Dr. Kelly, a distinguished scholar of American literature, vice chairman of the CUNY Research Foundation, and trustee of the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, was unanimously appointed to the interim position at a meeting of the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees. He has served as a University educator for nearly four decades.

“Dr. Kelly brings an extensive scholarly record, superb administrative experience, and a deep commitment to the University’s educational mission to the position of interim Chancellor,” said Board Chairperson Benno Schmidt. “He will provide continuity of purpose and policy during this important transition period.”

Dr. Kelly has led the Graduate Center, CUNY’s doctorate-granting institution, since June 2005. Prior to his appointment he served for seven years as the Graduate Center’s provost and senior vice president, a period marked by the recruitment of internationally renowned scholars to the graduate school’s faculty. Recently, he chaired a key component of the University’s Pathways to Degree Completion reform of general education and transfer policies, leading faculty committees that selected pathway courses for CUNY’s largest transfer majors.

An expert on the works of James Fenimore Cooper, Dr. Kelly is the author of Plotting America’s Past: Fenimore Cooper and the Leatherstocking Tales. His essays and reviews have appeared in publications including the Times Literary Supplement, the New York Times Book Review, and The American Scholar. He is the editor of the Random House edition of The Selected Works of Washington Irving and the Oxford University Press edition of The Pathfinder. He is currently at work on a book about John Jacob Astor.

He graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University in 1971, where he won the David Bowers Prize in American Studies. He was named Outstanding Graduate Student in English at Indiana University, where he received his Ph.D. in 1976. Dr. Kelly also holds a diploma in intellectual history from Cambridge University and in 1980 received a Fulbright Fellowship to France, where he subsequently became visiting professor at the University of Paris.

He was executive director of the CUNY/Paris Exchange Program and in 2003 was named Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques by the French Ministry of Education, in recognition of his contributions to Franco-American educational and cultural relations.

On the faculty of CUNY’s Queens College from 1976 to 1998, he was named Queens College’s Golden Key Honor Society Teacher of the Year in 1994. He was appointed concurrently to the faculty of the Graduate Center’s Ph.D. Program in English in 1986 and served as the program’s executive officer from 1996 to 1998.

There will be a national search for a permanent chancellor conducted by the Board of Trustees.

About The City University of New York:
The City University of New York is the nation’s leading urban public university. Founded in New York City in 1847, the University comprises 24 institutions: 11 senior colleges, seven community colleges, the William E. Macaulay Honors College at CUNY, the CUNY Graduate School and University Center, the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, the CUNY School of Law, the CUNY School of Professional Studies and the CUNY School of Public Health. The University serves nearly 270,000 degree credit students and almost 2220,000 adult, continuing and professional education students. College Now, the University’s academic enrichment program, is offered at CUNY campuses and more than 300 high schools throughout the five boroughs of New York City. The University offers online baccalaureate degrees through the School of Professional Studies and an individualized baccalaureate through the CUNY Baccalaureate Degree. Nearly three million unique visitors and 10 million page views are served each month via www.cuny.edu, the University’s website.

April 12, 2013

Dear Members of the CUNY Community:

I write to let you know of my intention to step down as chancellor of The City University of New York early this summer.

Serving this exceptional university alongside so many extraordinary colleagues has been the greatest privilege of my professional life.  I am deeply grateful to the trustees, members of the chancellery, presidents, faculty, staff, students, alumni, and friends, who, every day, work so diligently to support and fulfill CUNY’s historic mission.  As the first CUNY graduate to lead the University (City College, Class of 1963), I take enormous pride in what we have accomplished, together, to ensure an unparalleled educational experience for every CUNY student.

Since I began as chancellor in 1999, we have focused on raising the academic profile of the University while maintaining our fundamental goals of access and opportunity.  The results of our emphasis on high standards, academic rigor, and student preparation—including our strengthened partnership with the New York City Department of Education—have been record enrollments, increased graduation rates, and more and more high-achieving students coming to CUNY.  These students have the benefit of more than 2,000 additional full-time faculty members hired over the last 14 years, whose talents have greatly enhanced our core academic areas.

With the help of the state, the University has also achieved a vital measure of fiscal stability through the CUNY Compact, the initiation of a robust fundraising campaign, and a predictable tuition policy.  This enables students and their families to plan more efficiently for the future and gain access to available financial aid, and is a powerful sign of stakeholder investment in our public higher education system.  At the same time, University-wide accountability measures have been established to ensure consistent review, progress, and efficiency.

Our priority has always been to provide strong academic opportunities for a wide range of students.  That goal has led to the creation of new schools and colleges, including the William E. Macaulay Honors College, the CUNY School of Professional Studies, the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, the CUNY School of Public Health, and the New Community College, the first in the city in more than 40 years.  It was also the impetus behind our Decade of Science initiative to increase student proficiency in the STEM disciplines and enhance the University’s research capacity.  Most recently, our Pathways to Degree Completion initiative has created a common curricular structure to streamline student transfer, strengthen the quality of general education, and ensure system-wide learning outcomes.

Today CUNY is a transformed institution, re-energized by the creative, dedicated work of professionals across our 24 colleges and professional schools.  A CUNY degree is highly valued in the marketplace of careers and ideas.  I am extremely proud of the essential role the University plays in the well-being of our city, state, and nation, as well as the continued contributions of our accomplished graduates.  Going forward, I know that the University’s mission will only be invigorated by the innovative work and collective efforts of our remarkable CUNY community.

I am working closely with Chairperson Benno Schmidt and the Board of Trustees to ensure a smooth transition with the appointment of an interim chancellor later this spring.

Please accept my heartfelt gratitude for your support and partnership during my tenure as chancellor and your invaluable service to the University.  It has been my honor to serve this incomparable institution with you.

Sincerely,

Matthew Goldstein

https://cuny.edu/about/administration/chancellor/BDS_REPORT.pdf

I agree.  The question is, how are we to keep doing that?  What are the changes and realities we must grapple with if we are to sustain the important role our universities play in our economic well-being?

Many of you know that I’m a graduate of City College.  I share that wonderful distinction with people like Andrew Grove, Colin Powell, Jonas Salk, Felix Frankfurter, Sy Sternberg, Bob Catell, and so many, many more.  Most of us went to CCNY because it was low cost, high quality, and open to serious students of any background.  And just think of the return on investment that our city and country have reaped from graduates like Andrew Grove and General Powell—and the thousands of other CCNY and CUNY graduates who serve the city as teachers, doctors, journalists, business owners, and so much more. 

Today, a college education is more important than ever before.  As our economy becomes more technologically driven, it is imperative that students have the skill set that will allow them to participate and thrive in sophisticated workplaces. 

But today there is a growing divide between the haves and have nots—between those with these skills, and those without.  Today, New York City has a growing reputation as “Silicon Alley”—with a robust tech market, a focus on applied science, and clusters of health care and educational institutions.  But keep in mind these numbers from a report by the Lumina Foundation:

• Nearly 65% of adults (ages 25-64) in Manhattan have at least an associate degree.  But less than 27% of adults in the Bronx do
• Statewide, nearly 52% of white adults have attained a degree—but only 24% of Hispanic adults have
• And according to at least one analysis, nearly two-thirds of New York’s jobs will require post-secondary education by 2018[ii]

What’s the takeaway?  We simply must educate more New Yorkers, especially those in fast-growing groups: working adults, low-income and first-generation students, and students of color.

For me, the overall message is clear: public universities are more important than ever to the future of this city and this country.  And yet, public universities face more challenges than ever before.  A number of key shifts in higher education will require universities to act more boldly and creatively, and be much more responsive to our constituencies.

First, there are changes in who we serve:

Many of our potential students are from a generation that has always lived in cyberspace, that has only seen women serve as secretary of state, that thinks that gene therapy has always been available.[iii]  How can we best engage this generation in learning—and do it alongside the other generations we serve?

Our current student body is also different.  They are much more mobile today.  More students are finishing their education at a college or university different from the one at which they started.  And more are part-time, adult learner, and dual enrollment students.[iv]

As the New York Times has reported, institutions like New Jersey’s Thomas Edison State College and New York’s Excelsior College are growing—institutions that allow students to patch together degree requirements from standardized exams, other universities, online courses, workplace and military training, and portfolio assessments.[v]  They cater to student mobility and focus on the idea of competency, not classroom hours.  Calls for competency-based education are growing, both from students and from employers, who are less concerned about the credit hours earned than the skills learned.[vi]  Traditional universities must account for more variance, more movement, and more demand for demonstrable skills acquisition.  (CUNY’s own initiative, called Pathways, is one example of a general education/transfer system designed to encourage seamless transition with enhanced academic rigor and flexibility.) 

Second, there are also changes in how we serve students:

For example, nationwide, the most common degree is still the bachelor’s degree—but do you know what’s second?  Certificates.  They’re now surpassing associate and master’s degrees.[vii]  But how responsive are universities to that shift? 

In addition, MOOCs—massively open online courses—and other online delivery options have the potential to change traditional instruction models.  For example, eventually an institution may determine the curricula, governance, and pricing to offer an entire degree through the existing menu of MOOCs.  Students will choose among professors from Stanford, MIT, Penn, and universities across the globe. A credential with the imprimatur of leading scholars is a powerful incentive.

Already, the state of California is introducing legislation that would require its public universities to give credit for online courses, including MOOCs and courses developed outside the institution, when they are taken by students who are not able to register for oversubscribed courses.[viii] 

We’re in the infancy of these developments, and still need more empirical research.  But it’s clear that there is a shift, if not yet a tectonic shift, in how we view content delivery. 

And whether online or classroom based, our standard learning models need to be reconsidered.  What are students actually learning in college?  (Some, like Richard Arum, in his book Academically Adrift, would say that many are not learning much.)  We need to determine whether students are gaining the advanced skills they need through our current modes of instruction.  How do we best measure those learning gains?

In addition, faculty—those who provide the instruction—are changing.  Today, about 70% of instructional faculty at all colleges are not tenure-track faculty.[ix]  However, the quality assurance measures in place for full-time, tenure-track faculty are not as robust for other faculty.  How can we address that? 

And third, universities have to examine how well we meet the educational needs of our students:

Both government and private funders are demanding accountability.  Institutions must be able to gather and use data in sophisticated ways in order to demonstrate student success, both in college and in the labor market.

Universities also need to seek advice and direction from companies whose employment needs can shape the direction of curricular innovation.  For example, the new Cornell NYC Tech institution [the winner of the NYC Applied Science initiative] is based in part on the idea that many ideas originate in the market, rather than in the university.  Its program focuses on applied science master’s degrees, and it is highly connected to business and industry.  The physical campus itself is shared by both companies and classrooms, and the curriculum includes solving technological challenges for companies.[x]

Universities have much to learn from employers.  A CUNY Jobs Task Force report that I commissioned a couple of years ago made this clear.  Executives from key NYC industries reported a significant skills gap in the current generation of workers, and the need to build stronger, more meaningful links with business and industry.[xi]

Finally, how will we finance higher education going forward, and deliver a high-quality education that doesn’t burden students with debt?  Today, government support is declining, and the financial burden is increasingly placed on students.  States are spending 28% less per student on higher education today than they did when the recession hit in 2008.  During that same period, annual published tuition at four-year public colleges has grown by 27%, after adjusting for inflation.[xii]

A recent Moody’s report suggests that revenue streams “will [probably] never flow as robustly as they did before 2008” and that universities will have to lower their cost structures by better utilizing technology, increasing operational efficiency, demonstrating value, reaching new markets, and prioritizing programs.[xiii]    

The specter of sequestration also looms large in our thinking, especially in the essential role that government plays in supporting basic research and helping students afford college.

These new operational realities demonstrate why, as Matt Miller wrote in the Washington Post a couple of years ago: “…we’re in a race between innovation and calcification.”[xiv] 

Every institution must either innovate or calcify.

Clearly, we need to identify and pilot new and effective financial and instructional models—with the goal of providing an accessible, high-quality education for students of all backgrounds, one that is focused on learning outcomes.  And we need to do that in partnership with government and the business community.

Because what we all need are the talents of the City College and CUNY graduates of tomorrow—those who, today, are given a shot at an outstanding education that doesn’t leave them in debt, and who are prepared to serve our city and country with distinction.  Maybe those graduates will be CUNY’s recent Rhodes Scholars, or the ASAP students at our community colleges, or our student leaders at the Macaulay Honors College.  I know this: if we invest in those students today, our city will reap the benefits of that investment for years to come.

As of fall 2012, CUNY is serving more than 266,000 degree-seeking students and an additional 223,000 adult and continuing education students.  The University continues to see record enrollment of students with high school averages over 85, with a 5 percent increase over last year.  In addition, SAT scores of students entering Macaulay Honors College are now above 1400, an academic profile typical at Ivy League and other highly competitive institutions.  Macaulay experienced more than a 35 percent increase in the number of applicants for this year, to a record 5,537 for 400 places.

Our student progress is also evident in the national awards students continue to garner.  This past year, a record 16 CUNY students won National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships, which offer three years of support for advanced, research-based study in science and engineering fields.  No public university in the Northeast has more students or alumni who have won more NSF fellowships. What’s more, Nicolas Montano, a senior at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, was awarded a prestigious Marshall Scholarship to study in the United Kingdom.  He is the first John Jay student—and one of six CUNY students—to have received a Marshall Scholarship.  Only 40 students are selected annually for this highly competitive award. 

Most important, CUNY remains one of the best-value college options in the nation.   Our students receive an outstanding education while paying a fraction of what students pay at private institutions and most public universities, too.  With the availability of financial aid, including TAP and federal Pell grants, nearly six out of 10 CUNY undergraduates attend tuition-free.  Predictable tuition and financial aid mean that our students borrow less than most other students, too.  In fact, 85 percent of graduates from our four-year colleges are debt free—and more than half of the remainder are transfer students who arrived with loans.  At a time of increasing concern about college costs and student debt, you and your colleagues should take great pride in your efforts to ensure that New Yorkers have affordable options for a world-class education.

Let me also thank you and your colleagues for your support of a predictable tuition policy for CUNY and SUNY.  Fiscal year 2013-14 represents the third year of this historic five-year policy.  This year’s executive budget proposal maintains operating support at prior-year levels and funds projected fringe benefits needs, reflecting the policy’s maintenance-of-effort provision.  The budget also recognizes this year’s modest tuition increase, in accordance with the policy’s provision that tuition revenues will be retained by the universities.  This offers the University a crucial measure of stability and allows students and families to better plan for the costs of college, thus encouraging students to advance their education. 

This year’s additional tuition revenue will allow CUNY to make progress on its most important goals, including the continued hiring of full-time faculty.  Despite a 13 percent increase in the number of full-time faculty from 2006 to 2010, student enrollment growth has outpaced faculty hiring.  The result is that by 2011, the percentage of instruction by full-time faculty had dropped to just 46 percent.  Strengthening our talented faculty corps must remain a top priority.  We have also set aside $5 million of the revenue for additional student financial aid.  Going forward, we plan to grow this important funding to $10 million.  We appreciate the fact that the budget keeps stable the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP).  As you remember, last year CUNY and SUNY were asked to study TAP and offer recommendations for change, and we look forward to discussing our proposals later this year, in November.

Hurricane Sandy

I’d also like to thank the governor and the State Legislature for supporting ongoing relief efforts related to Hurricane Sandy.  The executive budget makes available capital funding for Sandy recovery, which is welcome and much-needed assistance.

CUNY continues to address the loss and damage caused by the storm.  That includes four deaths, numerous displacements and loss of homes and property, six campuses without power, and significant flooding and damage at Hunter College, Kingsborough Community College, and Borough of Manhattan Community College.  Ten CUNY campuses served as shelters for more than 2,000 people before, during, and after the storm.  Teams of CUNY employees worked around the clock to keep evacuees safe and facilities running smoothly.

Since then, we have created a CUNY Hurricane Sandy Relief Council to assist members of the CUNY community who suffered personal loss and property damage as a result of the storm.  We also made storm relief a focal point of the University’s annual “November is CUNY Month” activities, with outreach to the 9,000 members of the CUNY community who live in the flood zone, and to the general community.  The University has also launched a new website that features a listing of faculty experts in fields critical to rebuilding and planning for the future. 

CUNY Student Service Corps

Our relief efforts have also led to the development of a new initiative: the CUNY Student Service Corps.  The project will provide CUNY students, both undergraduate and graduate, with paid positions working 10 to 15 hours a week on projects that support the civic, economic, and environmental sustainability of New York City and its residents.  Planning for the initiative is well under way, with the goal of enrolling 1,000 students in the fall.  The initiative enables the University to pursue two essential parts of its mission: advancing students’ education through applied learning, and directly serving the urgent and long-term needs of the city and its many communities.

Immigration Reform

CUNY has also had a longstanding tradition of service to New York’s immigrants and the children of immigrants.  Our Citizenship Now program and related services to students and the community—often with the involvement of elected officials—render assistance on a scale unlike any program in higher education.  And our thousands of immigrant graduates contribute enormously to our city and state as productive members of the workforce.  I am proud to be among the first academic system leaders to endorse the federal DREAM Act to establish pathways to citizenship.  I am heartened that immigration reform is gaining support nationwide.

This is a propitious time to encourage educational attainment among New York’s many immigrant communities.  Our society benefits when there is sufficient student eligibility for publicly-supported financial assistance for students who graduate from a New York State high school to help defray college costs.   If they have earned their high school degrees in New York, and under state law are eligible to attend public colleges, they ought to have access to the support they need to advance their education.

Operating Budget

At CUNY, our community colleges, which have seen the largest enrollment increases over the last several years, continue to be an area of focus.  In December, we were pleased that the New York State Board of Regents granted accreditation to the New Community College at CUNY for five years.  The college employs an innovative educational model and emphasizes timely degree attainment.  Our six other community colleges are also employing creative and effective models to improve student success, from learning communities to the ASAP program.  Today, 80 percent of those entering our community colleges are in need of some remediation—ranging from a refresher course to intensive instruction in several areas.  Building their skills and accelerating their progress remains a priority.

This is one reason that the executive budget’s proposal to keep per-FTE student base aid flat is a major concern.  The current per-FTE rate is $2,272, 15 percent less than the 2009 level.  We continue to operate with significantly reduced funding while, at the same time, offering expanded academic services to more students in order to increase student readiness.  Stretching our resources to this degree simply isn’t sustainable.  Given the truly critical role community colleges play in our post-secondary system, we ask that your committees consider the importance of increased base-aid funding.

The executive budget proposal also includes $2 million in incentive funding for a new program, the Next Generation NY Job Linkage program.  The program would award funds to community colleges based on student success measures.  I commend the governor for highlighting the importance of community-college education through this initiative.  A performance-based enhancement above and beyond base-aid funding has potential for building stronger links between community colleges and employers throughout the state.  I think most of us agree that such partnerships are tremendously beneficial to students.

I’d also like to draw your attention to a few items of particular concern to CUNY.  The first is the CUNY LEADS program (Linking Employment, Academics, and Disability Services).  While we are grateful for the State’s $1 million investment in the program, this commitment is $1.5 million short of what it necessary to sustain this model initiative.  LEADS is a partnership between CUNY and the State Education Department’s Vocational Rehabilitation unit of its Office of Adult Career and Continuing Education Services that focuses on improving academic success and employment opportunities for students with disabilities.  Thousands of students with disabilities have been referred to the unit and have been retained and employed after graduation at exceptionally high rates.  A one-time investment of about $10,000 to develop and place a CUNY LEADS student in competitive employment saves New York State more than $14,000 annually in disability benefits.  Much of this is in the form of Medicaid savings.   Clearly, an investment by the state in this effective program will yield a tremendous return.

The second item is funding for CUNY’s child-care centers.  CUNY has 18 campus-based child-care centers enrolling approximately 1,400 children of CUNY student parents.  All of the programs offer quality early care and education programs, enabling student parents to access a college education as they balance the demands of family, work, and school.  Over the past two years, our child-care funding has been drastically reduced, which is why we were very grateful for the legislature’s addition of $544,000 for child care at the community colleges last year.  However, that amount was not included in the executive budget.  Once again, we ask for your help in funding this central component of our student services.

In addition, I must note a pressing need for services to our student veterans.  I’m very proud that more and more veterans are looking to CUNY for their education.  We’ve seen enrollment increases of 53 percent across CUNY—and 233 percent at our community colleges alone.  To ensure that these students can succeed in the challenge of transitioning to college and completing their degree, we must provide appropriate services, including financial advisement, counseling, and disability services, as well as increased student affairs staff.  Those who have given much to their country should be given every opportunity to succeed as students and civilians.

Capital Program

Turning to our capital program, the executive budget recommends $55 million for the new CUNY 2020 Challenge Grant Program.  The funds will enable the University to invest in transformative capital projects selected for their positive economic impact, advancement of academic goals, innovation, and collaboration. The executive budget also recommends $8 million to our community colleges for projects that have received funding from the City of New York.

We are particularly grateful for the state’s expansion of the SUNY 2020 Initiative to include CUNY, and for the continued attention to our maintenance needs, which have become more urgent. In just the last decade, our enrollment has increased by nearly 30 percent—an additional 62,000 students. Add to that the fact that our campuses are open seven days a week, with classes are scheduled throughout the day, and the result is significant wear and tear on classrooms and common areas.  The average CUNY building is more than 50 years old, and some are more than 100 years old.  Our aging building stock and the history of deferred maintenance are the most significant issues impacting our capital program.

I want to take a moment to express our deep appreciation for the appropriations allocated in previous budgets, particularly the extraordinary $3 billion in funding received in the last five-year plan.  With your help, much has been accomplished in the past six months.  Completed projects include:

• The CUNY School of Law’s new facility in Long Island City, Queens
• The new Fiterman Hall at Borough of Manhattan Community College, which replaces the building destroyed on 9/11
• The North Hall and Library building at Bronx Community College, the first major new building constructed on the campus since the early 1970s
• A new science facility at Lehman College with laboratories for teaching and research
• Major façade rehabilitations to Marshak Hall and Shepard Hall at City College
• And a major renovation of the Kupferberg Center Arts Complex at Queens College

What’s more, several other major projects are well into construction as a result of this funding. CUNY’s Advanced Science Research Center and the new City College Science Building will be completed in summer 2014, as will a new performing arts instructional facility at Brooklyn College.

We are also initiating construction on several important projects, thanks to your support:

• We have begun demolition and clearing of the site for the new Academic Building I at New York City College of Technology
• The first phase of infrastructure renovations have begun at Baruch College’s Field Building at 17 Lexington Avenue
• And system-wide, hundreds of infrastructure projects are under way, funded by over $1 billion in critical maintenance appropriations that CUNY was generously provided over the last five budget years

All of these projects were years, even decades, in the making, and we are completing them at a critical time: when New York City needs jobs. There is no doubt that New York City profits from our capital program. For every $10 million spent in construction, it is estimated that 60 jobs are created at the job site and 30 jobs are created offsite in materials fabrication on an annual basis. Our $2.3 billion construction program is therefore generating an estimated 14,000 jobs.

However, after this year, it will be several years before our next significant project completion.  In fact, if we do not start more projects soon, it could be five to 10 years before another large project is completed.  This is not for lack of projects; CUNY has several that are shovel-ready and will alleviate serious space deficits at our colleges.  Therefore, we ask for additional funding for programmatic projects. This includes several key projects at our senior colleges that are in design and need full construction funding:

• First is the Hunter College Science and Health Professions Building. This project will relocate science programs from the downtown Brookdale campus to a new facility closer to the main campus. In a public-private partnership, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and CUNY have acquired a site formerly owned by the city. Hunter’s share of the site will allow for a 390,000-square-foot building for health professions programs and science research labs. The city is providing $100 million to CUNY as part of the purchase agreement. We are seeking $520 million to construct the first phase of the building
• Next is the new Academic Village and Conference Center at York College. In addition to state-of-the-art instructional space for York’s business school, the building also will increase access to conference space for the local community. This will enhance York’s ongoing efforts to revitalize the southeast Queens area by sharing resources and expanding campus facilities. We estimate an additional $239 million is needed to construct the building
• Another important project is The College of Staten Island’s Interdisciplinary High Performance Computational Center.  It will house a high-performance computer that will serve as a University-wide resource for computer-based modeling and simulation, as well as laboratories for visualization, and classrooms and student work areas.  We are seeking $208.5 million to complete this project
• Next is the new Roosevelt Hall at Brooklyn College, which will provide the college with much-needed instructional science facilities. We need an additional $290 million to construction this 180,000-square-foot facility
• Finally, we are seeking $20 million in additional funding to construct Lehman College’s Nursing Education, Research and Practice Center, which will address the nursing department’s space shortage and allow for expansion of program offerings

These projects demonstrate why CUNY’s capital program remains such a high priority for the University. It has been critical to our academic growth, helping to improve classroom instruction and research capacity.  It has been equally critical to New York City, creating jobs in a struggling economy.  With your support, we hope to continue this important work.

Chairperson DeFrancisco, Chairman Farrell, and committee members, let me thank you again for your continued efforts to strengthen public higher education in New York. A highly skilled workforce is the foundation of the state’s future, and we look forward to working with you to help ensure New York’s vitality in the coming years.

It’s clear that the planning, data gathering, and analyses that colleges and universities do now will determine the quality and vitality of higher education over the next two to three decades.  As we have seen with initiatives like ASAP [Accelerated Progress in Associate Programs], significant progress can be made when we identify issues that need attention—and then develop ideas, interventions, and programs to address those needs.

Today, I want to talk about a few key areas that are critical to the future of CUNY and to higher education in general. 

Let me start with a fundamental area: if universities want to evolve, they must be responsive to students.  As competitive forces driven by pricing policies, educational offerings, and delivery channels become more challenging, universities need to listen for cues from potential students.  Successful businesses and industries watch consumer trends carefully and provide services and products that improve customers’ opportunities for the future.  As a result, profitability is enhanced, investment is made, and the business grows, operating with less cost while maintaining quality and encouraging innovation.  Unfortunately, universities react with a different set of clocks.

Just as we must listen to cues from students, we also must embrace change.  Universities need to be more nimble, adapting to shifting terrain more rapidly.  The reality is that change is already here.  (For example, nationwide, the most common degree is still the bachelor’s—but what’s second?  Certificates, which are now surpassing associate and master’s degrees.) 

That means that a sense of institutional urgency must be cultivated and become a motivating source for acting when competing ideas and innovation require we do so.  Universities generally don’t act with decisiveness, in part because they get tied up in established governance expectations, with entrenched interests only delaying new opportunities.  As Matt Miller wrote in the Washington Post a couple of years ago: “…we’re in a race between innovation and calcification—between the power of new ideas to lower costs and boost quality, and the power of entrenched interests to protect their habits…”.

Opportunity costs are high, and as such, unions, governance leaders, faculty, and administrators will have to join together on common ground—because higher education is undergoing radical shifts in almost every area.  Let me mention a few:

• Our colleague George Mehaffy at AASCU has pointed to a couple of key trends.  Right now, the rate of tuition increases is unsustainable.  Between 1988 and 2008, the consumer price index (CPI) increased by 75 percent, while tuition for public four-year institutions rose by 325 percent.  Fortunately, this is not the case at CUNY.  Many students (although few, I’m happy to say, at CUNY) assume a level of debt that they will have difficulty retiring, in part by the limited hiring opportunities in government and some industries.
• In addition, funding models may have to be rethought.  Institutions generally spend more on graduate education than on lower-division courses, which often provide more revenue.  But what happens if the MOOC model [massive open online courses] takes hold and lower-division courses are almost free?  And as increasing numbers of first-year students come to college less and less prepared and in need of greater intervention—as we see here at CUNY—universities must devote more resources to supporting student readiness.
• Technology advances also provoke longstanding questions about our standard learning models.  What are students actually learning in college?  (Some, like Richard Arum, in his book Academically Adrift, would say that many are not learning much.)  Are students gaining the advanced skills they need through our current modes of instruction?  And how do we measure those learning gains?
• Faculty are changing, too.  In 2009, part-time faculty comprised almost half of all faculty in 2009 in degree-granting institutions—the highest percentage since 1970.  However, the quality assurance measures that are in place for full-time faculty are not as robust for part-timers. 
• There has also been radical shift in our student body.  They are much more mobile today.  More students are finishing their education at a college or university different from the one at which they started.  And more are part-time, adult learner, and dual enrollment students.  Universities must account for more frequent movement.  CUNY’s own initiative, Pathways, is one example of a general education/transfer system that encourages seamless transition with enhanced academic rigor and flexibility.  Institutions must account for student mobility while still providing the high-touch, co-curricular activities many students need.
• Finally, these areas of change will affect one more key concept: shared governance.  What does “shared governance” mean in an era of financial and technological change?  It is clear that a substantial faculty role in the academic governance of the university is a sine qua non for academic freedom (even if it’s not a matter of constitutional right).  However, there will continue to be considerable disagreement as to the exact contours of that role.  So, where does the impetus for structural change originate?  How does an institution create necessary change in the absence of faculty unanimity and cohesion? Administrators may feel justifiably compelled to generate a framework for new innovations—whether a gen ed/transfer system, or alternative course models—in order to improve the educational experience and progress of students, while still remaining committed to the faculty prerogative to make decisions about the development of curricula.

Nowhere is the notion of challenge to the established norms of instruction more apparent than in the explosion of attention to MOOCs [massive open online courses] and other alternative delivery models.  Whether an online degree, a hybrid course, or a MOOC, new models of delivery have the potential to change traditional instruction, financing, facilities, and assessment models.

The largest MOOC providers have grown rapidly: Coursera was founded just a year ago and claims 1.7 million students.  EdX, the Harvard and MIT collaboration that offered its first class this past fall, reports 370,000 students.  Udacity estimates its number of students at more than 150,000.  As we know, drop-out rates for these courses are very high, often around 90%.  Much of Coursera’s interest is abroad.  Of its 1 million students, fewer than 40% are located in the United States.

The MOOC idea has caught fire over the last several weeks.  For example:

• Just after Coursera announced a new, fee-based MOOC option, some universities (including Arizona State, the University of Cincinnati, and the University of Arkansas system) announced that they will convert an existing online course to a MOOC.  Their hope is that a free introductory course will induce students to pay to complete a degree program.
• The University of Wisconsin just announced a “Flexible Option” program, a degree finishers’ program that is competency-based.  No classroom time is required.  Students will take online assessment tests and courses that will cost significantly less than tuition (starting this fall).
• This month, San Jose State University announced a pilot project with Udacity to create three introductory mathematics classes. The courses will be free online, but students who want credit will be able to take them for just $150.  If the project is expanded, the university will keep 51 percent of any revenue and Udacity will keep 49 percent. 
• And just a few weeks ago, I made a prediction that was just recounted, almost word for word, in Thomas Friedman’s column in the New York Times this Sunday.  Eventually, an institution may determine the curricula, governance, and pricing to offer an entire degree through the existing menu of MOOCs.  Students will pick and choose among professors from Stanford, MIT, Penn, and universities across the globe.  A credential with the imprimatur of leading scholars is a powerful incentive, one that may be hard to compete with.  But we are in the infancy of these developments, and more empirical research will be needed before we can answer basic questions about whether demand will result in a tectonic shift in the way we deliver content.

At the same time that technological change is under way, higher education is also facing greater demands for accountability.  Both government and private funders are increasingly requiring data-driven assessment and outcomes to evaluate existing programs and justify new advances.  Institutions must have the ability to gather and use data in more and more sophisticated ways in order to demonstrate student success, both in college and in the labor market.  External partners—whether families, government, employers, or funders—expect a high level of analysis and assessment to ensure value.

Higher education must also become much more active in cultivating strong partnerships with business/industry.  Universities need to seek advice and direction from companies whose employment needs can shape the direction of curricular innovation.  The new Cornell NYC Tech institution [winner of the NYC Applied Science initiative] is based in part on the idea that many ideas originate in the market, rather than in the university.  Its program is open only to master’s degree students studying applied sciences, with the goal of cultivating entrepreneurial technologies.  It is highly connected to business and industry.  For example, the physical campus is shared by both companies and classrooms, the curriculum includes solving technological challenges for companies, and faculty work on commercial projects.

Students and employers are increasingly interested in skills acquisition, rather than the branding of their baccalaureate alone.  The CUNY’s Jobs Task Force report made this clear.  The feedback from representatives in five major NYC industries (finance, health care, higher education, information technology, and media/advertising) emphasized at least three key points:

• Universities must address the skills gap in the current generation of workers
• CUNY must build stronger, more meaningful links with business and industry
• Graduates must learn solid analytical and communication skills.

Finally, we must consider how we will finance higher education going forward.  Today, government support is declining, even as enrollment has increased, and the financial burden is increasingly placed on students, in the form of tuition and fees.  A recent Moody’s report suggests that revenue streams “will [probably] never flow as robustly as they did before 2008” and that universities will have to lower their cost structures by better utilizing technology, increasing operational efficiency, demonstrating value, reaching new markets, and prioritizing programs.  We must create new models for supporting higher education and maintaining access.  While this question goes to the very mission of public universities, it is a question for higher education in general, which is not educating enough low-income students.

Going forward, CUNY must be doggedly creative, looking at every idea to maximize revenue and keep costs manageable.  For example, Marc Shaw and Matt Sapienza are looking at the idea of enabling public universities to use revenue pledges—including philanthropic gifts, tuition revenue, fees, indirect cost recovery—in order to issue bonds that could be used to finance capital projects, particularly for research facilities.  These are the kind of ideas that will enable us to continue to advance, even as government is restrained. 

Whether it’s in financial models, instructional models, or governance models, higher education is changing quickly and dramatically.  Every institution must either innovate or calcify.  At CUNY, it will take the creative energy of each and every one of us in this room to embrace this time of change and ensure that the University will produce a new generation of graduates prepared to lead a new and very different 21^st-century world. Thank you.

http://www1.cuny.edu/mu/forum/files/2013/04/Kroll-Report2013.pdf

All members of The City University of New York community–students, faculty, staff, alumni and our many friends of CUNY colleges–are diligently working to cope with the aftermath challenges associated with Hurricane Sandy.

I want to express our deepest concern and strongest support for those who may have suffered personal or property loss during this difficult time. Our profound condolences go to the families and friends of Jacob Vogelman, a 23-year old MFA student enrolled in Brooklyn College’s Department of Theater and of his 24-year old friend, Jessie Streich-Kest, both killed by a falling tree in Ditmas Park.

All campuses should provide appropriate grief and other counseling services as part of the overall rebuilding process. Please be advised that Vice Chancellor for Human Resources Management Gloriana ( Ginger) B. Waters and Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Frank Sanchez are working to identify available resources and best practices.

Let me also bring to your attention the CUNY /Work/Life Program, a voluntary, free and confidential support service for CUNY employees administered by Corporate Counseling Associates, Inc. Further information about their counseling services, as well as some specific recommendations related to Hurricane Sandy, can be found at www.cuny.edu/worklife. The website offers some concrete advice on surviving the aftermath of traumatic events.

More resources for your college community can be found at the FEMA website (http://www.fema.gov/), the American Red Cross Greater New York Region (http://www.nyredcross.org/) and NYC311 (http://www.nyc.gov/apps/311/) . For those members of the CUNY community who want to aid their neighbors, please remember that Citizen CUNY is an easy way to find volunteer efforts (www.cuny.edu).

This has been and will continue to be an extremely challenging period for New York and its residents. New Yorkers are resilient and will rise to those challenges – CUNY will as well.

Matthew Goldstein
Chancellor

We are in the process of assessing the physical and academic calendar consequences of Hurricane Sandy and its aftermath on CUNY campus facilities. At the same time we are very much focused on continuing to assist the City with emergency evacuation shelters at ten CUNY colleges. This preliminary update is intended to inform you of the overall situation at this point, as we stand with all New Yorkers in working cooperatively to help our City to recover from this unprecedented natural disaster. Executive Vice Chancellor and Chief Operating Officer Allan Dobrin is overseeing our overall collaborations with the City’s Office of Emergency Management, appropriate State government offices, and our campuses. The University will be closed tomorrow, consistent with the City’s closing of the New York City public schools and the shutdown of the transit system. Through the “CUNY Alert” system and the college and university websites, we are endeavoring to keep the University community—students, faculty, staff and alumni– advised of developments.

There are several CUNY campuses that are coping with significant challenges relating to the storm. Borough of Manhattan Community College suffered significant water damage at its main campus at 199 Chambers Street in lower Manhattan, including to its engineering plant, computer center, theaters. There is no power available at the current time. Thankfully, Fiterman Hall was spared. The University and the College administration are assessing the damages at our largest community college.

Kingsborough Community College in Manhattan Beach was very heavily impacted by flooding of its temporary buildings, academic center, cafeteria. As we all know, the campus is adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean. Further assessments will be made as we work to help the College “by the sea”.

Hunter College’s Brookdale campus, on East 25th Street and First Avenue, home of many of the College’s allied health programs, faced extensive water damage, including to its physical therapy facilities. The main Hunter campus at 68th Street and Park Avenue was unaffected by water damage.

Queens College’s roof was damaged by wind. We have received a number of reports of fallen trees on other campuses. Several campuses experienced power shortages and relied on emergency generators. We are working with campuses on a case-by-case basis on power shortage issues.

As of last night, CUNY was serving 1741 clients in need of temporary housing at ten CUNY colleges: Baruch College, City College; Hunter College; Queens College, Queensborough Community College, York College; Lehman College, Bronx Community College; New York City College of Technology; and John Jay College of Criminal Justice. We are also in the process of working with the City to provide shelter—primarily in our gyms and cafeterias—to additional “special needs” clients from the City’s health care and nursing home facilities. All of these efforts are being supervised by senior administrators at CUNY campuses.

In summary, we will continue to assess the damage, work with the City to assist people in need of temporary shelter, and seek to re-open the University when we can do so safely and securely. Thank you for your cooperation and support.

Chancellor
Matthew Goldstein

In Manhattan, just across from Bryant Park, the first class of the New Community College is already hard at work, engaged in the college’s innovative new curriculum.  Guided by the success of the ASAP initiative—a doubling of graduation rates— the New Community College is focused on supporting student achievement through elements such as a required summer bridge program, a common first-year course of study, intensive advising, and a model that links learning to career experiences.  The college, New York City’s first new community college in more than four decades, was awarded nearly $1 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to document its launch and evaluate the effectiveness of its programs and operating principles over a two-year period.  We will be closely monitoring students’ experiences over the course of this first academic year.

Elsewhere, new facilities opening this fall at several CUNY campuses will transform the educational experience for other students and faculty.  In the Bronx, Lehman College will open its new science building, the first of a three-phase facility to support the college’s strong work in plant science teaching and research, while Bronx Community College will officially open its North Instructional Building and Library, the first new building constructed on the campus in over 30 years.  In Queens, students at the CUNY School of Law are now attending classes in a modern, environmentally green building in Long Island City, complete with a moot courtroom, new classroom spaces, and smart technology.  At Borough of Manhattan Community College, the new Fiterman Hall, with dramatic views of downtown Manhattan, will provide much-needed space for the college’s 24,000 students. 

Facilities projects at our community colleges received an additional boost this spring in the city budget: $71 million in capital funding over the next four years.  Through a match with existing state allocations, this funding will help the colleges address critical maintenance issues, including urgent needs such as fire alarm upgrades, boiler and roof replacements, and façade repair.  Our community colleges experienced a 48 percent enrollment increase from 2001 to 2011, and the resulting increase in facilities usage has only exacerbated the need for maintenance, renovation, and repair.  In addition, the University received baseline support from the city for the Black Male Initiative, a crucial measure of financial stability for this important program.  Funding from the city and state is timely and much appreciated.

The many new facilities across the CUNY colleges—whether those opening this year, those recently opened (including buildings at John Jay and Medgar Evers colleges), or those still in progress (such as the Advanced Science Research Center expected to open in 2014)—reflect the ambitious plans for continued academic revitalization the University recently detailed in its 2012-16 Master Plan. 

CUNY’s master plans, submitted to the state every four years, outline the University’s academic priorities going forward.  The 2012-16 plan builds on our tremendous progress over the last decade.  It acknowledges the achievements and national prominence of CUNY’s students and faculty and details how the University will provide an environment that encourages sustained academic engagement.  Anchored by four key elements of CUNY’s historic mission—maintaining academic excellence, sustaining an integrated system, expanding access, and remaining responsive to its urban setting—the plan looks ahead to ensure the University’s receptiveness to the city’s changing demographics, national and local economic conditions, the labor market, and new technologies and pedagogies.  The plan emphasizes expansion of innovative academic programs, investment in new, full-time faculty, student success at every level, and the construction of 21^st-century facilities.  These priorities will be further supported by our follow-up work to the CUNY Jobs Task Force report. 

The Master Plan was developed under the guidance of Executive Vice Chancellor and University Provost Alexandra Logue and the Office of Academic Affairs, with input from the colleges, the chancellery, the Council of Presidents, the Council of Chief Academic Officers, the University Faculty Senate, and the University Student Senate.  My thanks to all of those whose ideas, suggestions, and recommendations helped to shape this inspired plan.  In June, CUNY’s Board of Trustees adopted the 2012-16 Master Plan, which is now under review by the State Education Department.  The plan is available online: www.cuny.edu/masterplan20122016.

None of these auspicious advancements would be possible without the outstanding work of our faculty, staff, and alumni, day in and day out.  I am enormously grateful for your contributions and look forward to working closely with you to serve our students and our city in the 2012-13 academic year.