Message from the EVC
Welcome to Academically Speaking, a reinvention of the Office of Academic Affairs’ previous newsletter of the same name. In this endeavor, we plan to highlight the work and accomplishments of the various units, programs, and initiatives housed within OAA while providing a glimpse into how our efforts are concretely benefiting our students and the rest of the CUNY community. As a tool of connectivity, Academically Speaking will unfold as holistic view of our combined efforts to become a bigger, better, and bolder CUNY. So, in service to this vision, each issue — published four times per calendar year — will not only furnish you with pertinent news updates, but will feature several long-form articles themed on a major area of the University’s mission. And since students are at the center of our mission, they will also be at the center of these feature articles, with most articles including interviews with our students, who offer a snapshot of how our work takes shape out in the field.
It’s no accident that the theme of our inaugural issue is “career engagement.” CUNY has a long history of expanding access to quality higher education, enhancing learning, and improving student success, so intentionally focusing on assisting our students in carving out a pathway to life-sustaining careers is a natural next chapter for us, as it is with many universities. As the nation’s top engine of opportunity and social mobility, CUNY is in the best position to take higher education to the next level and become a model mechanism for lifelong learning.
As you all know, CUNY’s mission to better the lives of our students is remarkably expansive, so much so that it is simply not possible to showcase the efforts of every ongoing initiative, program, or pilot. However, rest assured, every three months Academically Speaking will commit an issue to a specific theme that will highlight the efforts of our colleagues as best as it possibly can. — José Luis Cruz, Executive Vice Chancellor and University Provost
NYC Men Teach reaches milestone in delivering DOE teachers
Program Coordinator Shadiq Williams (right)
speaks to CUNY students at a NYC Men
Teach event.
Male people of color make up 44 percent of the Department of Education’s student population, but the number of male teachers of color in the classroom has, historically, been low. Remedying this deficit has been a major focus of CUNY’s various teacher training programs, and is the specific goal of the funded program NYC Men Teach.
Since Fall 2011, the number of men of color enrolled in CUNY education courses has risen, in large part due to NYC Men Teach, a partnership between the Office of the Mayor, the New York City Department of Education, and CUNY that aims to improve the diversity of the City’s teaching workforce by bringing male teachers of color into the teacher pipeline. The program currently has 575 students enrolled and following an application period this spring, expects to increase enrollment to over 600.
The NYC Men Teach program provides academic and financial supports to program participants, with the goal of supporting them through the certification and hiring process so they can enter the New York teaching workforce as effective educators. The program allows academically qualified students to take part in colloquiums that focus on pertinent education-oriented issues such as cultural diversity in the classroom, immigration, and how to facilitate in-class conversations about race and politics. Participants also attend workshops on the State teacher certification process and receive instruction on how to compose a resume that meets very specific DOE guidelines.
Another major component of the NYC Teach program is career planning. Timothy Hunter, an education major at New York City Tech who takes part in NYC Men Teach, said this aspect of the program has been especially helpful. “Career planning by far has been the most important part for me,” said Hunter. “I can envision where I want to be in 20 years, and that’s something a lot of students never have the chance to sit down and think about.”
Aside from the hard and soft skills the program helps its participants build, NYC Men Teach attempts to solve a pressing issue DOE schools face: Nearly 44 percent of the DOE student population are male people of color, but only 8 percent of the teachers were men of color when NYC Men Teach first launched. Research has shown that male students of color prefer to work with a teacher who “looks like them” in order to generate empathy and allow them to forge a rapport with a potential role model and mentor.
“I think the emotional connection disappears if your teacher doesn’t look like you,” said Hunter, who has worked as student teacher at Williamsburg High School of Architecture and Design and now serves as the Chairperson of CUNY’s University Student Senate. Hunter said his decision to become a teacher was influenced by his mother, who was a special education teacher and demonstrated to Hunter the necessity of strong educators of color in the classroom. “Effective teaching requires a relatability aspect,” he said.
NYC Men Teach has passed some milestones in its mission to infuse the DOE with a more diverse pool of teaching talent. Most significantly, the DOE has been able to increase its population of male teachers of color from 8 percent to 13 percent, with NYC Men Teach and other CUNY education programs as important drivers of this trend.
NYC Men Teach’s mission and impact were also referenced in Mayor Bill de Blasio’s 2020 State of the City address. “Our children don’t just need textbooks, they need role models,” said de Blasio. “We have already hired a thousand more men of color teachers. We're going to do a thousand more on top of that.”
CIIF receives grant from Centerbridge-Bain
CUNY’s Career Success Initiative was selected to receive the Centerbridge-Bain Partnership Grant in 2020 which will include a combination of grant funding and targeted consulting services to provide sustainable, centralized capacity building around employer-engagement and alumni outcomes. The funds will be used to further the work of CUNY Career Success, which seeks to enable all CUNY students (degree and non-degree programs) to access education, develop career skills, and engage with employers to find meaningful work, and lead choice-filled lives upon graduation.
A successful example of this work is the CUNY Investment Industry Fellowship (CIIF). CIIF, co-developed with Centerbridge Partners, provides cohorts of 19 fellows an opportunity to increase their knowledge and gain hands-on experience in the investment industry. The key components of the fellowship are monthly workshops sessions and one-on-one mentorships with investment professionals.
CIIF fellows, who earn a stipend for their participation, receive professional guidance from their mentor over the course of nine months while cultivating hard and soft industry skills through monthly workshops that take place at Centerbridge’s midtown office. The workshops focus on topics ranging from soft skills in a professional setting to case studies and model investments. Led by Centerbridge team members, the sessions are a forum in which accomplished investment professionals can impart their first-hand experience and field pertinent questions from the fellows.
At a workshop in early December 2019, a panel of Centerbridge professionals discussed career entry points in the investment industry and offered concrete advice on how to obtain and make effective use of introductory meetings with industry leaders. For the fellows, these sessions provide a rare and invaluable level of access to a professional network. “It’s exposure to the industry we don’t always get through school,” said Stacey Rolon, who was a member of CIIF’s 2018-19 cohort and now interns at Centerbridge.
Rolon, an accounting and international business major in her junior year at Lehman College, said that the in-depth workshop discussions have been an indispensable supplement to what she has been learning in her CUNY classes. “In the workshops, we go into distressed investing, the life cycle of a private equity deal, financial modeling… It’s a chance for students from other [CUNY] schools to come together and see that we are part of a community with a real interest in this field.”
However, the workshops are not simply about the knowledge and skills the fellows take away, but also about the insight and enthusiasm that they bring with them. “Fellows actively ask good, thoughtful questions, approach the workshop topics with excitement, and troubleshoot solutions for challenges facing the industry,” said Brandi Mandato, Director of Sector Innovation at CUNY.
Before fellows wrap up their nine month mentorship, their mentors, CUNY’s Career Success team, and Centerbridge all support the fellow in finding an internship with investment firms and banks in New York. This is an opportunity for the fellows to bring to bear the skills they acquired through CIIF as well as their own lived experiences.
According to Johanna Meadows, Director of the Centerbridge Foundation, “The insights of CUNY students and their diverse perspectives from different backgrounds are valuable resources for firms.”
This year, CIIF expanded the number of investment firms with which it partners. According to Mandato, CIIF’s goal for 2020 is to continue to have all the program’s fellows placed in internships at top investment firms at the conclusion their fellowship. In addition, the Partnership Grant award from the Centerbridge Foundation will continue to support the advancement of the University’s mission to be a vehicle for upward social mobility, providing high quality education to all New Yorkers, ensuring equal access and opportunity regardless of background or means.
Women in Tech expands and rebrands
Women in Technology and Entrepreneurship in New York (WiTNY), a collaboration between Cornell Tech, CUNY, and more than 100 industry partners, will now expand nationally.
Since its founding in 2016, WiTNY’s mission has been to provide women with educational support, hands-on work experience, and connections to professionals in the field who can act as mentors. A key aspect of the program are 3-week paid “winternships” that provide students with real-world industry experience.
The winternships place about 300 students among the offices of 50 partner companies, including Verizon, Deloitte, and MasterCard, where the students are divided into teams and given a “challenge project” to work on over the course of three months. For instance, during a winternship at Pfizer, students were asked to design technology to improve doctor-patient communication. The students here proposed machine-learning tech that would use a patient’s data to guide a doctor’s treatment decisions. Meanwhile, at MasterCard, students created a mock-up of an “interactive mirror” that the company could potentially use to interface with specific peer groups.
The winternships enable students to build their resume and better their chances at securing a summer internship. What’s more, they allow students to immerse themselves in the industry and meet potential mentors.
“Being in an office with so many women in high places was so inspirational and gave me confidence,” said Rosa Basevich, a former computer science student at Hunter College who participated in WiTNY.
Basevich, who graduated in 2019 and now works as a digital rotational associate for Pfizer, also testified to the networking benefits WiTNY confers to participating students. “I’m a first generation immigrant, so my family didn’t have a lot of connections [in the tech industry] … WiTNY is like a special portal that filters women in tech, like myself, to the best companies.”
Bannya Dasrao, a sophomore at Queens College, also believes that WiTNY has played an invaluable role in developing skills and confidence needed for her career path. “I always believed that to have my dream job all that was required of me was having perfect grades in my classes,” said Dasrao. “[Through WiTNY] I realized that my grades alone do not hold all the importance … I also needed to hone communication, leadership, and networking skills and share my ideas and perceptions.”
The efforts of the program have effected impressive results: Since WiTNY’s 2016 kick-off, the number of women graduating with bachelor’s degrees in computer science from CUNY has skyrocketed by 94 percent. Following nearly four years of consistent success, in January, Cornell Tech announced that WiTNY will be expanding nationally as Break Through Tech as part of the new Pivotal Ventures’ Gender Equality in Tech (GET) Cities initiative, a $50 million initiative designed to accelerate the representation of women in tech. The WiTNY model will be replicated at the University of Illinois at Chicago while continuing its ongoing mission to help carve out career pathways for students at CUNY. “I believe it is essential for programs such as WiTNY to exist at CUNY, said Dasrao. “It gives CUNY students the opportunity to earn the necessary experience required to compete in the job market.”
Project Destined launches Lehman course
CUNY’s partnership with Project Destined has enjoyed impressive milestones since its kick-off in 2018, including playing a role in a major Bronx property development and developing a credit-bearing course at Lehman College. Co-founded by former Carlyle Group principal Cedric Bobo, Project Destined has been described as a real estate “boot camp,” at which inner city university students learn the ins and outs of real estate acquisition and development from industry professionals. During intensive workshops, students analyze live real estate deals in New York City, while exploring topics such as property analysis, valuation and financing. This place-based approach aims to provide students with the opportunity to study real estate transactions in real time while gaining rare access to industry leaders and making inroads into the field.
Lehman student Asmir Nikocevic (left) participates on a panel with
Charlie Howe of Brookfield Properties (center) and Project Destined
co-founder Cedric Bobo.
The students’ time in the program culminates with a team competition in which they formulate and pitch a deal of their own to a “Shark Tank”-style panel of real estate professionals from Project Destined partners including Brookfield Properties, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Walker & Dunlop, and Hunton Andrews Kurth.
In 2018, a team led by Lehman College students won the competition with their proposal for a mixed used development in Mott Haven. The team went on to work with Project Destined to perform market research, design and feasibility analysis for Project Destined’s first project in the Bronx. As part of their work, students conducted more than 500 interviews with South Bronx locals to better understand community needs and demands, further emphasizing Project Destined’s mission for students to forge meaningful community ties. Students who complete the program will also have the chance to go on to internships at Brookfield, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, and Walker & Dunlop.
Lehman College student Asmir Nikocevic is thankful that Project Destined has given him the practical training he will need as he transitions to his career in real estate. “Project Destined has allowed me to learn about the real estate industry, explore the fundamental principles of real state, develop financial models and pro-forma analysis on real estate opportunities,” said Nikocevic.
Cedric Bobo said that the involvement of CUNY students in Project Destined has been impactful for his organization as well as for the real estate industry and the Bronx community. “To stay competitive in this industry, you need to attract the best talent in the nation,” said Bobo. “With Project Destined, we’re fortunate to have the chance to work with CUNY, because when it comes to aggregating a diverse pool talent and perspectives, there is no better place than CUNY.”
In Fall 2020, Project Destined will begin offering a 3-credit bearing course at Lehman College, paving the way for CUNY students to learn career enhancing professional skills while earning college credit. In late February 2020, Project Destined will launch its inaugural “Project Destined in Schools” program with Comp Sci. High School (CSH) in the Bronx where CUNY alumni will pay it forward by working with CSH Teaching Staff to train and mentor over 120 ninth graders as they learn and compete in their own Project Destined competition.
“CUNY Alumni will play a critical role in Project Destined’s ability to scale in New York and around the country — it’s a tremendous partnership,” said Bobo.
New academic programs focus on growing industry demands
CUNY has recently approved or established a number of new academic degree-bearing programs centered on growing industry demands in the fields of technology, science, medicine, and the humanities. Among the programs slated to begin in Fall 2020 is a new 2-year master’s program in cybersecurity at The City College of New York, which was designed in collaboration with Facebook and with guidance from the New York City Economic Development Corp. Fall 2020 will also see the opening of a master’s program in translations and interpretation at Hunter College and a master’s in health communication for social change at SPH among other programs.
In recent years data science and technology have commanded a large focus of program development at CUNY, with new master’s and baccalaureate programs in nanoscience, data analytics, predictive modeling, and systems management throughout the CUNY system, as well as programs in new growth areas such as mass media studies, Arabic, and global migrant health.
York College has been especially notable in its creation and maintenance of academic programs geared toward the work of the future. Along with a master’s in clinical trial management, master’s in pharmaceutical and business, and its physician assistant program, York offers a master’s in aviation and a master’s in aviation management.
The aviation industry is one of the fastest-growing industries with a two-digit growth rate, annually, and given that New York City’s three major airports serve more than 130 million passengers a year, New York City can be considered as the largest aviation town in the nation. Therefore, according to Chris Hsu, director of the CUNY Aviation Institute, it makes perfect sense for the University to play a key role in supplying the industry with skilled workers. “With the significant amount of labor demand and enormous economic impact from the aviation industry, an aviation program offered by a public institute is necessary for New York residents and the industry, said Hsu.
In total, these programs offer a portrait of a modernized CUNY dedicated upskilling and reskilling the New York workforce, and demonstrate that a college education must respond not only to the labor demands of industry, but to the unique circumstances of students pursuing a degree. With that in mind, CUNY will continue to align students with the skills and the professional networks necessary for the current and future labor demands of growing industries.
News and Events
University dean for K-16 Initiatives appointed Andrea Soonachan has been hired as the new university dean for K-16 Initiatives in the Office of Academic Affairs, replacing Cass Conrad. Soonachan has over 20 years of administrative experience in K-12 and higher education, non-profit organizations, and public agencies. She has served in the Office of Post-Secondary Readiness at the New York City Department of Education, New Visions for Public Schools, Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation, and the Community College Research Center at Columbia University. She brings with her a demonstrated commitment to college and career readiness and success, and an intimate understanding of complex systems, strategic planning, and policy development. Andrea holds an Ed.D. in higher education from Teachers College, Columbia University, an M.A. in education from Stanford University, and a B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College. She began in her role as dean February 3, 2020 and will oversee an array of programs serving over 40,000 students City-wide, including the Early College Initiative, College Now, the Lessons in Navigating College Transitions (LINCT) program, and CUNY Prep.
In recent years data science and technology have commanded a large focus of program development at CUNY, with new master’s and baccalaureate programs in nanoscience, data analytics, predictive modeling, and systems management throughout the CUNY system, as well as programs in new growth areas such as mass media studies, Arabic, and global migrant health.
York College has been especially notable in its creation and maintenance of academic programs geared toward the work of the future. Along with a master’s in clinical trial management, master’s in pharmaceutical and business, and its physician assistant program, York offers a master’s in aviation and a master’s in aviation management.
The aviation industry is one of the fastest-growing industries with a two-digit growth rate, annually, and given that New York City’s three major airports serve more than 130 million passengers a year. New York City can be considered as the largest aviation town in the nation. Therefore, according to Chris Hsu, director of the CUNY Aviation Institute, it makes perfect sense for the University to play a key role in supplying the industry with skilled workers. “With the significant amount of labor demand and enormous economic impact from the aviation industry, an aviation program offered by a public institute is necessary for New York residents and the industry, said Hsu.
In total, these programs offer a portrait of a modernized CUNY dedicated upskilling and reskilling the New York workforce, and demonstrate that a college education must respond not only to the labor demands of industry, but to the unique circumstances of students pursuing a degree. With that in mind, CUNY will continue to align students with the skills and the professional networks necessary for the current and future labor demands of growing industries.
Associate vice chancellor for research appointed Tamera Schneider was appointed to the position of associate vice chancellor and University vice provost for Research in November 2019. Tamera served as Deputy Director in the Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences of the National Science Foundation, where she co-led efforts to develop philanthropic partnerships for learning and enhancing basic science impacts for practitioners and learners. She also co-chaired the Understanding the Brain working group and chaired the SBE Science of Broadening Participation working group, which conducted valuable outreach and developed bias training for program officers and proposal reviewers.
Census project launched The Census 2020: Complete the Count Fund kicked off January 14, 2020 with a press conference hosted by New York University and featuring speeches by Mayor Bill de Blasio and Executive Vice Chancellor José Luis Cruz. As part of the large-scale census-counting initiative, CUNY will provide a work-based learning experience for over 200 students. Called the CUNY Census Corps, its participants will educate, engage, and mobilize people to complete the census. Through this experiential learning opportunity, students will strengthen their leadership, communication, teamwork, and problem-solving skills. A portion of Census Corps members will work with the Complete Count Fund awardees to help them reach undercounted neighborhoods and populations.
CUNY ASAP replicated, nationwide ASAP began work with the West Virginia Community and Technical College System to support the replication of ASAP at two colleges in the system, making West Virginia the fourth state outside of New York (following Ohio, California, and Tennessee) to develop a program based on the ASAP model. CUNY also received renewal funding of $1,415,000 over three years from the Hilton Foundation to improve post-secondary persistence and graduation outcomes for ASAP students who have been impacted by the foster care system and to more broadly expand partnerships and build capacity at CUNY to better serve youth in care. According to Inside High Ed, the Ohio community colleges tailored the ASAP model to their student populations, including by offering gas cards rather than MetroCards. Newly released results from a random assignment evaluation, conducted by the nonprofit group MDRC, found that the three colleges have nearly doubled three-year graduation rates for participating students while increasing transfers to four-year colleges among participants by 50 percent. In a written statement, Randy Gardner, chancellor of Ohio's Department of Higher Education, said, “The continued success of this program is great news for the colleges, for our state and most importantly for the students.”
Interdisciplinary Climate Crisis Research Grant created CUNY is investing a half million dollars toward growing New York’s green economy. The RFP encompasses the Interdisciplinary Research Grant program (IRG) and leverages additional funds to focus on the climate crisis. For this RFP, applications must combine expertise across disciplines and should be geared toward providing a pathway to new external funding. This pathway should be clearly laid out in applications. CUNY’s investment in the initiative comes from the Office of Research, the ASRC, and the PowerBridge NY program. Award announcements will be made by mid-March 2020.
Career Success program ready to kick off OAA will launch a peer mentoring program for Career Success in Spring 2020 on three campuses. The office invited the 10 campuses that participated in the 2018-19 Career Success Learning Community to apply. Following evaluation of the applications, a review committee with staff and campus representatives selected CSI, John Jay, and Guttman as program launch sites. The program will provide funding to campuses to hire a college-based staff member and train five peer mentors to focus on career milestones, such as resume writing, interview skills, job search, and internship acquisition.
Lehman to host BTAG Summit Lehman College will host the second annual Bronx Transfer Affinity (BTAG) Summit on March 20, 2020. The conference’s theme is “The Road to Seamless Transfer.” The Summit will provide advising professionals and faculty from all five BTAG colleges (Lehman, BCC, Hostos, Guttman, BMCC) with a greater understanding of policies, practices, and resources that support transfer student persistence, momentum, and ultimately degree attainment. Executive Vice Chancellor José Luis Cruz will be the plenary keynote speaker at the summit.
CUE Conference focuses on undergrad teachers The Office of Undergraduate Studies and the Office of Library Services are teaming to host the 2020 CUE Conference and the CUNY OER Showcase, titled “OER to Open Pedagogy: Teaching and Learning Empowered.” The conference, which will be held at Baruch College on March 20, 2020, will highlight the work done at CUNY to revolutionize undergraduate teaching. Faculty, staff, and students working on OER or Open Pedagogy projects, practices, or infrastructure have been encouraged to submit proposals. RFP forthcoming.