Category Archives: Announcements

SPS seeks an Academic Faculty Development Director (HEO)

The School of Professional studies is currently seeking an Academic Faculty Development Director (HEO).  The Academic Faculty Development Director will ensure ongoing faculty development to support high quality student services delivery of both classroom and online teaching; promote best practices in the field; direct programs for faculty to incorporate classroom activities that enhance student success;  introduce and administer programs to provide faculty with enhanced skills in instructional design;  mentor industry professionals in techniques to successfully integrate industry related experience with course materials;  conduct annual needs assessment to identify appropriate professional development initiatives; develop and coordinate special recognition and award programming;  conduct faculty workshops; distribute learning materials and promote resources to support teaching and learning; provide any necessary training for faculty orientation; manage an annual budget; develop proposals and other initiatives for expanded funding; and serve as primary liaison to faculty and administrators to plan and execute faculty development activities.

For a complete description and qualifications please visit www.cuny.edu/jobs and search for Job ID # 3754/Academic Faculty Development Director. This posting is currently scheduled to close on January 2, 2011.  All interested parties must apply through www.cuny.edu/jobs.

SPS Participates in Random Hacks of Kindness

The CUNY School of Professional Studies (SPS) is delighted to announce that its Sahana Agasti Team was honored this past weekend at the New York City arena of Random Hacks of Kindness: Hacking for Humanity (RHoK), an international weekend-long event focused on producing technological solutions to issues in the humanitarian and crisis management professions. United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon honored RHoK’s mission and its organizers at the event’s opening reception on Friday, December 3rd at the United Nations.

According to its Web site, RHoK, the brainchild of a dedicated team from Google, Microsoft, Yahoo!, NASA, and The World Bank, “brings software engineers together with disaster risk management experts to identify critical global challenges, and develop software to respond to them. A RHoK Hackathon event brings together the best and the brightest hackers from around the world, who volunteer their time to solve real-world problems.” At over 20 international locations, developers, designers, crisis managers, academics, and others worked together to find answers to the nearly 80 problems posed by the worldwide community.

Several members of the CUNY SPS Sahana team represented their work on the Sahana open source project and competed with other teams to make a difference. Charles Wisniewski, Ilya Gulko, Usman Akeju, Chad Heuschober, and Darlene McCullough worked with other members of the Sahana community, including President and CEO Mark Prutsalis, to make Sahana a more modular and scalable application suitable for the management of emergencies on the scale of New York City and beyond.  At the event’s closing ceremonies, the SPS Sahana Team was honored with a special award recognizing that their work optimizing the Sahana database and building a module manager and query reflector was not only technically challenging, but vitally important to the field of crisis management. To learn more about the Sahana Agasti Project please visit their unofficial blog: http://blog.agasti.org/.

SPS Sahana Agasti Team

From left to right: Usman Akeju, Charles Wisniewski, Darlene McCullough, and Chad Heuschober

Energy Management and Indoor Air Quality Certification at CUNY

The CUNY School of Professional Studies (SPS) is pleased to announce that it has partnered with the CUNY Building Performance Lab at City College to provide courses in energy management and indoor air quality to more than 1,000 custodial engineers, building managers, and other select staff who are responsible for managing energy use in New York City’s public school buildings.  The program, sponsored by the New York City Department of Citywide Administrative Services and the Department of Education (DOE), is designed to provide DOE staff with the knowledge and skills needed to reduce energy use and improve indoor air quality as part of the city’s overall sustainability plans.

Michael Bobker, Director of the CUNY Building Performance Lab at City College notes that “the City Administration is showing great leadership by making such a significant investment in training the school facilities managers … the Building Performance Lab and SPS are very pleased to be able to collaborate in delivering the largest energy efficiency training initiative in the country right now.”

After completing 90 hours of coursework, participants will be eligible to receive the nationally-recognized Building Operator Certification (BOC) credential and the Indoor Air Quality credential sponsored by the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE).   They will also be better prepared to manage mechanical and electrical systems to conserve energy for the city and to provide healthier learning environments for students.  The project is led by Bobker and Patrick Dail, CUNY School of Professional Studies Project Director.

Ladyane Lima Wins Fellowship!

Ladyane Lima, a member of the SPS staff and CUNY Baccalaureate student, has won the Thomas W. Smith Academic Fellowship, awarded for Unique and Interdisciplinary Studies and recognizing academic excellence. Ms. Lima, an international student originally from Brazil, maintains a 3.5 GPA. Ladyane juggles the responsibilities of a full-time student with part-time work at the CUNY School of Professional Studies, and volunteerism. She plans to pursue a degree in Economics Policy and Latin American Studies. Ladyane has been in the U.S. less than three years and did not attend high school here. The Smith Fellowship is something of a family affair for Ladyane, who says, “I’m following my older sister’s footsteps – who actually got the same Fellowship years ago.”

Fellowship eligibility requirements include successful completion of at least 48 credits with at least 6 credits earned in CUNY Baccalaureate, as well as recommendation by the faculty mentor. The Fellowship covers tuition until the student graduates. Since the Fellowship’s inception in 1994, 575 students have been named Smith Fellows.

Congratulations Ladyane — we wish you all the best!

Free Webinar!

  How can adult educators and trainers both support and challenge learners to address their assumptions about race? How can uncomfortable, emotional and/or conflictual conversations about race be transformed into learning opportunities for students — and teachers? Join two experienced adult educators for a conversation about these and related questions.
 
This free webinar is designed for adult educators in corporate, nonprofit and community settings, as well as college instructors and graduate students who plan to teach. 

The webinar will be presented by Bonnie Johnson and Susan Fountain,
both Adjunct Professors at the CUNY School of Professional Studies (SPS).

Bonnie Johnson develops multi-cultural and human relations training models, and lectures widely on issues of racism, sexism, heterosexism, and class bias.  She teaches courses in race, class, gender and leadership as an Adjunct Professor for the Off-Campus College program at SPS.

 

Susan Fountain teaches courses on handling conflict, interpersonal dynamics, and adult learning and development as an Adjunct Professor with the Off-Campus College program at SPS. She is also a staff development consultant for schools, nonprofits and UN agencies. 

 

Space is limited. Use the button below to register now, or visit: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/398759234  

Register Now!