From https://www.cuny.edu/coronavirus/guidance-on-academic-continuity-to-campuses/#_Toc35629929
Only entries marked with star for "new".
All In-Person Courses Suspended: Effective Monday, March 23, all in-person courses will be suspended for the duration of the States “Pause”. This applies to all undergraduate, graduate, and continuing education courses that have not yet converted to distance-learning modes. Faculty engaged in these courses are asked to continue to explore, in conversation with their students, ways in which the in-person courses can be converted to distance learning. If the course’s learning outcomes cannot ultimately be achieved via distance learning, the courses could resume once the “pause” is lifted, at which time faculty and students would work to make up for lost time. Given the circumstances, students could also opt to withdraw from the course or receive a grade of incomplete if appropriate. For in-progress continuing education courses, colleges will communicate options available to students who decide to drop or cannot continue with coursework. The University is currently developing a refund/credit policy for these types of situations related to COVID-19. Note: All distance learning courses will continue as planned.
Activation of Research Ramping Down Protocols Mandated: Effective Monday, March 23, all research projects must ramp down/suspend unless they can be conducted remotely and all colleges shall activate their corresponding emergency protocols related to animal care, equipment etc., per instructions presented in the Research Continuity section of this document (see below).
Prospective Academic and Business Travel (Faculty, Students, and Staff): All non-essential university-related international and domestic travel is indefinitely suspended at this time, this includes the suspension of all Spring 2020 and Summer 2020 study abroad programs. It also includes all CUNY-sponsored student international travel (including spring break), non-CUNY credit-bearing programs, and non-credit travel under the auspices of CUNY or any CUNY college or student organization. Please know that credits earned on non-CUNY study abroad programs this summer will not be accepted by the University.
Requests for exceptions to this policy will continue to be reviewed by the Office of Global Education and Initiatives and the Office of Risk, Audit and Compliance, but will also be elevated to the Executive Vice Chancellor and University Provost, who will make a final recommendation to the Chancellor after consideration of any national and local travel restrictions, as well as guidance established by local health authorities and the CDC for New York and the travel destination to limit the risk of exposure and unintended geographic spread of COVID-19. Offices supporting group travel should continue to submit Trip Proposals and provide risk management reporting as usual.
Planning For and Returning from Personal Travel: The Department of State’s Global Health Advisory (issued March 19, 2020) warns that a shutdown of international travel options is imminent, and that Americans abroad should arrange to immediately return to the U.S., or risk an indefinite stay abroad. In order to help CUNY students return home before it is too late, CUNY will continue to offer rebooking support to any CUNY student or employee abroad (regardless of citizenship) who is unable to make these arrangements directly with the airline. Individuals should contact evac-support@cuny.edu with details on their CUNY affiliation (including EMPLID if possible) to receive instructions on accessing this support. Students returning from abroad should coordinate closely with the Study Abroad Office on their home campus to ensure they receive support to complete the semester whenever possible. Employees returning from abroad should contact their supervisors to make arrangements to work remotely, if this is not already in place.
Middle States Council on Higher Education: MSCHE is working directly with colleges, as well as with CUNY Central, to provide support and flexibility for accreditation matters. Please know that Central will work with colleges to navigate the current rapid changes, but that MSCHE expects individual college relationships and reporting to remain in place.
Colleges must submit a letter to MSCHE by April 1, 2020 to communicate changes made in the areas of a) Distance Education; b) Temporary Agreements with Other Institutions; c) Academic Calendar; and d) Temporary Sites for Instruction. Substantive Change requirements have been temporarily waived in these areas to allow institutions to act first. MSCHE expects the college president or Accreditation Liaison Officer (ALO) to submit the letter and encourages questions via their MSCHE VP liaison.
Note that while the University is keeping MSCHE apprised as a system, this doesn’t replace the individual letters.
The Spring Annual Institutional Update (AIU) may have some flexibility but will likely still be required; MSCHE will communicate more soon.
All Self-Study Preparation Visits (kickoff visits two years before the evaluation) will be rescheduled.
Baruch has completed the Spring Self-Study visit. The GSUC’s will be rescheduled.
The CUNY MSCHE Symposium scheduled for April 24 is canceled.
For questions, please contact Karen Kapp (karen.kapp@cuny.edu) or visit our CUNY MSCHE website which includes a list of college ALOs and MSCHE VP liaisons. MSCHE will continue to email for outreach, but updates will also be available here.
Additional Blackboard Help Desk Support: CUNY has contracted with Blackboard to provide this telephone support as an additional service to our students and faculty to ensure coverage when the campus help desks are closed and Blackboard administrator support to students and faculty is unavailable. After-hours Blackboard support is to assist students and faculty with using Blackboard only; all performance, technical and access issues will remain the responsibility of campus helpdesk and Blackboard administrators during their regular support hours. Starting tonight, students and faculty with a pressing Blackboard question can call Blackboard for assistance. This after-hours Blackboard support will be available by telephone: weeknights, between 8:00pm and 8:00 the next morning; weekends, all day and night on Saturdays and Sunday.
New Curricular Resources for Faculty: In addition to the open educational resources indexed on the Office of Library Services website and the previously announced free access to commercial e-books offered by Barnes and Noble and Akademos (see below), some companies have offered free resources to colleges and universities affected by the COVID-19 virus, including:
Lumen Learning is making its courseware, Waymaker and OHM, available at no cost for courses currently in session. Lumen also provides free services to support the transition. Details here.
Pearson is similarly offering digital resources at no charge. Details here.
For faculty members seeking digital alternatives or supplements to their current course materials, these materials may be an appropriate fit. Please note that CUNY is not endorsing or requiring the use of such services. Nevertheless, CUNY is appreciative of their support in making such services available to our students and faculty. For more information, contact: Bob Maruca, robert.maruca@cuny.edu
CUNY EDGE Research Foundation (RF) campus staff, both FT and PT, may work remotely with the approval of their supervisor. CUNY RFguidance can be found here, which outlines the recommended policy and includes a Remote Work Agreement to be completed and signed by each staff member and their supervisor. CUNY OAA EDGE leadership fully supports this move and has worked with college program directors to ensure EDGE students can be served remotely. All advisement activities can be conducted via phone, email or text, and campus staff are already using a variety of platforms to do so that have been in place for more than a year. Additionally, CUNY OAA EDGE leadership has received approval from our funder, the New York City Human Resources Administration (HRA) to suspend all new referrals to our HRA Fellowship Program and to submit required documentation to HRA remotely. CUNY EDGE is fully prepared to support participating students through remote work arrangements.
As is generally the case for University-wide academic and administrative programs, all college business managers and budget directors should be keeping track of COVID- 19 expenses for all areas of operation, including Adult and Continuing Education. ACE units should be working with College leadership and Presidents to manage any new or existing financial needs resulting from COVID-19 impacts. The CUNY Budget Office is in process of working with the colleges on updating their current financial conditions. For more information, contact: Angie Datta Kamath, angie.kamath@cuny.edu.
Many of our students, perhaps especially in our Adult and Continuing Education programs, are navigating difficult financial times, both in terms of their personal finances as well as their small business operations. Below is a list of resources that may help them during these difficult times. For workers: 1) The NYC Department of Small Business Services (SBS) has a number of helpful links, including here; 2) Unemployment Insurance; 3) City of New York’s Virtual Service Center; 4) Please also encourage people to call 311 with any questions – particularly New Yorkers who lack internet access. For Employers: 1) General Guidance for Business Owners; 2) Zero-interest loans and payroll grants for small businesses; 3) NYS Department of Labor has a program available called Shared Work that enables employers to reduce their workers’ hours, and also enables those workers to be eligible for part-time Unemployment Insurance to supplement their income; 4) finally, for concerns about their business, students can contact SBS Commissioner Gregg Bishop at gbishop@sbs.nyc.gov. For more information, contact: Angie Datta Kamath, angie.kamath@cuny.edu.
“The US DOE directed all federal student loan servicers to grant an administrative forbearance to any borrower with a federally held loan who requests one. The forbearance will be in effect for a period of at least 60 days, beginning on March 13, 2020. To request this forbearance, borrowers should contact their loan servicer online or by phone. Also, an automatic suspension of payments was authorized for any borrower more than 31 days delinquent as of March 13, 2020, or who becomes more than 31 days delinquent. To request the forbearance or more details on the suspension of payments, borrowers should contact their loan servicer online or by phone.”