Graduate Center Campus Reactivation Plan

The Coronavirus pandemic has altered our lives, including how we at The Graduate Center will work together over the coming months to continue to pursue our mission of fostering advanced graduate education, original research and scholarship, innovative university-wide programs, and vibrant public events that draw upon and contribute to the complex communities of New York City and beyond. Throughout the pandemic, our students, faculty and staff have worked tirelessly to support each other and the greater CUNY and New York City communities to tackle the evolving challenges emerging and the pivot to remote learning, research and work. We also thank our exceptional essential personnel, who have maintained our beautiful campus building and kept the facility staffed during these unprecedented times, and who we will continue to do all we can to keep them healthy and safe.
Read the summary of The Graduate Center's Reactivation Plan.
Establishing Policies and Guidelines
As a publicly supported research institution and post-graduate university located in the heart of Midtown Manhattan, and at the pandemic’s first epicenter the United States of America, we have established policies and guidelines for our students, faculty, staff, vendors and facility users that are focused on:
- Prioritizing everyone’s health and safety and implementing multiple approaches to minimize the risk of infection for all those working at The Graduate Center, and;
- Monitoring and responding to local health metrics to inform decisions to increase or decrease campus activity and occupancy, and;
- Being equitable, fair, and transparent with our policies, guidelines, and decisions, and;
- Supporting first responders, contract tracers, and our local communities in containing outbreaks.
The following reactivation plan has been developed with the goal of keeping The Graduate Center and local community safe, using a phased approach to increasing on-campus activities that complies with federal, state, city, and CUNY policies and guidelines. Recognizing that our students, faculty and staff are our most important assets, The Graduate Center is committed to providing a safe and healthy campus for all members of our community. Our priority is to enable all to learn, research and work in the safest place possible, recognizing that the parameters may vary depending on each individual’s responsibilities and situation. We recognize that the threat from COVID-19 is not over. It continues to affect our community in different ways, including how, when and where many of are able to conduct our work, engage in research and come together.
The Graduate Center reactivation guidelines, CUNY Guidelines for Safe Campus Reopening, and state-issued industry guidelines have been reviewed by the Interim Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration, Brian A. Peterson, the Interim Senior Vice President and Provost, Julia Wrigley and President Robin Garrell. Interim Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration, Brian A. Peterson will act as the Coronavirus Campus Coordinator, with responsibility to ensure continuous compliance with all aspects of this plan.
Our campus reactivation plan includes multiple precautions to protect the health and safety of everyone at The Graduate Center and limit the risk of infection, including social distancing, restricted building access, occupancy limits, staggered work schedules, required PPE, and cleaning and disinfecting protocols. The Graduate Center will also seek disclosure of COVID-19 symptoms or probable contact by personnel and students coming to the campus.
It is important to note that returning to work on campus as of August 2020 is completely voluntary for any non-essential personnel and visitors are not permitted on campus at this time. All meetings, public programs and campus-sponsored events will be conducted virtually until further notice.
If there is reason to suspect increased risk to community safety or health, The Graduate Center will revert to an earlier phase, or make specific, localized adjustments to reduce further risk. The Graduate Center reserves the right to modify this plan based on emerging medical standards or changes to CUNY, city, state, or federal policies and regulations.
Sections of the Reactivation Plan
Additional Details
Higher Education is part of New York State Forward’s Phase Four of re-opening for New York City, which began on June 8, 2020. The Graduate Center’s plan for reactivating campus operations and activities adheres to state and CUNY guidelines and sets policies for screening, physical distancing, personal protective equipment, hygiene, cleaning, disinfecting, and communication.
- Coronavirus Campus Coordinator:
- Brian A. Peterson, Interim Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration
- Coronavirus Campus Liaison:
- David Boxill, Executive Director of Human Resources
- Campus HR Point of Contact:
- Kaleema Ceasar, HR Generalist (employee reporting)
- Geraldine Powell, HR Generalist (employee reporting)
- Graduate Center Campus Screeners:
- Albert Bregendahl, Sargent, Public Safety and Security
- Annette Gray, Executive Director and Associate Dean for the Sciences, Advanced Science and Research Center (ASRC reporting)
- Cheryl Holder, Sargent, Public Safety and Security
- Matthew Schoengood, Vice President for Student Affairs (student reporting)
- Coronavirus Campus Communications Coordinators:
- Wendy DeMarco Fuentes, Vice President for Communications and Public Affairs
- Bonnie Eissner, Director of Communications
- Coronavirus Campus Facilities Coordinator:
- Charles Scott, Director of Facilities Services
The Graduate Center (GC) Campus Reactivation Committee is co-chaired by Interim Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration, Brian A. Peterson and Program Development Director for Academic Initiatives and Strategic Innovation, Mariel Villeré, with staff, faculty, and student representatives from across the GC. The committee ensures that feedback from the GC community informs the reactivation plan and champion its implementation. Recognizing that our students, faculty and staff are our most important assets, The Graduate Center is committed to providing a safe and healthy campus for all members of our community.
- Delores Bouonasora, Child Development Center (The Graduate Center)
- David Boxill, Human Resources (The Graduate Center)
- Joshua Brumberg, Provost's Office (The Graduate Center | ASRC)
- Norman Carey, Music (The Graduate Center)
- George Casturani (CUNY TV)
- Alyson Cole, Political Science (The Graduate Center)
- Vincent DeLuca, Student Services (The Graduate Center)
- Wendy DeMarco Fuentes, Communications & Marketing (The Graduate Center)
- Zee Dempster, Africana Studies (The Graduate Center | PSC)
- Carline Dennery, Facilities Services & Campus Planning (The Graduate Center)
- Emily Drabinski, Library (The Graduate Center)
- Daniela Echeverria, Doctoral Student Council (The Graduate Center | DSC)
- Bonnie Eissner, Communications & Marketing (The Graduate Center)
- John Flaherty, Institutional Services (The Graduate Center)
- Matthew Gold, Digital Humanities (The Graduate Center)
- Nina Gray, Executive Office (ASRC)
- Kim Hartswick (CUNY BA)
- Meghan Hughes, Executive Office (ASRC)
- Roderick Hurley, Doctoral Student Council (The Graduate Center | DSC)
- Christopher Lowery, Building Design (The Graduate Center)
- Gerry Martini, Admissions (The Graduate Center | PSC)
- Kimberly McBryan, President's Office (The Graduate Center)
- Elaine Montilla, Information Technology (The Graduate Center)
- David Olan, Provost's Office (The Graduate Center)
- Aldo Orlando, Public Safety (ASRC)
- Pinar Ozgu, Human Resources (The Graduate Center)
- Ronald Paynter, Purchasing (The Graduate Center)
- Elise Perram, Child Development Center (The Graduate Center)
- Brian Peterson, Finance and Administration (The Graduate Center)
- Lynette Phillips, President's Office (The Graduate Center)
- Molly Polin, Child Development Center (The Graduate Center)
- Enrique Pujals, Mathematics (The Graduate Center)
- Ray Ring, Building Design (The Graduate Center)
- David Salmon, Facilities (ASRC)
- Achia Samuels, Information Technology (The Graduate Center)
- Camille Santistevan, Communications & Marketing (ASRC)
- Matthew Schoengood, Student Affairs (The Graduate Center)
- Charles Scott, Facilities Services & Campus Planning (The Graduate Center)
- Valerie Shafer, Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences (The Graduate Center)
- Kenneth Tirino, Finance and Administration (The Graduate Center)
- Mariel Villeré, Academic Affairs (The Graduate Center)
- Jamia Wilson (Feminist Press)
- Julia Wrigley, Provost's Office (The Graduate Center)
- Gail Yancosek (CUNY TV)
Members of The Graduate Center community are kept apprised of current conditions via email, The Graduate Center’s website and community meetings. The Graduate Center’s communication plan includes:
- A Campus Emergency Planning Committee. Chaired by the President, and comprised of senior staff, the Emergency Planning Committee (EPC) meets 2-3 times per week to review COVID-19 conditions, University and Campus policies and issues, and to coordinate work and communications across divisions and departments.
- The Graduate Center’s COVID-19 and Reactivation Planning Committee. Chaired by the Interim Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration, the Campus Reactivation Committee, and comprised of students, faculty, staff, representatives from the Union and CUNY TV provides feedback and input on The Graduate Center’s reactivation plan. The Committee also provides ongoing feedback on issues related to ongoing campus operations, the impact of COVID-19 on the campus community, and ensures engagement and transparent communications.
- Meetings with the Council of Executive Officers, the Graduate Council, Academic and Administrative Departments, representatives from the Doctoral and Graduate Student Council (DGSC), representatives from the Professional Staff Congress (PSC) occur regularly and as requested by Graduate Center Community members.
- The Graduate Center’s COVID-19 and Reactivation Planning website provides current information about the status of campus operations during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Community messages are sent via email to the entire Graduate Center community (faculty, staff, and students) regarding updates, policies and status changes.
- Community messages are reinforced on social media, if appropriate, and posted on the COVID-19 and Reactivation Planning website.
- The Graduate Center’s Working Remotely Staff Survey. This survey was sent July faculty and staff on July 23, 2020 to solicit feedback on how they can be supported during the period of working remotely and to plan for the phased return of campus operations.
- COVID-19 Updates and Resources Brief. The COVID-19 Updates and Resources Brief, published Monday and Wednesday, provides recent COVID-19 statistics for New York City as well as links to COVID-19 related content relevant to The Graduate Center, CUNY, New York City, New York State, U.S/Federal Government, Higher Education and Online Learning.
- GC Online. GC Online is a resource developed for faculty who are teaching online. It offers broad guidance for a range of pedagogical approaches and support for online instruction.
- Signs (print and digital) throughout the facility reminding community members of proper hygiene, social distancing measures, acceptable use of required PPE, as well as cleaning and disinfecting protocols.
- Signs (print) posted on the doors to enter the building communicate The Graduate Center’s building entry policy, social distancing guidelines, and reminders of properly wearing a mask and proper hygiene.
Copies of The Graduate Center’s reactivation plan will be available on The Graduate Center’s COVID-19 and Reactivation Planning website.
The Graduate Center is committed to preserving the health of the community in which we live and work, and the safety precautions adopted at The Graduate Center to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic apply to everyone equally.
A culture of safety also requires vigilance, monitoring, effective structures for reporting concerns and corrective action for non-compliance. Each Graduate Center student, faculty and staff member will be expected to comply fully with the policies, protocols and guidelines in place at The Graduate Center.
As The Graduate Center prepares to start its phased, gradual reactivation of campus operations, compliance communications will be developed to frame expectations for all students, faculty and staff around full compliance with policies, protocols and guidelines from CUNY and The Graduate Center.
Students, faculty and staff will be provided with guidance on reporting that includes:
- What to do if you observe that health and safety rules are not be enforced appropriately or fairly;
- How to discuss concerns with your supervisor;
- How, if non-compliance persists, how to contact Human Resources or report the violation anonymously.
Per the New York State Reopening Guidelines for Higher Education, The Graduate Center’s Campus Coronavirus Coordinator has read and understands the higher education guidelines.
The Graduate Center will require all Senior Staff and personnel involved in the Campus Reactivation plan to read the NYSDHO Interim Guidance for Higher Education Research During the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency.