Category: COMD 4900

My role in Faculty Commons is intern in their design team. My supervisor is Professor Biehl, she is also the director of Faculty Commons. Last semester, I received the application emails on this position from several professors. I asked professors about the information about this position and they also encouraged me to take this opportunity. I didn’t really have time to prepare because the application deadline was soon and it was at the end of the semester. I spent a day creating a resume, cover letter and gathered some of my works from different classes. In the mean time, I also did some research on questions that might be asked during interview. I prepared a Q&A list for myself and practiced with my sister, she had a lot of experience in how to prepare an interview.

After about one week, I received an email notifying me to prepare for an interview and prepare a portfolio site. I was lucky that I just took Web Design 2 with Professor Wong by that time, so I had some knowledge on creating a website and I have a domain. I created a simple portfolio site which have an about me page, contact page and project page that shows my work.

The interview was held in Zoom. I was interviewed by Lu first, a college designer and then I was interviewed by Professor Biehl. They asked me some questions during the interview such as my strengths and weaknesses, the reason I chose to be a designer, what make me a good designer, and they also asked me to describe a time when I have a conflict at work etc. After a series of question, they asked me to go through my portfolio site and my personal feelings about my work.

I was very nervous during the interview, but Lu and Professor Biehl were nice. They encourage me to challenge myself and also gave me some useful feedback on my previous project in class. It was a good experience.

The Faculty Commons Department dedicated their effort to City Tech’s faculty members and students since 2005. It’s a non profit organization center for teaching, learning, scholarship and service coordinates all professional development, grants and assessment activities of faculty at New York City College of Technology(CUNY). The members in Faculty Commons Design Team are mainly students major in Communication Design in City Tech and the director are Professor Mary Ann Biehl and Professor Shelley E Smith. There are currently 8 designers, 1 webmaster and 4 design interns. Faculty Commons design team works with City Tech Library, Human Research Protection Program, School of Arts and Sciences, and a lot of different clients in the school. As the design team of the department we create material such as poster, web banner and t-shirt to promote workshops and events which help faculty and students to have better experience. They also published “Nucleus,” a quarterly news letter which demonstrates the creative and academic faculty activity at City Tech undertaken through the Faculty Commons.

One of the recent events of Faculty Commons is “Faculty Friday: Supporting First-Year Student Success,” which was an event that the director of First Year Programs held. In this event, they share tips and strategies on how to help new students successfully adapt to college life.  Another recent event is “Transitioning to Hybrid Courses,” this event helps professors and students to design their hybrid course because of the pandemic.

Faculty Commons is located at City Tech in Namm Building room 227. Because of the pandemic, all of us are working from home. We communicate with each other through Zoom meetings, e-mail, and sometimes mobile phone chatting applications. Every week, we will have a weekly meeting to share our updated works and receive feedback.

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Last semester, I started to worry about when I should get my internship. I noticed there are positions in our school which were the design intern positions in Faculty Commons. I applied for it and also went through the interview. I was surprised that I was selected. I also went through a week of the training program in summer with other interns and our trainers. 

During the training program, we were assigned to work on City Tech Writer Posters, personal poster that reflects ourselves and a group project that make a campaign for encouraging students to get vaccinated. It was intense, because we need to finished these project in just one week. Our trainers were very patience and willing to give us useful feedback. I was lucky that my group members were friendly, we talk to each other everyday. Some of my group members also help me with illustrations because I was not good at illustration.