School of Education Updates from the Dean
July 28, 2020
Dear Brooklyn College Student:
I hope this message finds you healthy, safe, and enjoying the summer break.
By now, you should have received yesterday's email from Provost Lopes stating that we will be offering most Brooklyn College classes remotely this fall. At the moment, all of the School of Education courses are scheduled to be held online. I know many of you are concerned about how you will complete the field experience requirements for your various courses, especially student teaching, internships, and practica. Currently, we are waiting for guidance from the New York State Education Department, the New York City Department of Education, and CUNY about options for completing field work. I'm sorry I can't give you definitive answers at this time, but I assure you of two things:
- All of the faculty in the SOE, the agencies I mentioned above, and myself are committed to ensuring that you will be able to complete degree requirements in a timely way, and there will be alternatives for completing required field work.
- As soon as we have definite information about field work, I will schedule one or more town hall meetings with students in the SOE to share that information and answer your questions. We'll be notifying you about those meetings via email so be watching for an email about a town hall meeting within the next few weeks.
In the meantime, this is the guidance for fingerprinting:
Students may sign up for summer and fall classes before getting fingerprint clearance verification. We will advise the procedure and timing needed for fingerprint security clearance when we know when the New York City Department of Education (NYC DOE) offices are reopening. Until further notice, the NYCDOE will not be holding fingerprinting events at colleges and universities.
- If you already have Department of Education fingerprint records on file, you can start the verification process now. You will need to have your records added to the Brooklyn College fingerprint "roster" so that Brooklyn College can verify your fingerprint /security clearance status.
Please refer to our How to get confirmation of your current fingerprint records page.
- If you do not have Department of Education fingerprint records on file, you will need to either A. process your records with IdentoGo or B. wait until the NYCDOE HR Connect Service Center at 65 Court St. Brooklyn reopens to the public. Fingerprint services will be available at the NYC DOE by appointment ONLY. Visitors without a verified appointment will be turned away. The NYCDOE cannot provide estimates when a student will be allowed to schedule an appointment. Both options are included on our If You Need to Have Dept. of Education Fingerprint Records Processed for the First Time page.
I wish you the very best and look forward to speaking with you (remotely) soon.
Warmly,
Dean Bedford
