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Colleagues:

As the ​COVID-19-19 situation continues to impact our lives and the mode of operations at CSI and throughout CUNY, changes in CUNY policies continue to be developed and modified. On Friday, April 3, Chancellor Rodriguez announces some significant updates, including the postponement of commencement and the decision for CUNY to move entirely to distance education for the summer. The attached document condenses all of the academic guidances that have come from CUNY to date. It is a lengthy document and only some sections may be pertinent to you depending on your role at CSI. For that reason, I have summarized the sections by page numbers below.

The Academic Calendar (pp. 1-2) - addresses the changes imposed in the academic calendar by the various pauses, recalibration periods and the truncated spring break, as well as providing guidance on the CUNY policy on religious exemptions for those whose religious observations are impacted by the calendar changes.

Summer 2020 and Fall 2020 Admissions (pp. 2-5) - includes updates on the application process, extensions of some deadlines, and flexibility in the delivery of some supporting documents for application. It is noteworthy that our summer applications are up over 20% relative to this time last year whereas the CUNY senior college applications in aggregate are down 14% over the same interval. It is too early to say much about fall admissions, but they are currently close to flat relative to fall 2019.

Grading Policies and changes in grading deadlines (pp. 5-7) - this section elaborates changes in grading policies that have been instituted for spring 2020 semester as a result of the COVID-19 situation. It emphasizes that these changes have only been instituted for the current semester, but may be re-evaluated depending on how the public health situation unfolds.

Clinical Placements (pp. 7-8) - this section covers changes in CUNY policies as well as those for various certifying organizations for public health and teacher preparation. These situations continue to evolve rapidly and this section includes updates from the previous guidance documents.

Financial Aid and Student Payment updates (pp. 9-12). This section includes temporary modifications to policies, changes in deadlines and other matters related to financial aid and student payment policies.

Conversion to Distance Learning (pp. 12-18). The sudden conversion to distance education this semester, not only at CSI and throughout CUNY, but across the academy has created many challenges and opportunities. This section includes the distance education policies for this semester, a variety of resources for support for faculty, staff, and students moving online, and information about open educational resources that are now available to support instruction and student success.

Shared Governance and Contractural Obligations (pp. 18-19). This section covers guidance on tenure/promotion processes and deadlines, appointment/non-reappointment notices, P & B and Public Meetings. As noted in this section, several campuses have mechanisms to facilitate anonymous online voting, and our institutional research team has such a mechanism available that allows the votes to be anonymous while independently retaining a tally of who cast votes. We will be distributing details of how to access this process early next week, in time for department appointments committee votes as well as hopefully those for the virtual College Council/Faculty Senate meetings planned for later this month.

Research Continuity (pp. 19-22) - one of the most painful aspects of the changes necessitated by the COVID-19 crisis is the impact it has had on both on campus research and research involving travel. This section covers issues related to on campus research, research involving human subjects and animals, and guidance on current restriction of research travel, data use, research involving tissue cultures, and. maintenance of research equipment.

Internships (p. 22). Brief summary of policies.

Adult and Continuing Education (p. 23)

Student Success and Inclusion (pp. 23-26). Covers issues relating to international students, veterans and active service personnel, research foundation employees, disability services, and participants in adult education/language immersion programs.

International and Domestic Travel (p. 26). This section covers current guidance on international and domestic university sponsored travel. It is important to note that all non-essential domestic and international travel is currently suspended by CUNY, so tickets for such travel, conference registrations, etc. should not be purchased until these restrictions have been lifted.

In President Fritz's memo on Friday April 3, he detailed the process of distribution of Chromebooks and iPads to students. Distribution to students is continuing through the weekend, and will extend into next week as the second shipment of devices arrives. Additionally, a group from IT, Purchasing, Facilities, and Academic Affairs is also working on a distribution plan to get devices to faculty and staff whose current IT capabilities are inadequate. We hope to have an update on this process early next week.

Thanks to all of you for the Herculean efforts you have been expending to facilitate these sudden and dramatic alterations in our business as usual. I am humbled by the talents, dedication, and tenacity of all of you as we face this crisis together.

I hope you are all staying safe and healthy​

Michael Parrish Provost and Senior VP for Academic Affairs​