QUEENSBOROUGH COMMUNITY COLLEGE
ACADEMIC PROGRAM REVIEW: OUTLINE FOR TEAM REPORT
Summary of Program or Area Reviewed
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Faculty and staff and faculty and staff development
Curricular design
Pedagogical practice
Evidence of student learning
Instructional and student support
Resources
Quality and substance of the self-study
Program/Area Strengths
College and Program Snapshot
Queensborough Community College is a two-year college within The City University of
New York (CUNY) accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.
Located in Bayside, Queens, New York City, the College is recognized as both a
minority and Hispanic-serving institution (HSI) by the US Department of Education.
Queensborough Community College with an enrollment of nearly 16000 students offers
the possibility to students to obtain associate degrees or certificate programs. The transfer
programs offered at Queensborough Community College gives students the possibility to
complete the first two years of study at Queensborough Community College and continue
in a four-degree institution, which in the case of the Associate Degree in “Science for
Forensics”, is John Jay College. Over the past 6 years, enrollment in the “Science for
Forensics” at Queensborough Community College has increased substantially from about
five (Fall of 2008) to 73 (Fall of 2013).
Four different departments have designed the science courses offered within the transfer
program in Science for Forensics. The quality of these courses is without a doubt of high
level: the curriculum within the courses is perfectly aligned with the one at John Jay
College. The chemistry department has 14 FT faculties and more or less 20 adjunct
faculty members; the department of biological sciences and geology has 32 FT faculties
and approximately 25 adjunct faculty members; the mathematics and computer science
department has 59 FT faculties and more than 70 adjuncts, and the physics department
that has 15 FT faculty members and 12 adjuncts. All the Departments that offer
laboratories have college laboratory technicians who oversee the procedures.
Queensborough Community College is currently investing in updating the teaching
laboratories and creating new spaces for faculty research. The equipments present in the
Chemistry and Biology Departments for faculties’ research have been recently acquired
and undergraduate students are actively pursuing their research objectives.
In 2013, the first 3 students have transferred to John Jay College under the transfer
program. Even if the program is very heavy in science and certainly very rigorous and
demanding, the student satisfaction’s data gathered in the Spring of 2015 have indicated
that students are overall satisfied of their experience. Students have also expressed
satisfaction with their faculty and the facilities of Queensborough Community College.
Students also feel prepared for their transition in the four-year program.
Faculties at Queensborough Community College are actively involved in promoting
undergraduate research: this is proved by attendance of school, CUNY-wide, regional,
national and international pedagogical and research symposia. In addition, faculties
obtain significant extramural funding to support their research projects. Surely, the
number of undergraduate research projects carried on at Queensborough Community
College far exceeds the projects accomplished at other Community Colleges.
Faculties are also regularly involved in activities organized by the Center for Excellence
in Teaching and Learning. Faculties participate in and/or lead seminars and Faculty
Inquiry Groups.
Students are very much supported in their academics efforts at Queensborough
Community College. The student-learning center offers tutoring service for all classes but
math. The Math department is solely responsible of the Mathematics Learning Center. A
similar in-house learning center was present in the Chemistry Department but its services
were suspended in 2014.
Students also have the possibility to attend departmental monthly meetings in which
researchers from the NY area are presenting their work.
Students who enroll at Queensborough Community College are assigned an Academic
Adviser who serves as their personal guide through their college career. The adviser helps
students with program planning, courses’ selection, and degree requirements.
John Jay College has provided for a number of years an adviser, associated with the
Justice Academy Partnership. The service has not been very regular but has provided
some help to students to navigate the program.
Program/Area Weaknesses
During the first 6 years of the program the number of students who have transitioned to
the four-year institution is limited so it is difficult to draw conclusions on the effective
preparation and success of the students once they transfer to John Jay College. In
addition, like many other science associate and bachelor program, this transfer program
suffers a very high attrition rate during the first year of enrollment.
Students enrolled in “Science for forensics” have expressed a lack of cohort identity
because a forensic science course is not included in the first two-year curriculum. The
curriculum demands for these students is already very high and it may not be possible to
create and include a completely new course. The Chemistry Department has generated a
facebook page for the transfer program students and the biology Department is
organizing “forensic-oriented” seminars. It would be extremely beneficial for the students
enrolled in the program to be enrolled in some type of research activity that can make
their forensic oriented College experience more fulfilling. At Queensborough Community
College, no science professors are in the forensic field but students interested in a
forensic research experience may connect to John Jay professors through PRISM. In
addition, the creation of a Queensborough Community College forensic club would help
students to find their “forensic” identity. During the meeting hours of this club, faculties
actively involved in forensic research could be invited as speakers.
Students in the program were administered a survey questionnaire in the Spring of 2015
in order to obtain their feedback on the program itself, its faculties, students’
involvement, etc. The survey should be administered every semester so that more data
can be collected and analyzed for an accurate evaluation.
All the necessary requirements for graduation and a smooth transition to John Jay
College could be inserted in promotional advertising, catalogs, or other institutional
publications: it should be made clear that Quantitative Analysis which is not a
requirement for graduation from Queensborough Community College is indeed a
requirement to enroll in the third year of the Forensic Science bachelor program at John
Jay College. In order to target the “forensic” students, the material could be distributed
when the student join the general chemistry course and again, in the second year, when
the students join organic chemistry.
Suggestions
While Queensborough Community College provides an excellent tutoring service
program, it is possible that the students that would most benefit from it, are not actually
using it. It would be helpful that professors who notice that a student is falling behind
refer the student to the tutoring service and maybe provide points in the course for using
the service. Obviously, the tutoring service needs to communicate to the professor who
has referred the students the effective time spent by the student in their offices.
Queensborough Community College recently initiated the advisement for all students
entering the College. All students are assigned an Advisor and inserted into the STEM
Academy. A registration block could be placed on all students who do not seek
advisement. Faculty members and advisors could have the authority to remove the block.
Students and advisors meet prior to registration each semester to discuss their academic
progress, fill out a course checklist, and remove the registration block. Copies of the
checklist are filed with the College and the student. This way, students are always
informed about the curriculum that should be included in their studies, the progresses
they are making, the requirement for graduation and a smooth transition into their fouryear college.
Recommendations
Queensborough Community College is providing an excellent opportunity to students
interested in the forensic field. The education provided is of high level and the level of
help the students get to graduate their program and join John Jay College is excellent.
It would be extremely helpful for the students who enroll at Queensborough Community
College, and in the particular in STEM disciplines, at the beginning of each academic, to
be reminded about the transfer program. It would be beneficial to them to provide an
event in which the transfer programs such as the Associate for “Science for Forensics”
are presented. Within this orientation, discussions of course requirements, use of
facilities, undergraduate research opportunities, mentoring and advisement could be
provided. This orientation session could be addressed to all students entering the STEM
disciplines and may also serve the idea of promoting the Associate degree “Science for
Forensics’’ and recruiting more students.
The transfer program “Science for Forensics” could attract more students if policies and
procedures for student recruitment and admissions that locate and select qualified
individuals who have the educational prerequisites and the interest and motivation to
pursue careers in forensic science are made more visible. These policies and procedures
shall identify the scientific background necessary and clearly define the expectations for
succeeding in the program, continuation in, and completion of the program. In addition,
the student could be advised of the typical suitability requirements particular to
employment in the field.