FAQs

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When do I have to be back for Citizen Science 2020?

Student arrival day is Thursday, January 9, 2020.

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What do I need to do when I first return to campus? Where should I go first?

First go to your dorm room and get settled in. Then check your e-mail for any updates. Then on Friday, January 10, 2020 go to RKC Lobby between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. to turn in your fresh water sample, finish your official check-in, get information about your classes, and learn about on-campus activities planned for the two weeks of Citizen Science. Your first class is being held that day, Friday, January 10, 2020.

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Why do I have to come back the day before classes begin? Can’t I return on Friday instead?

It’s January, and winter weather that impacts travel is very likely. If you are traveling by air or train, inclement weather in some distant part of the country/world can impact an on-time arrival. So we built in a buffer to ensure you are here when classes begin, no matter the weather in Denver or Zurich or Chicago or …

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What will our Citizen Science schedule look like?

There are 10 class sessions and eight lab sessions, plus two or three mandatory events. Class and lab sessions average 2.5 to 3 hours each and there are usually two such sessions each day. There are no classes on Sunday January 12, Sunday January 19, or Monday January 20. Note: Friday January 24 ends at noon. Class times depend upon your section and your strand. Some lab strands vary meeting times a lot more than others based on the needs of those labs. This will all be explained in more detail in your syllabus and first class session on Friday January 10, 2020.

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What’s the difference between a class session and a lab session?

All Citizen Science faculty will be teaching from the same curriculum for the 10 class sessions.  This curriculum was written by a committee of Bard full-time faculty and has been designed specifically for Bard students to integrate with their Bard experience in Annandale.  
There are four different lab strands: Research, Community Action, Communication and Education.  For more information on each strand visit <INSERT LINK>.

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How did I get assigned into one of the four lab strands?

Students were emailed an online survey during the fall semester asking them to rank order their lab strand preferences.  Historically, 100 percent of the students that registered their rank-ordered preferences were registered into their first or second choice of lab strand.

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Is there any difference between sections within a lab strand?

There will be quite a bit of commonality between the sections within each strand, however there may be some minor differences based upon student interests and faculty expertise. But the core will be the same throughout all Citizen Science sections.

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Why did my section change on BIP?

The initial posting was only tentative and was based upon the information available at the time. If you’d like to discuss how the assignments were made and why things changed, please make an appointment to meet with Mary Krembs, Director of Citizen Science. She’d be happy to explain it all to you. 

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Can students change their Citizen Science section?

No. There is no add-drop within Citizen Science. Students were given the opportunity to rank-order their lab strand in the fall. Specific requests for specific sections are not possible.

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What book is required for Citizen Science 2020?

The book that we will be using for Citizen Science in 2020 is Water 4.0: The Past, Present, and Future of the World’s Most Vital Resource, by David Sedlak.

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Is there required reading from the book before we return in January?

All students are required to read the first three chapters prior to the start of the Citizen Science program. You should be reading these chapters actively: underlining key points, writing notes and questions in the margins. If you use an audio book, you will still need to have a text version for use in class. Additional readings will be assigned from this book throughout the 2020 program.

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When are the mandatory speaker events?

David Sedlak, author of Water 4.0 (required book for Citizen Science 2020) will be the keynote speaker for Citizen Science. He will present his lecture, “From Crises to Solutions: Drinking Water in the Twenty-First Century," on Sunday January 12 at 7:30pm in the Sosnoff Theater. This is a mandatory event for all Citizen Science students. A second event is being planned for Monday, January 20, 2020, as well.

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Do we really have class on Saturday, January 11, 2020?

Yes. Saturday, January 11, 2020 is a full day of classes, which we decided was better than asking you to return to campus a day earlier.