Dear GC Community Members,

Effective August 1, 2024, Microsoft will implement pooled storage for all educational institutions. Pooled Storage for Education will provide a single storage pool that spans OneDrive, SharePoint Online, and Exchange Online. The storage pool collectively represents the maximum amount of storage for these three services. It is shared across and consumed by all users within their campus Office 365 environment.

What does this mean?

• After August 1, the amount of pooled storage allocated to the Graduate Center by Microsoft will be the maximum amount of storage all Graduate Center and ASRC users combined will be able to use for Outlook, Teams, OneDrive, and SharePoint storage.
• Pooled storage will impact both the student domain (@gradcenter.cuny.edu) and the faculty and staff domain.
• GC IT has not been able to confirm the total storage allocation for the student domain and the faculty and staff domain. We will send an update when we have more information.

What action does GC IT recommend you take before the semester ends?

• Check your Outlook and OneDrive storage.
• Delete or move files you are not using anymore in OneDrive, such as:
  • Old or unnecessary files (e.g., assignments from last year's classes)
  • Large files you no longer require (i.e., videos)
  • Duplicate files and draft files
• Delete or move items you are no longer using in your inbox to an archive mailbox in Outlook.
• Store your personal files separately from school files by saving them to your storage locations. Only education-related data (for students and faculty) or work-related data (for faculty and staff) should be stored in GC's OneDrive or Outlook.
• Go to this site to learn how much storage you use in OneDrive and how to review and delete large files in OneDrive.

Note: After deleting items, you must permanently delete these items from the Recycle Bin to free up space for other items. See Delete files or folders in OneDrive for more info.  

• Go to this site to learn how much storage you use in Outlook and how to review and delete items in Outlook.

If you are an enrolled student, faculty, or staff member, you can access CUNY Dropbox. Go to this site for CUNY Dropbox login instructions.

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact GC IT Services at [log in to unmask].

Thank you,

GC Information Technology
[log in to unmask]
https://www.gc.cuny.edu/information-technology

CUNY Graduate Center | 365 Fifth Ave | New York, NY 10016
www.gc.cuny.edu

Dear GC Community Member,

The CUNYfirst upgrade was completed successfully on Sunday, April 21, 2024. All CUNYfirst functions, Schedule Builder, and CUNYBuy, are now available to all users.

Please note the following:

• CIS is offering PeopleTools Upgrade Training through May 2, 2024. You may register for a session here.
• If CUNYfirst does not display properly, please follow the instructions at Why doesn’t CUNYfirst display properly after the upgrade? in CUNY IT Help to clear your browser cache.
• See the CUNYfirst web page for information on the new features and functions available as an outcome of this upgrade.

Thank you,

GC Information Technology
[log in to unmask]
https://www.gc.cuny.edu/information-technolog

CUNY Graduate Center | 365 Fifth Ave | New York, NY 10016
www.gc.cuny.edu

We will celebrate the accomplishments of our alumni at the CUNY Graduate Center Alumni Awards ceremony later this spring. We invite you to nominate alumni who have achieved professional distinction. Please help us recognize alumni with noteworthy career achievements in one of the following three award categories:

The Alumni Achievement Award recognizes alumni who have made exemplary contributions to their field demonstrating outstanding dedication and achievement.

The Graduate of the Last Decade (GOLD) Award honors alumni who have graduated in the previous 10 years and have already achieved notable success and distinction in their careers.

The CUNY Award recognizes alumni who have devoted their professional careers teaching and working for the City University of New York and have had a significant, positive impact.

We invite you to nominate alumni for one of the above awards by Friday, February 23. Along with the name of your nominee(s), please provide a statement explaining why they deserve the award. Include supporting materials that are as comprehensive as possible, which may include the nominee's resume/CV and letters of support. Recipients will be chosen by an alumni committee.

If you have any questions, please contact [log in to unmask] or Jim Cronin at 212-817-7137 or [log in to unmask].

We are grateful for your participation in this recognition of remarkable Graduate Center alumni and look forward to celebrating our honorees with you.

CUNY Graduate Center | 365 Fifth Ave | New York, NY 10016
www.gc.cuny.edu

Dear Graduate Center Community Member,

Information Technology would like your feedback to help inform future storage solution decisions.

Please tell us how you currently share and store your documents by completing a short survey by Wednesday, November 22, 2023. It will take two minutes: https://forms.office.com/r/MRs4AFfB1W.

Thank you in advance for your assistance and participation. We value your time and input on this important matter.

​Sincerely,

Information Technology
[log in to unmask]
https://www.gc.cuny.edu/information-technology

CUNY Graduate Center | 365 Fifth Ave | New York, NY 10016
www.gc.cuny.edu

A reminder to RSVP to the upcoming employee recognition breakfast!

Please join Interim President Josh Brumberg and your colleagues for a breakfast celebrating all Graduate Center staff.

When: Tuesday, November 14th from 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Where: Dining Commons

RSVP to [log in to unmask] by closed of business on Monday, November 6th.

**Please note that years of service will be recognized in addition to general staff recognition.

CUNY Graduate Center | 365 Fifth Ave | New York, NY 10016
www.gc.cuny.edu

Dear GC Community Member,

Information Technology has good news to share. CUNY is transitioning from Trellix Endpoint Security (formerly McAfee) to Cortex XDR, security for a new generation of ransomware and cybersecurity threats. This advanced protection software accurately detects threats with behavioral analytics. It reveals the root cause to speed up investigations, enabling attacks to be stopped before damage to the device or sensitive data is compromised.

Beginning Monday, November 6th, Graduate Center IT will start rolling out Cortex XDR to all workstations, laptops, and servers managed by Graduate Center IT. Graduate Center IT can perform installation remotely (in most cases). There should not be any impact on your operations. IT will contact users directly to discuss the next steps for machines that cannot be updated remotely.

Don't hesitate to contact IT Services via [log in to unmask] or submit a ticket via the ServiceNow portal https://cunyithelp.cuny.edu to report any issues.

Thank you,

Information Technology
[log in to unmask]
https://www.gc.cuny.edu/information-technology

CUNY Graduate Center | 365 Fifth Ave | New York, NY 10016
www.gc.cuny.edu

Please join Interim President Josh Brumberg and your colleagues for a breakfast celebrating all Graduate Center staff.

When: Tuesday, November 14th from 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Where: Dining Commons

RSVP to [log in to unmask] by November 1st.

**Please note that years of service will be recognized in addition to general staff recognition.

CUNY Graduate Center | 365 Fifth Ave | New York, NY 10016
www.gc.cuny.edu

Dear Graduate Center Faculty and Staff:
 
We hope everyone is having a wonderful and safe summer. The Compliance and Diversity Office would like to take this opportunity to tell you about some exciting programming we have scheduled for the fall semester, as part of our new Understanding Better series. During this series, we will examine and explore topics that affect our entire University, including issues faced by members of our community with differing identities and lived experiences. By engaging in intentional and intersectional programming, we can better and more meaningfully affirm, uplift, and promote our shared mission of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.
 
As part of the Understanding Better series, we have invited Samantha Skaller, senior campus coordinator at the New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault, to facilitate a number of presentations for faculty and staff related to topics of gender-based violence.
 
Please see below for the dates, times, and descriptions of presentations that Sam will be hosting. All presentations will be virtual, available through Zoom webinar. Please click the links below to register for one or more presentations.
 

• September 18, 2023 –12-1:30 p.m. – Unpacking Gender 101

Through an intersectional approach, this workshop will dive into the gender spectrum, gender-affirming language, and debunking false information around gender identities. Part 1 of this workshop will unpack common gender norms in an interactive and approachable way. Part 2 of the workshop will define different identities on the gender spectrum and debunk commonly held myths about gender. Participants will leave this workshop with skills and best practices in creating gender-affirming educational environments, new gender-affirming vocabulary, and resources for further exploration of this topic.
 
Register in advance for this webinar: https://gc-cuny-edu.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_dNgk_lw7QxaeSJqpoCsKXQ
 

• October 24, 2023 – 2-3:30 p.m. – Supporting Student Survivors

This workshop will discuss how to be the best support to someone who may have experienced sexual violence. The workshop will include best practices for survivor support, trauma-informed language, and a list of helpful resources to have on hand if someone discloses to you at some point.
 
Register in advance for this webinar: https://gc-cuny-edu.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Krt8K20uQD2c4iz5e7h3yQ
 

• November 13, 2023- 12-1:30 p.m. – Supporting LGBTQ Students

 
This workshop will delve into what violence looks like within the queer community, the complexities that are unique to it, how to recognize warning signs, and the unique barriers that may be present when attempting to access services. This workshop will also offer suggestions on how to make yourself more approachable to members of the LGBTQ community. When we think about sexual violence, stalking, dating violence, etc., it is almost always understood within a heteronormative context. Not only is this incredibly narrow, but it contributes to the marginalization of some of the most historically oppressed groups in our country. Violence is experienced at a higher rate within the LGBTQ community than in the heterosexual community.
 
Register in advance for this webinar: https://gc-cuny-edu.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_4uzRogR2QMuyCiwteLffAQ
 
Look out for additional presentations scheduled as part of the ongoing Understanding Better series. For more information, visit our webpage.

If you believe you are experiencing or have experienced sexual misconduct, as defined in CUNY’s Policy on Sexual Misconduct, please utilize the Sexual Misconduct Allegation Form and send it to [log in to unmask]. If you believe you are experiencing or have experienced discrimination or harassment, as defined in CUNY’s Equal Opportunity and Non-Discrimination Policy, please feel free to report this conduct through the University’s Discrimination and Retaliation Reporting Portal. If you have any concerns about your safety, please contact Public Safety and Security.
 
As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact the Compliance and Diversity Office via email ([log in to unmask]).
 
Wishing you a safe and happy summer,
 
The Compliance and Diversity Office

CUNY Graduate Center | 365 Fifth Ave | New York, NY 10016
www.gc.cuny.edu

Dear GC Faculty and Staff,

As previously announced, access to the servers hosting the former GC mailboxes (MS Exchange) and archived email via https://wa.gc.cuny.edu will end on Friday, June 2, 2023.​

Terminating access to the old GC mail servers (MS Exchange) is a necessary step for the security of the GC network.

If you have any questions or concerns, please email IT Services or visit our online self-service portal, which is available 24/7.

We appreciate your patience and understanding on this matter.

Thank you,

Information Technology
[log in to unmask]
https://www.gc.cuny.edu/information-technology​

CUNY Graduate Center | 365 Fifth Ave | New York, NY 10016
www.gc.cuny.edu

Dear GC Faculty and Staff,

As previously announced, access to the servers hosting the former GC mailboxes (MS Exchange) and archived email via https://wa.gc.cuny.edu will end as of Friday, June 2, 2023.​

All faculty and staff GC mailboxes have been migrated to CUNY's M365 cloud environment. Please verify that all emails migrated from your old GC mailbox to your new CUNY M365 mailbox before June 2, 2023.

Terminating access to the old GC mail servers (MS Exchange) is a necessary step for the security of the GC network.

If you have any questions or concerns, email IT Services or visit our online self-service portal, which is available 24/7.

We appreciate your patience and understanding on this matter.

Thank you,

Information Technology
[log in to unmask]
https://www.gc.cuny.edu/information-technology​

CUNY Graduate Center | 365 Fifth Ave | New York, NY 10016
www.gc.cuny.edu

Dear GC Faculty and Staff,

GC IT has confirmed the following reported issues:

• Calendar:
  • Changing a meeting invitation created before February 9, 2023, will fail to update, and the sender will receive an undeliverable message.  The recommendation is to create a new meeting.  To avoid confusion, you must notify the attendees to delete the old meeting from their calendars.  If the organizer cancels the old invitation, that action does not remove it from the recipient's calendar.
  • Migrated calendar meeting invites cannot be deleted by the delegates of the mailbox. The organizer of the meeting will need to delete the migrated invites.
  • Calendar delegate permissions will not carry over. The owner of the calendar will need to re-share to their delegate(s).
  • You may have noticed that Outlook meeting invites automatically add a Teams meeting link to the event for the attendees.  The automatic feature is a user preference option.  If you wish to turn off this automatic feature, please follow these steps.
• Email:
  • Your default email address is associated with your Primary Affiliation.  If you wish to change your default email address, update the Preferred Email Address in CUNYfirst -> Self Service -> Personal Details -> Contact Details. This enhancement took effect on 2/27.  You will need to manually delete and add back the preferred email address in CUNYfirst to trigger an update.  This change will take a few hours or overnight to process.
  • Student @gradcenter.cuny.edu email addresses are not listed in the staff/faculty global address list (GAL).  This is the expected behavior since students are in a different tenant. One option is to check Blackboard for their student email address.
  • Email auto forwarding is now allowed to all *.cuny.edu addresses.  Here's the step-by-step instruction to email forwarding.
  • Shared mailbox(es) will not automatically populate in Outlook after permission is granted.  Here's the instructions to manually added shared mailbox(es) to Outlook.
  • M365 limits the number of items per mailbox folder, including the Inbox.  The limit is 1,000,000 items.  Routinely clean up your mailbox to free up space and avoid hitting this limit, after which you cannot send or receive email.
  • GC IT continues migrating mailboxes for a few GC users with large amounts of email and anticipates completion soon.

Thank you,

Information Technology
[log in to unmask]
https://www.gc.cuny.edu/information-technology 

CUNY Graduate Center | 365 Fifth Ave | New York, NY 10016
www.gc.cuny.edu

​Dear GC Faculty and Staff:

Graduate Center faculty and staff email will go live on Thursday, February 9th, in CUNY's M365 cloud environment.

What will happen on February 8^th:

• GC IT requests that faculty and staff do not access their GC email after 5 PM on Wednesday​, February 8^th. We will begin the final cutover activities at 5 PM.
• After 5 PM on February 8^th, any email client on your personal devices (mobile or desktop) configured with GC email will not function.
• GC IT will reboot network workstations (excluding research or lab workstations) on the evening of February 8^th as part of its migration activities. Please log off your desktop at the end of the day, February 8^th.
• We anticipate you will be able to access your new cloud mailboxes via https://outlook.live​.com/owa as of 9 AM on Thursday, February 9^th. If there are any delays, we will post the information online on our web​​site.
• There is a slight chance that all your emails, from your current GC email account (MS Exchange), will not be migrated over by the morning of February 9th. Do not be concerned. We will continue migrating the email until it is complete.

What to do on February 9^th:

• To access your new cloud email account via the web on the day of the cutover, use https://outlook.live.com/owa. You will need to log in using your CUNYfirst login credentials and password (example: [log in to unmask]).
• To access your GC mailbox on your personal devices, you must reconfigure your email clients (desktop, laptop, mobile, etc.) before logging into your new GC mailbox. There will be instructions on how to do so on our project webpage, M365 Faculty and Staff Email M​igration | CUNY Graduate Center.
• To access your current GC email account (MS Exchange) in read-only mode, use https://wa.gc.cuny.edu. Your current email account (MS Exchange) will be available for at least three months. You will not be able to access it via a local Outlook client.

For more information on what to expect as we transition to M365 email, please review our M365 Faculty and Staff Email Migration Information Guide. For FAQs and other support resources, you can check out our project webpage, M365 Faculty and Staff Email Migration.

Please don't hesitate to contact IT Se​rvices if you have any questions.

​

Thank you,

Information Technology
[log in to unmask]
https://www.gc.cun​y.edu/information-technology  ​

CUNY Graduate Center | 365 Fifth Ave | New York, NY 10016
www.gc.cuny.edu

Dear GC Faculty and Staff:

On February 9^th, the Graduate Center email will go live in CUNY's M365 cloud environment.

What to Do Now:

• Print out your calendar events from February 9^th through February 16^th. While we do not anticipate any issues, users at other campuses have experienced issues accessing their calendars on their cutover date.
• Should you expect any critical emails during the transition period, we recommend that you notify your contacts that your email is migrating to the cloud on February 9^th., as there may be delays in response time.
• While we anticipate that most contacts will transfer, some may not. After February 9^th, if you notice that some of your contacts did not transfer, you can contact IT Services for assistance.

What will happen on February 8^th:

• We request that faculty and staff not access their GC email after 5 PM on Thursday, February 8^th. We will begin the final cutover activities at 5 PM.
• After 5 PM on February 8^th, any email ​client on your personal devices (mobile or desktop)​ configured with GC email will not work.
• GC IT will reboot network workstations (excluding research or lab workstations) on the evening of February 8^th as part of our migration activities. Please log off your desktop at the end of the day, February 8^th.
• We anticipate you will be able to access your new cloud mailboxes via https://outlook.live.com/owa as of 9 AM on Thursday, February 9^th. If there are any delays, we will post the information online on our website.
• There is a slight chance that not all of your legacy email will be copied over by the morning of February 9th. Do not be concerned. We will continue migrating the email until it is complete.

What to Do on February 9^th:

• IT recommends that you access your new cloud email account via the web on the day of the cutover (https://outlook.live.com/owa). You will need to log in using your CUNYfirst login credentials and password (example: [log in to unmask]).
• To access your GC mailbox on your personal devices, you must reconfigure your email clients (desktop, laptop, mobile, etc.) before logging into your new GC mailbox. There will be instructions on how to do so on our project webpage.
• To access your legacy email account in read-only mode, use https://wa.gc.cuny.edu​. Your legacy email account will be available for at least three months.

For more information on what to expect as we transition to M365 email, please review our M365 Faculty and Staff Email Migration Information Guide. For FAQs and other support resources, you can check out our project webpage, ​M365 Faculty and Staff Email Migration | CUNY Graduate Center.

Please don't hesitate to contact IT Services if you have any questions.

Information Technology
[log in to unmask]
https://www.gc.cuny.edu/information-technology ​

CUNY Graduate Center | 365 Fifth Ave | New York, NY 10016
www.gc.cuny.edu

Dear Graduate Center,

Please be aware that GC IT is actively copying faculty and staff email data to CUNY's M365 email cloud in preparation for our February 9th email migration. If a user's mailbox is in the process of being copied, the sender may receive an undeliverable message.

Outlook periodically tries to redeliver initially unsuccessful email messages. So, even though you may receive an undeliverable notification, Outlook will likely resend the message later. If you have any concerns, you can always wait and resend the email message later in the day.

Other issues you may encounter during this process include Outlook slowness and delay in sending email messages from your mailbox.

Please contact IT Services at [log in to unmask] if you have further questions.
​
Thank you,

Information Technology
[log in to unmask]
https://www.gc.cuny.edu/information-technology

CUNY Graduate Center | 365 Fifth Ave | New York, NY 10016
www.gc.cuny.edu

Dear GC Faculty and Staff:

GC IT will be offering two town hall sessions to provide information and answer questions about the Graduate Center's upcoming faculty and staff email migration.

The Town Hall session options are:

• Tuesday, January 31^st at 11am
• Thursday, February 2^nd at 2pm​

To register in advance for either of these sessions, please use the link below:

https://gc-cuny-edu.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_pXNvOZ11RKylk6YsmPfG9g

Note: To submit your questions in advance, please email your questions to [log in to unmask] no later than Monday, January 30th. There will also be a Q&A period during the town hall meetings.

We look forward to seeing you there.​
 

Information Technology
[log in to unmask]
https://www.gc.cuny.edu/information-technology

CUNY Graduate Center | 365 Fifth Ave | New York, NY 10016
www.gc.cuny.edu

Dear GC Faculty and Staff:

On February 9, 2023, the Graduate Center will migrate faculty and staff email to CUNY's M365 cloud. Please visit our project landing page M365 Faculty and Staff Email Migration to view the latest information.

What to Do Now:

• Perform the following mailbox clean-up activities by Friday​, January 27th.
  • Search and remove email messages or attachments 35MB or over from your mailbox or any shared mailboxes.
    • The CIS Training Team created instructions on how to perform this task, please see below:
      • MS Outlook Cleanup on a PC (Outlook 365, 2021)
      • MS Outlook Cleanup on a Mac (Office 2019 and O365)
      • MS Outlook cleanup on the Web (Outlook Web Access)
• Delete any emails you do not need to maintain.
  • Note: The number of mail items in your mailbox may impact how quickly IT is able to copy your email data to the cloud. It may also impact your Outlook performance once we transition to the cloud.
• Unsubscribe to any RSS Feeds to which you currently subscribe and delete any mail items related to the RSS feeds that you do not need to retain.
  • It has been​ strongly recommended by other campuses who have migrated to the cloud that users unsubscribe to RSS feeds because they may cause the user's email migration to fail.
• Empty your Junk and Deleted Items email folders.

What to Expect Before Migration:  

• GC IT will begin copying the content of inboxes to the cloud approximately one to two weeks before our migration date .
  • Users may experience intermittent Outlook slowness during this time.
• You will receive an email explaining the steps you should take the week of the migration.

What Items Will Not Migrate:

• Any rules you manually created in Outlook
• Any personal contacts or contact groups you created in Outlook Contacts
• Any mailbox delegations you created for your mailbox
• Any email messages or attachments that are 35MB or larger in size

What Changes to Expect in the M365 Cloud Mailbox:

• Shared (Non-Human) mailboxes will have a GC prefix in the Outlook address book (Example – GC Information Technology).
  • The email address will not change, only the descriptive name used for lookups.
• The Microsoft Windows Report button replaces the Report Phish button, enabling you to report spam and phishing.

​​

• There is a single mailbox in M365 that will house multiple campus email addresses.
• You will not be able to send or receive emails or attachments bigger than 35MB. If you need to share files larger than 35MB, IT recommends placing them on OneDrive or Dropbox and emailing a link to the file.
• Microsoft has ended support for basic authentication methods such as POP and IMAP. Microsoft will only support email apps that use modern authentication. For a list of unsupported apps, read “What to do once POP and IMAP Basic Authentication is no longer supported?".

Please get in touch with IT Services if you have any questions.
   
Information Technology
[log in to unmask]
https://www.gc.cuny.edu/information-technology

CUNY Graduate Center | 365 Fifth Ave | New York, NY 10016
www.gc.cuny.edu

Dear GC Faculty and Staff:

On February 9, 2023, the Graduate Center will migrate faculty and staff email to CUNY's M365 cloud.
 

What to Do Now:

• Search and remove email messages or attachments 35MB or over from your mailbox or any shared mailboxes.
• Delete any emails you do not need to maintain.
  • Note: The number of mail items in your mailbox may impact how quickly IT is able to copy your email data to the cloud. It may also impact your Outlook performance once we transition to the cloud.
• Empty your Junk and Deleted Items email folders.
• Unsubscribe to any RSS Feeds to which you currently subscribe and delete any mail items related to the RSS feeds that you do not need to retain.
  • ​It has been strongly recommended by other campuses who have migrated to the cloud that users unsubscribe to RSS feeds because they may cause the user's email migration to fail.

​What to Expect Before Migration:  

• GC IT will begin copying the context of inboxes to the cloud approximately one to two weeks before our migration date​.
  • ​Users may experience intermittent Outlook slowness during this time.
• You will receive an email explaining the steps you should take the week of the migration.

What Items Will Not Migrate:

• Any rules you manually created in Outlook
• Any personal contacts or contact groups you created in Outlook Contacts
• Any mailbox delegations you created for your mailbox
• Any email messages or attachments that are 35MB or larger in size

​

What Changes to Expect in the M365 Cloud Mailbox:

• Shared (Non-Human) mailboxes will have a GC prefix in the Outlook address book (Example – GC Information Technology).
  • The email address will not change, only the descriptive name used for lookups.
• The Microsoft Windows Report button replaces the Report Phish button, enabling you to report spam and phishing.

                                                    ​

• There is a single mailbox in M365 that will house multiple campus email addresses.
• You will not be able to send or receive emails or attachments bigger than 35MB. If you need to share files larger than 35MB, IT recommends placing them on OneDrive or Dropbox and emailing a link to the file.
• Microsoft has ended support for basic authentication methods such as POP and IMAP. Microsoft will only support email apps that use modern authentication. For a list of unsupported apps, read “What to do once POP and IMAP Basic Authentication is no longer supported?".

Please get in touch with IT Services if you have any questions.

Information Technology
[log in to unmask]
https://www.gc.cuny.edu/information-technology

CUNY Graduate Center | 365 Fifth Ave | New York, NY 10016
www.gc.cuny.edu

​Dear GC Faculty and Staff:

In two months, on February 9, 2023, the Graduate Center will migrate faculty and staff email to CUNY's M365 cloud. For more information, please check out our project site: M365 Faculty and Staff Email Migration​.

What to Do Now:

Search for and remove any email messages or attachments that are 35MB or over in size.
Delete any emails you do not need to retain.
Empty your Junk and Deleted Items email folders.
What to Expect Prior to Migration:

IT will begin work on the migration process in late January. This process will be transparent to the user.
An email with tips and recommended steps to take will be sent prior to migration.
What Items Will Not Migrate:

Any email messages or attachments that are 35MB or larger in size.
Any personal contacts or contact groups you created in Outlook Contacts.
Any mailbox delegations you created for your personal mailbox.
Any rules you created in Outlook and OWA.
Any email messages or content in the Deleted Items and Junk Email folders.
Please contact IT Services if you have any questions.

Information Technology
[log in to unmask]
https://www.gc.cuny.edu/information-technology​
​

CUNY Graduate Center | 365 Fifth Ave | New York, NY 10016
www.gc.cuny.edu

Good morning,

We are writing to let you know that the Go Live date for the Microsoft 365 (M365) email migration has been changed to February 9, 2023. This change came about because a required migration tool will not be available from a vendor in time to meet the scheduled November 1, 2022 Go Live date.

Please keep in mind that although the migration date will take place early next year, we ask that you perform the pre-migration steps by the end of December 31, 2022. These include the following tasks:

1. Search your current mailbox for any emails and email attachments that are 35MB or over in size and remove them from your mailbox. There is a 35MB limit per email message in the cloud. This means that we will not be able to migrate any existing emails that are 35MB or larger from your current mailbox to the cloud. Instructions on how to perform this are below:

• MS Outlook Cleanup on a PC (Outlook 365, 2021)
• MS Outlook Cleanup on a Mac (Office 2019 and O365)
• MS Outlook cleanup on the Web (Outlook Web Access)

2. Make sure that you have specified a second factor of authentication for Microsoft's O365 cloud environment. This is referred to as Microsoft Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). Visit CUNY's MFA page for more information.
3. Bookmark the M365 Faculty and Staff Email Migration landing page to ensure that you have the latest information about the project.

Please contact IT Services via email at [log in to unmask] if you have any questions.

Best Regards,

Jeff Barnes
Interim AVP/CIO
Information Technology
365 Fifth Avenue
Room: 8311
New York, NY 10016
Phone: (212) 817-7351​​

CUNY Graduate Center | 365 Fifth Ave | New York, NY 10016
www.gc.cuny.edu

Dear GC faculty and staff,

It has been great to see so many of you in recent weeks as we’ve recommenced in-person classes, seminars, and public programming. Meeting the new students, reconnecting with colleagues, and experiencing art and live music have re-energized our wonderful space.

Returning has come with challenges, too, as we re-establish daily rhythms, manage COVID-related policies and protocols, and learn and adapt to changes in staffing and processes. To address some of the questions we’ve been hearing, we’ve prepared the FAQ below, containing updates on what’s happening and what you can expect in the weeks ahead regarding:
• the migration of email to Microsoft Outlook 365
• resolving issues with purchasing and reimbursements
• campus visitors and event planning
• food services at the GC

If you have specific questions on any of these topics, please reach out to the contacts in those operational areas. Thanks for reading.

Best,

Robin L. Garrell, President
Steve Everett, Provost and Senior Vice President
Brian A. Peterson, Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration
___________________________________________________________________________

Email migration to Microsoft Outlook 365

Q.: I’m a consortial faculty member. How will I be impacted by the email migration to Microsoft Outlook 365 on November 1?
A. The Graduate Center is part of the CUNY-wide email migration to Microsoft Outlook 365. As part of this migration, the current process redirecting your “@gc.cuny.edu” email traffic to another CUNY campus or external inbox will cease on November 1.

For various professional reasons, many of you have expressed interest in maintaining your @gc.cuny.edu email address. This is possible. We can establish a CUNYFirst GC employee record for you as a “person of interest,” which will enable you to continue to send and receive messages from your GC account. Please reach out to Steven Wong at [log in to unmask] to confirm that you wish to maintain your @gc email.

Starting November 1, your @gc email and home campus email will funnel into one mailbox on the CUNY 365 cloud. With Outlook 365, you will be able to create folders and message rules to separate inbound email messages automatically. You will also be able to choose the email address you want to appear when composing or replying to messages.

Information about the migration and instructions that explain how to set up your CUNY 365 account can be found here. We’ll also prepare a demonstration video and host several virtual sessions where you can see the process demonstrated and ask questions.

Resolving issues with purchasing and reimbursements

Q. I’ve experienced delays in receiving reimbursements. Why?
A. Purchasing and payment processes have changed in two ways. First, throughout CUNY, non-tax levy purchasing, and payment processes have ben migrated into CUNYfirst. Second, the Graduate Center has moved to a shared services model with the University Budget Office (UBO) for Accounts Payable. This does not change how you submit your payment requests but does change how they are processed. Our business office is working closely with the programs, centers, and institutes that have a significant number of transactions to address questions about the new workflow.

Unfortunately, we have experienced significant staff turnover across administrative offices that has resulted in unanticipated delays in processing some payment requests. We are actively working to replace personnel and are also looking closely at the chain of CUNYfirst reviewers and authorized approvers to ensure that payment requests can be routed through the system in a timely manner.

We recognize that people may need to refamiliarize themselves with processes that were routine before the pandemic. We encourage everyone to review the Making a Purchase section of the Business Office Resources Hub. We’ve offered training sessions on travel & expense reimbursements and accounts payable and will announce additional sessions shortly.

Q. What should I do if I’ve been tracking a particular purchase or reimbursement request and it seems to be hung up somewhere? How long should I wait and whom should I contact?
A. If an invoice/reimbursement request/payment request, etc. has been submitted and payment has not been received within 10 days, you should reach out to Angella Bowley for the status. If you have not heard from Angella in 48 hours, please contact Althea Harewood at [log in to unmask].

The liaison in the Graduate Center Business Office for all Accounts Payable matters is Angella Bowley, who can be reached via email at [log in to unmask].

If you are following up on Purchasing questions and have not received a response within 48 hours, please contact Ron Paynter at [log in to unmask].

After taking these steps, if you have not received any responses within the Business Office within 4 business days, please reach out to Kenneth Tirino at [log in to unmask].

Q. What types of credit cards does the Graduate Center offer?
A: The Graduate Center provides two types of credit cards:

CUNY Graduate Center | 365 Fifth Ave | New York, NY 10016
www.gc.cuny.edu

Dear colleagues,

The CUNY Office of Budget and Finance will be holding comprehensive virtual trainings on submitting transactions related to accounts payable and employee reimbursements for both tax levy and non-tax levy funds in CUNYfirst. We encourage anyone responsible for reconciling these types of transactions to attend the trainings. Some of the topics that will be covered include:
- Submitting requisitions and receipts in CUNYfirst
- Honoraria payments to non-CUNY employees
- Speaker fees
- Other account payable requests for payment
- Employee travel and expense reimbursement requests

There are two training sessions offered, one for accounts payable-related requests and the other for employee travel and expense reimbursement requests. Please make every effort to attend one of these important training sessions. Staff from the Graduate Center Business Office will also be in attendance to answer questions.

Below are the dates and times for each training, along with the zoom link to join the trainings:

Travel & Expense
Tuesday, October 18, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/8695566893?pwd=aUVSRDJ1UWcxRDI5c2xlWnpiL01lUT09
Meeting ID: 869 556 6893 / Passcode: APDIR2020
Dial-in #: 929-205-6099 / 869-556-6893# US (New York)

Travel & Expense
Wednesday, October 19, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/8695566893?pwd=aUVSRDJ1UWcxRDI5c2xlWnpiL01lUT09
Meeting ID: 869 556 6893 / Passcode: APDIR2020
Dial-in #: 929-205-6099 / 869-556-6893# US (New York)

Accounts Payable
Tuesday, October 18, 2022, at 2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/8695566893?pwd=aUVSRDJ1UWcxRDI5c2xlWnpiL01lUT09
Meeting ID: 869 556 6893 / Passcode: APDIR2020
Dial-in #: 929-205-6099 / 869-556-6893# US (New York)

Accounts Payable
Wednesday, October 19, 2022, at 2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/8695566893?pwd=aUVSRDJ1UWcxRDI5c2xlWnpiL01lUT09
Meeting ID: 869 556 6893 / Passcode: APDIR2020
Dial-in #: 929-205-6099 / 869-556-6893# US (New York)

We will have additional trainings in November, details will be forthcoming.

Best regards,

Brian A. Peterson
Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration
Dean of Academic Initiatives and Strategic Innovation &
CUNY Baccalaureate for Unique and Interdisciplinary Studies

CUNY Graduate Center | 365 Fifth Ave | New York, NY 10016
www.gc.cuny.edu

Greetings from IT,

Please note that the first phase of faculty and staff email transition to the cloud starts today, Monday, September 19. CUNY CIS will begin rolling out Microsoft Multifactor Authentication (MFA) in the cloud. After which, you will be prompted to select a second form of authentication when accessing a Microsoft Cloud application (Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, etc.). To learn more, please read What is some general info about Multi-factor authentication (MFA)?

Also, please find below additional instructions on how to begin cleaning up your GC mailbox. There is a 35MB limit per email message in the cloud. This means that we will not be able to migrate any existing emails that are 35MB or larger from your current mailbox to the cloud. We strongly recommend that you search your current mailbox for any emails and email attachments that are 35MB or over in size.

MS Outlook Cleanup on a PC (Outlook 365, 2021)
MS Outlook Cleanup on a Mac (Office 2019 and O365)
MS Outlook cleanup on the Web (Outlook Web Access)
Note: Please bookmark the M365 faculty and staff email migration page. The page will be updated every Friday with the latest project information. 

If you have any questions, please email [log in to unmask], and we will get back to you as soon as we are able.
​

Information Technology
[log in to unmask]
https://www.gc.cuny.edu/information-technology

CUNY Graduate Center | 365 Fifth Ave | New York, NY 10016
www.gc.cuny.edu

Greetings from IT,

We are pleased to provide an update on the CUNY-wide project to transition faculty and staff email accounts to the Microsoft Cloud (O365). The Graduate Center faculty and staff email will transition to the Microsoft Cloud on Tuesday, November 1, 2022.

M365 Faculty and Staff Email Migration Project Timeline

• Phase 1 – Enable Multi-factor Authentication – September 19, 2022
• Phase 2 – Upgrade Microsoft Office Desktop Client – October 3, 2022
• Phase 3 – Migrate GC Faculty and Staff Email to the Cloud – November 1, 2022

The first phase of this project starts on Monday, September 19, when CUNY CIS is to enable Microsoft Multifactor Authentication (MFA) in the cloud. After which, you will choose the second form of authentication when accessing the Microsoft Cloud. To learn more, please read What is some general info about Multi-factor authentication (MFA)?

Below are some things you must do now to prepare for this transition:

• Save and delete attachments over 35 MB because you cannot migrate emails or email attachments over 35 MB. CUNY has prepared instructions on how to search for and save/remove these emails and attachments.
• Perform a clean-up of your mailbox and any non-human (shared) mailboxes for which you are responsible.
• Review CUNY's O365 FAQs and training materials. ​

Note: Please bookmark the M365 faculty and staff email migration page. The page will be updated every Friday with the latest project information. 

If you have any questions, please email [log in to unmask], and we will get back to you as soon as we are able.
 

Information Technology
[log in to unmask]
https://www.gc.cuny.edu/information-technology

CUNY Graduate Center | 365 Fifth Ave | New York, NY 10016
www.gc.cuny.edu

Where: The Graduate Center and ASRC
What: Unable to open saved files on SharePoint
When: Reported on 8/23/22 at 12pm
Affected users: All Staff & Faculty at The Graduate Center and ASRC

The Graduate Center is experiencing a SharePoint outage impacting all staff and faculty. Users are getting an "Unable to Open..." message for files saved on the SharePoint servers. The IT SharePoint team is currently investigating the issue and will provide an update as soon as we have additional information.

We apologize for any inconvenience and thank you in advance for your patience and cooperation as we try to resolve this issue. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact IT Services at [log in to unmask].

Information Technology
[log in to unmask]
https://www.gc.cuny.edu/information-technology

CUNY Graduate Center | 365 Fifth Ave | New York, NY 10016
www.gc.cuny.edu

Where: The Graduate Center, Fifth Avenue between 34^th and 35^th Streets location.

What: Unable to Print to Network Printers for GC Network Printers for Staff and Faculty

When: Reported on 8/10/22 at 9am

Affected users: All Staff & Faculty at The Graduate Center

GC is experiencing a network printer outage impacting all staff and faculty.  Senior IT technicians are currently investigating the issue, and will provide an update soon as we have additional information.

We apologize for any inconvenience and thank you in advance for your patience and cooperation as we try to resolve this issue. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact IT Services at [log in to unmask].

Information Technology
[log in to unmask]
https://www.gc.cuny.edu/information-technology

CUNY Graduate Center | 365 Fifth Ave | New York, NY 10016
www.gc.cuny.edu

Dear Graduate Center Community:

Cybercriminals continue to find new ways to trick our community and steal their credentials. Over the past few days, IT has observed a new phishing campaign using a fake voicemail message to lure victims into entering their GC email credentials. The attack begins when the victim receives an email informing them that they have missed a phone call and a request to log in to their account to access their voicemail. A fake successful login page appears upon supplying a password.

Example:

Fake voicemail email is a scam, and we want to urge our GC community to remain vigilant when opening emails and never open attachments from unknown senders. We also strongly advise against using the same password for different services, and if a user believes that their password is compromised, change the password as soon as possible.

Follow these tips to stay safe from similar scams:

• Never click links or download attachments in an email you were not expecting.
• Before sharing sensitive information online, ensure the website is legitimate. For example, an MP3 file should never take you to a login page. If you're uncertain, navigate to the website directly.
• Verify that the website is legitimate. Read the URL carefully; phishers will set up websites almost identical to the spelling of the site you are trying to visit.
• Remember that cybercriminals can use more than just links within emails to phish for your information. Think twice before you click.​

Please get in touch with IT Services if you have any questions.


​Information Technology
[log in to unmask]
https://www.gc.cuny.edu/information-technology

CUNY Graduate Center | 365 Fifth Ave | New York, NY 10016
www.gc.cuny.edu

​The Graduate Center Information Technology has identified an email phishing scam targeting our community that claims to contain a link to a recipient's document in OneDrive. The link leads to a malicious website asking for the Outlook user's name and password. This scam may appear to originate from a gc.cuny.edu email address.​

The following is a sample of the fraudulent email. If you receive this message (or any message similar to it), please report it by clicking on a "Report Phish' button in your Outlook:

Caution: This email did not come from the GC. It is a phishing scam designed to trick you into providing your GC password to get access to your personal information.

Do not respond to the fraudulent message or click the link! Responding or clicking the link in the message may put your information and the university's information and systems at risk.

If you received this message and clicked on the link or entered any information, we highly recommend you change your GC password now. If you are not sure if you interacted with this message by clicking the link or entering any information, please change your GC password now​.

Please contact the Graduate Center's IT Services if you have any questions.

Information Technology
[log in to unmask]
https://www.gc.cuny.edu/information-technology

CUNY Graduate Center | 365 Fifth Ave | New York, NY 10016
www.gc.cuny.edu

Greetings,

We are pleased to announce a new CUNY-wide project - the transition of faculty and staff email accounts to the Microsoft Cloud (O365). Graduate Center faculty and staff email is tentatively scheduled to transition to the Microsoft Cloud (O365) during fall 2022. We will be joining Lehman College, Queens College, and Baruch College who have already made this transition.

Moving email to the cloud provides numerous valuable benefits, including the capability to integrate your email with other applications within the Microsoft 365 family, such as Teams, OneDrive, and SharePoint. With O365 you will be able to effortlessly send email, schedule meetings, create and share documents, and collaborate in one platform. The transition to Microsoft's cloud-based email system will provide increased reliability, enhanced cybersecurity features, efficient single-sign on (using CUNYfirst credentials), and 24/7 Microsoft support and accessibility features.

This email is the first communication regarding our transition to the Microsoft Cloud. You will receive future emails from GC IT with additional information regarding dates, helpful tools, best practices, and FAQs to assist you when the time comes for you to move your email, calendar entries, and other information to the Microsoft Cloud.

​​One of the initial steps you can take in preparation for the upcoming email transition is to clean up your existing GC mailbox and calendars. This will save you time and effort when the transition occurs. See Microsoft's recommendations on how to manage and clean up a mailbox.

Also, this would be a good opportunity to eliminate any personal identifiable information (PII) from emails that you plan to transfer to your future cloud mailbox. Examples of PII data include Taxpayer Identification Numbers (TIN), Social Security Numbers, Passport Numbers, and so forth. Please review CUNY's Data Classification Standard and their policy about storing data in the cloud.

Stay tuned for more information on how this transition will provide better long-term services to our faculty and staff.

Information Technology
[log in to unmask] ​​
https://www.gc.cuny.edu/it​ ​

CUNY Graduate Center | 365 Fifth Ave | New York, NY 10016
www.gc.cuny.edu

Dear colleagues,

I am writing to share the news that after three years of service to the Graduate Center, Pinar Ozgu, our Vice President of Institutional Equity and Human Resources, has accepted a wonderful new career opportunity in the private sector. Pinar’s last day at the Graduate Center will be June 3rd.

Pinar joined CUNY in 2013. She worked for six years as the University Director of HR Investigations and Chief of Staff to the Vice Chancellor of the Office of Human Resources Management (OHRM) at Central Office before being recruited by the Graduate Center in May 2019 to serve as the Executive Director of Institutional Equity. In September 2019, she was promoted to her current role, which significantly expanded her responsibilities: overseeing both the Office of Human Resources and the Office of Compliance and Diversity. In these roles, Pinar has served as the Title IX Coordinator and Chief Diversity Officer of the Graduate Center and Macaulay Honors College, and as the Ethics Officer of the Graduate Center, Macaulay Honors College, and Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism. Pinar has also managed the HR liaisons within the COVID-19 response team at the Graduate Center.

Throughout her tenure at CUNY and the Graduate Center, Pinar has demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to our mission, bringing passion and creativity to all dimensions of her work. She has worked tirelessly to improve communications, clarify policies, streamline procedures, eliminate work that does not add value, and increase compliance with required trainings, evaluations, and reporting. Pinar and her team have also developed and promoted innovative professional development opportunities for staff, ranging from our annual leadership conference to the new DEI certificate program. I know that the HR team is excited to sustain and expand these efforts as foundational to our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Pinar has mentored an excellent leadership team that will manage a seamless transition and continue to build on this work. Effective June 6th, Pinar’s current responsibilities and functions will be transitioned as follows.

Please join me in thanking Pinar for her service and wishing her all the best in her future endeavors.

With best regards,

Robin L. Garrell
President
 

CUNY Graduate Center | 365 Fifth Ave | New York, NY 10016
www.gc.cuny.edu

Dear colleagues,

On December 14, 2020, the CUNY Board of Trustees approved the amended Guidelines for Centers, Institutes, Consortia, and Special Programs. The new policy includes amendments that are designed to ensure that these entities are aligned with and support the core mission of CUNY colleges and the University. Specifically, the policy amendments aim to improve the quality, reputation, and sustainability of centers, institutes, consortia, and special programs by designing a collaborative approval process, promoting fiscal health and accountability, and adopting an evidence-based approach to periodic evaluation and renewal.

All campuses and schools are required to undertake a multistep review and recertification process for the entities within their purview. All entities that fall within the definitions covered by the guidelines, regardless of whether they were established after the original 1995 Policy 1.09, will require recertification.

At the Graduate Center, the review and recertification process will help us ensure, going forward, that our centers and institutes have appropriate support and are positioned to strengthen our mission and goals, as well as those of CUNY. The main tasks and timeline for the review and recertification process are as follows.

Kimberly McBryan, the president’s Chief of Staff, will be the lead staff member supporting this project. Additional support will be provided by:
- Patti Myatt, Executive Director of Academic Affairs
- Ken Tirino, Deputy Director, Finance and Administration
- Adrienne Klein, Director of Special Projects, Office of Sponsored Research

Thank you in advance for supporting and engaging in this important process. Please feel free to reach out to [log in to unmask] with any questions or concerns.

Sincerely, 

Robin L. Garrell
President 

Steve Everett
Provost and Senior Vice President

CUNY Graduate Center | 365 Fifth Ave | New York, NY 10016
www.gc.cuny.edu

Dear Graduate Center Community,

The Graduate Center recently experienced a targeted phishing attack that asked users to enter their email credentials on a phishing page. If you received one of these messages and entered your email credentials, reset your Graduate Center password immediately by accessing this page. Then notify IT Services that your credentials have been exposed so that we can begin our internal security process.

Your stolen credentials could be used for illegal activity or unauthorized access. If you use the same credentials for other accounts, such as banking online, credit cards, or utilities, you are at risk of identity or financial theft. Protect yourself and the Graduate Center and reset your passwords.

In the future, please don't forget to use the 'Report Phish' button to report the received email as a phishing attempt.

Thanks,

Information Technology
​https://www.gc.cuny.edu/information-technology 
[log in to unmask]

CUNY Graduate Center | 365 Fifth Ave | New York, NY 10016
www.gc.cuny.edu

Dear Graduate Center Community:

Cybercriminals continue to find new ways to trick our community and steal their credentials. Over the past few weeks, IT has observed a new phishing campaign using a fake voicemail message to lure victims into entering their GC email credentials. The attack begins when the victim receives an email informing them that they have missed a phone call and a request to log in to their account to access their voicemail. When the password is entered, the user is presented with a fake successful login page.

This is a scam, and we want to urge our GC community to remain vigilant when opening emails and never open attachments from unknown senders. We also strongly advise against using the same password for different services, and if a user believes that their password is compromised, it is recommended to change it as soon as possible.

 Follow these tips to stay safe from similar scams:

• Never click links or download attachments in an email that you were not expecting.
• Before sharing any sensitive information online, make sure that the website is legitimate. For example, an MP3 file should never take you to a login page. If you're uncertain, navigate to the website directly.
• Verify the website is legitimate. Read the URL carefully; phishers will set up websites almost identical to the spelling of the site you are trying to visit.
• Remember that cybercriminals can use more than just links within emails to phish for your information. Think twice before you click.

Please get in touch with IT Services if you have any questions.

Information Technology
[log in to unmask]
https://www.gc.cuny.edu/it

CUNY Graduate Center | 365 Fifth Ave | New York, NY 10016
www.gc.cuny.edu

Dear Graduate Center Community,

The Office of Information Technology is pleased to announce the rollout of a new security feature when accessing Outlook email. In a continuing effort to help improve our user's ability to deal with the constant influx of spam, phishing efficiently, and other email-based attacks, a new "Report Phish" button will be available starting today, Monday, February 28, 2022.   

This feature is a mail add-in that allows you to easily report a potential phishing email. With the click of the Report Phish button, the suspicious email will be moved from your inbox to your junk folder and forwarded to the Information Security Office for analysis. 

After you report a phish using the Report Phish button, the reported message is sent to our automated security analysis system to be scored. After scoring is complete, you will receive an email notification. If the message was scored as malicious, the automated system would remove that message from your mailbox, and IT will follow up with you if any additional steps are required.

By using this new button, you are helping to keep our organization safe and defend it against cyberattacks. If you would like more information about phishing awareness, please visit our FAQ for detailed instructions. 

Please contact the Graduate Center's  IT Services if you have any questions.

Information Technology
[log in to unmask]
www.gc.cuny.edu/it

CUNY Graduate Center | 365 Fifth Ave | New York, NY 10016
www.gc.cuny.edu

Dear Graduate Center community,

I write to share the news that Dr. Nina Gray, who has served as Executive Director of the Advanced Science Research Center and Associate Dean for the Sciences since 2019, will be leaving the Graduate Center, effective January 21, 2022, to take a role as Assistant Vice Provost for Research at NYU.

We are very grateful for Nina’s steady and effective leadership of the ASRC, which has enabled CUNY faculty, staff, and students to thrive in a world-class, interdisciplinary, and collaborative research environment. Nina has been a staunch advocate for advancing diversity in STEM fields and for encouraging K-12 and undergraduate students to experience research. She has played an important role in elevating the visibility of research at the ASRC that is advancing our understanding of climate change, creating new materials that are transforming telecommunication and other technologies, deepening our understanding of how the environment influences brain function, and much more.

Nina has been a true partner in the successful integration of the ASRC into the GC and ably led the ASRC through the many challenges of the pandemic. Thanks to her comprehensive and inclusive planning, the ASRC maintained research continuity and safely scaled up activities as conditions improved.

We are committed to ensuring a smooth transition for the ASRC. Beginning January 24, 2022, Josh Brumberg will serve as its Interim Executive Director while we commence a national search.

Please join me in thanking Nina and wishing her all the best in her new endeavors.

Sincerely,

Robin L. Garrell
President

CUNY Graduate Center | 365 Fifth Ave | New York, NY 10016
www.gc.cuny.edu

Dear Graduate Center faculty and staff,

Tomorrow is #CUNYTuesday, a CUNY-wide initiative to benefit our students. This year at the Graduate Center we are focusing our fundraising efforts on Catalyst Grants, which provide essential support to students whose research has been disrupted by the pandemic. To date, 84 students have benefited from these grants, and we aim to help many more.

Thanks to the generosity of our Foundation Board, your #CUNYTuesday gifts to the Graduate Center will go even further this year. The board will make a $25,000 contribution when we reach 150 donors.

With grace, ingenuity, and dedication, you have supported our students through a very challenging and unpredictable year. I hope we can count on you to provide much-needed resources that will support the success of our remarkable students.

Please click here to give now.

Please note that we continue to offer a payroll deduction option for giving to the Graduate Center Annual Fund. You can opt in here or contact the Office of Institutional Advancement at [log in to unmask] for more information.

Every gift makes a difference and is deeply appreciated.

Thank you for all that you do for the Graduate Center.

With best wishes,

Robin L. Garrell
President

CUNY Graduate Center | 365 Fifth Ave | New York, NY 10016
www.gc.cuny.edu

In response to the increasing number of phishing attacks on the University, we will include a warning banner on emails originating from outside cuny.edu alerting the recipient to verify the sender's authenticity before responding, clicking embedded links, or opening attachments.

Starting Monday, November 22, 2021, when a user receives an email in the Outlook Web App, email clients, and mobile devices external to "cuny.edu" the email security system will add the following notification at the very top of the email:

This new measure is intended as a precaution to protect both the individual recipient of external emails and the University since malware can spread quickly and infect the entire network. The tag is a warning and not an indicator that an email is phishing, fraudulent, or spam.

What Should I Do When I See the External Email Alert Banner?

Verify the email is legitimate by checking several parts of the message. Start by:

Confirming the sender's full email address. Hover your mouse cursor over the "From" to see the full address.

• Does the address make sense compared to the name of who sent it?
• Do I know this person or organization?
• Does the email domain (@example.com) look right?

Verifying links in the content and attached files. (Be careful not to click a link accidentally!)

• Were you expecting an attachment?
• Does the file name of the attachment look appropriate?

Looking at the content of the message.

• Does the tone of the message sound right?
• Are there obvious grammar, spelling, or punctuation issues?
• Is the message attempting to elicit certain emotions or a sense of urgency?

Most email fraud and phishing attempts originate from external sources. This new banner will help remind members of the GC community to take extra precautions when clicking links or opening attachments and avoid divulging account credentials to an external sender or website.

Don't hesitate to contact IT Services if you have any additional questions about the new external email banner warning or call us at 212-817-7300.

We appreciate your efforts to stay alert for potential cybersecurity issues and familiarize yourself with ways to protect your personal information and university data.

Information Technology
[log in to unmask]
www.gc.cuny.edu/it

CUNY Graduate Center | 365 Fifth Ave | New York, NY 10016
www.gc.cuny.edu

Dear Graduate Center staff and faculty,

Every year, per New York State law and CUNY policy, all CUNY faculty and staff must participate in training on the prevention of sexual misconduct and workplace violence by completing both the Employee Sexual and Interpersonal Violence Prevention and Response Course (ESPARC) and the Workplace Violence Prevention Training (WVP).

All part-time employees are responsible for completing both trainings by the end of the current semester, Tuesday, December 21, 2021, to ensure their completion is logged by the University.

All full-time employees will have until Friday, July 29, 2022, to complete these trainings.

Both trainings are available online via Blackboard. To access the trainings, go to the homepage of your Blackboard account and look for the “My Organizations” tab. Underneath you will see the available courses: Graduate Center ESPARC 2021-2022 and Graduate Center WVP 2021-2022. Click on either to complete them.

The Employee Sexual Prevention and Response Course (ESPARC) is also offered live via Zoom. If you prefer this training format, please sign up online for one of the upcoming sessions, which will be held on the following dates and times:
Tuesday, November 2, 10:30-11:30 a.m.
Thursday, November 11, 10:30-11:30 a.m.
Friday, November 12, 2:00-3:00 p.m.
Tuesday, November 16, 10:30-11:30 a.m.
Thursday, November 18, 2:00-3:00 p.m.

Tuesday, November 23, 2:00-3:00 p.m.
Tuesday, November 30, 11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.

For more information, please access CUNY’s Professional Development and Learning Management page and read the FAQs. You may direct questions or requests for assistance to the Office of Human Resources at [log in to unmask].

If you have not already done so, please complete these trainings as soon as possible. Thank you very much for participating in these essential trainings.

Sincerely,

Robin L. Garrell
President

The Graduate Center, CUNY | 365 Fifth Ave | New York, NY 10016
www.gc.cuny.edu

Attention Graduate Center Faculty and Staff:

This is a reminder that, due to recent Adobe licensing changes, IT will be removing any Adobe products that were installed locally on your workstation using a license key (including Adobe Acrobat and Adobe InDesign) on or around June 7, 2021.

After June 7, you will not be able to access locally installed Adobe software via VPN or while on campus. Faculty and staff that have an ongoing need for the Adobe Creative Cloud software should contact IT Services ([log in to unmask]) to request a Creative Cloud account. CUNY’s agreement with Adobe has a maximum number of individuals to whom IT may provision a license. We ask that departments please use their best judgment on business need before asking for a license.

Please note that if you have an Adobe Creative Cloud (Adobe CC) named license the above change does not impact you.

Thank you in advance for your patience and cooperation. Please contact IT Services at [log in to unmask] if you have any questions or concerns.

Information Technology
[log in to unmask]
www.gc.cuny.edu/it

The Graduate Center, CUNY | 365 Fifth Ave | New York, NY 10016
www.gc.cuny.edu

Attention Graduate Center Faculty and Staff:

Due to recent Adobe licensing changes, IT will be removing any Adobe products that were installed locally on your workstation using a license key (including Adobe Acrobat and Adobe InDesign) by June 2021, when the license key is set to expire. 

IT will be removing this software from your home campus work computer on or around June 7, 2021. After that date, you will not be able to access locally installed Adobe software via VPN or while on campus. This agreement has a maximum number of individuals to whom IT may provision a license. We ask that departments please use their best judgment on business need before asking for a license.

Please note that if you have an Adobe Creative Cloud (Adobe CC) named license the above change does not impact you.

Thank you in advance for your patience and cooperation. Please contact IT Services at [log in to unmask] if you have any questions or concerns.

Information Technology
[log in to unmask]
www.gc.cuny.edu/it

The Graduate Center, CUNY | 365 Fifth Ave | New York, NY 10016
www.gc.cuny.edu

Where: The Graduate Center, Fifth Avenue location.

What: Network Infrastructure Maintenance – Campus Firewall Upgrade.

When: Sunday, April 18^th, 2021 from 8:00 am until 12:00 pm.

Affected users: Graduate Center Fifth Avenue location (ASRC location not affected).

As part of our continuous efforts to ensure the availability, reliability and performance of The Graduate Center technology infrastructure, Information Technology Services will be upgrading The Graduate Center Campus firewalls on Sunday, April 18^th, 2021 from 8:00 am until 12:00 pm.

During this maintenance period, the following list of services will be intermittently interrupted | inaccessible both internally and externally. The services impacted include but not limited to:

• Internet connectivity services will be intermittently interrupted/inaccessible internally and externally.
• Intermittent interruptions to Network File Services (Shared Drive S:’ Restricted Drive R:), Servers, Web services, SharePoint and telephony services.
• Remote access, VPN, OWA (wa.gc.cuny.edu), Email and other systems may experience interruptions.
• GC Library web site (library.gc.cuny.edu), and EZproxy may experience interruptions.
• Center for Urban Research websites (urbanresearchmaps.org) may experience interruptions.
• New Media Lab web sites (newmedialab.cuny.edu) may experience interruptions may experience interruptions.
• GC Website Services (ws.gc.cuny.edu) and associated sub-domains may experience interruptions.
• The CUNY Academic Commons web site (commons.gc.cuny.edu) may experience interruptions.
• On-site Wi-Fi authentication services may experience interruptions.           

We will provide an update once the work is completed.

We apologize for any inconvenience and thank you in advance for your patience and cooperation as we undertake these critical maintenance activities and service upgrades. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact IT Services at [log in to unmask].

Information Technology 
[log in to unmask] 
www.gc.cuny.edu/it

       

The Graduate Center, CUNY | 365 Fifth Ave | New York, NY 10016
www.gc.cuny.edu

Dear Colleagues,

As you know, Interim Senior Vice President and Provost Julia Wrigley has signaled her intention to return to the faculty at the end of this academic year. We are opening a national search for her successor, and a search/advisory committee has been assembled and charged with identifying candidates for the position. Professor Nick Pappas will chair the committee. Other members are:

Because one of the most effective ways to identify outstanding prospective candidates is through personal contact, I would very much appreciate your circulating the job listing for Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and notifying the search committee of any individuals you feel are exceptionally well qualified for the position. Nominations can be submitted via the 2021 Provost Search page, where there will be a link for submitting applications through CUNYFirst. Inquiries should be directed to [log in to unmask].

As an essential part of the search process, the search committee seeks input from the campus community on current issues and priorities, ideal qualities and qualifications for the next provost, and any other information or insight that will help guide the committee’s efforts. If you are interested in providing input to the committee, please contact Patti Myatt ([log in to unmask]).

All input, inquiries, nominations and applications will be held in strict confidence. Thank you for your assistance.

With best wishes,

Robin L. Garrell
President

The Graduate Center, CUNY | 365 Fifth Ave | New York, NY 10016
www.gc.cuny.edu

IT understands how challenging remote work is, especially during these unprecedented times. Therefore, we provide you with a short list of resources to help you maintain a successful remote work environment.

Laptop Request

Complete the online Laptop loaner program request form if you are need of a laptop while supplies last.

Desktop Applications

• Log into the CUNY portal with your CUNYfirst credentials to download a copy of MS Office 365 and Antivirus [offers.cuny.edu] for home use.
• Email a business justification to [log in to unmask] for Virtual Private Network (VPN) access to your GC office machine.
• You can get access to the Adobe product suite by VPN to your work machine.  If you need additional Adobe products installed, submit a request by emailing [log in to unmask].

Remote Applications

• Log into the CUNY portal with your CUNYfirst credentials to access CUNY Zoom. See CUNY ZOOM FAQ [cunyithelp.cuny.edu] for assistance.
• Chat with representatives in the following departments using LiveChat during normal business hours:
  • Information Technology
  • Human Resources
  • Financial Aid
  • Wellness Center
  • International Students

• Learn more about GC IT Remote Work Guidance and GC Online Collaboration Tools

CUNY vs GC Network Accounts

• Graduate Center Network Account ([log in to unmask]) – Use this account to access Email, VPN, Work/Campus workstation, GC/ASRC Wi-Fi, Library e-resources, GC Sharepoint/website.
• CUNYFirst ([log in to unmask]) - Use this account to access Dropbox, MS Teams, OneDrive, Blackboard, CUNY Zoom, and CUNY-wide software.
• Use the self-service password reset tool if you forgot your GC password and need to reset it.

Technical Issues

• Submit an email to [log in to unmask] and a technician will contact you shortly. Note:  When emailing [log in to unmask], the email subject field should not begin with “RE:” or “FWD”.  Email replies and forwards are ignored in ticketing system to avoid duplicate work orders.
• Escalate your issue to Mr. Mark Choon, [log in to unmask] if your technical problem isn’t being resolved in a timely matter.
• Chat with an IT Services representative via the IT Homepage

Information Technology
[log in to unmask]
www.gc.cuny.edu/it

The Graduate Center, CUNY | 365 Fifth Ave | New York, NY 10016
www.gc.cuny.edu

Attention Graduate Center Community:

IT will be conducting an upgrade of the GC 5th Avenue Avaya phone system over the next few weeks. On Thursday, November 19 from 5 PM to 7 PM, we will be performing maintenance related to this upgrade. During this time, there will be brief interruptions to phone and voicemail services.

Thank you in advance for your patience and cooperation as we undertake these maintenance and service upgrade activities.

Information Technology
[log in to unmask]
www.gc.cuny.edu/it
 

The Graduate Center, CUNY | 365 Fifth Ave | New York, NY 10016
www.gc.cuny.edu

November 9, 2020

Dear faculty and staff,

I am pleased to announce that effective November 10, 2020 the Office of Institutional Advancement and the Office of Communications and Marketing will merge. The new Office of Institutional Advancement and Communications will be led by Wendy DeMarco Fuentes, current interim VP of Communications and Public Affairs.

Wendy is a seasoned marketing and fundraising professional who joined The Graduate Center in 2018. She has excelled in raising the public profile of The Graduate Center, as well as in generating revenue through managing the special events and rentals portfolio. Before joining The Graduate Center, Wendy was Chief Marketing Officer for Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York City.

Please join me in offering sincere thanks to Jay Golan for leading the Office of Instituitional Advancement since 2013. I appreciate the commitment of staff in both offices to ensuring a smooth and successful transition.

Best wishes,

Robin L. Garrell
President​​

The Graduate Center, CUNY | 365 Fifth Ave | New York, NY 10016
www.gc.cuny.edu

November 9, 2020

Dear faculty and staff,

I am pleased to announce that effective November 20, 2020 the Office of Institutional Advancement and the Office of Communications and Marketing will merge. The new Office of Institutional Advancement and Communications will be led by Wendy DeMarco Fuentes, current interim VP of Communications and Public Affairs.

Wendy is a seasoned marketing and fundraising professional who joined The Graduate Center in 2018. She has excelled in raising the public profile of The Graduate Center, as well as in generating revenue through managing the special events and rentals portfolio. Before joining The Graduate Center, Wendy was Chief Marketing Officer for Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York City.

Please join me in offering sincere thanks to Jay Golan for leading the Office of Instituitional Advancement since 2013. I appreciate the commitment of staff in both offices to ensuring a smooth and successful transition.

Best wishes,

Robin L. Garrell
President​​

The Graduate Center, CUNY | 365 Fifth Ave | New York, NY 10016
www.gc.cuny.edu

Attention Graduate Center Community:

As a follow-up to our voicemail upgrade, we will be conducting maintenance on the voicemail system on Thursday, November 5 from 5 PM to 6 PM. During this time, there will be interruptions to voicemail services.

Thank you in advance for your patience and cooperation as we undertake these maintenance and service upgrade activities.

Information Technology
[log in to unmask]
www.gc.cuny.edu/it

The Graduate Center, CUNY | 365 Fifth Ave | New York, NY 10016
www.gc.cuny.edu

Dear Colleagues,

All members of The Graduate Center and Macaulay Honors College community need to know about The City University of New York’s Policy on Sexual Misconduct and be aware of the faculty and staff in our community—aptly designated responsible employees—with accountability to “report incidents of sexual misconduct, including all relevant details, to the Title IX coordinator.” At The Graduate Center and Macaulay Honors College, I serve as Title IX coordinator. (My contact information appears with my signoff at the bottom of this message.)

What follows is a summary of the essential elements of the University’s Policy on Sexual Misconduct and the designation of responsible employees.

Who Are Responsible Employees, and What Is Their Role?

Per CUNY’s Policy on Sexual Misconduct, when a complainant discloses to a responsible employee that he or she has an issue or concern involving sexual misconduct, the responsible employee must—to the extent possible—advise him or her of reporting obligations before any information is revealed.

Responsible employees designated at The Graduate Center and Macaulay Honors College are as follows:

*“Managers” for the purposes of Title IX are employees who have authority to make tangible employment decisions with regard to other employees, including the authority to hire, fire, promote, compensate, or assign significantly different responsibilities.

**“Supervisors” for the purposes of Title IX are employees who are not managers but have a sufficient degree of control over the working conditions of one or more employees, which might include evaluating their performance and making recommendations for changes in employment status that are given particular weight.

All other employees are strongly encouraged to report sexual misconduct to me, unless they are specifically designated as confidential employees. By definition, “confidential employees have an obligation to maintain a complainant’s confidentiality regarding allegations of sexual misconduct and will not share any identifying information with others, except as required by law in emergency circumstances.”

Confidential Resources for Students and Employees

If the complainant is a student and wants to maintain confidentiality, the responsible employee should inform the complainant of such confidential resources as:

Student Counseling Services staff and members of the student health care center will “not report allegations to the college’s Title IX coordinator or other college employees without the student’s permission. The only exception is in the case where there is an imminent threat of serious injury to the complainant or any other person.”

The Graduate Center and Macaulay Honors College employees who wish to speak to a confidential resource are referred to free confidential support services through CUNY’s Work/Life Program, CCA@Your Service.

Sincerely,
Pinar Ozgu
Interim Vice President of Institutional Equity and Human Resources
Title IX Coordinator for The Graduate Center and Macaulay Honors College
Chief Diversity Officer for The Graduate Center and Macaulay Honors College

(212) 817-7101 | [log in to unmask]

The Graduate Center, CUNY | 365 Fifth Ave | New York, NY 10016
www.gc.cuny.edu

Information Technology (IT) will be conducting an upgrade of the GC 5th Ave. Voicemail system on Thursday, October 22nd, between 5 PM and 10 PM.

Thank you in advance for your patience and cooperation as we undertake these maintenance and service upgrade activities.

Please contact IT Services via email: [log in to unmask] or use self-service: https://itservices.gc.cuny.edu/ if there are any questions or concerns.

 Information Technology
[log in to unmask]
www.gc.cuny.edu/it

The Graduate Center, CUNY | 365 Fifth Ave | New York, NY 10016
www.gc.cuny.edu

Zoom video conferencing services are now available to all GC faculty, and staff. Zoom is a cloud-based, full featured, video and audio conferencing service which allows online collaboration. The service is used for online teaching, training, remote support, audio calls, and meetings. The service allows participants to engage in synchronous online meetings from a conference room solution, a mobile device, personal computer, or phone. Participating via a smart phone or computer will allow the users to share both live video and share content from the device.

To request a Zoom account, please fill out the New Zoom Account Request Form.

Main features include:

The Graduate Center, CUNY | 365 Fifth Ave | New York, NY 10016
www.gc.cuny.edu

May 5, 2020

Dear Graduate Center Faculty and Staff,

I want to express how tremendously impressed I am by the dedication and innovation you have shown in responding to the ongoing global health crisis. These types of challenges define us. And our community has proven to be resilient, thoughtful, and dedicated to our vital mission of advancing knowledge in service of the public good.

We are also here to serve our remarkable students who are facing tremendous disruptions in their study and teaching and threats to their health and material needs. I share your concerns for their well-being and want to ensure that we do everything we can to support them.

In this spirit, I hope you will consider joining me this May 5th in a national day of philanthropy dedicated to responding to COVID-19 and consider making a gift in support of our Student Emergency Fund, which provides immediate assistance to students facing financial hardships as a result of COVID-19.

We have already distributed funding given for this purpose to more than 100 students facing a variety of challenges, from job loss to medical expenses. But requests are outpacing the funds we now have, and we anticipate a total need of $500,000.

A number of you have already contributed to this effort, and I thank you. Our collective commitments will have a powerful impact. Together, we can help our students fulfill their academic and professional potential. This is the heart of our work as faculty and administrators.

You can make a gift online at gc.cuny.edu/help-students.

Learn more about the Campaign for Student Emergency Funding.

Thank you for your consideration and your support.

Sincerely,

James Muyskens
Interim President

The Graduate Center, CUNY | 365 Fifth Ave | New York, NY 10016
www.gc.cuny.edu

April 24, 2020

Dear Colleagues,

In January I wrote to you about actions that The Graduate Center was taking to address critical budget issues. As a result of our careful planning, we have made progress toward closing the fiscal year 2020 budget gap.

Today, however, I write to inform you of further steps that we will be taking, in concert with CUNY, as a result of the economic downturn brought on by the coronavirus pandemic and the expected impact that will have on fiscal year 2021.

As you know, the New York state budget has been weakened by the steep drop in tax revenues, and further losses are projected. CUNY anticipates significant cuts to state and city funding that may in turn require further cuts to the CUNY budget. As a result, CUNY has announced a series of actions that will be taken across the University, including at The Graduate Center.

The first and most significant of the measures is that the University has implemented a freeze on all personnel actions. This encompasses all new full-time and part-time hires and discretionary salary increases. There are a few exceptions, including health and safety positions and faculty searches in which an offer has already been made. All requests for exceptions will be presented to a Vacancy Review Committee that is being established by the central office. We are aware that this measure will affect a number of departments and individuals at The Graduate Center, and we understand the painful impact of the policy.

In addition, for the remainder of the fiscal year, all CUNY colleges have been instructed to refrain from any new one-time or recurring expenditures, except those that are related to the COVID-19 crisis or to distance learning instruction. Likewise, CUNY colleges are to avoid entering into any new long-term contracts without approvals from the University Budget Office.

Finally, in compliance with the Governor’s executive order regarding essential construction, the University will review all active construction projects, resuming only those that are necessary to protect the health and safety of occupants.

These actions, while immensely challenging, are necessary to preserve the financial health of The Graduate Center and ensure that it continues to fulfill its vital educational mission. I know how dedicated all of you are to CUNY, to our institution and our students, and to the city and state that we serve. I also know that you are creative and resourceful. I am confident that our community will weather these difficult times and emerge stronger in the end.

I remain grateful for your service and committed to ensuring a bright future for our remarkable institution.

Sincerely,

James Muyskens
Interim President

The Graduate Center, CUNY | 365 Fifth Ave | New York, NY 10016
www.gc.cuny.edu

April 14, 2020

Dear Graduate Center Staff,

More than ever we must make time to reach out to each other. COVID-19 is challenging all of us. We are facing problems of a scale and intensity that are new. Together, we mourn with the members of our community who have lost loved ones and colleagues. We wish a swift recovery to those in our community who are fighting this disease.

As this pandemic continues, we are all learning. In the disruption and uncertainty, I want to tell you how deeply grateful I am to all of you for the ways you have stepped up — working long hours, adjusting to working from home and in different working conditions, using your ingenuity to help and support each other and other New Yorkers, and keeping The Graduate Center moving forward.

Some of you, designated as essential employees, are regularly coming into our building. We all owe our thanks to our public safety team, our facilities staff, and employees in our mail room and select campus offices. We have been working with team leaders to modify schedules to accommodate the needs of those employees. Our focus is on keeping everyone safe and making certain that working conditions are as safe as possible.

For those of you working from home, I know it can be frustrating at times. Members of our emergency planning team are focused on procuring and distributing the technology that many of you still need.

We continue to add resources to our coronavirus website and we invite you to keep up with the latest guidance and news. Not surprisingly, many of you are finding ways to help out. Take a look at one recent story about staff and faculty who are collaborating to contribute critical personal protective equipment to our health care providers and first responders.

Each year The Graduate Center celebrates the exceptional work of our employees with our employee recognition awards ceremony and we intend to continue this year. In the coming weeks, we will be in touch with further information on those plans.

Right now, I want to honor each of you for your work at such a difficult time. I am heartened by the way our community has united and how you have encouraged each other, shown patience with each other, and connected with each other to continue the excellence of The Graduate Center.

With sincere thanks,

James Muyskens
Interim President

The Graduate Center, CUNY | 365 Fifth Ave | New York, NY 10016
www.gc.cuny.edu

March 30, 2020

Dear Graduate Center Colleagues,

I want to thank you for the way you are responding to all the challenges we are facing because of COVID-19 and to affirm our commitment to our entire community. The Graduate Center’s core belief in building knowledge for the public good connects us now more than ever.

Our community has been working hard to care for each other and operate as smoothly as we can. All but jobs requiring physical presence on campus are being performed remotely. All classes have moved online, and faculty and staff are coming up with thoughtful and creative solutions to meet student needs in this new learning environment, from the Center for Teaching and Learning to the library and Student Counseling Center.

I have the good news to report that, just recently, Ph.D. candidate Carolyn Hanesworth (Social Welfare) was among the first of many doctoral candidates to defend her dissertation digitally. You can always check out The Graduate Center posts to our website and social media to stay up to date about our students’ accomplishments even in these times.

I am also proud to tell you that the Advanced Science Research Center has donated hundreds of boxes of gloves and other critical supplies to New York City care workers and hospitals.

With our classes up and running, our focus is turning now to the other challenges many of our students face. We have heard from many of our students of their immediate needs to cover new child care expenses and care for older relatives, to supplement lost income, to pay their rent, and to pay for urgent travel home to care for at-risk family members.

Fortunately, we already have a Student Emergency Fund in place, which is being utilized to help our students cover their unexpected expenses. My executive team and I have donated to support this effort. And I invite those of you who are in a position to do so to give what you can. You can donate directly online via a secure form on our website.

As always, I appreciate all that you do for The Graduate Center and for our students.

Sincerely,

James Muyskens
Interim President

The Graduate Center, CUNY | 365 Fifth Ave | New York, NY 10016
www.gc.cuny.edu

March 26, 2020

Dear Colleagues,

I write to share some important and exciting news regarding changes in the leadership of The Graduate Center’s library and our IT department.

I invite you to join me in congratulating Polly Thistlethwaite, who was appointed interim university dean for library services at CUNY, effective March 2. Polly served
The Graduate Center as chief librarian for nine years, and, before that, as associate librarian for public services. She is already missed on campus, but we are delighted that she is still part of the CUNY family. The entire University will benefit from her energy and insight.

Polly brought welcome innovation to our library systems and services, ensuring that our library thrived as an information network, even in the age of Google. Among her many achievements, she championed CUNY Academic Works, which provides digital access to research by scholars throughout the University. We are proud to count her among the alumni of our Master of Arts in Liberal Studies Program.

Emily Drabinski, our former critical pedagogy librarian, will serve as our interim executive chief librarian, while we undertake a search for our next chief librarian.

Emily, who joined The Graduate Center in 2019, is well-known and highly regarded throughout CUNY and among academic librarians. She is a respected researcher and frequent presenter with an extensive Twitter following. She just won the Women & Gender Studies Award for Career Achievement from the Association of College and Research Libraries. Prior to coming to The Graduate Center, she held library positions at LIU Brooklyn and at Sarah Lawrence College.

I am grateful to her for assuming this new role. Already, she has shown excellent leadership in adapting to the challenges presented by the COVID-19 crisis.

Important changes are also taking place in our IT department.

After 43 years in higher education, including 14 years at The Graduate Center, Robert Campbell, vice president for information technology and administrative services, is retiring on March 31.

A trusted member of our senior leadership, Bob has not only spearheaded our IT department, but he also stepped in to manage a number of operations during his Graduate Center career.

I thank Bob for his support, dedicated leadership, and devotion to The Graduate Center. An avid traveler, Bob will undoubtedly pursue new adventures in his well-deserved retirement.

We are fortunate that Elaine Montilla, assistant vice president for information technology services, already has been leading the day-to-day operations of our IT department. With Bob’s retirement, she will stay on in her assistant vice president role. She and the entire IT department will report to Brian Peterson, interim vice president for finance and administration and dean for academic initiatives and strategic innovation.

This new alignment allows for a streamlined leadership structure while CUNY’s search for The Graduate Center’s next president continues. I thank Elaine and Brian for graciously adapting to new roles and responsibilities.

I am confident that we will continue to fulfill the needs of our students, faculty, staff, and alumni, and I thank all of you for doing your part to keep The Graduate Center strong at this time of change and challenge.

Sincerely,

James Muyskens
Interim President

The Graduate Center, CUNY | 365 Fifth Ave | New York, NY 10016
www.gc.cuny.edu

Attention GC Faculty & Staff,

A phishing attempt is circulating with the subject line: " [action required] faculty/staff revised and updated catalog from the Interim President James L. Muyskens". The email contains a PDF attachment.

Please DO NOT click on the attachment. Delete this email immediately! It does NOT come from a reliable source.

It is a fraudulent attempt to gain access to your personal information. If you have already opened the attached pdf file, you need to change your GC Password as soon as possible.

Here is an example of this phishing message:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Lisa Trench
Date: January 31, 2020 at 10:06:14 AM EST
Subject: FW: [action required] faculty/staff revised and updated catalog from the Interim President James L. Muyskens

Dear Colleagues,

We have an exceptional workforce in The City University of New York that is strongly committed to the highest standards of ethical conduct and professionalism. Our employees work tirelessly every day to ensure that we deliver the highest quality education for our students to prepare them for success beyond graduation.

Nevertheless, as an organization committed to
The City University of New York principles of performance excellence and continuous improvement, we can always improve our operational processes. Detailed information can be found in the attachment to this email, all employees are advised to review the information.

Sincerely,

Interim President
James L. Muyskens
365 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10016 USA
[log in to unmask]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you have any questions, please email [log in to unmask]

Information Technology
[log in to unmask]
it.gc.cuny.edu

The Graduate Center, CUNY | 365 Fifth Ave | New York, NY 10016
www.gc.cuny.edu

January 9, 2020

Dear Colleagues,

Since my arrival this past summer, I have said that budget challenges are ahead of us. Now, more accurately, they are upon us. The Graduate Center faces a daunting budget deficit this year and beyond. We have, however, been working diligently to find solutions to these budgetary issues. I’d like to provide an update following my first six months and report our findings.

Let me say first that I know that despite any challenges, we are innovative and resourceful. The Graduate Center’s rich intellectual life and commitment to generating knowledge has us uniquely positioned to face and surmount challenges. We have established ourselves as a leading scholarly institution, and we benefit from a community of faculty, staff, and students who are dedicated to further the public good. We are adept at making use of our resources to advance our mission and enhance our performance.

At times, even with all these benefits at our disposal, we are presented with challenges that test our mettle. This is one of those times. It is a time to recall our core values.

The Graduate Center’s Office of Finance and Administration has been conducting a thorough review of our mid-year report and year-end projections for our fiscal year 2020 financial plan. During this review we have been mindful that we are also preparing a six-year budget to present as part of our Middle States reaccreditation process, and we must have things in order for a new permanent president. It is imperative that we create a plan to address our present financial difficulties while maintaining our institutional priorities.

As this review continues, it is becoming clear that neither The Graduate Center, nor indeed CUNY, has the resources to entirely fill a significant budget gap. Given this, we are considering what measures we need to take to significantly redress our budget shortfall.

In order to course-correct and return to a balanced budget, we will continue to confer with academic programs and departments. We will also take immediate steps to limit our expenses. I wanted to make the community aware that we are taking the following actions:

These actions, and others, will go into effect immediately and will remain in place minimally through June 30, 2020.

As we move into the new semester, we will be making financial decisions in a way that is most consistent with our core values. We will not come to these decisions easily, but it remains the only responsible course of action we can take in the face of our current financial situation. It is the right thing to do. In some cases, we are addressing items, in concert with others, that have needed attention for many years, including deferred maintenance and the longstanding need to increase compensation for adjuncts. We will employ a number of strategies to reduce costs, including the right-sizing of certain expenditures.

These are challenging times, but The Graduate Center’s mission is one that will not be compromised by these actions. The Graduate Center will weather this temporary financial adjustment and will emerge a more robust and more efficient institution. In fact, I am confident that we can use our problem-solving expertise to come out of this challenge in a stronger position and situated for growth over the long term.

Remember who we are: a leading R1 research institution with a community of capable and committed people who are driven to find solutions. We ask that you come together to pool resources where it makes sense, develop efficiencies when it is possible, and continue to think of ways to further our institution and its mission: to advance the public good through inspiring education and groundbreaking research.

Thank you for the thoughtful consideration you have already given this process during the past fiscal year and for your continuing support as we move ahead together.

Sincerely,

Jim Muyskens
Interim President

The Graduate Center, CUNY | 365 Fifth Ave | New York, NY 10016
www.gc.cuny.edu