Introduction1
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
INTRODUCTION1 History and Overview of the Graduate School and University Center The Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York (CUNY), known as the Graduate Center,2 is an internationally acclaimed institution devoted primarily to doctoral education in a broad range of academic disciplines. Its fundamental mission is to support excellent, graduate-level, degree-granting programs3 that prepare a wide range of students to become scholars and leaders in the academy, as well as in the private, nonprofit, and governmental sectors. The Graduate School and University Center was founded in 1961 as the City University of New York‘s free-standing, doctoral-degree-granting campus as part of the overall consolidation of the CUNY system, which was established in the same year. Rather than allow the proliferation of multiple and competing Ph.D. programs at CUNY‘s senior colleges, the architects of the unified CUNY system created the Graduate Center (GC) as a free-standing college that drew together faculty and other educational resources from across the system to create a unique and efficient structure to deliver primarily doctoral education. Approximately 90 percent of the Graduate Center‘s doctoral faculty members have their appointments at one of CUNY‘s constituent campuses (college-based faculty). Less than 10 percent of doctoral faculty have their appointments at the GC-based faculty.4 (See Appendix I-1 for a full description of this consortial system of doctoral education at the Graduate Center and also the allocation system by which the CUNY colleges are compensated for their faculty‘s service to the Graduate Center.) 1 For a description of the process of developing this self-study, see Appendix I-2, and for a list of members of the steering committee and the working groups, see Appendix I-3. 2 The official (and complete) name of the institution is ―The Graduate School and University Center.‖ The ―Graduate School‖ is the Ph.D.-granting arm of the institution. ―The University Center‖ refers to the institution‘s administrative oversight of CUNY-wide programs that cover a broader and more diverse educational audience and include the Graduate School of Journalism, the School of Professional Studies, and the CUNY B.A./B.S. While both aspects of the Graduate School and University Center‘s identity and structure are formally led by the president (currently William P. Kelly), a clear separation exists between the structure and governance of the Graduate School, on the one hand, and the three University Center entities on the other. In 1999, at the time of the Graduate School and University Center‘s move to the new building at 365 Fifth Avenue, the term ―The Graduate Center‖ was designated as the name that encompassed the expanding mission of the institution. It is this name by which the institution is known by all its constituencies and by the public. ―The Graduate Center‖ is on the logo, all stationery, banners in windows, and so forth. In this self-study, we generally use ―Graduate Center‖ to designate the institution as a whole, though in some cases the full name—―Graduate School and University Center‖ is used as well. In cases where governance bodies such as Graduate Council have authority over only the Graduate School, the term ―Graduate School‖ may be used, while in instances where the broader entities are designated, for example, the Graduate School of Journalism, the School of Professional Studies, and the CUNY B.A./B.S. (all of which are described in Chapter 8, ―Related Educational Activities‖), the title ―University Center‖ is used. 3 At the Graduate Center, disciplines—English, sociology, etc.—are called programs. The more commonly known term department is reserved for an academic department at a CUNY undergraduate college. The head of a doctoral program is an executive officer (EO), appointed by the president for three-year terms, whereas the head of a college department is a chair. The administrative assistant in each program is an assistant program officer (APO). 4 In this self-study we use the term ―GC-based‖ faculty for faculty whose appointment is at the Graduate Center. These faculty are also sometimes referred to as ―central-line faculty,‖ but we do not use that nomenclature in this self-study. 1 The Graduate Center also encompasses the University Center, an administrative home for three CUNY- wide operations. As part of CUNY, the Graduate Center is subject to the bylaws and policies of CUNY, to its administrative structure, headed by the chancellor, Dr. Matthew Goldstein, and to the CUNY Board of Trustees. In turn, the bulk of the finances of CUNY and the Graduate Center are derived from New York State tax-levy monies. Tuition rates for students at the Graduate Center are set by the CUNY central administration, with state approval, as are the amount and rate of dispersal of tax-levy funds to the Graduate Center. Salaries and definitions of faculty ranks, as well as workload and other faculty and staff working conditions, including grievance and arbitration procedures, are governed by a contract negotiated between CUNY and the Professional Staff Congress (PSC). The current contract was signed in June 2008 and ends in October 2010.5 The Graduate School The Graduate School currently offers thirty-five doctoral degrees and master‘s degrees in seven fields.6 There are also currently thirty-one institutes and centers.7 Ninety-six percent of the Graduate School‘s enrollment is at the doctoral level. The Graduate School draws its faculty from three sources. The great majority of its 1,706 faculty members (as of March 2009) have their primary appointments at the CUNY colleges (campus-based faculty). As of fall 2009, there were 142 full-time permanent faculty appointed directly to the Graduate School. Finally, another small number of affiliated faculty hold positions at other educational and cultural institutions, such as the Bronx Botanical Gardens and the Museum of Natural History. The Graduate Center considers the unique consortial arrangement it has with the CUNY colleges to be among the major contributors to its success. It is an efficient way to assemble a very large and extraordinarily talented and intellectually diverse faculty. A large number of world-renown academics on the Graduate School‘s faculty, both GC-based and college-based, are winners of national awards and prizes (see Chapter 6, ―Faculty and Research.‖). Over 40 percent of the distinguished professors at CUNY are GC-based appointments at the Graduate Center.8 Though national ratings of academic programs can be problematic, and the Graduate Center takes them cum grano salis, it is still the case that in the most 5 A summary of the last PSC-CUNY contract is available online at http://www.psc-cuny.org/NewContractJuly08.htm 6 CUNY offers over 800 master‘s degrees. With the exception of the seven offered at the Graduate School, these are offered by the four-year colleges. Of the seven master‘s degrees offered by the Graduate Center, only two, the M.A. in liberal studies and the M.A. in Middle Eastern studies, are free-standing master‘s degrees. The rest are part of the Ph.D. programs and do not function as terminal master‘s degrees. 7 The Graduate Center‘s doctoral programs are described in general in Chapter 7, ―Educational Offerings,‖ and its institutes and centers in Chapter 6, ―Faculty and Research.‖ 8 Distinguished professor (DP) is a rank established in the PSC/CUNY contract as a rank above professor. It carries extra salary and a reduced teaching load. College departments and the Graduate Center doctoral programs may nominate faculty for appointment to distinguished professor, and the CUNY Board of Trustees makes the decision about the appointment going forward. The PSC/CUNY contract allows a total of 175 distinguished professorships across the university. As of August 2009, the number of DP‘s CUNY-wide was 140, among whom 57 are GC-based, and 68 are college-based faculty on the doctoral faculty. The process for appointment to distinguished professor is described online at http://www.cuny.edu/about/people/faculty/dp/guidelines.html. 2 recent (2007) Academic Analytics rankings, which measure faculty productivity, eleven of the Graduate Center doctoral programs were in the top twenty in the nation and two (French and theater) were in the top ten. In fall 2009, the Graduate School enrolled 4,315 doctoral students and 181 master‘s students. Consonant with the mission of CUNY, the Graduate Center strives to enhance access to graduate education for traditionally underrepresented groups. Twenty-one percent of doctoral students are from these underrepresented groups. The Graduate Center ranks ninth in the country in doctorates awarded to Hispanics, according to the latest annual rankings from the Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education Magazine (May 4, 2009). As of 2008–9, more than 10,000 people had received doctoral degrees from the Graduate Center. Alumni have had successful careers as professors and researchers in universities around the world, executive directors of nonprofit organizations, curators and directors of museums, and in major businesses. Students have been recipients of many professional awards, fellowships, and honors.9 The University Center At the time of the 2000 MSCHE self-study, there was only one program under the aegis of the University Center, the interdisciplinary, intracollege CUNY baccalaureate degree. 10 In the last ten years, CUNY has added two major institutions to the University Center: the Graduate School of Journalism, which prepares master‘s students for careers in all aspects of journalism, and the School of Professional Studies, which offers graduate and undergraduate certificates and degree programs, including CUNY‘s first online degree programs.11 Significant Developments at the Graduate Center since the MSCHE Periodic Review Report in 2005 When the Graduate Center submitted its self-study for its last MSCHE reaccreditation, in 2000, the institution was in the midst of significant changes, highlighted by the impending move to its new building at 365 Fifth Avenue.