The Board of Trustees of the City University of New York (CUNY) Met on March 30, 2020
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Minutes of the Meeting of the Board of Trustees of The City University of New York March 30, 2020 The Board of Trustees of The City University of New York (CUNY) met on March 30, 2020 via audio teleconference, pursuant to a Notice sent by the Office of the Secretary of the Board on March 16, 2020. Trustees Present: Chairperson William C. Thompson, Jr., Vice Chairperson Barry F. Schwartz, Michael Arvanites, Henry T. Berger, Lorraine A. Cortés-Vázquez, Fernando Ferrer, Mayra Linares- Garcia, Kevin D. Kim, Robert F. Mujica, Jr., Brian D. Obergfell, Jill O’Donnell-Tormey, Charles A. Shorter, Ken Sunshine, Sandra Wilkin, Timothy Hunter, ex officio, and Martin Burke, ex officio (non- voting) Trustee Absent and Excused: Una S. T-Clarke Others present: Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodriguez, EVC&UP José L. Cruz, EVC&COO Hector Batista, SAC and Board Secretary Gayle M. Horwitz, General Counsel and SVC Derek Davis, SVC and Special Counsel Glenda G. Grace, Senior Vice Chancellor Allen Y. Lew, SVC&CFO Matthew Sapienza, SVC Pamela S. Silverblatt, Vice Chancellor Brian Cohen, Vice Chancellor Doriane K. Gloria, Vice Chancellor Maite Junco, Vice Chancellor Richard R. White, Interim Vice Chancellor Andrea Shapiro Davis CONVENING OF PUBLIC MEETING Chairperson William C. Thompson, Jr. called the Public Meeting to order at 4:33 p.m. CHAIRPERSON’S REPORT William C. Thompson, Jr.’s Remarks: “On March 7, 2020, Governor Cuomo issued Executive Order 202 declaring a State of Emergency in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. On March 13, 2020, Governor Cuomo issued Executive Order 202.1, which included a suspension of law allowing the attendance of meetings telephonically or other similar service. Article 7 of the Public Officers Law, to the extent necessary to permit any public body to meet and take such actions authorized by the law without permitting in public in-person access to meetings and authorizing such meetings to be held remotely by conference call or similar service, provided that the public has the ability to view or listen to such proceeding and that such meetings are recorded and later transcribed. In accordance with the Executive Order, this Board meeting is being held via teleconference with a live stream found at the CUNY Board of Trustees website as well as broadcast and cablecast live on CUNY TV, Channel 75. A copy of the calendar (agenda) is also available online at the CUNY Board of Trustees website. Additional items may be added during the meeting. As a reminder, please mute your phones so we can ensure that everyone can hear. We are living in unprecedented times. I never imagined that we would be meeting like this but here we are. First, I want to acknowledge our students, faculty and staff who have all made incredible adjustments during these trying times. You have shown your resilience and patience as we, together, navigate in unchartered waters. On behalf of the entire Board, I say thank you for your enduring commitment to our precious community. I would also like to give a big shout out to the Chancellor and his entire team as well as our Presidents and their leadership teams for their tireless efforts to continue CUNY’s important mission of providing a high-quality education for all New Yorkers ensuring equal access and opportunity regardless of background or means. This mission has never been more important than it is today. I would also be remiss if I did not acknowledge the leadership of Governor Cuomo. Governor Cuomo’s stellar management of this crisis has provided New York State with a steady hand and the strong leadership needed to get us all through these difficult times. I cannot thank him enough for stepping up into this unprecedented dangerous time. As you know, the CUNY Board of Trustees could not convene its March 23, 2020 Public Hearing and Brooklyn Borough Hearing. Instead, the Office of the Secretary accepted written testimony and statements from concerned individuals on items on the calendar for the March 30, 2020 Board Meeting via email. Testimonies were accepted until 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 25, 2020. 94 testimonies were submitted. The majority of the testimonies addressed how the COVID-19 crisis has affected students and professors at CUNY. Many students expressed concerns about disruptions caused by the crisis including, difficulties adapting to distance learning, communications issues between faculty and students and the need to address the current grading policies. Almost all testimonies requested that CUNY implement an elective pass/fail option for classes. While the testimonies overwhelmingly support Page | 42 March 30, 2020 Minutes of the Meeting of the Board of Trustees the pass/fail option, individuals requested that the standard grading format continue to be offered, as pass/fail grading may influence grade point averages and negatively affect admittance to graduate schools, future employment and financial aid. Testimonies are available for review in the Office of the Secretary.” CHANCELLOR’S REPORT Félix V. Matos Rodriguez’ Remarks: “Thank you, Chairperson Thompson, Jr., Trustees, Presidents and Vice Chancellors. It is good to be back here with you today to continue our work, albeit under circumstances that none of us could have envisioned the last time we met. I think I speak for all of us when I say we are in the midst of one the most challenging periods of our lives. We are all connected by this coronavirus crisis, and we all know someone, perhaps a family member, a friend, a co-worker who has been adversely affected. The CUNY community was shaken by the loss last week of Michael Sorkin, a widely admired architect and public intellectual who was a Distinguished Professor and the Director of the Graduate Program in Urban Design at City College’s Spitzer School of Architecture. Today, we were again devastated to learn of the passing of a second member of our CUNY family, also from City College, Distinguished Professor and foundational member of the sociology department, William Helmreich, who won widespread acclaim for his memorable work and, most recently, his epic determination to walk every street of New York City and document the vast diversity of the people he encountered along the way. These abrupt losses are so very difficult to accept. Let me express my deepest condolences to the families of Professors Sorkin and Helmreich, and to all others who have lost a loved one in this unprecedented pandemic. It should come as no surprise that as the country’s largest urban university, with campuses in every borough of the city that has become an early epicenter of the outbreak, CUNY would be quickly embroiled. To anyone who is battling COVID-19 in the hospital or at home, we hope your recovery is speedy and complete. Early this month, as one of the first steps of our Emergency Response and Business Continuity Plan, I convened a Coronavirus Task Force led by Executive Vice Chancellor and Chief Operating Officer Hector Batista, to serve as a command center and work hand in hand with our 25 campuses to provide systematic guidance to our community. Page | 43 March 30, 2020 Minutes of the Meeting of the Board of Trustees Our first known case involved John Jay College, where a student tested positive on March 10th. Though she had not been to school since becoming symptomatic, we closed the school the following day. In that case, as we have done since, we quickly notified school communities and directly informed those who had come in contact with the individual, and made sure that cleaning protocols were strictly observed, even when the risk to the school community was deemed low by health officials. On March 11th, Governor Cuomo announced the transition to distance education, and we called a five- day instructional recess to allow faculty and staff to plan and implement that very complicated conversion. By the time we resumed classes, on March 19th, 95 percent of our classes had been converted to distance learning and 95 percent of our staff were working remotely. Both of those numbers have since increased to nearly 100 percent. The move to distance education accentuated broader issues of equity and access in higher education, and the effects of these disparities that we at CUNY are always working to combat. We quickly realized that we needed to address a palpable digital divide, a problem that stood to keep thousands of our students from completing their academic requirements. To that end, the Central Office with the support of Governor Cuomo, moved swiftly to purchase 30,000 laptops and tablets. The distribution upholds social distancing standards and other provisions of Governor Cuomo’s New York State on PAUSE executive order. Because we realize the disruption these circumstances have presented for the research and scholarship activity of our faculty, we have made modifications to faculty tenure clocks and other contractual obligations. Faculty whose candidacies for tenure are coming up in the Fall 2020 semester will receive a one-year extension, if they so desire. These changes were made after consultation with provosts and the Professional Staff Congress. Here, I would like to interject a personal note of appreciation. It has been nothing short of astounding, and also quite humbling, to note the commitment of our staff, faculty and administrators across all campuses, acting during a time of great uncertainty and anxiety in their own lives to enable CUNY to keep going. I will forever be grateful to every person who had a hand in this process. Just as we stepped up to help our city cope with the effects of Superstorm Sandy and the 9-11 attacks, we are doing so now, in the thick of this generation-defining moment.