Name: CUNY IT Conference Virtual Event 2020
Start: 2020-12-03T08:00

Overview

The 19th annual CUNY IT Conference convened virtually last fall. The conference brought together faculty and administration from across the CUNY system to discuss IT.

The conference theme, “The Next or New Normal?”, explored CUNY’s response to changes that events of 2020 both forced and inspired. It was be a chance for stakeholders from across CUNY to discuss the pedagogical, social and economic effects of the pandemic, including the switch to online education and how it both presented new opportunities and exacerbated existing inequalities. How does CUNY’s history, present and anticipated future influence our perspectives on change and ability to set examples in the realm of equitable higher education? Are we working towards a return to “normal” or moving towards a new horizon?

In considering the theme of “The Next or New Normal?”, we asked the questions:

How did existing systems and technologies at CUNY help or hinder our transition to distance learning in Spring 2020, and how did they help or challenge us to prepare for Fall 2020?
How can CUNY prepare for and become more resilient to unforeseen changes in higher education over the coming years?
How can CUNY use moments of upheaval to imagine a more just and equitable university, rather than just a “return to normal” when the crisis passes?

"Our 19th Annual CUNY IT Conference will also be our groundbreaking, first-ever virtual IT conference. The appropriate subject, 'The Next or New Normal?', will explore whether CUNY (and higher education in general) is moving into a new era in terms of instruction and administration. Our current situation raises many new questions and issues that will make this upcoming conference especially interesting and important."

–Brian Cohen, Vice Chancellor and University CIO, City University of New York (CUNY)

A message from our Keynote Speaker

Speakers

Hector Batista

Executive Vice Chancellor and Chief Operating Officer, CUNY

Hector Batista joined CUNY as the University’s executive vice chancellor and chief operating officer on July 1, 2019, bringing with him more than 25 years of experience leading prominent organizations of all kinds – public, private, nonprofit and government – that have helped the city and its residents thrive.
He was a trailblazer in each of his two previous positions – the first Latino president and CEO in the 100-year history of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce and, before that, the first Latino CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York City, the nation’s first and New York’s largest youth-mentoring organization. In his eight years at BBBS, from 2010 to 2018, he expanded the organization’s presence throughout the city, opening modern new offices in the four outer boroughs, growing recruitment of volunteers there and doubling the number of children served.
Hector has devoted most of his professional life to government and public service. He began his career with local economic development organizations in Brooklyn before joining the Brooklyn Borough President’s office, where he held senior management positions in development and finance over the course of seven years. In 1996, he moved to City Hall, serving as deputy commissioner and chief operating officer of the city’s Housing Preservation and Development Department.
In 1999, Hector left government for the private sector, joining Jeffrey M. Brown Associates, a building and construction management firm, as managing director and chief operating officer. In that position, he was responsible for projects in 18 states and an operating budget of $450 million. He moved back into the public service sector as executive vice president for the New York metro region of the American Cancer Society. In that role, he was an influential voice in the successful campaign to ban smoking in most New York City restaurants and public spaces. He next spent five years as CEO of the Vocational Foundation (now The Way to Work), a leading workforce development program for economically and educationally disadvantaged young adults in New York City.
Hector has served on the boards of St. Francis College and Bishop Loughlin High School; on Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Young Men’s Initiative; and the Battery Park City Authority, a post to which he was appointed by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo. He was the 2016 recipient of the Community Leadership Award at the Crain’s Custom Hispanic Executive & Entrepreneur Awards and the 2011 recipient of the “El Award,” an honor given by El Diario/La Prensa to the most outstanding men in New York’s Latino community.

Howard Apsan

University Director of Environmental, Health, Safety and Risk Management, CUNY

Howard Apsan serves as the university director of Environmental, Health, Safety and Risk Management (EHSRM) for The City University of New York, the largest urban university system in the United States. CUNY has 24 colleges, graduate schools and professional schools; approximately 540,000 matriculated and non-matriculated students; 35,000 faculty members and other employees; and more than 23 million square feet of space in almost 300 buildings located throughout New York City’s five boroughs. The university director of EHSRM is responsible for environmental health and safety (EH&S) management and compliance throughout the University; and serves as the University’s chief risk officer, tasked with assessing liabilities and designing systems for minimizing CUNY’s operational and reputational risks and promoting resiliency and continuity of operations. He chairs the University’s Environmental Health and Safety Council; the Risk Management and Business Continuity Council; and the Emergency Preparedness Task Force.
Before joining CUNY, Howard worked as an analyst, manager and consultant for most of his career. He served for several years in New York City government at the Mayor’s Office, the Board of Education and the Sanitation Department. He left municipal government to pursue a career in environmental and risk management consulting, which included eight years as a principal and, ultimately national director, of a nationwide consulting firm, and led to the founding of his own firm, Apsan Consulting, Inc. He has served clients throughout the United States and has extensive international experience.
In addition to his management and consulting activities, he has been a member of the faculty at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs since 1986 and also teaches in Columbia’s Sustainability Management program. He has served on the United States Technical Advisory Group (US TAG) for ISO 14000, the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) Environmental Committee (E-50), the Environmental Commission in Springfield (New Jersey) – where he is also a lieutenant in the police reserve – and chaired the New York Chamber of Commerce Environment and Energy Committee and the New York Chapter of the Environmental Auditing Roundtable. He is an LEED Accredited Professional, a member of the Editorial Board of Environmental Quality Management and writes and lectures regularly.
He earned his B.A. and M.A. from Brooklyn College, and his M.Phil. and Ph.D. from Columbia University.

Brian Cohen

Vice Chancellor for Technology and University Chief Information Officer, CUNY

Brian Cohen joined The City University of New York as its chief information officerin December 2001. As the vice chancellor for technology and University CIO, he directs the Office of Computing and Information Services, which supports the enterprise IT needs of the University and houses its data center. He is also responsible for developing the University’s technology strategy and providing leadership and direction with respect to the operation of CUNY’s technology systems, core business applications, voice and data networks, IT Security, data center operations, as well as the implementation of the University’s enterprise resource planning project (CUNYfirst).
Brian has taken multiple steps to ensure that CUNY has state-of-the art, cost-effective technology in areas as disparate as student registration to emergency management. In addition to bringing the Blackboard learning system to CUNY, he has developed and spearheaded CUNYfirst – a major multi-year effort to replace over 25 disparate, antiquated university systems that support student administration, financial management and human resource management with one fully integrated solution. He was also instrumental in developing CUNY Alert, a customized, campus-centered emergency messaging system built upon a single university-wide platform.
To develop and coordinate technology strategy, Brian co-chairs the IT Steering Committee composed of campus CIOs. The committee meets monthly to develop technology strategy across CUNY campuses and has been key in reducing IT costs through aggregate purchases of enterprise services.
Within CIS, Brian has established the following offices to better serve the CUNY community: a Chief Information Security Office to ensure that CUNY campuses have the procedures, tools and training necessary to ensure a secure online experience; a Project Management Office to support the development of enterprise solutions through the use of formal project management methods and tools; and a Technology Training Office that coordinates IT professional development activities including IT Leadership Professional Training for all CUNY staff.
Prior to joining CUNY, Brian served as deputy commissioner in the New York City Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications from 2000 to 2001. In this role, he was responsible for using technology solutions to support City business operations and overseeing the City’s E-Government Office and internal consulting technology staff. Brian developed the City of New York’s E-Government strategy and implemented a new nyc.gov website that provides many services traditionally only available by visiting government offices.
From August 1997 to January 2000, Brian served as deputy director of the New York City Mayor’s Office of Operations – Year 2000 Project Office (Y2K). Prior to this appointment, he worked in various positions in the Mayor’s Office of Operations beginning in 1993. He received a B.S. in Computer Science from St. John’s University and a J.D. from Touro Law School.

Doriane K. Gloria

Vice Chancellor of Human Resources Management, CUNY

Doriane K. Gloria began her role at The City University of New York on December 2, 2019 as vice chancellor of human resources management. Previously, she served at the highest levels of human resources management in higher education, health care and nonprofit organizations. Most recently, she worked as the vice president of human resources at the New York Blood Center, where she was recognized for her leadership in increasing employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities. She also served in a similar capacity at the Physician Affiliate Group of New York, where she designed, built and staffed a human resources infrastructure for this primary affiliate of the NYC Health and Hospitals Corporation.
Prior to that, Doriane was the chief human resources officer at Suffolk County Community College, the largest community college in the State University of New York system, where she developed and implemented college-wide policies to improve labor and employee relations, benefits planning and training programs. She is an expert in performance management, talent acquisition and retention, benefits and compensation, employee/labor relations and many other skillsets within the human resources arena.
She started her career at NYU Medical Center, where she worked for nearly 20 years, rising to the position of senior director of human resources for the network of medical facilities that included NYU Hospitals Center, the Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation and the NYU School of Medicine.
Doriane earned her MBA in management and organizational behavior from NYU’s Stern School of Business and a BBA in management from Hofstra University.

Matthew Sapienza

Senior Vice Chancellor and Chief Financial Officer, CUNY

Matthew Sapienza is the senior vice chancellor and chief financial officer at The City University of New York, where he is responsible for overseeing and managing the finances and business relationships of CUNY’s 25 colleges and professional schools and for the University’s central administration. In his current role, he has responsibility for the overall management of $3 billion in state and city tax-levy operating funds and more than $1 billion in tuition revenues.
Matthew directly supervises the University Budget Office, the Office of the University Controller, the Office of Treasury Services and the Office of University Strategic Sourcing. These offices engage in financial activities related to budget management, accounting, financial reporting, treasury and cash management, endowment management, procurement, accounts payable, financial aid disbursements and shared services for financial operations. His career spans a period of over 25 years of distinguished public service in senior level budget and finance administration. He was appointed senior vice chancellor in September 2016 after serving in three other key finance positions at CUNY: vice chancellor of Budget and Finance (from 2014 to 2016), associate vice chancellor of Budget and Finance (from 2009 to 2013) and University budget director (from 2004 to 2009).
At CUNY, Matthew was instrumental in the development and implementation of the CUNY Compact, an innovative financing strategy that earned national recognition. Under his leadership, the Office of Budget and Finance has continually generated operational efficiencies and strengthened the fiscal integrity of the University. These accomplishments include achieving reductions in administrative spending and energy costs, significantly improving Minority and Women-owned Business Enterprise (MWBE) participation throughout the University, obtaining unmodified opinions on the University’s financial statements and implementing shared services models in purchasing and accounts payable for multiple campuses.
Before becoming University budget director, Matthew served over 11 years at the New York City Department of Education. During his last four years at DOE, he was deputy budget director. In this capacity, he provided leadership to line managers and was responsible for maintenance, oversight and reporting of the school system’s $12 billion budget. He also served as a policy-level resource to executive management on key financial issues and represented the DOE in high-level dealings involving fiscal oversight at the city, state and federal levels. Prior to this, he worked for five years as a senior budget analyst for the New York City Fire Department.
Matthew holds a BBA in Finance from Pace University’s Lubin School of Business and an MBA in Finance from St. John’s University.

Alexander C. Kafka

Senior Editor, The Chronicle of Higher Education

Alexander C. Kafka is a senior editor who has been with The Chronicle of Higher Education since 1998. Previously, he worked for Newsday and other daily newspapers and was senior press officer at the Brookings Institution. He has also written about books and the arts for The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The Chicago Tribune, The American Prospect and many other publications. He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University in 1986 with a bachelor’s degree in English. Follow him on Twitter @AlexanderKafka or email him at alexander.kafka@chronicle.com.

Thursday, December 3
9:00 am Eastern	Welcome
9:05 am Eastern	Chancellor’s Opening Remarks Félix V. Matos Rodríguez, Chancellor, CUNY
9:10 am Eastern	The Challenges of Going Remote and the New Normal at CUNY This keynote panel provides the opportunity to hear from the leaders of CUNY on the challenges faced and lessons learned in quickly pivoting to remote status in response to the COVID crisis. They will discuss the impact on the CUNY community and on their organizations, and also evaluate the key initiatives taken to support the University in its remote status. The lessons learned since March 2020 are also informing the thinking and planning for CUNY going forward. Panelists will share how the experiences from this event are reflected in their ongoing work at CUNY. Moderator: Hector Batista, Executive Vice Chancellor and Chief Operating Officer, CUNY Howard Apsan, University Director of Environmental, Health, Safety and Risk Management, CUNY Brian Cohen, Vice Chancellor for Technology and University Chief Information Officer, CUNY Doriane Gloria, Vice Chancellor of Human Resources Management, CUNY Matthew Sapienza, Senior Vice Chancellor and Chief Financial Officer, CUNY
10:05 am Eastern	Break
10:10 am Eastern	Concurrent Sessions I Developing Communities of Practice through Digital Pedagogy This panel brings together GC Digital Fellows from The Graduate Center and instructors from City College’s NEH CARES project to showcase approaches to digital humanities pedagogy. Following a brief overview of the challenges faced by each institution, panelists will provide, through lightning talks, tangible examples of DH pedagogy, including lessons learned, tools to consider and curricular materials, and discuss models for building communities of practice at CUNY campuses. Param Ajmera, Digital Fellow, English PhD Candidate, The Graduate Center Yolande Brener, Adjunct Assistant Professor, English, The City College of New York Filipa Calado, Digital Fellow, English PhD Candidate, The Graduate Center Connor French, Digital Fellow, Biology PhD Candidate, The Graduate Center Yuxiao Luo, Digital Fellow, Business (Information Systems) PhD Candidate, The Graduate Center Dimitris C. Papadopoulos, NEH CARES Digital Humanities Instructional Technologist, Division of Humanities and the Arts, The City College of New York Janelle Poe, Adjunct Assistant Professor, Black Studies, The City College of New York Lisa Rhody, Deputy Director of Digital Initiatives, The Graduate Center Debra Williams, Adjunct Lecturer, English, The City College of New York Adapting Current K-12 Educational Technology in the Higher Ed Classroom This panel proposes to examine the issues of availability and integration of K-12 educational technologies for use in higher ed classrooms. These technologies allow instructors to provide education that incorporates the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) both during this crisis and beyond. The panel will also consider issues of academic freedom as it applies to the technologies instructors deem important in supporting our students in their learning process. Mariya Gluzman, Adjunct Lecturer of Philosophy, Brooklyn College Juan Soto-Franco, Adjunct Lecturer of English, Hostos Community College Pamela Stemberg, Adjunct Assistant Professor of English, The City College of New York and Hostos Community College Building Capacity to Support the College Community Reacting to the pandemic, CUNY campuses innovated quickly to provide essential services remotely. To build capacity and infrastructure to connect faculty and students to services and support, Baruch's Zicklin Undergraduate Programs Office built new structures and systems to support students while John Jay's Department for Online Education with the Teaching and Learning Center adapted the existing infrastructure for faculty needs. Both initiatives are models for building capacity for distance learning. Ken Eng, Assistant Director, Zicklin Undergraduate Programs, Baruch College Amanda Persaud, Academic Programs Coordinator, Zicklin Undergraduate Programs, Baruch College Bang Lu, Data Support Coordinator, Zicklin Undergraduate Programs, Baruch College Judith Cahn, Director, Department of Online Education and Support, John Jay College Gina Foster, Director, Teaching and Learning Center, John Jay College Modernizing Institutions with Next-Gen Identity Management Identity has evolved tremendously over the last several years – and particularly in recent months with the increase in remote users. Colleges and universities need to securely and easily connect their students, staff, alumni, donors and a dozen more campus users to the necessary tools for productivity – and from anywhere and from any device. All while mitigating the associated cyber risks to ensure a secure and seamless user experience. From cost savings and productivity to automation and lifecycles, a modern identity and access management approach can benefit institutions greatly. Dmitriy Aminov, Director, IT Engineering, The Juilliard School Kevin Bresser, Director of Higher Education, Okta Marianne Casey, Regional Sales Manager, Okta Steve Doty, Chief Technology Officer, The Juilliard School Improve and Accelerate Assessment for More Effective Remote Learning Effective assessment is challenging under normal circumstances. Rushing to deliver remote assessment in a period of uncertainty is harder still. Hear firsthand from your peers how they were able to utilize technology to seamlessly administer and grade all of their assessments, and the impact AI has had in their remote instruction. Learn how to adapt and deliver your existing assessments, streamline workflows, accelerate feedback and better support your students to help transform grading into learning. Kelle Cruz, Assistant Professor and Research Associate, AMNH, Department of Astrophysics, Hunter College Katy Dumelle, Gradescope Instructor Success and Former Math Instructor, Turnitin
11:10 am Eastern	Break / Lunch
1:00 pm Eastern	Concurrent Sessions II CUNY SPS Online Teaching Essentials: Building Flexibility for the Future The Summer 2020 Online Teaching Essentials Workshop (OTE) helped 2,000 CUNY faculty prepare to teach online. We present the structure, content and preliminary outcomes of OTE, followed by a discussion with stakeholders, including campus liaisons, campus teaching and learning experts, workshop facilitators and faculty participants, on how the OTE influenced their preparation for the upcoming semester and what lessons the experience offers for building flexibility and resilience for the future. Loretta Brancaccio-Taras, Professor of Biological Sciences and Director of the Center for e-Learning, Kingsborough Community College Sarah Kresh, Instructional Design Manager, Faculty Development and Instructional Technology, CUNY School of Professional Studies Allison Lehr Samuels, Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning, Baruch College Tom Peele, Associate Professor of English and Director of the Teaching and Learning Center, The City College of New York Ruru Rusmin, Director of Faculty Development and Instructional Technology, CUNY School of Professional Studies Jennifer Sparrow, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, CUNY School of Professional Studies William Carr, Associate Professor of Biology, Medgar Evers College Elizabeth L. Hardman, Associate Professor of History, Bronx Community College Catherine Kawalek, Lecturer, Narendra Paul Loomba Department of Management, Baruch College Tom Zlabinger, Assistant Professor of Music, York College Supporting the “New Normal” through Technology Training This panel describes its work identifying and developing training tools that support a remote workforce at the Central Office and how these same training initiatives provide support for the campuses’ remote work and learning. Amish Batra, Director of Enterprise Technology Services, Borough of Manhattan Community College Chandra Cherry, IT Technology Training Director, CUNY Central Office Anastasiya Fatiy, IT Technology Training Manager, CUNY Central Office Jose Julme, Information Technology Specialist, Hunter College Safiul Roni, Information Technology Specialist, Lehman College Technology for Student Learning, Research and Advocacy Students and staff from BMCC present on their experience of curating the exhibition, Unsung Heroines of Color, online, what skillsets they acquired in the process and how their views on activism and voting evolved: https://openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu/asap-exhibition/. John Jay faculty explain how students helped to develop New York Slavery Records Index, an online searchable compilation of NY records identifying enslaved individuals and their enslavers: https://nyslavery.commons.gc.cuny.edu/. Anita Tarnai, Project Manager, Borough of Manhattan Community College Jahkwan Taillefer, Student, Borough of Manhattan Community College Ines Anous, Student, Borough of Manhattan Community College Wesley Sanders, Student, Borough of Manhattan Community College Ned Benton, Professor, John Jay College of Criminal Justice Judy-Lynne Peters, Lecturer, John Jay College of Criminal Justice Andrea Balis, Professor, John Jay College of Criminal Justice Solid Ground: Enterprise Technology Supporting CUNY's COVID Response This session highlights how Computing and Information Services (CIS) worked with CO staff and campus CIOs to leverage investments in enterprise applications, identity access management (IAM) systems and network infrastructure to support the CUNY community in its urgent transition to distance learning and remote work in response to COVID-19. The panel will discuss how this solid technology foundation enabled CUNY to meet the challenges to rapidly support distance learning. Stephen Walsh, University Executive Director – Enterprise IT Services Wayne Levy, Director, Application Lifecycle Management John Bouma, Director, University Network Services Mark Manis, Director, Identity and Access Management Krafins Valcin, Assistant Director, Enterprise Application Service Delivery All of Central Office – CIS An Infrastructure Admin’s Journey to the Cloud Moving data and workloads to the public cloud is ripe for opportunities to make expensive mistakes, but is also a proving ground for infrastructure admins to learn a new paradigm to operate within more efficiently. In this session, you'll hear from an industry veteran who has made the transition from building datacenters, virtualizing everything, and has crossed over to the promised land of cloud. Included in the presentation will be a discussion on products and services instrumental in building successful infrastructure and operations in and across cloud providers. Nick Howell, Global Field Chief Technology Officer, Public Cloud Services, NetApp Navigating Change with Chatbots: How AI Provides a Path Forward COVID-19 underscores the importance of scale and the need for nimble systems. As we navigate the new normal, those leading the way must leverage technology that supports student needs and operational goals alike. AI chatbots and AI-powered communication tools provide custom-built solutions for connecting users with information and support anytime and anywhere. Hostos Community College and Lehman College both leverage AI chatbots and tools at their institutions. Join us to review how their work can shine a light on the path forward as we navigate unprecedented times. Mary Frances Coryell, Vice President of Business Development and Strategic Partnerships, Ivy.ai Ronald Bergmann, Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer, Lehman College
2:00 pm Eastern	Break
2:30 pm Eastern	Concurrent Sessions III Managing BMCC Online Student Support in a Crisis BMCC e-Learning Center staff will recount major changes to their processes and systems to meet the rising demand and evolving needs for student support since the start of the pandemic. We changed how our department operates, coordinated with several other departments and quickly scaled up all resources for students, staff and faculty. In this presentation, we will explain our new support tree, the new services we implemented and overall how we transitioned to a fully online school. Alex Pereira, Student Support and Retention Manager Chris Medellin, E-Learning Director Brian Nemeth, Blackboard Manager All of Borough of Manhattan Community College Ethics and Ed Tech at CUNY During and Beyond the Pandemic The CUNY-wide shift online in response to COVID-19 brought issues of technology policy, data collection and student privacy to the fore. This panel will feature faculty, staff and students who research and advocate for ethical educational technology practices across CUNY. Panelists will share details of their work and reflect on the ethical questions raised by our reliance on digital tools to do the work of the university. Laurie Hurson, Open Educational Technologist, The Graduate Center Roxanne Shirazi, Dissertation Research Librarian and Assistant Professor, The Graduate Center Allison Lehr-Samuels, Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning, Baruch College Pamela Thielman, Open Educational Resources (OER) Coordinator, Center for Teaching and Learning, Baruch College Sarah Lamdan, Reference Law Professor, CUNY School of Law Maura Smale, Chief Librarian and Professor, New York City College of Technology Luke Waltzer, Director, Teaching and Learning Center, The Graduate Center Student Perspectives on the Impact of COVID-19: Implications for the Future Faculty and students from the CUNY School of Public Health/Healthy CUNY will present results from a CUNY-wide student survey on the impact of COVID-19 on students’ educational experiences, mental health and financial stability; followed by describing a faculty-student collaboration creating “A Guide to Surviving and Thriving at CUNY” for students; and ending with a presentation from youth advocates from the Young Invincibles on student-led advocacy in response to the pandemic. Erinn Bacchus, Doctoral Candidate, CUNY School of Public Health Nick Freudenberg, Distinguished Professor, CUNY School of Public Health and Founder and Faculty Director, Healthy CUNY Heidi Jones, Associate Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, CUNY School of Public Health Patricia Lamberson, Deputy Director, Healthy CUNY Marissa Muñoz, Northeast Director, Young Invincibles Aileen Luna, Student Advocate, John Jay College of Criminal Justice Balancing Innovation and Change Management With the introduction of cloud technology, how do vendors and institutions work together to introduce new user interface improvements while balancing change management? In this session, you’ll learn about how D2L supports stable, non-disruptive product improvements to keep up with modern user expectations without causing chaos with end-users such as faculty and students. Mark Felix, Director of Student and Academic Technologies, University of Arizona Jack Pinette, Senior Director, Product Management, D2L AMD: A Fresh Perspective on Higher Education Technology Join AMD experts Rick Indyke, Amanda Spence and Ozzy Mesa for a conversation on how organizations are navigating unforeseen challenges in 2020. 2020 has brought on unprecedented challenges including how to manage a remote workforce. Join us to hear about lessons learned and how to better prepare for the future. We will discuss strategies used to ensure IT infrastructure resiliency and AMD can help you do more with less. Lastly, we will discuss the future of HPC and highlight how AMD’s EPYC chip innovates in supercomputing can transform HiEd’s ability to tackle some of the most important challenges – including COVID research. Rick Indyke, Director Public Sector Business Development Osvaldo (Ozzy) Mesa, Solutions Architect/Field Apps Engineer Amanda Spence, Business Development Executive All of Advanced Micro Devices
3:30 pm Eastern	Adjourn Day 1

Friday, December 4
9:00 am Eastern	Welcome
9:05 am Eastern	Opening Remarks Brian Cohen, Vice Chancellor for Technology and University Chief Information Officer, CUNY
9:10 am Eastern	Keynote Together / Apart: Crisis and Innovation in Public Higher Education In this keynote presentation, Alexander C. Kafka, a senior editor for The Chronicle of Higher Education, will put some of CUNY’s recent accomplishments and struggles in the context of national trends in higher education. Central to his argument is that “together / apart” – working independently, but toward common goals – is not only the reality of socially-distanced learning and work, but also the strategic essence of college during the Covid-19 crisis and beyond. Alexander Kafka, Senior Editor, The Chronicle of Higher Education
10:05 am Eastern	Break
10:10 am Eastern	Concurrent Sessions I An Accessible New Normal: Collaboration, Planning and Technology CUNY’s pivot to remote instruction requires new forms of collaboration among faculty and staff to ensure teaching and learning are accessible for all. This session will cover: Best practices for accessibility in hybrid and online instruction Accessible online meetings (including Zoom) CATS Assistive Technology Lab Package for use at home Student accommodations in the online classroom Faculty development strategies for UDL – CUNY Central accessibility initiatives for remote learning Christopher Leydon, Associate Director of Student Services, CUNY School of Professional Studies Antonia Levy, Associate Director of Faculty Development and Instructional Technology, CUNY School of Professional Studies Sarah Krusemark, Student Services Coordinator, CUNY School of Professional Studies Michelle Gastulo, Instructional Design Specialist, CUNY School of Professional Studies Shivan Mahabir, Assistive Technology Specialist, CUNY Assistive Technology Services Joseph Sherman, Accessibility Specialist, CUNY Office of Computing and Information Services A Snapshot of CUNY’s Math OER Efforts: A New Normal CUNY has consistently served as a leader in providing affordable access. The math departments of multiple CUNY campuses have been leading efforts to author and curate open source math texts and software for students. The transition to fully remote instruction in Spring 2020 served to highlight the value of, and add urgency to, these ongoing efforts. In this talk, we will present different adaptations of OERs to high stakes mathematics courses across three campuses: Hunter, New York City College of Technology and Borough of Manhattan Community College. Marianna Bonanome, Associate Professor, New York City College of Technology Jenna Hirsch, Associate Professor, Borough of Manhattan Community College Tatyana Khodorovskiy, Doctoral Lecturer, Hunter College Susan Licwinko, Assistant Professor, Borough of Manhattan Community College Andrew Parker, Associate Professor, New York City College of Technology Realizing a Vision for Teaching and Learning with City Tech’s OpenLab Pivoting to distance learning during the pandemic, City Tech’s OpenLab team developed innovations and lasting interventions: a course template to support best practices; self-paced training modules for faculty and students; and the OpenLab Model Course Initiative, which supports greater equity via clonable open-pedagogy course materials. This presentation shares this work, lessons learned about virtual support for a diverse community and broader challenges of learning in a moment of crisis. Charlie Edwards, OpenLab Co-Director M. Genevieve Hitchings, Associate Professor of Communication Design and OpenLab Co-Director Jonas Reitz, Professor of Mathematics and OpenLab Co-Director Jesse Rice-Evans, OpenLab Digital Pedagogy Fellow Jody R. Rosen, Associate Professor of English and OpenLab Co-Director Olivia Wood, OpenLab Digital Pedagogy Fellow All of New York City College of Technology Improving the Student Lifecycle Experience through Data Integration Today’s virtual educational environment requires complete access to data and digital services for students, faculty and staff to enable student retention, improve the student experience and maximize alumni involvement. To meet these demands, institutions need high-quality data that provides a seamless view of the educational lifecycle of a student across all departments and functions, including admissions, academic studies, operations, on-campus and off-campus life and educational program transitions. As students graduate, institutions also need visibility into their alumni data to promote alumni engagement and continuing education. This session will talk about the challenges of data and how to overcome those challenges. Moderator: Michael Anderson, Chief Strategist, Public Sector, Informatica Ken Papai, Manager – Enterprise Platforms, Data & Systems Integration Team, Information Technology Services, Northeastern University Mark Janowicz, Solution Director, Higher Education, CTI Data Sam Burgio, Senior Vice President, Education, MTX Group Ideas on Developing Faculty for a Blended Future in a Post-CV19 World With uncertainty around the re-emergence of COVID-19, institutions who are not delivering an increasing number or blended and fully online courses may lack the ability to pivot. In order to get students engaged and back to courses in the fall, it’s more important than ever to deliver a consistent and streamlined end-user experience. Hear from Ryan Lufkin, senior director of higher education product marketing, as he discusses the changing landscape of higher education and the importance of meeting the needs of today’s learners in preparing for the new year and beyond. Ryan Lufkin, Senior Director of Higher Education Product Marketing, Instructure
11:10 am Eastern	Break / Lunch
1:00 pm Eastern	Concurrent Sessions II Decolonizing Black Excellence Through virtual mobilization, The Black Student Union of The City University of New York actively works to rewire the way we think of “Black Excellence” and challenge the art of conversation by curating a solid inclusive community. Despite multiple pandemics plaguing our community, we are able to leverage the technology we have and hold spaces for folx to safely congregate and work through these perilous times. Teona Pagan, Executive Chair Karisma McCoy, Marketing Chair Onyekachi Okeke, Membership Chair Richard Rutherford, Publications Chair Solei Spears, Communications Chair James Forrester, Finance Chair All of The Black Student Union of CUNY COVID-19 Launch of CUNY-Wide Sim-IPE for Health & Human Service Programs CUNY’s University-wide effort integrates virtually simulated interprofessional education into health and human service programs using faculty-designed COVID case scenarios. CUNY’s broad and diverse health professions programs and our joint operation (with NYU) of NYSIM allows us to provide an accessible and inclusive approach for meaningful professional learning experiences in team-based care across disciplines using virtual platforms to engage faculty and students in shared learning outcomes. Paul Archibald, Assistant Professor, Social Work, College of Staten Island Patricia Simino Boyce, University Dean for Health & Human Services, Central Office of Academic Affairs Mara Steinberg Lowe, Assistant Professor, SLP, Queens College Lesley Rennis, Chair, Associate Professor, Health Education, Borough of Manhattan Community College Susan Riekert, Assistant Professor, Nursing Work, Queensborough Community College Nicole Saint-Louis, Associate Professor, Social Work, Lehman College GC Online and Open Infrastructure: Online Pivots During COVID-19 Over the past three years, the CUNY Graduate Center has solidified a homegrown infrastructure to support cross-campus CUNY OER initiatives. Two platforms – The CUNY Academic Commons and Manifold – have been at the center of this work, including during the transition to remote teaching. This presentation will discuss GC Online, presenting exemplary OER projects and exploring the implications of the ongoing disruptions on infrastructure, support and open pedagogy more broadly. Luke Waltzer, Director, Teaching and Learning Center, The Graduate Center Matthew Gold, Associate Professor of English and Digital Humanities, The Graduate Center Laurie Hurson, Open Educational Technologist, Teaching and Learning Center, The Graduate Center Robin Miller, Open Educational Technologist, GCDI, The Graduate Center Krystyna Michael, Assistant Professor, English, Hostos Community College Wendy Barrales, Manifold Graduate Fellow, Graduate Center Digital Initiatives, The Graduate Center Delivering Academic, Research and Administrative Services Consistently Across Any Environment According to recent research, 93 percent of organizations are heavily invested in the multi-cloud. In this conversation, Red Hat plans to discuss how organizations like CUNY can get all boats rowing in the same direction in the hybrid cloud. DevOps and agile principles with some helpful tools can influence a culture of collaboration that tears down silos and helps organizations operate more efficiently, repeat successes, decrease spend and make faster decisions. The concepts in the presentation apply to CUNY’s multiple research centers, CUNY’s cloud investments and how CUNY can more efficiently build and deliver services within their on-premises data centers. Dan Domkowski, AI/ML/DL Lead – National Public Healthcare, Research Universities and Smart Cities, Red Hat Safe, Smart Campuses / Communities COVID-19 has upended long-standing expectations about the college experience and their surrounding communities. Among challenges set in motion by the pandemic, they must consider how to allow for more flexible use of physical spaces on campus and public areas, prioritizing the needs of people over traditional organizational function; support physical, mental and emotional health – while operating within the reality of hard-hit budgets; and determining which pandemic-triggered changes should be considered temporary and which could be recast as opportunities to advance long-term environmental goals. We will discuss striking the right balance between physical and virtual learning environments and secure technology infrastructure. Story Bellows, Partner, Cityfi Jim Meehan, Senior Manager Global Investigations, Verizon Albert Shen, Smart Communities Executive, Verizon
2:00 pm Eastern	Break
2:30 pm Eastern	Concurrent Sessions III Jump Start: Leveling the College Admissions Process for Adult Students CUNY SPS developed a performance-based admissions process, Jump Start, where applicants earn admission through portfolios demonstrating academic competencies. We also launched Test Flight to provide a week-long online experience for prospective students and integrated the Credit for Prior Learning team to help students earn credit for prior learning more effectively. We’ll discuss our experience with the first Jump Start cohorts and lessons from launching and rapidly scaling these programs. Angela Francis, Assistant Dean of General Education and First Year Experience Holli Broadfoot, Experiential Learning Manager Jennifer Grace Lee, Associate Dean of Enrollment Management and Student Services Jennifer Sparrow, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs All of the CUNY School of Professional Studies Teaching with Slack: Perspectives and Practices from the CUNY Classroom When CUNY pivoted to fully remote instruction, faculty began exploring new digital tools to foster community and connection within their courses. In this session, instructors from six CUNY campuses will share their experiences piloting one of these tools in their teaching: the group messaging platform, Slack. Structured as a roundtable, each presenter will offer a lightning talk showcasing Slack’s role in their classes, describing its pedagogical affordances along with lessons learned. Elizabeth Alsop, Assistant Professor, Communication and Media, School of Professional Studies Gloria Fisk, Associate Professor, Queens College Jan Kaminsky, Assistant Professor, School of Professional Studies Alex Milsom, Assistant Professor, Hostos Community College Krystyna Michael, Assistant Professor, Hostos Community College Alexandra Smith, Adjunct Lecturer, Baruch College Ian Grant, Adjunct Lecturer, City College Using Technology to Improve Advisement During the Pandemic In this presentation, we’ll discuss how COVID threatened existing systems for delivering advising and how two institutions used technology to counter that. At LaGuardia, a proactive advising and registration initiative used a number of technologies, accounting for significant enrollment and retention numbers. At Lehman, approximately 1,000 HSA and Health Education students accessed faculty for advising via the free app Qless. In both cases, technology allowed advising to continue or improve. Amy White, Program Director, Health Services Administration, Lehman College Bart Grachan, Associate Dean for Student Affairs, LaGuardia Community College Ramon De Los Santos, Interim Assistant Dean for Student Affairs, LaGuardia Community College Eating Our Own Dog Food: Future-Proofing Dell Technologies and VMWare When the pandemic lockdown took hold, neither CUNY nor Dell Technologies was spared the need to rapidly shift to a remote way of working, teaching and learning. Leaders from Dell Technologies and VMware will discuss our journey responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and how we rapidly converted our workforce of 165,000 – roughly half of the combined CUNY student and faculty headcount – to remote while still meeting our customers’ extraordinary needs. In some ways, we were well-positioned to address these new challenges; in others, we were forced to adapt and embrace a post-pandemic worldview that will ultimately future-proof our organization. Moderator: Jeffrey Lancaster, Senior Higher Education Strategist, Dell Technologies Leslie Harlien, Vice President, Dell Technologies Herb Thompson, Senior Strategist, VMWare How COVID is Accelerating a Cloud-Based Ecosystem The new normal has accelerated the roadmap for digital transformations. The pandemic has modernized everything in a span of a few months from how businesses talk to their customers to how workplaces function. Digital technologies, including cloud-based services, have been used to completely reimagine the business landscape. This panel will discuss how the COVID pandemic has been accelerating movement towards a cloud-based ecosystem and some associated myths, challenges, obstacles and risks. Moderator: Michelle Chank, Account Executive, NYSTEC Robert Berlinger, Chief Information Security Officer, CUNY CIS Chris Lohret, Cloud Solution Architect, NYSTEC Suman Taneja, Executive Director – Technology Strategy, CUNY CIS Rob Zeglen, Information Security Practice Leader, NYSTEC
3:30 pm Eastern	End of Conference Conference times, agenda and speakers are subject to change.