NYU Wagner Coronavirus Information

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NYU Returns: 2020-2021 Academic Year

Explore NYU's hub for COVID-19-related guidance and information.

NYU Returns Information

NYU WAGNER UPDATES AND RESOURCES

Messages from the Office of the Dean:

Dear Wagner Community,

We are less than forty days away from the election in November. I hope that everyone who is eligible in our entire Wagner community, a group deeply engaged in serving the public good, is registered to vote and has a voting plan. Wagner’s voices should be heard. Here is some important voting information:

  • NYU Votes is a university-wide effort with the goal of 100% participation in the 2020 election by the all eligible members of the NYU community. 

    • Wagner is using the Motivote platform as part of this endeavor. This is a community platform that helps users create voting plans while recruiting friends and competing for prizes. Fun fact: Motivote started as a Capstone project!

  • The Wagner SEAD faculty group now has a Vote2020 webpage that is up and running. Here you can find:

    • Resources for those of you who want to get involved in the election including several volunteer opportunities. 

    • Applications for the latest round of “get out the vote” “Final Push” fellowships for students. If you If you have already secured a placement with a voting rights or voter education organization apply here. If you are interested in the Fellowship but have not finalized a placement, or need some advice on finding one apply here.

  • Save-the-Date for Wagner’s Election Night Viewing Party - Tuesday, November 3 at 6:00 pm.

This week I am delighted to spotlight Alexis Rose Richards (MPA 2021) who shared what it’s like to be a poll worker in this article. I hope this encourages more of you to take on this role on Election Day. You can find out more and sign-up here. New York City-specific information can be found here. 

As usual, you can find all of these bulletins here. Christina Powell continues to be your point person for questions, ideas, and feedback. You can also see me at my office hours or contact me via email.

See you at the polls,

Sherry

Dear Wagner Community,

We are now starting to get into a rhythm this semester. We are settling into our routines. We are more used to Zoom and its tools. We are connecting with each other virtually. But one thing that may be missing from your Wagner life is the presence of The Puck Building. I am using this week’s bulletin to give you a glimpse of what’s happening at Puck, who is in the building these days, and what things look like inside. 
 

Of course, to enter any NYU buildings, you must participate in NYU’s ongoing testing program. You can see the latest details about that here. Currently, external visitors to campus are very limited and must have an essential purpose directly related to the work of the University. 

When you arrive to Wagner, our space looks very different. We have gone from this:

To this:

The NYU Wagner facilities team has transformed our home into a secure and safe environment, making sure we are following the University’s health and safety guidance. Wagner’s IT Team, led by Lawrence Mirsky, has converted our multi-purpose Rudin Forum space into a classroom. We’re hosting 12 Wagner classes in Rudin this week, for example.

A few faculty members are in the building, making use of their offices. A limited number of staff are working in-person. Students are also coming to Puck to use select, physically-distanced space to study or attend remote classes. You can find and reserve available seats by clicking “Book a Study Seat” on the NYU Mobile app or by visiting the NYU 25Live website. When searching for our spaces, you will need to search for “295 Lafayette” in the app/website. Our spaces are not listed as “Puck Building.” Students can find more info on this process here (scroll to the bottom of the page).

Wherever you are, you can join the Wagner community for this week’s events:

Our point of pride this week centers on Wagner students who are participating in NYU’s Public Health Ambassadors Program as graduate coordinators. Continuing students Lara Fu and Yi Ping Bong are featured in this Washington Square News article about their roles in the program, which trains undergraduate students to help their peers abide by state, city and university public health guidelines.

All of your Wagner COVID-related resources can be found here.

Reach out to me if you have any questions about the Puck Building or anything else. You can continue to reach out to Christina Powell with your queries and ideas. I am also happy to speak with you at my office hours or to connect via email.

Sincerely,

Sherry

Dear Wagner Community,

Our semester is in full swing: classes are happening, events are ongoing, and we continue to work together and learn from each other. Thank you for the positive feedback in response to last week’s bulletin. You can continue to reach out to Christina Powell with your queries and ideas. I am also happy to speak with you at my office hours, my first virtual coffee hour this Friday at 8:30 am, or via email.

Here are some items I want to highlight and then a special moment of Wagner pride to share: 

We continue to honor and celebrate public service and I am delighted to highlight the exceptional, critical work that members of our community are doing, particularly in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, the NYU Changemakers campaign, which honors NYU alumni who are entrepreneurs and visionaries who make the world a better place, selected four Wagner alumni in the cohort of 12 honorees. Watch this video to learn more about the work of our amazing alumni Miriam Altman (MPA 2013), Alexandra Meis (MPA-HPAM 2013), Liz Fanning (MPA 1997), and Israel Rocha Jr. (EMPA 2018). Rocha is the CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens and NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst. Elmhurst was hit extremely hard by the pandemic, confronting stunning challenges. Leading the hospital’s 4,000 person team Rocha was able to create the country’s first open-access testing center and boosted their ICU capacity by 500% to accommodate the influx of COVID-19 patients.

All of your Wagner COVID-related resources can be found here.

Have a great week,

Sherry

Dear Wagner Community,

Welcome or welcome back to Wagner! I am delighted that our fall semester is underway and glad we are together as we start this new academic year—whether virtually, in-person, or something in between. 

You will continue to receive COVID-related email guidance from the University and I will continue to send you emails that contain critical information and action items (and will be sure to flag them as such in the subject line). This email continues the weekly email series I started when we went remote last semester. It rounds up resources, recaps important news, shares some moments of Wagner pride, and helps us to stay connected.

Our classes and events are in full swing. 

  • Study Spaces—We have reserved 20 seats on the 2nd and 3rd Floor of the Puck Building for students to either study or take their online classes. Details on locations and how to reserve a seat can be found here. Wagner-specific instructions can be found here (scroll to the bottom of the page), but please be aware that some technical glitches are still being worked out.

  • There are several events during the first few weeks of classes. 

    • These include our WagChat series, which will kick off with a chat I’ll lead on healthcare policy in the US on September 9. 

    • Our Student Group Info Fair on September 17 will highlight the numerous ways to engage with each other at Wagner.

    • As part of our ongoing commitment to Identity, Diversity, Belonging, and Equity within the Wagner community, at NYU, and in the communities we serve, we present Practicing Public Policy While Black on September 18. 

    • Our long-standing Conflict, Security, and Development series began today with a talk on Syria. 

    • Professor Gordon Campbell is also hosting the COVID19 Webinar Series: NYU Wagner Alumni at Work, designed to showcase Wagner alumni on the front lines and to provide space to discuss leadership and management in a time of crisis. 

    • In early October, Professors John Gershman and Natasha Iskander will launch the speaker series—Public Service in an Age of Pandemic: An examination of governance and policy responses to the Covid-19 crisis in the United States and around the world. 

Our students, staff, alumni, and faculty have stepped up, in the spirit of public service, to address the COVID crisis in many ways. This week, I highlight Wagner’s fantastic facilities team who transformed our Puck Building into a safe space in compliance with the University’s health and safety protocols. We thank Frankie Crescioni-Santoni, Page Bradford, and Tia Chhor for their dedication and outstanding efforts.

All of your Wagner COVID-related resources can be found here, all in one place. If you have any questions about anything COVID-related, or if you’d like to share highlights from your pandemic-related work, please contact NYU Wagner Chief of Staff, Christina Powell.

I look forward to engaging with you this semester. Wherever you are, we can connect. I will be hosting several Coffee with the Dean sessions this semester (details forthcoming) and holding virtual office hours. You can also always reach out to me via email. 

Take care and stay safe,

Sherry

Dear Wagner Students,

It’s hard to believe the Fall semester officially starts on Wednesday.  We’ve had two very successful New Student Retreats and we’re in the middle of Welcome (Back) Week activities. Making all this happen in the COVID-19 world has required us to reimagine what engagement can look like and I am thrilled to say, based on the Retreat experience, that with some creativity and dedication, meaningful connections can definitely be made online. 

We know that your lives have been turned upside down during this pandemic.  I hope these updates provide you with useful information to deal with the unprecedented circumstances in which all of us find ourselves. 

Courses

We have nearly 100 faculty teaching this fall and almost 80% of our courses will be online. Over the summer the faculty met with our online education and instructional technology team and participated in multiple workshops hosted by Wagner and NYU experts in education technology and learning innovation. In many courses you can expect to see enhanced Classes sites, as well as enriched media content, interactive and collaborative activities, and the incorporation of new technologies. 

Faculty Office Hours

Faculty want to be accessible to you. This fall they will hold regular office hours and offer office hours by appointment via Zoom. Check your NYU Classes course site to find more specific information. 

Events

Faculty and staff have already planned numerous events for the first few weeks of classes. These include our WagChat series, which will kick off with a chat I’ll lead on healthcare policy in the US on September 9. Professor Gordon Campbell is also hosting the COVID19 Webinar Series: NYU Wagner Alumni At Work, designed to showcase Wagner alumni on the front lines and to provide space to discuss leadership and management in a time of crisis. In early October, Professors John Gershman and Natasha Iskander will launch Public Service in an Age of Pandemic: An examination of governance and policy responses to the Covid-19 crisis in the United States and around the world. Our long-standing Conflict, Security, and Development series begins with a talk on Syria on September 8. Student Groups are also underway planning a wide array for you, as well. I will resume my Coffee with the Dean events, giving you an opportunity to meet with me in small groups to discuss issues pertaining to the school. And we’ll have a variety of events with a particular focus on both Identity and Diversity in Public Service and the upcoming US elections. 

To help you hone your networking skills and plan your career, don’t miss the variety of panels and modules we have planned for you next month. One of the positive things about Zoom is that we are able to bring in speakers from across the globe as well as reach a wider variety of students who might not normally make it into the Puck Building. For example, just recently, we hosted an event that featured alumni from across the country about what it was like to be in the job market during the 2009 financial crisis. You can expect more inclusive and innovative events like this one throughout the year. 

Advising

Our Student Services and Career Services teams have added more individualized advisement times than ever before to their schedules. They are eager and ready to work with you on your academic and professional goals. Please reach out for assistance: wagner.studentservices@nyu.edu and wagner.ocss@nyu.edu. And if you haven’t done so yet, we strongly encourage you to sign up for NYU’s Violet Network, a brand new online community for professional connections.

 

Study Spaces

NYU will make available three types of rooms for students who find themselves on campus. Remote Rooms are spaces where students who have headphones and reserve in advance can take their remote classes.  Study Rooms are quiet spaces that also can be reserved in advance. And Drop-In rooms will offer a more casual atmosphere and no required reservation.  We have reserved 20 seats on the 2nd and 3rd Floor of the Puck Building for students to either study or take their online classes. Details on locations and how to reserve a seat will arrive early next week.

Emergency Funding

NYU has set-up a COVID-19 Emergency Relief Grant program for those of you in financial need. 

I look forward to seeing all of you over the coming semester, either in person or online.  Welcome and welcome back!

Sincerely,

Sherry Glied

Dear New and Continuing Wagner Students,

Last weekend, our Executive MPA students attended their New Student Retreat, and this coming Sunday and Monday our PNP, HPAM, MUP, and MSPP students will attend their New Student Retreat. The 2020-2021 academic year at Wagner has begun. Welcome Wagnerds!

In some ways, this will be a year like no other, with physical distancing and face coverings and many online classes.  But in many ways, it will proceed in the usual Wagner way.  New students will meet each other at our New Student Retreat and then begin taking their first semester courses.  Continuing students will be taking specialization courses and working on Capstone projects for clients.  Wagner will be buzzing with student events, alumni talks, and outside speakers. Student Services and Career Services staff will be helping to make sure that you are on track to graduate and to advance your careers.  Our faculty are finishing their preparations, ready to offer over 150 classes this fall. They are looking forward to the start of the semester and to welcoming you to their Wagner classroom.

We have just a few more updates for you before we get to full speed.

We know many of you, especially those who are taking some in-person classes, will need a place on campus to study and to attend online classes.  I’m very pleased to let you know that classrooms and other spaces across campus are being converted into areas where students can reserve such a spot, including some spaces at the Puck Building. On- and off-campus study spaces (via WeWork and KettleSpace) will be available by reservation only to NYU community members. All spaces will be searchable via the NYU Mobile App.

We have a great line-up of events for fall, with many events already scheduled and available for registration.  From “Networking Skills with OCS” to “New Student Experience Conversation Groups on Juggling Responsibilities, Being First Gen, Extracurriculars, and More” to “Virtual Safety in the City” and “A Conversation with Alumni: Ask Us Anything.”   Our COVID19 Series: NYU Wagner Alumni in Action will kick off on September 24 from 5-6pm ET. The series will showcase our Wagner alumni on the front lines to understand leadership and management in a time of crisis and lessons learned going forward.  We’ll also be posting a list of WagChats with Wagner faculty very shortly.  Look out for more event details in  September. We encourage you to register and attend.

And finally, please do remember that the pandemic is still upon us and we all need to do our part to keep COVID-19 under control.  Please read NYU’s information on quarantine and testing requirements and remember how to keep yourself and our community safe. 

Welcome back!  I look forward to seeing all of you, in person or online, very soon.

Sincerely, 

Dean Sherry Glied

Dear New and Continuing Wagner Students,

It’s hard to believe that September is almost upon us. This message is the first of what will be a series of August updates from Wagner. We’re moving from a period of great uncertainty to one where our plans for fall are more firmly in place, and we are more confident communicating them to you. 

This frightening and unpredictable pandemic has taken a toll on everyone. Our entire world has been turned upside down, and we know that you, our students, are severely affected by this unprecedented disruption. We have been working non-stop all summer figuring out course schedules, developing accommodations for students and faculty, retrofitting classrooms, and improving our faculty’s ability to teach online and under the new in-person constraints. All this was made even more challenging by the recent increase in COVID-19 infection rates across much of the country. But I believe that our hard work will pay off. While the fall semester will be very different from what any of us had expected in January, it will be a true Wagner experience, with a full complement of robust courses, extracurricular activities, both academic and social, and career-building opportunities. We’ve also significantly increased our programming in the area of racial justice and are offering more than 10 courses this fall in the area of race, social justice, and inclusion. 

Public Health

Our most important goal for the fall is to keep everyone in our community safe. We ask that you please review and follow the University’s guidelines, which provide critical information on testing and quarantining. We will be adhering strictly to these guidelines to minimize the spread of COVID-19 on our campus.    

Courses and Capstone

Thank you for your patience in the registration adjustment process. The COVID-19 guidelines and the risks the disease poses to our community members have required us to make changes in our teaching program, offering many classes in an online or blended format. Although space is limited, I am pleased that we can continue to offer some in-person courses, where possible and appropriate. 

This fall, the Wagner Capstone course will be offered remotely for all sections given the course’s team meeting format (which would have been compromised with physical distancing requirements in NYU classrooms). The Capstone directors have completed the annual Request for Proposal process, and your Capstone instructors are excited to share the proposals with you later in August or in September, depending on your section.

Advisement

Our Student Services and Career Services teams have added more individualized advisement times than ever before to their schedules. They are eager and ready to work with you on your academic and professional goals. Please reach out for assistance: wagner.studentservices@nyu.edu and wagner.ocss@nyu.edu. And if you haven’t done so yet, we strongly encourage you to sign up for NYU’s Violet Network, a brand new online community for professional connections.

Student Engagement 

We know that many of you will be online for fall, and others will participate in in-person experiences. We will be offering a series of virtual and in-person WagChats, which provide opportunities for informal discussions with our faculty around current issues. These will be offered both in-person and fully online. I’m looking forward to hosting some of the WagChats this fall, and I hope to see you there. They will begin in mid-September—more details to come.

There will be a virtual Student Group Fair mid-September (date and time TBD). All student groups will be encouraged to participate, and both new and continuing students are invited to attend. Our Student Engagement calendar is also as abundant as ever, with at least 2-3 virtual events almost every week planned in the fall semester, sometimes more.  

Professors John Gershman and Natasha Iskander will host a virtual and new discussion series this fall to explore the policy, planning, and management challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. After the semester begins, you will receive an email with dates and more information.

Study Space

We recognize that study space is a real concern for our students. NYU is working on a campus-wide strategy to provide students with study space while maintaining physical distancing and contact tracing requirements. We will be working to ensure that the solutions they propose University-wide will work for Wagner students.

REMINDER re: COVID-19 Testing and Quarantining

And one last reminder because it’s so important: please read NYU’s information about testing, quarantining, and how to keep each other safe. 

Sincerely, 

Dean Sherry Glied

Dear Wagner Students:

I’m writing today to update you on our plans for Fall 2020. This letter is focused on the resumption of classes at Wagner in the coming semester; I will write again soon about how Wagner will address issues of racial justice and equity.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created an uncertain and difficult environment for you, our students. We recognize and sympathize with the challenges you face in navigating this complex situation. Please know that all of us at Wagner and NYU are committed to doing our very best to support you.  

Two principles guide our planning for the fall: putting the safety of our community first in the face of COVID-19, and continuing to provide you with the education, experiences, and opportunities that brought you to NYU Wagner.

In this memo, I will outline (1) our current planning protocols for the fall, (2) the expected format of in-person classes, (3) improvements we are making to online classes, and (4) the robust set of extracurricular opportunities we will offer in the fall.

 1. Planning Protocols for Fall

The COVID-19 situation constantly changes, requiring adaptability. Flexibility—expecting and being ready for change—is a central feature of our planning.

Our choices are necessarily guided by decisions made by New York State, New York City, and NYU broadly. As you read in President Hamilton’s recent message, NYU is developing uniform protocols to keep the campus open while maintaining safety. The University has also made campus-wide decisions around tuition, fees, health services, and budgets so that students, staff, and faculty across University units are treated equally in this challenging time. 

 2. In-Person Classes

Our plans for in-person classes have been developed by our staff and faculty, in consultation with experts at the University and with the Wagner Student Association (WSA), which brought forth student concerns that we have factored into our planning.  

  • We are planning to offer a broad range of in-person classes. Some courses will be offered both in-person and online, and some will be available only online.

  • Health protocols the University is putting in place [such as those requiring physical distancing of six feet (2m) in classrooms and other settings] have placed significant restrictions on classroom availability, and thus on in-person classes. 

  • All classroom participants—students and faculty—will be required to wear masks at all times. Students will not be able to meet in small groups during class, seats will be fixed, and physical distancing will have to be maintained. Some of these practices may feel awkward at first; however, every time you wear a face covering or maintain proper physical distancing, you will not only be keeping yourself safer, you will be keeping classmates, faculty, and families safer, too.

  • Faculty have been encouraged to combine asynchronous material (streamed lecture content, online group activities, etc.) with their in-person classes. In-person lectures will be recorded so that students who must miss class will be able to watch recordings.

  • If an in-person class is over-subscribed, we will prioritize students who have no other in-person classes on their schedules and international students whose visa status is at risk due to recent rules from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

 3. Online classes

We have learned much more about what does and doesn’t work in online classes through our spring experience and invested heavily in improving our online classes’ quality over the summer.

  • Students who choose to do so will be able to maintain their program of study online (though international students who are in the United States will need to take an in-person class to remain in compliance with new visa rules).  

  • We have lowered the caps on online classes so that most online classes will have 30 or fewer students.

  • Faculty have been encouraged to develop asynchronous material so that students can do more of their studying at their own pace. 

  • During live class time, faculty will be mindful of the length of their lectures (giving pauses or breaks as needed), vary what they do, and prioritize direct engagement with students.

  • Faculty will record all Zoom classes so that students can revisit them at any time during the semester.

4. Extracurricular Activities and Supports

In addition to our efforts in the classroom, we are working and planning to ensure that Wagner offers its full array of student engagement opportunities. We are ready to help you navigate the challenges of the Fall semester.

We are committed to building the vibrant sense of community at the school that we all expect, even in a world of ever-changing constraints. While planning is key, we aim to remain nimble as additional opportunities present themselves. 

  • We heard from WSA that engagement with faculty is a key part of your Wagner experience. We’ve taken this back to faculty, who are enthusiastically responding by rethinking the fall experience. We anticipate that there will be more informal WagChats, extra office hours, and other opportunities to engage directly with faculty.

  • We have built up our capacity for additional writing and tutoring support.

  • Our Office of Career Services (OCS) has enhanced their capacity to support individualized appointment hours this summer and will continue to prioritize 1:1 advising this academic year to help you develop a plan of action designed to meet your particular goals and address any challenges along the way.

  • The OCS team remains engaged with employers, alumni, students, and faculty to provide events, job postings, and career development resources that prioritize employer/alumni engagement, relationship building, and help you enhance and present your professional skills and industry experience in support of your individual career goals. Our OCS team draws on decades of experience in successfully helping Wagner students achieve their career goals, including during difficult economic times.  

  • Our Student Services team is developing a robust suite of resources for you to maintain your academic trajectory and help address problems that may arise in the current economic and public health environment.

  • Our Student and Alumni Engagement Office is already meeting with student and alumni groups to enhance our sense of community through social events, networking opportunities, panel discussions, and more.

Special note to International Students

  • Students studying on a visa have particular restrictions on studying online while in the US as per the evolving guidelines from the US Department of State. You should have received an update from NYU’s Office of Global Services this week. We are committed to supporting you and helping you understand what the latest guidance means for you. Please contact Hannah Atchison (hannah.atchison@nyu.edu) if you have any questions.  

We hope that this message has provided you with some information to reduce uncertainties about the coming Fall semester. We will be sending more information throughout the summer as we learn more. We look forward to seeing you in fall—both in-person and online. Until then, keep well.

Sincerely, 

Dean Sherry Glied

Dear NYU Wagner Students,

As we prepare to welcome you for our Fall 2020 semester, I am writing to give you a preliminary sense of how we’re planning to offer classes and structure our activities at NYU Wagner in order to maximize the health and safety of our community. Our mission to improve public service is more important than ever, and our goal is to do everything we can so that your experience and education at NYU Wagner positions you to make the changes the world needs.

Given the uncertainties of the evolving pandemic and our need to be responsive to the directives of public health authorities, we must build in the greatest amount of flexibility possible. We currently intend to offer courses both in-person and remotely to allow all students to stay on track academically. While the details are still being worked out, we are committed to offering all of you the high-quality education that drew you to NYU Wagner, even if some of you may not be able to make it to New York or attend classes in person. We will be spending the summer working to make our courses better than ever.

NYU is putting in place rigorous measures to prevent, track, and respond to COVID-19 infections, which will require each member of the community to adopt behaviors that best protect everyone’s health and safety.  We will be in touch with more definitive information on health and safety policies and protocols as the summer progresses.  
The principle basis of all our policy-making will be the well-being of every NYU Wagner community member. That said, I assure you that we will offer a full complement of courses, advisement, extracurricular and student group activities, networking opportunities, and career services in the upcoming academic year, and we will be ready to respond to whatever constraints we face.

We will stay in touch with you with regular updates.

Sincerely, 

Dean Sherry Glied

Current Students: 

Incoming Students: 

Due to the evolving health concerns around COVID-19, we have transitioned all of our in-person incoming student orientation activities to a series of virtual activities designed to prepare you for the beginning of your first term at Wagner and to help you get the best possible start to your graduate school journey. Learn More

NYU Wagner Community Resources

NYU Wagner Events

The majority of our events have been moved online for the rest of the year. Please see our events listing page for more details and updates as they become available.

Virtual Opportunities to Give Back

We know NYU Wagner students are always seeking ways to serve others. Please check here to find a list of opportunities to give back during this time of social distancing. If you have an opportunity you would like to share, please email wagner.activities@nyu.edu.