Graduation Day at CUNY SPS

The perfect way to end an academic year is to celebrate the accomplishments of our amazing students. It has been a genuine honor to serve as the Interim Academic Director of the Communication and Media Program at the CUNY School of Professional Studies (SPS) this year.

This was a role I previously served in from 2013 – 2016. Due to my previous experience with the institution, the administration at SPS asked for me to serve in an interim capacity while the current Director was on research leave. I am happy to say that I will be staying on through the Fall while the current Director puts the finishing touches on a completed manuscript.

The new SPS website!

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The new website for the CUNY School of Professional Studies (SPS) is now available. I am very proud to be associated with this organization. The site sports a beautiful new design that highlights the amazing direction of the college.The marketing statement, “Education that works as hard as you do”, is a perfect description of SPS.

On a personal note, I have to admit that I love the new section dedicated to the Communication and Media program. I also need to remember to ask the marketing director for a high quality version of the headshot that was used on my bio page. It was the best photo of me I have seen in years.

https://www.sps.cuny.edu/

Life after ITP

NYU ITP Panel

As part of an alumni panel discussing life and career possibilities after graduation, I was invited once again to speak to students in the NYU Interactive Telecommunication Program. It was a great event, but I must admit to having a good laugh at the fact that I was the oldest person on the panel by far.

The funniest thing was when I mentioned the year I graduated a student in the front row mouthed the word “wow”. Dat’s right son, I’m a straight up ODG (Original Digital Gangsta)! Protect ya neck!

Speaking at the Grad Center

A colleague of mine, Michael Mandiberg, invited me to be a guest lecturer for a class he was teaching at the CUNY Graduate Center. The students in his class were PhD candidates within the CUNY Interactive Technology and Pedagogy certificate program. Over the course of the semester his class examined how people and technologies have shaped academic classroom and research interactions in the past, and how they are reshaping the university in the present.

I spoke on the topic of “The Digital Humanities & the Future of Academic Inquiry and Publishing”. Michael thought that my previous papers, interviews, and conference presentations on the topic of digital scholarship would help spark a lively debate among his students.

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CUNY Career Opportunities for NYU-ITP Students

I was approached a few months back by the folks at NYU to be a part of an academic career opportunities event for students of the Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP). I was asked to to introduce ITP students to the teaching opportunities available within the City University of New York (CUNY) system. My presentation highlighted the two schools I represent, the CUNY School of Professional Studies and LaGuardia, and how current students and alumni can work as adjuncts, teaching assistants, tutors, workshop organizers, application writers, interns, etc..

This felt very much like a homecoming for me. It was the first time I had formally presented at my old Alma Mater. I had forgotten how much I had enjoyed my time at ITP.

The CUNY Excellence in Leadership Awards

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Yesterday Kristal Reyes, one of the top students in the Communication and Media program that I lead at the CUNY School of Professional Studies was honored with the CUNY? Vice Chancellor’s Excellence in Leadership Award. Every year for the past 22 years the award has been given to exceptional student leaders through the CUNY system. I was humbled to be a part of a program and a school that has helped to foster a student as impressive as Kristal.

Bridging the Gaps in Digital Media

The following video is of a panel discussion I organized for the 13th Annual CUNY IT Conference back in December. The talk that took place was on the topic of designing digital media programs within higher education. I gathered a number of my colleagues from some of the digital media programs throughout CUNY to find out how they approach program design and the maintenance of curricula in evolving technical disciplines.

This has been an area that has been on my mind since completing the Periodic Program Review for the LaGuardia New Media Technology degree, as well Continue reading “Bridging the Gaps in Digital Media”

Webinar: Leveraging Social Media

This past Monday I conducted my first webinar on how individuals can leverage social media to achieve their personal and professional goals. In truth, I was more than a little nervous about the event since this was going to be my first live streamed lecture. The fact that we had a few hundred attendees sign up for the live stream also added to my anxiety. Maybe I shouldn’t have worried about it as much as I did, because so far the responses and feedback that I received Continue reading “Webinar: Leveraging Social Media”

New Media Tech Info Session

This a short video excerpt of a discussion on the field of digital development and the upcoming changes to the New Media Technology program at LaGuardia Community College. Last year I was tasked with the responsibility of conducting the Periodic Program Review (PPR) for the New Media Technology program at LaGuardia. In drafting the PPR I was forced to research the current status of the industry in which the program was preparing students to enter in the hopes of developing a plan to assess the effectiveness of the major and improve student outcomes.

Based on the information discovered during my research, I Continue reading “New Media Tech Info Session”