Dear School of Information Studies community,

Welcome the Spring 2026 semester on this snowy Monday. As we embark on another semester of research, teaching, and learning, I hope we can all remember the power of the work we do. 

New student orientation will be held January 30th at 6pm. Returning students are welcome to join us, too—bring your questions and sign up here. 

As we get started, a few reminders.

1. Current students seeking information about advisement and registration, course planning, scholarships, and more can find that on our departmental website. Have a question that can’t be answered there? Please reach out to the department for assistance. My email inbox is always open!

2. Please check your CUNY email often and be sure you’re signed up for our departmental listservs. We use GLISANN to share news from the department and the field, and GSLISJOBLIST for notices about employment opportunities. Directions to sign up for both can be accessed here: https://sites.google.com/view/qcgslis/current-students/gslis-listserv

3. IT support is available to all students and faculty. Please check their website for answers to common questions about accessing Brightspace and CUNYFirst, activating your student email, and setting up multifactor authentication for your accounts: https://www.qc.cuny.edu/its/students-information/

4. Check out the registrar’s website for information about the academic calendar, grades and transcripts, and related issues. You will also find forms for changing your preferred name and gender in CUNY systems: https://www.qc.cuny.edu/registrar/

Be on the lookout for announcements of spring events, including meetings of our student organizations, research presentations from scholars around the world, expanded academic programs, and opportunities for engagement at the campus and beyond.

We’ll also be rolling out our new identity this spring. We’ll now be called the School of Information Studies, a shift that recognizes the broad scope of our academic programming and scholarly research. It’s an exciting time to be a Knight!

Looking forward,

Emily Drabinski, Associate Professor and Chair