1:30pm- Including the Non-Traditional Assignment in the Portfolio
A message from Hope Parisi:
The new CLOs for ENG12 expand composition by emphasizing practical understanding of rhetorical strategies and genre concepts, including purpose and audience. We may feel encouraged in our teaching to include assignments that go beyond college-type or print-based texts. But students’ opting to include this work in the portfolio may find us hesitating: How can students successfully represent these experiences (visual, sonic, digital, class-presentational, multimodal?) in the portfolio? Can we enlist student self-assessment to show portfolio readers that students are meeting the CLOs through these alternative assignments?
Let’s Meet for A Workshop, paid for part-timers and open to all: Friday, November 3, 2023, 12:00-1:30pm via Zoom. Rachel Ihara, Composition Co-coordinator, will join us as we learn of some of the non-traditional assignments faculty have been trying out and we discuss ways these assignments could be successfully represented in the portfolio.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82698582007?pwd=c2RSM3ZVaTRJSytHdjMvWXEwRGl6Zz09
Meeting ID: 826 9858 2007 Passcode: 710806
You can contact Hope with questions at 718-368-5330 or Hope.Parisi@kbcc.cuny.edu
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 Wednesdays, from 1pm – 3pm, with more availability by phone (718-368-5330) or Zoom according to wish or need.
Please come by this welcoming environment, on Wednesdays, if you’re on campus. Hope’s email is Hope.Parisi@kbcc.cuny.edu.
Sunshine Fund
A message from Elroy Esdaille and Enid Stubin:
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 Elroy or Enid a check or electronic payment, which we will then convert to cash and place in the Sunshine Fund. You’ll receive e-mail acknowledgment of your contribution. Please feel free to contact Elroy or Enid with any questions.
Invitation to Join the English Department on the CUNY Academic Commons
A message from Elizabeth Dill:
Last semester, an invitation to join the Kingsborough English CUNY Academic Commons group should have arrived in the inbox of your KCC email account. If you you haven’t already accepted this invitation, please do so! And if you can’t find it, please email Elizabeth Dill so she can get you signed up. Our weekly department newsletter will be shifting over to the Commons format! Soon, the department newsletter will only be sent as a blog post from this group, not as a department email; eventually, you will stop getting department newsletters as separate emails (unless you subscribe to the Academic Commons group). So please join! If you don’t receive an invitation at all, please let Elizabeth know at Elizabeth.Dill@kbcc.cuny.edu
PSC-CUNY Grant Applications Are Open
PSC-CUNY Grants Proposal System is now open for Cycle 55 applications. The final, non-negotiable deadline to apply is Friday, December 15th, 2023 at 11:59pm. Please visit the PSC CUNY Webpage for important details about the process, or check your KCC email for detailed instructions.
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.
Applicants are encouraged to attend one of these PSC CUNY Cycle 55 seminar dates, if they haven’t already done so:
• Thursday, November 2nd 1PM EST
• Friday, November 10th 12PM EST
Sessions will be held via Microsoft Teams; instructions to log on are at the bottom of the email announcing the Grants Proposal System.
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 reformat 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. She is on campus every day except Mondays, when she works remotely. You can call her at 718-368-6858, or email her at Kathryn.giaimo@kbcc.cuny.edu.
As always, the Advancement office strongly advises applicants not to wait until the last minute to submit their 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 55 applications is 11:59pm on Friday, December 15, 2023. Please click here to apply: https://rfcuny.org/gp/welcome.aspx
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.
A Note about the Newsletter
The next issue of the Newsletter will come out on Monday 6 November 2023. Please send newsletter items by Friday, 3 November 2023 to Jane Weiss at Jane.Weiss@kbcc.cuny.edu. Please keep items brief (preferably 100 or fewer words). Longer items will be abridged. Items about publications and achievements are very welcome.
