Dear Graduate Students,
Welcome back! The Fall 2022 semester officially begins on Thursday,
August 25. Please read carefully through these important beginning-of-the-semester announcements, attached and pasted below.
For more information and policies specific to our English MA program, please consult our most recent handbook, also attached here.
As Professor Hong mentioned in her message to everyone last week, Hillary Miller and I will be directing the MA program starting this year. We are looking forward to
another semester of learning and being in community together. Hillary and I are here to support you as best we can, so please don't hesitate to email us both if you have any questions or need advising.
Best,
Bill Orchard
_______________________________________________
William Orchard
Associate Professor Associate Professor
Director, MA Program Department of English
Department of English CUNY Graduate Center
Queens College, CUNY
QC English MA Program
Fall 2022 Announcements
Academic Calendar
The Fall 2022 semester officially begins on
Thursday, August 25. You can find the CUNY Academic Calender with important dates and deadlines at
https://www.cuny.edu/academics/academic-calendars/.
You can find the QC-specific calendar at https://www.qc.cuny.edu/communications/calendar-page/.
Important dates to keep in mind:
Fall 2022 Advising
For important info about our program and its policies and procedures, please consult the most recent English MA Handbook (attached separately).
We will be available for advising both virtually via email and Zoom, as well as in-person. If you have any questions, need advising, or want
to make an appointment, please email us.
Prof. William Orchard, Director of Graduate Studies (English MA)
Email:
worchard@qc.cuny.edu
Faculty Office: Klapper Hall 637
Graduate Studies Office: Klapper Hall 604
Fall 2022 office hours: Tue 3:30–5:00pm, Wed 5:30–6:30pm, and by appointment
Prof. Hillary Miller, Assistant Director of Graduate Studies
Email:
hillary.miller@qc.cuny.edu
Office: Klapper Hall 707
Fall 2022 office hours: in-person Mon 2:00–4:00pm and by appointment via Zoom
You can also contact us by emailing
MAEnglish@qc.cuny.edu.
For general inquiries not specific to the MA program (e.g., for faculty contact info), please
consult the English Department website at https://qcenglish.commons.gc.cuny.edu/
or contact the English Department Office (english@qc.cuny.edu,
718-997-4600).
Please be sure to check your QC email regularly (and also add any other primary email addresses to your CUNYfirst account), as the College
and your professors may be communicating with you that way.
Check (and Double-Check) Your Schedule
Before the semester begins, please take a moment to log-in to
your CUNYfirst and check that you’re registered for your courses. If for some reason your registration has been canceled by the Bursar, or if you’re registered for the wrong courses, it’s much easier to sort out any issues before the semester begins.
English MA courses will continue to be taught in-person, hybrid, or fully online. When you check your schedule, please also double-check
the instruction modes for your courses.
If you’re taking an in-person course, please confirm your classroom location the day of your first meeting, as classrooms can sometimes be
changed at the last minute. If you’re taking a hybrid or fully online course, your professor should communicate how/where to join their class. If you don’t hear from them by the first day of the semester, please email them directly to request this info. Faculty
contact info and office hours can be found at https://qcenglish.commons.gc.cuny.edu/people/.
Adding a Course / Requesting an Overtally
If you are looking to add a fall course, there are open seats still available in ENGL 728. Please review the
updated course descriptions
and confirm current availability by searching the Class Schedule on CUNYfirst.
If you wish to overtally into a course that is already closed, please email the professor and ask for their permission to overtally and/or
to be placed on the class waiting list. Please keep in mind that instructors have no obligation to overtally you into classes once they’re full and that all instructor decisions are final.
COVID-related Policies + Campus Access
Pandemic-related policies and procedures may continue to evolve, so please check your QC email regularly for updates and announcements. QC COVID-related
info can be found at https://www.qc.cuny.edu/covid/. CUNY COVID
info can be found at https://www.cuny.edu/coronavirus/.
A reminder that all CUNY students taking in-person or hybrid classes must be fully vaccinated (unless they’ve been granted a medical or religious
exemption). If you haven’t already, please be sure to upload
proof of vaccination to CUNYfirst at least 10 days before classes begin. Once your vaccination
verification has been approved, you can access campus at entry points by tapping in with your QCard or showing a
Cleared4 Access Pass.
Please note that the CUNY
random COVID testing program
is still in effect. If you get an email from no-reply@cleared4work.com
that you have been selected for testing and do not comply, your campus access will be revoked until you do. If you were selected for testing this summer and did not get tested within the 14-day time period, please get tested ASAP before the semester begins
at any CUNY testing site (including the one on the 1st floor of QC’s Student Union; all CUNY testing locations and hours can be found at
https://www.cuny.edu/coronavirus/cuny-covid-19-testing-site-locations/).
Any questions re: campus access should be sent to ReturnToQC2022@qc.cuny.edu.
Please also keep in mind that QC is a mask-friendly campus, and you’re encouraged to continue masking indoors, especially as COVID cases, hospitalizations,
and deaths remain high in NYC. And if you feel ill, please stay home.
QC Hub
The QC Hub is a centralized office with staff from the Registrar, the Bursar, Financial Aid, etc., and is the easiest way to get any
financial or registration problems resolved and your bureaucratic questions answered. You can make a virtual appointment with them via the QC Navigate app (https://qc-cuny.navigate.eab.com/,
using your CUNY Login) or email them at
QCHub@qc.cuny.edu. For more info and their hours, see
https://www.qc.cuny.edu/qchub/.
Please note that, unfortunately, the QC Hub is understaffed and can get overwhelmed. If you contact the QC Hub and don’t get a response within a
week or two, please let us know so we can help follow up.
Information Technology Services (ITS)
For help with online account or tech issues, contact ITS (https://www.qc.cuny.edu/its/).
You can try live chat support
(Mon–Thu 9am–10pm; Fri 9am–5pm), call them at 718-997-4444 (Mon–Fri 9am–5pm), email
support@qc.cuny.edu, or
submit a ticket online.
You can also check their knowledge base for potential solutions to common issues.
QCard
The QCard is your official QC student ID, and you will need it to gain access to and throughout campus. If you don’t already have a QCard, you can
find info on how to obtain one at https://www.qc.cuny.edu/its/qcard/.
Rosenthal Library
You will need to tap in with your QCard to access the Rosenthal Library building. There are study areas located throughout the library, including
Zoom Rooms and Group Study Rooms on levels 4 and
5. Visit their website (https://library.qc.cuny.edu/) for their
hours and for help with your research (https://library.qc.cuny.edu/services/research/ask-us/).
Our librarian, Prof. Leila Walker,
can also help you with any research-related questions; you can email her at
leila.walker@qc.cuny.edu.
Counseling Services
Being a grad student can be really stressful. For free and confidential mental health services, check out QC’s Counseling Services (https://www.qc.cuny.edu/cs/).
You can call them at 718-997-5420 or email CounselingServices@qc.cuny.edu
to make an appointment. Learn more about CUNY mental health services at https://www.cuny.edu/current-students/student-affairs/student-services/counseling/.
And if you ever find yourself in crisis, you can also connect 24/7 with a trained crisis counselor by texting CUNY to 741741.