Resources
WELLNESS CENTER
Student Health Services
Health Services provides health and wellness education, referral, and health information throughout the year, including presentations, workshops, health screening events and the yearly comprehensive Wellness Festival, held during the spring. Although students who are ill or require routine health care should seek service outside the Graduate Center, we can offer information and referrals to assist you in finding the health care you need. The Graduate Center’s Wellness Center no longer offers direct clinical patient care. If a student is experiencing a health emergency, notify Security at 7777 and/or call 911.
Student Counseling Services
The Student Counseling Services is staffed by licensed psychologists and predoctoral clinical fellows. SCS provides confidential counseling and short-term psychotherapy, group counseling, crisis intervention, and referral services to Graduate Center students, and couples therapy to students and their partners. Workshops that address the challenges and stresses of graduate student life are also offered. Individual consultations, ongoing groups, and workshops help deal with challenges in work on the dissertation. All center services are provided free of charge.
Substance Abuse Counseling and Referral Services
Student Counseling Services (Telephone: 1-212-817-7020) offers referral services for issues
pertaining to substance abuse.
Location: Room 6422
Telephone: (212) 817-7020
Email: wellness@gc.cuny.edu
MEDITATION ROOM
A space for prayer/meditation/reflection
Location: Room 9201
SERVICES FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES
The Graduate Center provides readers/library assistants, sign-language interpreters, notetakers, scribes, assistive technology, and other auxiliary aids and services as needed. A few examples of possible academic accommodations are extended or divided time for taking an examination, as might be required for a student who has a learning disability or for whom physical stamina is reduced; use of a computer or other auxiliary aid during an examination; adjustments in course load when appropriate; and recording of classes. Student Disability Services works closely with faculty and the academic program offices to arrange for accommodated exam administration and other types of academic modifications. Adaptive equipment and computer software are available at the Graduate Center. Computer users have access to screen-character enlargement, text-to-speech, and optical character-recognition scan-and-read software, a closed-circuit television and voice recognition software. For students with hearing impairments, the Graduate Center has available a personal FM listening system (for use on an individual basis for classes and meetings). The auditoriums are equipped with infrared equipment to assist those with hearing impairments.
Students who wish to request accommodations or have questions about Graduate Center facilities, auxiliary aids and services, or any Graduate Center academic matters regarding services for students with disabilities, should contact Clare Wilson, Manager of Student Disability Services; Elise Perram, Director of Student Affairs; or the Vice President for Student Affairs. Discussions and information regarding a student’s disability will be kept confidential unless a student requests otherwise. Documentation appropriate to the requested accommodations is required to be provided to the Student Disability Services manager. This documentation must come from a qualified professional and provide information on diagnosis/specific disability conditions, functional limitations in the higher education setting, and recommended accommodations. The purpose of this documentation
is to enable us to determine, together with the student seeking accommodations, the most appropriate accommodations for the student. Students are encouraged to contact Student Disability Services to discuss present and future needs to facilitate effective planning. The Mina Rees Library can provide students with disabilities with such services as staff assistance in catalog searches and location of books and journals. The Wellness Center provides students with Student Health and Student Counseling services and can refer students for further evaluation.
Students with disabilities should register with the Office of Security and Public Safety (Room 9117; Telephone: 1-212-817-7761) so that provision may be made for their safety should an emergency arise. Users of TDD (Telecommunications Devices for the Deaf), Text Telephones (TTYs), or Voice Carry-Over (VCO) within New York State should call the Telecommunications Service at 711 or at 1-800-662-1220. Users of TDD and TTY outside New York State should call their local Telecommunications Service
THE CHILD DEVELOPMENT AND LEARNING CENTER
Committed to providing a high-quality, developmentally appropriate early childhood education, the Child Development and Learning Center is open to preschool children of students enrolled in The Graduate Center*. The center provides a warm, nurturing environment that encourages each child’s natural curiosity and fosters a love of learning. Play and exploration are valued as two of the most important means by which learning takes place. The emphasis on all projects and activities is on the process of interacting with the materials and integration of knowledge rather than the acquisition of specific academic skills. The center also serves as a lab school for faculty and students doing research pertinent to preschool children.
The program is licensed by the New York City Department of Health to serve 27 children from two to five years old, and is staffed with certified early childhood educators. The daily hours of operation are 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Friday. The teaching staff helps parents to develop individualized schedules that meet the specific needs of each child and family. The center observes The Graduate Center calendar, but remains in operation in January and during the month of June.
*Graduate Center student parents have the first priority for child care slots. Once Graduate Center student parents are recruited and enrolled the Center’s waiting list has been exhausted, any remaining slots may be filled by Faculty and Staff.
Location: Room 3201
Telephone: (212) 817-7033
Email: Director Linda Perrotta lperotta@gc.cuny.edu
LACTATION ROOM
A dedicated space has been established at The Graduate Center for mothers to express breast milk for a nursing child. Room 7408, also called the Mothers’ Room, is available to all nursing women students and employees who present a current Graduate Center ID. Those wishing to use the Mothers’ Room should fill out a one-time key request form in the Student Affairs office, Room 7301. Nursing mothers may also use the Child Care Center (until 5 p.m.) for the same purpose, ring the bell for Room 3201.
NEW YORK STATE HEALTH INSURANCE PLAN (NYSHIP)
Matriculated doctoral students at The Graduate Center who are (1) employed as either Graduate Assistants A, B, C, or D; or in one of the eligible Adjunct titles and (2) meet specific income minimums in those job titles are eligible to enroll in the New York State Health Insurance Program (NYSHIP). The health insurance is made available through the Student Employee Health Plan (SEHP).
The program provides medical, hospitalization, prescription drug, mental health/substance abuse, dental, and vision benefits. Benefits are administered by a specified insurance provider depending upon the coverage.
Participants pay for the plan by having automatic biweekly deductions from their paychecks. For 2019, the biweekly premium is $16.91 for individual coverage and $118.85 for family coverage (which includes spouses, children, and domestic partners). The cost for the NYSHIP program is subsidized by The Graduate Center and the University Chancellery.
Additional information is also available by accessing the GC website at https://www.gc.cuny.edu/Prospective-Current-Students/Student-Life/Health-Wellness/Health-Insurance or sending an email to healthinsuranceinfo@gc.cuny.edu, calling 212-871-7400, or stopping by the Student Affairs office, Room 7301.
VOLUNTARY STUDENT HEALTH AND ACCIDENT INSURANCE PLANS
The Graduate Center offers health insurance information for both part- and full-time students and for postdoctoral research fellows at The Graduate Center. Participation in any plan is entirely voluntary but is strongly recommended. General health-related information, brochures, application forms, and a guide, “Student Health Insurance and Selected Resources,” prepared by the Office of Student Affairs, are available in the Student Affairs office, the Wellness Center, and online. The health insurance guide, which does not endorse specific providers, details contact representatives, phone numbers, and/or mailing addresses for your follow-through efforts on all programs listed.
Please call 1-212-817-7400 for further information or to make an appointment to discuss questions you may have. The Graduate Center provides only information on voluntary insurance programs and is not responsible for students’ choices.
PLEASE NOTE:
Information about hospitals and other health services in New York City, including clinics and emergency rooms, can be found at http://www1.nyc.gov. Below are some hotline and other phone numbers for additional reference.
Alcoholics Anonymous…………………………………………………………………….1-212-647-1680
Al-Anon Intergroup Services……………………………………………………………..1-212-941-0094
HIV/AIDS Hotline ………………………………………………………………………..1-800-541-2437
Gay Men’s Health Crisis Hotline……………………………………………………….1-800-243-7692
Lifenet (confidential mental health and substance abuse services) ……………1-800-543-3638
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline………………………………………. 1-800-273-TALK(8255)
Special Victims Liaison Unit/Hot Line (confidential, nonrecorded telephone service
answered by specially trained female New York City police detectives) ..1-212-267-7273
Safe Horizon (abuse, rape, etc.) (24-hour number)……………………………….1-866-689-4357
OFFICE OF ALCOHOLISM AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE SERVICES (OASAS) HOTLINE AND CUNY RESOURCES FOR SUBSTANCE ABUSE AND OVERDOSE (NYS GOVERNOR’S OFFICE OPIATE/HEROIN INITIATIVE)
CUNY has joined the New York State Governor’s Office in an important initiative to address the recent increase in heroin overdose. Heroin is an opiate, a class of drugs that is derived from the poppy plant. All opiate abuse, including many prescription painkillers, can lead to addiction, overdose, and even death. If you or someone you know is abusing heroin or prescription painkillers, CUNY’s Mental Health and Wellness Offices can provide educational resources and referrals to organizations that can help. In addition, selected CUNY health and public safety staff are being trained to administer Naloxone, a drug used to counter the effects of opioid overdose and prevent death. For immediate help, visit your local emergency room, or call the OASAS HOPEline at 1-877-846-7369 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to speak with a trained medical professional. HOPEline staff can answer your questions and help you find treatment. All calls are free and confidential.
LEGAL SERVICES
The DSC (Doctoral and Graduate Students Council) provides free legal consultations through a partnership with New York State licensed lawyers. To find out more and request a consultation, visit the DSC website at http://www.cunydsc.org/services/legalconsultation/.
TITLE IX AWARENESS
The Graduate Center seeks to create and maintain a safe environment in which all members of our campus community —students, faculty, and staff—can learn and work free from fear of sexual assault and other forms of violence. The City University of New York and The Graduate Center prohibit gender-based harassment of any kind, by students, faculty, and staff. Harassment is unwelcome conduct that may include sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, or physical conduct of a sexual nature. Harassing conduct, also implicated by sexual assault, domestic and intimate partner violence, or stalking on any CUNY campus, creates a “hostile environment” which, when sufficiently severe or pervasive, may limit or interfere with a student’s ability to participate in educational activities, or an employee’s ability to perform his or her job. Website: https://www.gc.cuny.edu/TitleIX
