Author Archives: adowning

The College has licensed LinkedIn Learning for all currently-enrolled Baruch College students and current employees.

LinkedIn Learning is an online educational platform that includes over 16,000 expert-led courses across many subject areas with a focus on business, technology-related, and creative skills. Users are able to receive personalized recommendations or discover, complete, and track courses related to their own interests.

LinkedIn Learning content includes the courses formerly offered via Lynda.com.  In addition, the College has incorporated thousands of courses, videos, and books from its subscription to O’Reilly, an online learning platform in the field of information technology.

There are courses that will led to certification credentials.   If you choose to link your LinkedIn Learning account to your LinkedIn profile, you can download course completion certificates to your profile.  Please note that once you link the two, after you log in with your CUNY Login username and password, you may also have to log in with your LinkedIn credentials, if you had previously logged out of that system.

By default LinkedIn Learning will send you recommendations of courses, but you can manage those communications in your user profile.

Login to LinkedIn Learning using your CUNY Login Credentials.

Below are examples of courses that have already been used by members of the Baruch community.

The College has migrated the faculty activity data from Digital Measures to Interfolio Faculty 180.  To ensure that our use of Faculty 180 begins with accurate data, faculty members need to review their record to make edits, if necessary, or report issues.  The following are specific areas of the faculty activity record that deserve attention in the review process, along with explanations regarding data that cannot be edited by the user.  Questions should be directed to the College’s central email address for managing Interfolio support: AssociateProvost@baruch.cuny.edu.  This page will be updated with new information during the period of faculty Initiated Input in fall 2022.

1. Items Have to  be Marked as Either Peer-Reviewed or Not Peer-Reviewed

The University requires that faculty CVs used in personnel actions indicate that scholarly and creative activities are either peer-reviewed or not peer-reviewed.  There is a field in the Activity Classifications section of the item record that is labelled “Was this peer-reviewed/refereed?*”  As the asterisk indicates, this is a required field.  If that field was blank in Digital Measures, you need to select “Peer-Reviewed/Refereed” or “Not Peer-Reviewed/Refereed” from the drop-down menu.  Otherwise, when you run your CV the item will appear in a separate section “Additional Activities”.  As soon as the designation is selected and the record is saved, the item will move from Additional Activities to its proper place under Peer-Reviewed or Not Peer-Reviewed on the CV.

2. N/a in Co-Author Fields

Some records may contain and display “N/a”  in either the first name or last name field of the co-author of a scholarly or creative work.  That is because the data shifted to an adjacent field, such as the middle initial field.  We corrected these errors when we caught them, but it is likely that there are still cases that need to be addressed.  The data can be cut and pasted from the wrong field to the correct one.

3. Secondary Affiliation Field: CUNY Graduate Center

In the Profile section there is a field for Secondary Affiliation.  The College will soon be batch-loading “CUNY Graduate Center” in that field for faculty who have appointments there.  Faculty should not enter that information in this field themselves.  We need to use consistent language to designate CUNY Graduate Center appointments across all records.

4. Scheduled Teaching – User Cannot Edit

The section Scheduled Teaching contains records from CUNYfirst for courses taught at Baruch and the CUNY Graduate Center.  Baruch courses extend back to the College’s earliest records in CUNYfirst (Summer 2001).   For courses taught at the Graduate Center the starting period is Fall 2012.  Users cannot edit this section.  If there are errors in the data, they are also in the official record in CUNYfirst and should be reported to the department chair or department administrator who handles course scheduling with the Registrar’s office.  Courses taught at other CUNY campuses do not appear in this section, because the College does not have access to this data.  An additional section of the Faculty 180 record is being created to enable reporting of teaching activities at other institutions, including outside CUNY.

5. Grants and Grants (Not via SPAR)

There are two separate sections for grant-related activity.  The section labelled “Grants” contains records from the College’s Office of Sponsored Programs and Research (SPAR) for grants submitted and awarded.  SPAR will be the source of data for this section going forward as well.  The migrated data from the grants section of Digital Measures has been placed in the section that is temporarily named “Grants (Not via SPAR)”.   There is duplication between the two sections that will be addressed.

6. Contact Information in the Profile Section

The College did not use the contact information fields in DM, which is why we did not migrate any data from those fields into the Profile section of Interfolio.  Faculty who enter their contact information should be aware that it may appear on CVs and public profile pages.  For this reason, you should avoid entering a personal cell phone number, an address that is not your office address, a non-Baruch email address, and other private contact information.

1. In the Blackboard course, go to the Grade Center (in the lower left Course Management/Control Panel area)
2. In the exam column’s header cell, click the down arrow:
3. In the pop-up menu, select “Edit Column Information”

4. Scroll down and select “No” for the “Show this column to students”

Note that the instructions say: “Select No for the second option to hide this column from students in My Grades” which prevents the student from viewing the exam grade even if the test is automatically graded.

5. Click “Submit”

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To display the grades later, the instructor only needs to choose “Yes” instead of “No” for the option “Show this column to students” and this will reveal the exam score to each student.

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NOTE: the steps above hide the overall exam grade.  To ensure that students do not see their scores on individual questions of the exam, make sure you have selected the appropriate settings in the “Show Test Results and Feedback to Students” section of the “Test Options” for your exam.  The most straightforward way to hide question scores and other information is to make sure that none of the checkboxes is selected in this section:

If you would like to show students some of the information in the “Show Test Results and Feedback to Students” section, please refer to this PDF guide (10 pages):

https://www.baruch.cuny.edu/bctc/intech/documents/ConfiguringTestResultsandFeedbacktoStudentsonBlackboard.pdf

Baruch College students who do not have Internet access at home may request to borrow one of the MiFi hotspots that the University has provided. The units use a T-mobile plan that is covered by the University.  There is no cost to students.  The loan period is the semester.

The supply is very limited.  Priority will be given to students based on financial need.

To Submit a Request

Complete the request form.  Note (if no hotspots are available at the moment, the choice will not appear on the request form.)

To Connect to Wi-Fi

The T-Mobile hotspot has been pre-configured and is ready to use. When you receive the device please do the following to start using it.

1. Press and hold the Power button for 3 seconds to turn on device.
2. Power LED light settings:
   a. Light off –power is off.
   b. Light on, solid – power is off, device is charging.
   c. Light on, blinking – power on, operating normally.
3. When the device is on, press the Power button quickly to go through device menu and information. This will toggle the display to show Home screen, data usage, Wi-Fi name, Wi-Fi password, Web Admin URL, and back to Home screen.
4. You will need the Wi-Fi name and Wi-Fi password to connect to the hotspot.
5. On the device you want to connect to the Hotspot; find the Wi-Fi name (FranklinT9####). Click connect and enter the Wi-Fi password from your hotspot display.

To Change the Password

1. Connect your Wi-Fi-capable device to the T9 Wi-Fi.
2. Open a web browser and navigate to http://mobile.hotspot or http://192.168.0.1
3. Click Settings in the navigation area.
4. Select the Wi-Fi Settings tab.
5. Change the password that appears in the Password field.

Resources

• CUNY Loaner Support Website, which includes the full User Manual for the T-9 Franklin Mobile Hotspot, including more on getting started and using your T-9
• T-Mobile Mobile Support
• Student direct dial for basic troubleshooting- 844-341-4834

Equipment loans are handled at the technology loan desk in the Newman Library.  Loans will be transacted on site in the Library.  The items available for loan and the associated loan periods are listed on the Library’s technology loan services page.  A few items are available for semester-long loan while supplies last.  They may be requested using the equipment loan form. 

The College’s main student computing lab, the Kaplan Computing & Technology Center, will be open by appointment.  

The procedures listed below were used while the Library was not open for students to borrow from the technology loan desk.  Those procedures no longer apply.

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Baruch College’s equipment loan program provides students with Chromebooks, iPads, laptops, and other devices that support online learning.   At this time the equipment is being mailed to requesters.  There is no cost to borrow equipment and the loan period is for the semester. 

To Submit a Request:

1. Log into CUNYFirst.
2. On the CUNYfirst entry screen look for the section headed “Tell Us Your Tech Needs”.
3. Click on the link to the “CUNY Technology Needs Form.”
4. When the Survey Portal appears click on “Tell Us Your Tech Needs”.
5. Answer the questions and submit the form.

Here is a video of the request process.

What Happens After You Submit the Request?

The technology loan staff review the request to make sure that the item is in stock.  If there is a problem with the request, you will be notified by email.  Otherwise, the information you submitted on the form will be used to produce the shipping label to get the device to you via UPS.  Shipments are done twice per week.  As soon as the item is ready to be shipped, you will receive an email message that will provide the information you need to track the delivery.  If you do not hear anything in a few days, it means that you submitted the request just after a shipment batch was prepared.  Your device will be included in the next shipment batch.  Please do not resubmit a request, because a duplicate order will cause a delay in shipping the item in the original request.

BCTC is providing drop-in support sessions for faculty who need assistance with using Zoom in their courses.  Four full-time BCTC staff members will be available during each two-hour session that will be delivered via Zoom.

Schedule

• Monday, August 24 (11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.) – Session Held Already
• Wednesday, August 26 (1:00 p.m. – 3:00  p.m.) Meeting URL: https://baruch.zoom.us/j/97644705075
• Friday, August 28 (10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.) Meeting URL: https://baruch.zoom.us/j/91787186988

Background

On May 28, 2020 President S. David Wu charged the The Task Force for the Future with re-imagining how the College will deliver education and provide student services in the post-Covid environment.  On June 30, the Task Force issued its preliminary report with recommendations that apply to fall 2020 and build a foundation for the long term.  President Wu has assigned responsibility for championing the implementation of the recommendations regarding technology to Vice President for Information Services and Dean of the Library, Arthur Downing with the support of the Baruch Computing and Technology Center (BCTC).  Mike Richichi, the AVP for Information Technology who leads BCTC, is serving as a member of the Task Force.  This page will be one of the methods of informing the Baruch community about the progress of the implementation efforts.  Information here will be updated frequently. Questions and comments may be submitted to  cio@baruch.cuny.edu.

Recommendations with Current Status of Implementation

Subcommittee 2 – Faculty Support

• “Students should be hired to provide remedial technical assistance to the instructor for each class and departments can designate a teaching mentor to work with faculty members who need less assistance: One suggestion is that a student be hired to assist the instructor (e.g., to be the Zoom host and operator) for each class, drawing on work-study or other funding. A way to help instructors less in need of intense remedial support would be for each department to designate a department “teaching mentor” or “master teacher” who would work with department colleagues individually or in small groups to address issues specific to disciplinary issues or pedagogies.”

Status: BCTC has posted a position for part-time student Zoom assistants on the Starr Career Development Star Search site.  BCTC is reallocating the portion of its student staffing budget that would have supported on-site lab assistants for this purpose.  The position description may be used by departments for hiring student assistants to support the use of Zoom and other instructional software.  BCTC has appointed a coordinator for this initiative and virtual training sessions for the student assistants will be provided.  Given that there will not be a sufficient number of student assistants to cover every course that needs one, BCTC is consulting with the deans of the 3 schools to identify the high priority courses.

Update (9/10): BCTC has hired and trained a team of student Zoom assistants.  Recruitment continues. The student assistants have been assigned to faculty based on matching the students’ schedules with the meeting times of the classes they will support. Student assistants are not  assigned to support courses they are enrolled in.  Instructors receive an email message introducing them to the student assistant.

Subcommittee 3 – Technical Support

• “Faculty without the minimum necessary hardware should be given Baruch-issued laptops as soon as possible.”

Status: The College’s equipment loan program will be expanded.  On July 16, we received another large shipment of iPads and Chromebooks courtesy of  CUNY Central. Although these items are intended primarily for students, they may be loaned to faculty to support online instruction as well.  We are also ordering laptops based on specifications that will meet faculty requirements. CUNY Central is working with vendors to obtain a quantity discount that will be 40% in the case of the model that we have chosen.   Although this has delayed the purchase slightly, it will yield more units for faculty use.  BCTC is working with the deans of the 3 schools to identify the full range of equipment needs and set priorities for the fall.  We expect to have the lists from the deans during the week of July 27.  Almost all of the new faculty who will begin in the fall have opted to receive a laptop as their primary device in lieu of a desktop computer.

Update 9/10: The College began shipping Chromebooks and iPads to the faculty who requested them on July 29.  The laptops and MacBook just arrived and are being shipped to requesters.

• “Peripheral devices should also be provided (e.g., inexpensive tablet/pen solution (e.g., Wacom) that can replicate whiteboard classroom experience.”

Status: Purchase requisitions have been submitted for 100 Wacom Intuos tablets  and 50 Apple pencils that may be used with the iPads supplied by CUNY.   BCTC is working with the deans of the 3 schools to identify additional needs.  The information received to date indicates that the following items are needed immediately (list is growing and will be updated):

Update 9/10:

• • • Headsets (50) – The school technology staff selected the Logitech H650e. Distributed to faculty who requested them.
    • Wacom Tablets (100) – Delivered to faculty who requested them.
    • Apple Pencils (50) – Delivered to faculty who requested them.
    • Webcams – Delivered to faculty who requested them.

• “We also need to develop a policy of what we expect faculty to have vs. what support the college is willing to offer.”

Status: This is under discussion.

• “Cloud-based and/or remotely accessed software must be a priority, so that students and faculty can use it remotely: Funds are needed for licensing and maintaining cloud-based and/or remotely accessed software.”

Status:  Both the College and the University have preferred to license software as cloud-based (SaaS) rather than on-premises since the adoption of the CUNY Cloud Policy in August 2019.  The only exceptions have occurred when the vendor’s price for remote access  has been prohibitively high.  Student remote access to Adobe Creative Cloud is the recent high-profile example.  BCTC is implementing a method for students to have remote access to the software on 250 of the computers in the Kaplan Computing Center in time for fall 2020 classes.  CUNY continues to pursue enterprise agreements for software that the campuses  report as necessary for online instruction.  BCTC is working with the deans of the 3 schools to identify software needs.  The following new licenses are in progress (Updated 9/10):

• • VoiceThread – Requisition for 450 users has been submitted and integration with Blackboard  has been arranged.  The license agreement is under review by CUNY Legal.
  • Amazon Web Services (AWS) – CUNY is in discusison with Amazon.
  • Zoom – A CUNY-wide license will eliminate the need for Baruch to continue to purchase on our own. The Baruch licenses will remain active until the CUNY license is in effect.
  • Online Proctoring – CUNY is working to license at least one product in time for use by final examinations, if not midterms.
  • Adobe Creative Cloud – CUNY continues to negotiate with Adobe to expand remote access for students.
  • Labster – Natural Sciences Department is now using Labster via the  agreement that CUNY negotiated.
  • JoVE – The College purchased the Biological Sciences package of JoVE to enable remote labs in Biology and Genetics courses.  It is no win use.
  • Minitab – The College is purchasing an unlimited license that will allow students, faculty and staff to install a copy on their personal devices,

• “Faculty must be provided with instructional design and technology help before and during the semester:
  • “Full-time staff must be available to provide synchronous and asynchronous teaching support to faculty members.”

Status: The availability of full-time staff for this work is a serious challenge at this time.  There are only 3 full-time positions in the BCTC help desk and 1 full-time instructional designer.  The Center for Teaching and Learning has only 2 full-time staff for its entire program of services and relies heavily on its part-time, primarily grant-funded, staff.  During the PAUSE BCTC has reassigned several full-time staff from other areas of its operation to the help desk.  BCTC is also strengthening its collaboration with the full-time technology staff in the 3 schools.

• • “Staff must be available not only during the day, but after-hours and during the evening to support faculty who are teaching interactively during those times.”

Status: The BCTC help desk was staffed until 8:00 p.m. during the spring and will resume its regular hours (8:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.) in the fall.  We will explore a staffing plan for the fall that enables an “emergency” response to faculty who need assistance while teaching in a virtual classroom.

• • “Additionally, faculty members should be given access to a sandbox environment where they can test-drive their online courses.”

Status: This is being explored.

• • “Course templates on Blackboard would also be helpful for faculty members so that they have a baseline environment that they can fill in or further expand.”

Status: We are investigating what is already available to accomplish this.

• “New faculty (both full-time and adjunct) need to be given access to Baruch resources as soon as possible (even if HR onboarding isn’t entirely complete): There needs to be a minimum amount of information available to ensure both employment eligibility and the ability to manage accounts automatically.”

Status:  BCTC has just introduced an Account Management System (AMS) that has automated the creation of new faculty and staff accounts.  Users are now able to claim their Baruch system accounts the day after their record becomes active in CUNYfirst.  There is no longer any need to request access to systems or wait for approvals.

• “Classrooms need to be equipped so that classes can take place in-person with some students attending remotely:”

Status (9/10): BCTC met with the Deans’ offices and the instructors to identify exactly what they need in the classrooms.  The College set up the classrooms in the main gym and the auxiliary gym, where BCTC installed the necessary equipment.  Media support staff are attending the classes remotely to assist with the use of the equipment.

• • “To do this, the college would need cameras/mics in the classroom to capture the class appropriately.”

Status: Completed.

• • “They would also need overhead video of any writing or handheld materials and a potential video of the class to match the online students’ usual learning experience.”

Status: Completed.

• • “Reliable wi-fi connections are also necessary to allow for dual teaching in real time.”

Status: This will not be an issue, because the classrooms are only in the Newman Vertical Campus.  BCTC tested the performance of wifi in the classrooms.

• “The college must develop a clear communication plan on all relevant procedures:
  • The relevant procedures include how to borrow equipment if needed,
  • what software/equipment are available and how they can be accessed,
  • what are the class-related student privacy policies,
  • and what are the expectations around accessibility.
  • We recommend creating a list of resources available and of potential need, then surveying faculty to match their needs.”

Status: BCTC will work with the Provost’s Office and OCMPA on a communication plan.

• “Students and faculty must be informed ahead of time of the technology requirements for their classes:
  • Students and faculty must be aware of the recommended minimum computing hardware,”

Status: BCTC has adopted the minimum requirements for a student laptop that were provided by faculty in the Zicklin School of Business as the basis for purchasing loaner laptops.  Those specifications will be shared and equivalent ones developed for other devices.

• • “suggestions for minimum network bandwidth for connectivity,
  • the use of existing CUNY and Baruch-based services,
  • and understanding of the most effective ways to access and use services.”

Status: These are being developed.

• “Faculty must adjust their expectations and workflow to the needs of online teaching: Faculty need to plan ahead and start preparing their online courses well in advance. They must also be prepared and willing to make changes to their course material and exams/assessments as needed for them to be successful in an online environment. Faculty should also be aware that they may not be able to receive support from the CTL and BCTC at a moment’s notice or right before their classes start. Therefore, early planning on their part will help provide them with timely support for their courses. Faculty also need to take advantage of all existing resources, such as the extensive library of content from the CTL, in preparing their courses and exams/assessments.”

Status: How to assist faculty toward these goals is under discussion.

• “Students must be provided with technological support as well:
  • Technological support includes dedicated Blackboard help desk support 24/7,”

Status (9/10): CUNY had licensed 24/7 Blackboard support through a third-party vendor in Spring 2020 and is continuing the service in the fall.  BCTC will raise awareness of the service among the faculty.

• • “training on Blackboard and other course platforms, and best practices support and training as well as basic skills training.”

Status (9/10): BCTC has begun to offer its fall training schedule.  This included 3 days of drop-in session on the use Zoom.

• “Accessibility is a policy concern that must be addressed by the college. The issue of lack of accessibility has become much more severe since courses have moved online:
  • It’s important for the college to ensure that all content created for classes be accessible for students with disabilities.
  • Additionally, staff support should be provided to faculty to help them make their course material accessible.
  • Lastly, the college should make faculty aware that accessibility is a priority and course content must be made accessible prior to the start of the semester.”

Status: BCTC will discuss with Student Disability Services and incorporate accessibility in the faculty support plans and communication plan.

Technology has been a critical part of Baruch College’s strategy to continue its educational mission despite the challenges posed by COVID-19. When instruction became fully online with short notice we used resources already in place and acquired new resources to support the faculty.  When staff were required to work from home we provided them with equipment, remote access to their desktop computers, and additional communication tools to enable them to keep the College’s operations running.  When students were faced with taking all their courses online we supplied them with the equipment they needed and remote access to support services.

Fortunately, we have have received tremendous support from the University, which has supplied hundreds of devices, shipped devices to students at home, negotiated free access to a wide range of IT services from vendors, negotiated deals on new licenses, and kept the network running smoothly during a period of escalating demand for access.

Here are some of the numbers associated with our tech deployment:

• Zoom meetings held: 35,991
• Actively Used Zoom Accounts: 11,081
• COVID-19 Related Help Desk Requests: 1,411
• Active VPN Users: 889
• Active Blackboard Users: 6,818
• Laptops Loaned to Staff and Faculty: 133
• Equipment Loaned to Students (As of June 5, 2020)
  • • Chromebooks (provided by CUNY): 328
    • iPads (provided by CUNY): 553
    • Laptops, tablets, and MacBooks (provided by Newman Library, private donors, Undergraduate Student Government and Graduate Student Assembly): 306
    • Peripherals (Keyboards, styluses, graphing calculators, etc. provided by private donors): 410