Monthly Archives: January 2014

CUNY CareerPATH in the News

Yesterday we highlighted a piece from Tom Hilliard at the Center for Urban Future about the need for Mayor de Blasio to focus on supporting CUNY community colleges. The report detailed interventions that CUNY community colleges have created to help students get accepted, stay in and get jobs through early college experiences. CUNY CareerPATH was highlighted as a successful workforce training program, and one that should be enhanced with greater support and collaboration throughout the city:

“Not only does Career Path deserve to be scaled up, it also would benefit from deeper coordination with city workforce, education and youth development agencies, which the de Blasio administration could expedite.”

While this article focuses on the future of CUNY initiatives, CUNY CareerPATH’s programs are still active and offering support to New York City residents who want to receive training for a better job or a place in higher education. Read more about CUNY CareerPATH here. Information sessions are continually being offered for many of our programs. If you think this program is right for you, fill out this quick survey and a CareerPATH representative will call you back to discuss eligibility and next steps.

DeBlasio Urged to Strengthen NYC’S COMMUNITY COLLEGES

Tom Hiliard, Center for an Urban Future (CUF), released a commentary urging Mayor DeBlasio to strengthen NYC’s community colleges. Serving more than 91,000 students, the city’s community colleges serve an important economic role by boosting average earnings for graduates. Community college students are often recent immigrants, and nearly 50% live in households with annual incomes below $20,000. Kingsborough is among CUNY’s six community colleges and takes it role as an economic – and equity – engine very seriously. The new Mayor has placed pre-K at the center of his agenda. We hope he prioritizes community colleges, too. Stengthening NYC’s Community Colleges

February Job Fairs/Events NYC

Now that you have a new resume in hand, and you’ve read up about how to present yourself at both career fairs and interviews, it’s time to put your new skills to work!

Upcoming Fairs/Workshops/Events*:

  • February 5, 2014 11:00a-3:00p—New York City Career Fair @ Holiday Inn Midtown 440 W. 57th St, NYC
  • February 6, 2014 6:30p-9:00p–Homebrew NYC Tech Job Fair @ 1412 Broadway, 22 Floor. For engineers.
  • February 13, 2014 7:30a-3:00p—Mosaic Career Fair @ 45 East 45th Street, NYC. Workshops, panels and career expo. Focus on minorities (but open to all) in advertising, marketing and communications fields.

Resources:

*Check with sponsors/locations to verify event details. 

**This is not the most comprehensive list. If you are sponsoring an event and would like it mentioned on our site, please leave a comment and we’ll make sure it is listed in upcoming posts. 

CUNY Games Festival

Earlier this month, I attended the CUNY Games Festival, a conference that brought together students, faculty, staff, game developers and all-around nerds to talk about the role of gaming in higher education. Speakers presented formal and informal work on the role games—tabletop, console and computer-based gaming, even game creation and development—have on learners in and out of the classroom.

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New Year, New GED at Project Rise

Are you interested in getting your GED/TASC? Project Rise can help!

PR Infographic 2014

If you are interested and want to know more, fill out this quick survey, and a Project Rise staff member will get in contact with you. Recruitment for our next cohort is happening right now, so don’t hesitate. Your bright future is right around the corner!

Working Hard With Math

Math. For some, its mere mention is enough to bring on pangs of anxiety from schooldays gone by.

In December, the NY Times published an article talking about the state of math education (specifically in relation to STEM careers) across the country. The bottom line, according to the Times: math education in the US is boring. Its system has remained unchanged for so long, with very few mechanisms to spark interest and encourage creativity, that most students can’t fathom pursuing the subject past what’s required.

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Farming for NYC College Students, amNewYork

Pruning

Students at KCC Urban Farm. Brooklyn, NY.

KCC Urban Farm manager, Silvia Torres, was just featured in an amNY article about farming in the city.

“Our goal is to help students understand that something called a food system exists, and that they have the power to make choices that impact both the environment and their health,” Torres says.

Read about what KCC Urban Farm and other farms in the city are doing to encourage this kind of hands-on learning.

Changes in the Kitchen

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CUNY CareerPATH Culinary Arts Program, in the kitchen

A recent New York Times article, A Change in the Kitchen, digs deep into the changing roles of women in professional kitchens. For decades, thanks to low-pay, long hours and general high turnover, the food industry has largely been one for transient workers—oftentimes with more qualified workers leaving both jobs and the larger industry after a relatively short period of time. In the last few decades, in part due to the acknowledgement of basic worker rights, there’s been a move towards supporting employee satisfaction, with kitchens offering benefits, sick time and the possibility for promotion. Add to this to growing prestige of the culinary world, due partially to evolving food fads, the opening of specialized restaurants, and the glitz and glam of the industry via reality cooking shows.

While these factors have changed the industry as a whole, one of the more pronounced developments has been the role of women in the kitchen.

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GIS at Kingsborough

GIS

Enroll now for a course in GIS (Geographic Information Systems) through CEWD and Continuing Education at Kingsborough Community College. This course integrates hardware, software and data for acquiring, managing, investigating, evaluating and presenting all forms of spatial information. Let our course help you answer questions and solve problems by looking at your data in a way that is quickly understood and easily shared. This course is perfect for the real estate industry, education professionals, conservation organizations & all types of businesses!

This class begins on February 15th, so register today online or by calling 718.368.5050.

Success Stories from Project Rise

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Project Rise participants at Kingsborough

Project Rise has been recognized as a highly successful program that re-connects young adults to education and employment. At Kingsborough, we have had amazing success with overall outcomes, increasing the number of enrolled participants, number of GEDs earned and increased employment with each cohort. What is even more significant is hearing the unexpected personal achievements of our participants—achievements that are not tracked by numbers, but recognized and highly valued by program staff, counselors and participants.

Despite an unexpected family illness and severe financial impediments, L.B. from Cohort 1 stayed on track with the help of counselors. On top of earning his GED, L. also started a clothing line and opened his own business. His story returns full-circle with his business becoming an internship site for current/future Project Rise participants.

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