I hope the cool autumn weather finds you well as I write with updates and information about recent activities that you may find of interest. This week was a busy one, with significant accomplishments.
On Saturday, I attended the annual gala for Northwell-Staten Island University Hospital, where I was able to network with leadership from the local healthcare industry. It was great to celebrate with one of our most impactful partners (don’t worry, the Richmond University Medical Center gala is just a few weeks away, and we will be represented there too!) and discuss ways in which we can broaden and deepen our impact in the local community. This theme of impact and of healthcare was similarly on display at last week’s SIEDC Health and Wellness Expo, where the campus hosted dozens of healthcare providers, feted Healthcare Heroes, and provided important services to the greater Staten Island community. And pathways to healthcare professions were also on display when nearly a dozen of our students attended a tailored session hosted by our partner, St George’s University School of Medicine, in midtown Manhattan. Many thanks to Professor Grozdena Yilmaz for spearheading this initiative and for providing rich and meaningful opportunities to our pre-health students!
This week also saw the ever-important visit from ABET, the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, Inc., to evaluate our programs in Electrical Engineering and Engineering Science. The team met with students, faculty, administrators, alumni, industry partners, and others to analyze and assess the quality and rigor of our programs. While the official verdict is forthcoming, I am confident that the hard work that went into drafting the report as well as organizing the interviews and tours will reap the expected benefits. Many thanks to Dean Ralf Peetz of the Division of Science and Technology and, especially to Chairperson Neo Antoniades for shepherding us through this process. Take a well-deserved deep breath and unplug your phone and computers this weekend—you earned a break!
This week was my bi-monthly meeting with other leaders from the senior and comprehensive colleges, where we discussed the impact of shared services, the forthcoming move to CUNY Beyond, and assorted other topics. Thursday saw a virtual town hall with the MTA for a conversation related to accessibility services (our own inter-campus service is provided by the
College) and student hopes for more frequent and reliable service from the City agency. Although I was not present, I was told the individuals on the call were effective self-advocates for their cause.
On Wednesday, the campus was well represented at the Chancellor’s annual “State of the University” address, held at John Jay College. The University celebrated record-breaking results for philanthropy (see this recent New York Times article for more information), encouraging upticks in enrollment and job preparedness, and the accomplishments of faculty and staff. The latter was also on full display at Thursday afternoon’s reception at The Graduate Center PSC-CUNY Research Showcase, where those who earned PSC-CUNY awards were recognized. Nearly 50 of our CSI colleagues were among those recognized and one—William Wallace of our Biology Department—was awarded top recognition in the field of Climate and Sustainability. The Chancellor also used his keynote address to call out CSI for our recent achievements (notably the opening of our Tech Innovation Hub at St. George) and on our 50th anniversary! It is good to be recognized for all the wonderful things happening at CSI and across the University system.
We also received word that CSI is one of 11 winners from both the K-12 and higher education sectors in the inaugural Education Experience Awards recognizing innovative improvements to lessons, enrollment, website navigation, AI literacy, and tech support. AVP/CIO Patty Kahn and her team created an online learning module covering AI fundamentals, ethical considerations, and practical ways to use AI in the classroom. In addition, they developed and launched our own chatbot and are building additional bots tailored to student services and IT help, with plans to connect them into a single system in the future. Congratulations to our top-notch IT Team!
The week will conclude with another weekend event, our first open house for the class of 2031. I thank all those who are participating in Saturday’s event and am sure that our prospective students will be impressed by all that we have to offer! That evening, our Men’s Basketball team will host our borough rivals Wagner College in our first scrimmage with our Division I neighbors. Come on out and cheer for CSI at the Battle for 718. I have a bet with President Doggett—here’s hoping we win so that he has to don Dolphin Blue and I can avoid Seahawk Green!
Until next time,
By Timothy G. Lynch, Ph.D.
