In a time of financial uncertainty, one of the most important ways that New Yorkers can plan for the future is through higher education. A college degree is associated with higher salaries, more career opportunities and improved job security.
So it’s puzzling to consider the recommendations of the 2010-11 State Executive Budget proposal to cut state support for The City University of New York — slashing about $84 million for the system’s senior colleges and almost $22 million for its community colleges. The City Preliminary Budget proposes further cuts to CUNY’s community colleges of more than $9 million this year and $15 million next year.
The proposed cuts come when CUNY has achieved great momentum — a prolonged drive that has not only burnished the university’s academic quality but have also implemented regulatory and structural reforms and hiring actions to improve students’ educational experience.
Progress starts with strong leadership. The university has focused on building administrative and faculty strength at its colleges and has required accountability through a Performance Management Process that measures campuses’ yearly progress toward goals.
Recent presidential searches at our colleges have attracted outstanding candidate pools, indicating the increasingly high regard in which CUNY is held nationally. Our distinguished presidents bring a wealth of prior administrative and academic success to their new CUNY posts. Meanwhile, the university has added more than 1,600 new full-time faculty members over the last decade, placing talented teachers and renowned researchers in our classrooms and laboratories.
Skillful and dedicated campus leadership has paved the way for further initiatives, including private fund-raising, that support our students’ educational aspirations and build the skilled workforce that our city and state urgently need.
With higher admission standards at our senior colleges, we are admitting more better-prepared students while maintaining broad access. Our campuses are regularly included on lists of the “best value” public institutions.
More and more high-achieving students are making CUNY as their first-choice college. Our celebrated Macaulay Honors College is producing some of the city’s finest graduates, and CUNY students have garnered highly competitive Rhodes, Truman, Goldwater and Marshall scholarships.
We’ve created new CUNY schools to meet pressing educational needs, including the CUNY School of Professional Studies, the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism and, most recently, the CUNY School of Public Health.
The University’s Decade of Science initiative is prioritizing the need for the professional workforce and breakthrough research on which New York’s innovation economy depends. The CUNY-wide Advanced Science Research Center will focus on the emerging fields of photonics, nanoscience, structural biology, neuroscience, and environmental sciences.
Today, The City University of New York is experiencing record enrollment. Families understand that high-quality, accessible higher education is a smart investment in their future.
Maintaining CUNY’s momentum should be a major priority for New York. The significant cuts in aid to the university that both the state and city are eyeing will seriously impair CUNY’s ability to meet the academic needs of its growing student body.
Now is not the time to apply the brakes. Now is the time to accelerate.
Sustaining CUNY’s progress benefits the entire state. In these recessionary times, our elected leaders should be protecting one of its best assets: a CUNY system that is providing true opportunities for advancement for all New Yorkers.
Matthew Goldstein is CUNY chancellor.