Annual Report 2022-2023

Committee Membership 2022-2023

Prof. Changiz Alizadeh, Mathematics and Computer Science, Secretary (2025)

Prof. Dorith Brodbar, Counseling (2025)

Prof. Noelia Diaz, English, Co-chair (2024)

Prof. Kelly Ford, Business (2023)

Prof. Janet Franzese, Nursing (2023)

Prof. Crystal Moscat, Academic Adviser (2025) left during the spring semester and was replaced by Prof. Edward Diller, Health, Physical Education, and Dance (2025)

Prof. Mohammad Javdan, Biology (2023)

Prof. Yusuf Gurtas, Mathematics and Computer Science (2024)

Prof. Tanya Zhelezcheva, English, Co-chair (2024)

 

Sub-Committee

Accessibility Committee

Chair: Prof. Angela Dotterman-Ridinger

Liaisons

Vice-President William Faulkner, Liaison, President’s Designee

Mr. Benami Freier and/or Andrew Muller, Liaison, Services for Students with Disabilities

Mr. John Triolo, Liaison, Office of Campus Safety

Prof. Anthony Monahan (Health, Physical Education & Dance), Liaison, Steering Committee

Mr. Mel Rodriguez, Liaison, Environmental Health and Safety

Ms. Isabel Hocevar, R.N., Liaison, Office of Health Services

Prof. Clara Wajngurt (Mathematics), Chair, PSC Health and Safety

 

Student members

Vacant

Membership composition changes

New Members:

Parisa Assassi, Health, Physical Education, and Dance, Secretary (2026)

Jill Bellovary, Physics (2026)

Elizabeth Mauro, Nursing (2026)

 

Outgoing Members:

Prof. Janet Franzese, Nursing (2023)

Prof. Kelly Ford, Business (2023)

Prof. Mohammad Javdan, Biology (2023)

Upcoming year committee officers

Prof. Dorith Brodbar, Counseling, (2025)

Prof. Changiz Alizadeh, Mathematics and Computer Science (2025)

Prof. Crystal Moscat, Advisement (2025)

Committee Meeting Dates and Times

During the 2022-2023 academic year, the committee met on the following dates:

Fall 2022

September 30, 2022, Zoom at 12:15 pm

November 9, 2022, Zoom at 12:15 pm

           

Spring 2023

March 1, 2023, Zoom at 12:15 pm

May 3, 2023, H-322A and Zoom at 3:00 pm

 

2022-2023 Bylaws Charge for Committee

2022-2023 Bylaws Charge for Committee:

  1. Through a process that involves the administration, formulate and recommend to the Academic Senate policies and practices pertaining to the College environment in matters of health, safety, security, maintenance and allocation of facilities;
  2. Evaluate and report to the Academic Senate on the administrative response to problems in the College environment;
  3. Receive all proposals concerning naming and renaming campus facilities and make appropriate recommendations to the Academic Senate;
  4. Review and report on College Master Plan regarding facilities and the campus environment;
  5. Review the assessment of the campus with regard to services for students with disabilities and disability issues as the assessment relates and pertains to the campus environment and campus facilities and make appropriate recommendations to the Academic Senate.

Committee Activities for 2022-2023 Academic Year

 

Subcommittee on College Accessibility

  • The EQLD sought reapproval of the subcommittee after having a discussion on the work the Accessibility Committee focuses on. Professor Dotterman-Ridinger discussed how the subcommittee focuses specifically on the issue of accessibility, working to raise awareness of accessibility issues among the faculty, particularly with regard to pedagogy, which is different from the broader focus of the EQLD. Noelia Diaz presented at the Senate Committee on October 11 2022 and the subcommittee was reapproved. The Accessibility Subcommittee decided to move forward with planning to survey students via the OAS office to identify supports that they find most helpful.   The Subcommittee is also planning to facilitate a panel discussion for the fall FEC meeting among representatives from the various support offices on campus that might advise professors as they meet the needs of their students, particularly those students who we may suspect have disabilities or challenges of some kind, but who do not disclose or request accommodations to support their learning.

Child Care Center Updates

  • QCC has received a $1.2M allocation for NY State to support the addition of a Childcare Center. These funds are already available to the College and with President Mangino's support and a task force headed by David Wasserman, we have engaged an outside architectural firm to design a compliant facility in the Y-Building space formerly used for testing. Our biggest challenge is that the $1.2 million is likely not enough to complete the facility and therefore we will need additional CUNY or legislative support. We will have a cost estimate from the Architect in the next couple of weeks. William Faulkner updated the committee on the status of the childcare facility center project. The architect has been contacted. The location space has been allocated. The fund of $1.3 million allocated will not suffice to complete the project. The hope is that funding can be in part diverted from other CUNY sources. Dr Faulkner is to meet with the CUNY chief financial officer to discuss proceeding with the first steps of the project and approving the budget for the project. William Faulkner updated the committee regarding the day care center which would break ground in the Summer of 2023 and would be completed by 2024. The search for a director and teachers will need to begin.

 

 

ADA Restrooms

  • The Library project cost estimates are now significantly over the available budget. This is primarily due to the location of these bathrooms which are adjacent to a building 'riser' (interior space in which our communication data lines and other infrastructure resides) and the original plan to make space compliant with ADA requirements includes significant costs of relocating the riser. We are currently looking at a different design that may allow us to use the available funding to start renovating bathrooms to ADA standards on every other floor (as is allowed under the ADA) with the funds already available. Alternatively, the college will need to raise significantly more capital or legislative support to complete all the bathrooms at one time per the existing design. This capital 'fundraising', of course, will take at least two or three additional years to accomplish.

Campus Facilities Updates

  • Mosquito screens Humanities. Concerns have been raised regarding the increased presence of mosquitoes in the Humanities building when the windows are open given the rise of West Nile Virus cases in New York City and the expectation that is a pattern that will continue to accelerate with expected rainier summers. Mr Faulkner stated that this would be a large project. Mr. Cartolano and Mr Faulkner discussed the use of ENVELOP projects that may cover the funds for windows energy savings that the screens for the windows can be included as well.
  • Science Building Physics department heating temperature too high in 80 F. Mr Faulkner suggested that the HVAC unit be replaced and this has been reported to the vice-chancellor.
  • Humanities’ Elevators. The elevators were serviced and reset and have been working without further complaints for the past two weeks. Faulkner reported that the college received three million with a matching amount to be received from the State of NY for a total of six million to help with the elevator issue.
  • Braille Signage for Classrooms needs follow up.
  • Bathroom signage stating use according to individuals’ gender identity or expression are missing all across campus. The machine used for the signs is broken but once fixed new signs will be placed throughout.

PSC CUNY and Health and Safety

  • Clara Wajngurt, Chair, PSC Health and Safety regularly reported to the Committee about health and safety concerns throughout campus.

 

Melissa Reggio Program

  • The committee invited the Melissa Reggio coordinators to discuss the program and determine how the EQLD committee can collaborate and/or support it.

Comprehensive Learning Support Program (CLSP).

  • CLSP programs for students with learning disabilities are available across the country (in both public and private schools) but absent in CUNY. Professor Noelia  Diaz met with Carrie Shockley (Director of Disability Programs in CUNY) over the summer to inquire about offering CLSP in CUNY.  Carrie Shockley expressed interest but funding is an issue. Hostos is finalizing a model for the program and agreed to share it once complete it.  Professor Diaz followed up with Carrie Shockley but Hostos’ model has not been completed yet.

 

Additional Actions

The committee updated the addendum, prepared, and voted on a resolution statement for Senate approval. The committee members were provided with sample charges and an existing draft of the revised addendum in order to align the charges to the current work of the committee. The final and approved version of the addendum was discussed on May 3, 2023 (see Appendix). [Senate Whereas Document, Addendum revision; draft of addendum link 1; link 2; reference file]

Committee Recommendations for 2023-2024

  • Continue discussion on the necessity for a liaison from the Melissa Riggio Program
  • Maintain monitoring regarding bathroom signage.
    • Resolution 2019: “Signs will be 4” x 4” with white lettering on black background and will say “UNDER THE LAW, ALL INDIVIDUALS HAVE THE RIGHT TO USE THIS SINGLE SEX FACILITY CONSISTENT WITH THEIR GENDER IDENTITY OR EXPRESSION.””
  • Bathroom ADA compliance
  • Follow up on the progress, completion, and results of the OAS survey and conduct a discussion to determine appropriate course of action.
  • Explore the potential need for a dedicated committee or a relevant subcommittee specifically for matters concerning the Child Care Center which is anticipated to be in operation in Spring 2024.

ommittee Membership 2023-2024

Committee Membership 

Prof. Changiz Alizadeh, Mathematics and Computer Science (2025)

Prof. Parisa Assassi, Health, Physical Education, and Dance, Secretary (2026)

Prof. Jill Bellovary, Physics (2026)

Prof. Dorith Brodbar, Counseling (2025)

Prof. Noelia Diaz, English, Co-chair (2024)

Prof. Edward Diller, Health, Physical Education, and Dance (2025)

Prof. Elizabeth Mauro, Nursing (2026)

Prof. Yusuf Gurtas, Mathematics and Computer Science (2024)

Prof. Tanya Zhelezcheva, English, Co-chair (2024)

 

Sub-Committee

Accessibility Committee

Chair: Prof. Angela Dotterman-Ridinger

 

Liaisons

Vice-President William Faulkner, Liaison, President’s Designee

Mr. Benami Freier and/or Andrew Muller, Liaison, Services for Students with Disabilities

Mr. John Triolo, Liaison, Office of Campus Safety

Prof. Anthony Monahan (Health, Physical Education & Dance), Liaison, Steering Committee

Mr. Mel Rodriguez, Liaison, Environmental Health and Safety

Ms. Isabel Hocevar, R.N., Liaison, Office of Health Services

Prof. Clara Wajngurt (Mathematics), Chair, PSC Health and Safety

 

Student members

Vacant

 

Individual member contributions and thanks

The Committee Co-chairs would like to express their gratitude to several colleagues:

Prof. Changiz Alizadeh, for his work as secretary for the committee.

Prof. Yusuf Gurtas, Prof. Janet Franzese, Prof. Kelly Ford, Prof. Mohammad Javdan and Prof. Dorith Brodbar, for their work on updating the EQLD guide.

Vice President Bill Faulkner, President’s Designee, for his unwavering commitment to campus initiatives and timely responsiveness.

Prof. Clara Wajngurt, Chair, PSC Health and Safety, for her dedication to the concerns of students, faculty and staff regarding on-campus health and safety issues.

Profs. Steven Dahlke, and Zivah Perel Katz, Steering Committee members, for guidance and support throughout the year.

Respectfully Submitted,

Prof. Noelia Diaz, English

Prof. Tanya Zhelezcheva, English

Appendix: Amendment for Committee Charge

WHEREAS, the latest Master Plan was completed on December 2017 and there is not a timeline for a new one

WHEREAS, “Participate when commissioned” more accurately reflects the charge for the Committee 

BE IT RESOLVED THAT Charge #4 “Review and report on College Master Plan regarding facilities and the campus environment” be amended as “Participate when commissioned to review and report on College Master Plan regarding facilities and the campus environment including naming and renaming facilities”

 

Appendix: Revised Addendum

  1. Introduction

The Committee on Environment, Quality of Life and Disability Issues dedicates its efforts to addressing matters related to these essential areas:

  1. Through a process that involves the administration, formulate and recommend to the Academic

Senate policies and practices pertaining to the College environment in matters of health, safety, security, maintenance and allocation of facilities;

  1. Evaluate and report to the Academic Senate on the administrative response to problems in the

College environment; 

  1. Receive all proposals concerning naming and renaming campus facilities and make appropriate recommendations to the Academic Senate;
  2. Participate when commissioned to review and report on College Master Plan regarding facilities and the campus environment including naming and renaming facilities;
  3. Review the assessment of the campus with regard to services for students with disabilities and disability issues as the assessment relates and pertains to the campus environment and campus facilities and make appropriate recommendations to the Academic Senate.

 

  1. General Operation

 The Committee will receive regular updates on college environmental issues as it relates to the health, safety, security, maintenance and disability of students/staff/faculty from the following offices:

 

  • Office of Services for Students with Disabilities
  • Office of Health Services
  • Office of Campus Facilities
  • Office of Environmental Health and Safety
  • Office of Campus Safety
  • PSC Health and Safety
  • President’s Designee
  • Accessibility Subcommittee

The Committee will work with these offices listed above to review, discuss and make recommendations to the Academic Senate.

 Request from the Administration an environmental impact report related to the creation of any new buildings or programs requiring the use of College facilities or services as well as naming and renaming college facilities.

 

When needed, create a subcommittee to review concerns and issues on the master plan of the College and formulate suggestions/ recommendations to be reviewed by the Committee on Environment, Quality of Life and Disability Issues.

Committee Links

Campus Cultural Centers

Kupferberg Holocaust Center exterior lit up at nightOpens in a new window
Kupferberg Holocaust Center Opens in a new window

The KHC uses the lessons of the Holocaust to educate current and future generations about the ramifications of unbridled prejudice, racism and stereotyping.

Russian Ballet performing at the Queensborough Performing Arts CenterOpens in a new window
QPAC: Performing Arts CenterOpens in a new window

QPAC is an invaluable entertainment company in this region with a growing national reputation. The arts at QPAC continues to play a vital role in transforming lives and building stronger communities.

Queensborough Art Gallery exterior in the afternoonOpens in a new window
QCC Art Gallery

The QCC Art Gallery of the City University of New York is a vital educational and cultural resource for Queensborough Community College, the Borough of Queens and the surrounding communities.