Each spring, the coming academic year schedule is finalized and published online. Every attempt is made to avoid holding classes on major religious and national holidays. However, New York State Department of Education regulations require a certain number of contact hours for each academic credit, and the calendar may not meet everyone’s preferences. Faculty may help students understand the scheduling of courses by explaining the contact hours requirement. Both the Catalog and the Student Handbook contain information regarding the make-up policy for students who miss class because of religious observance. Faculty should observe the schedule of course meetings as listed on the academic calendar and meet classes and conference groups at the time and place listed. Occasionally, alternative plans will need to be made due to faculty illness or emergency.
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Academic Schedules
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Graduate School Internal Calendar
The Graduate School produces an internal calendar which lists meetings, special events, seminars, and closings. This document is updated monthly and distributed to the entire faculty and staff by email. Beginning in late January, committee chairs, program directors, department chairs, and student services are invited to submit meeting, event, and orientation schedules for the following academic year. Additional events are added regularly, but ongoing events need to be scheduled in advance to meet the deadline imposed by the College-wide Calendar Committee. Gretchen Adams (gadams@bankstreet.edu), Director of Administration, represents the Graduate School on this committee.
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Schedule Changes and Emergencies
Instructors or advisors who are unable to meet a class or conference group due to illness or emergency should call the Graduate Suite (212-875-4467) as soon as possible. Every effort will be made to locate another faculty member to cover the class session. Conference groups may meet despite the advisor’s absence. In the event a class or conference group must be cancelled, signs will be posted at the College. Instructors or advisors should attempt (when practical) to contact students. Program directors and department chairs must approve planned changes in conference groups and class schedules (such as substitute instructors). The Graduate Suite must also be notified to allow for changes to room assignments.
Inclement Weather
In cases of inclement weather emergencies, the College Administration will initiate a college-wide calling system with information about class cancellations and College closings. Faculty members should report phone number changes in a timely manner to avoid problems with this system. Closing information will also be on the College’s website.
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Reserving a Room
All Graduate School room reservations are taken care of working with the College-wide Calendar Committee to plan for each year. Room reservations are divided into two categories: course scheduling and all other room needs (meetings, events, orientations, interviews, etc.).
Scheduling Rooms for Courses
Rooms are assigned for all course meetings. Course enrollment is a primary consideration, as are specific curriculum needs for a course. Room assignments are completed just prior to the beginning of each term, after registration. Faculty should provide room set up and AV requests by the requested date in the Info Pack. For any questions about room reservations for courses, please contact Gretchen Adams (gadams@bankstreet.edu)
All Other Room Reservations
Room reservations and room setup requests for all planned Graduate School meetings, events, orientations, interviews, and other functions are assigned to the start of the school year. Additional rooms needed during the course of the academic year can be reserved with Esperanza Olivo (eolivo@bankstreet.edu) through submission of the room reservation form provided in the Info Pack.
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Mail Services
Faculty, adjunct and staff mailboxes are located in the Graduate Suite. A variety of standard mail services are available; just let the suite staff know what you need.
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Copying
The graduate division has five copiers exclusively for our use. Three copiers are located on the sixth floor at the end of the hallway and two are on the eighth floor. Bank Street follows copyright laws and expects instructors to do the same. For information on copyright law and how it relates to course materials and other educational use, please consult the Library’s Copyright Research Guide: http://libguides.bankstreet.edu/copyright.
Use of Technology and Supports at Bank Street
The use of technology is required for most aspects of teaching and learning at Bank Street. At the very least, email and use of the Canvas learning management system are necessary for communicating necessary information with students and colleagues in the Graduate School. For faculty teaching blended and/or online, there will be more reliance on these systems and resources. See our GSE Teaching with Technology website for a range of resources to support the integration of technology in instruction, including online and blended teaching and learning. In this section, an overview of the technological systems and supports utilized in the Graduate School are outlined.
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Systems and Infrastructure
Email
All Graduate School faculty, staff, students, and adjuncts are given a Bank Street email address to facilitate communication.
myBSC
The student information system is myBankStreetConnect (myBSC). You will be able to check your course roster, access student profile information, including advisor, and access Faculty Resources. All grading is done through myBSC. More information on grading is discussed later on in this Handbook. Please see the Catalog for an outline of the Grading Policy.
Canvas
Bank Street also provides an account for our online Learning Management System: Canvas. This interactive web-based system offers a variety of options for online learning and communication. To access, click on Canvas Courses from the website once you are logged in. For directions on how to access and use all features of Canvas, email Laura Zadoff, lzadoff@bankstreet.edu, and Robin Hummel, rhummel@bankstreet.edu. Each course has access to tools for collaboration including online forums, chats, and wikis. The site provides options for a course calendar, email and handouts. Faculty and adjuncts should plan to post syllabi and other course materials by the first session of the course. Faculty are encouraged to minimize use of copiers for distribution of syllabi and course handouts as a means of conserving natural and fiscal resources.
Course Evaluations
These will be sent directly to students via Watermark Course Evaluations on the last synchronous session or the last day of class, according to the website schedule. If no date is listed, they will be sent on the last day the course meets for the term, i.e., last day of Monday classes for fall. Once all grades are submitted two weeks after the end of the term, the feedback will be emailed to you. If you want to have your evaluations made available earlier, please email Gretchen Adams, gadams@bankstreet.edu, with the date.
Watermark
Bank Street utilizes the Watermark assessment system, for use with all matriculated students. Watermark is a comprehensive data management and learning outcomes assessment system that provides a rich set of tools to help track and enhance graduate students’ growth, build professional portfolios, support career advancement, and support institutional accountability. The primary purpose of this tool is to record program-based, aggregated data on all students who take specific coursework within the Graduate School for program improvement purposes. At the end of each term, instructions are sent out for completing rating scales in Watermark for embedded courses.
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Information Technology (IT)
The Information Technology (IT) department works to support all members of Bank Street College’s community by providing robust, secure, up-to-date, and accessible technology. Details about our support services and contact information can be found below.
Help Desk
212-875-4642 or helpdesk@bankstreet.edu
The Help Desk staff, located on the 5th floor, are available for technical support for College hardware, software, internet access, and telephone equipment.
Connecting to Wireless Network
Faculty may access the Bank Street College Wi-Fi network by doing the following:
- Go to the settings of their mobile device.
- Select the Wi-Fi option.
- Select the Bankstreet Staff Network.
- Your Bank Street email login credentials will permit you to join the network.
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Tech Fellows
Tech Fellows are graduate students who work with the administrative staff within the Graduate Suite to support faculty. They provide a wide variety of supports such as:
- helping with software-related issues and support,
- facilitating student technology projects;
- responding to request to borrow audiovisual equipment, such as video cameras, digital cameras, tripods, etc.; and
- assisting with a number of other clerical tasks.
For technological support, faculty may schedule an appointment to meet with a Tech Fellow to discuss and plan the course of assistance via email at techfellow@bankstreet.edu or by calling ext. 4528 (212-875-4528). For help with non-technological clerical tasks, faculty may submit a request to the work as a Workbasket Project.
Workbasket Projects
If you need assistance with copying or other administrative support including typing, you may submit a workbasket request. Instructions are posted in the Graduate Suite, next to the printers. Remember that the workbasket tends to be extremely busy just prior to the start of a term. We suggest that you place requests as early as possible.
Equipment Requests
Bank Street faculty may request A/V equipment from the Tech Fellows office. All equipment loans are for one week and faculty must pick up and return all equipment. Faculty may renew equipment up to three times, as long as there isn’t a wait. If there is a queue for equipment, you may not be able to renew.
To request equipment, complete and submit a Equipment Loan Request form:
Tech Fellows Equipment Request Form
To renew equipment, complete and submit a Equipment Renewal Request form:
Tech Fellows Equipment Renewal Form
For further information on A/V services, the Tech Fellows can be reached via email at techfellow@bankstreet.edu or 212-875-4528. Their hours vary each month but are always posted on their door, Room 637. If you can not reach them, please feel free to contact Amy Kline at akline@bankstreet.edu or ext. 4442.
Financial Services
| Name | Title | Phone | Room | |
| Gretchen Adams | Senior Director of Finance, Operations, and Analytics | 212-875-4461 | gadams@bankstreet.edu | 608 |
| Stacy Nelson | Director of Finance and Operations | 212-875-4483 | snelson@bankstreet.edu | 610 |
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Financial Forms
The following forms are accessible via Google Drive:
- Conference support request
- Travel: out-of-town reimbursements
- Travel: local reimbursements
- Out-of-pocket reimbursements
- Honorarium and W-9
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Purchase of Goods or Services
All purchases of goods or services, including all catering for Graduate Division events requires prior approval by the Assistant Dean of Finance and Operations. Office supplies are kept in the closet located in the Graduate Suite. Supplies are available by filling out a request form and giving it to Esperanza Olivo. It is recommended that you try to anticipate your supply needs in advance.