Chancellor Proposes New Academic Initiatives
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cuny.edu/news • C ITY U NIVERSITY OF N EW Y ORK FOUNDED 1847 • March 2003 Chancellor Proposes New Academic Initiatives t the core of any college n a keynote speech to the Center for Underscoring the strides or university is a Educational Innovation — Public made in the last three years, Education Association at the Harvard when freshmen enrollment vigorous, productive I A Club, Chancellor Matthew Goldstein set increased 10.5% as higher and committed faculty. As forth an ambitious array of proposals for admissions standards were the City University works to enhancing both City University academic implemented, Goldstein strengthen its faculty amid offerings and financial support, while noted that “the University economically difficult times, meeting new fiscal challenges and build- now systematically reaches ing on past successes. into high school,” notably CUNY Matters spotlights “Our challenge now is to maintain with the College Now pro- throughout this issue several momentum — and it’s a very big gram and competitive high remarkable examples of challenge,” said Goldstein to a large schools sited on several our faculty in innovative, audience of educators, business, civic, CUNY campuses. This, and community leaders. “The City and Goldstein said, “gives students inspiring and award-winning State of New York are facing the most a running jump to clear the action. Three of them are serious financial crisis in recent memory.” University’s higher academic featured below. Among the proposals were: bar.” College Now, which per- • Strengthening CUNY’s academic mits high school seniors to environment by renewing and rebuild- take college courses, has almost Biomedical Program ing full time faculty. quadrupled its enrollment, Opens Research Horizon from 11,000 students in 1999 • Indexing tuition to economic indicators to 40,000 in 2002. 1for Minorities in Bronx while protecting financial aid to help “Prospective CUNY stu- John Davis and the University and its students plan dents are well aware that we his colleagues intelligently to meet the costs of higher now expect more from them,” at Bronx education. Goldstein said. “They also Community • Integrating University-wide resources to know we have more to give.” College have create new schools of journalism and He cited the Honors College, Lehman College, seen above, is collaborating with Hostos worked with professional studies, a new scientific now entering its third year, as and Bronx Community Colleges to coordinate purchasing, nearly 300 research facility and a computer simula- an example: This year 2,500 human resources administration, and contracting functions students like tion center on Governors Island. applied for admission to its in the Bronx. The resulting savings are being redirected to Balori Paulino • Centralizing administrative functions 340 spots, compared to 1,400 these colleges’ core businesses of teaching and learning. to nurture such as purchasing, contracting and last year. He noted also that A similar collaboration has been established between careers in research under the human resources, while generating rev- the average SAT score for suc- Queens College and the CUNY Law School. Minorities Biomedical Research enue through entrepreneurial activities cessful applicants was 1340. Program. See page 10. and fund-raising. The Chancellor invoked both the old with the New York City Central Labor and the new in speaking of the Univer- Council, which helps tailor CUNY pro- Hunter Anthropologist • Leveraging capital funds by working, sity’s relationships with the private sector. grams for working students.” Goldstein Returns to South Africa where appropriate, with private Referring to a long-standing collaboration, developers to create mixed academic- he pointed to CUNY’s “close relationship 2to Fight Against AIDS commercial facilities. Continued on page 9 Anthropologist Ida Susser, also based at the Graduate Center, has Highlights from Analysis of State, City Budgets won several n January 30, Chancellor Matthew Goldstein present- Preliminary Budget for fiscal year 2003 rises by $1.3 million awards and ed a preliminary analysis of the 2003-2004 proposed because of pension costs, but the fiscal year 2004 budget major grants, O State and City budgets to the Board of Trustees and recommends a net decrease of $5.6 million, mainly with the notably a college presidents. As widely expected, the proposed budgets loss of $5.5 million in funding for Vallone Scholarships. City MacArthur, to call for reduced funding in several areas. On February 11, the support remains the same as last year, at $124 million. continue her studies of women and Chancellor testified in Albany on the impact of the State Capital Budget. The State’s capital budget calls for a total AIDS in Namibia and Botswana. Budget before a joint hearing of the Senate Finance Committee multi-year capital investment program of $1.03 billion for See page 6. and the Assembly Ways and Means Committee. CUNY. Reappropriation of $172 million for prior years’ fund- Senior Colleges. For the University’s senior colleges, the State ing, not yet bonded, brings the capital budget to a total of City College Physicist Executive Budget recommends a total of $1.12 billion, an increase $1.203 billion.When the City matches State support for the Applies String Theory of $31 million over the current year. However, this figure includes community colleges and Medgar Evers College, the total five- 3to Mysteries of Universe a reduction in State aid from $663 million to $581 million year capital plan will reach a record sum of $1.328 billion. As the University proceeds with initiatives to monetize the real Appointed (a decrease of more than 12%) and a proposed rise in revenue estate values of its portfolio through public-private collabora- also to the from student tuition, from $392 million to $505 million (a rise of tion (realizing the entire construction costs of some projects), Graduate nearly 29%). The Executive Budget also proposes a $7.3 million the total five-year capital plan increases to $1.58 billion. Center, Michio decrease in SEEK student financial aid and a $1 million decrease Financial Aid. The Executive Budget allocates $568 million Kaku is apply- in funding for new faculty. for the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP). It also recommends ing “string The Executive Budget also recommends amending the State significant restructuring of TAP, notably separating TAP awards theory” to the Education Law to allow the University to impose differential into two components — a “base” award equal to two-thirds of study of the tuition rates for graduate and professional programs. The the current award and a “performance” award of one-third, universe, Budget will also permit the University’s Board of Trustees payable upon attainment of a degree. Students will be expected hoping to unite to adopt annual incremental adjustments to tuition. to finance study prior to receiving the performance award relativity and quantum theories, Community Colleges. State funding for CUNY’s community through Federal loan programs, to be administered by the a goal that eluded Albert Einstein. colleges will be subjected to a $23 million reduction (nearly Higher Education Services Corporation. See page 10. 18%) in several areas (enrollment calculations are being reviewed by the State, which may decrease the size of this For an array of budget data, testimony, and analysis visit reduction). Child care funding remains unchanged. The City’s www.cuny.edu and click on News or CUNY Budget Watch. Emcee for Economic Development & CCNY Alumnus Adapted and expanded here is a story from mentary and high school education,” neering profes- in giving something a new second-season edition of “Study With Catell recalls, “and I was fortunate to be sors impressed back. Everything I The Best,” a regularly scheduled 30- minute able to get into City College. That educa- on me the have achieved has TV news magazine highlighting CUNY’s tional foundation was really what gave me importance of been due to a won- wide array of outstanding faculty, remark- the ability to achieve what I have in the working hard derful education, and able students and alumni, and major business world.” and learning the I think young people University academic initiatives. The lively, Catell’s experience at a public college fundamentals, today should have the fast-paced series (CUNY-TV clearly gave him a taste for which really same resources I had. Channel 75, Sundays at 8) is vigorous and wide-ranging provided the It’s a more complicat- aimed particularly at prospec- public service. He is not only basis for every- ed, more competitive tive CUNY students in local the former chairman of the thing I accom- world today, so it’s high schools. New York City Partnership plished later on probably even more and Chamber of Commerce, in my career.” important for them.” but is now chairman of the Catell adds, Summing up, f you live in Brooklyn, Business Council of New “From a business Robert Catell, KeySpan Chairman and CEO Catell alludes to the Queens or Staten Island, York State. He has also served standpoint, it’s post-Enron crisis of Iyou’re doubtlessly famil- as a director of the NYC Investment Fund really important to support City College confidence in corporate America: “I think iar with the KeySpan Corporation. and is a founding member of the NYC and the City University, because this is the most important message I would con- The company is the largest distributor of Public Private Partnership. the major educational institution in which vey to young people entering college natural gas in the Northeast, serving 2.5 Catell received his our city’s young peo- today is that there are many, many more million customers in those boroughs, on bachelor’s and master’s ple can get the kind people in the business community who do Long Island, in Massachusetts and New degrees in mechanical “From a business standpoint, of education that I have integrity, high ethical standards and Hampshire.