HIGHER ED TODAY
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COURIER L 42 IFE, JAN. 31-FEB. 6, 2020
Education
Kingsborough President Dr. Caludia Schrader casts a line near the Manhattan Beach Community
College. Photo Courtesy of Kingsborough Community College
You’re never too old
for a college education
BY CLAUDIA V. SCHRADER
If at fi rst you don’t succeed….
Just last year, while out on a morning
walk around the Kingsborough
Community College (KCC) campus,
I happened upon a few men fi shing
near the campus’ sea wall. Always
open to learning new things, I asked
if they would teach me to fi sh. A few
weeks later, I found myself at the sea
wall, casting a rod into the water and
reeling in my fi rst catch—seaweed.
It wasn’t what I had hoped for, but I
was proud that I tried something new.
Cast, after cast, after cast, my form improved;
and while I didn’t catch any
fi sh, I didn’t catch anymore seaweed.
In my time at KCC, I have met a
number of students who started but
did not fi nish college. But they decided
to try again and this time they are
sticking to it. Just like my experience
learning how to fi sh, when you fi rst enter
college you might experience a setback,
but it is important not to let that
set back keep you from reaching your
goals.
There are many reasons to turn an
educational setback into a comeback.
First, nothing is more important than
the investment you make in yourself.
A college degree will give you a competitive
edge in the workforce as well
as build your self-confi dence and earning
potential.
Second, research has shown that
job seekers with college degrees are
more likely to land higher paying jobs,
with steady work hours and better
health insurance benefi ts than those
without a college degree.
Colleges have made it easier for you
to return to college. One of the best
things about colleges today is that obtaining
a degree can be as easy as logging
onto a computer to enroll and
register for a class. Online degree
programs allow you the convenience
of studying from home, a library or
wherever you have access to a computer
and the internet. Other options
include night and weekend classes.
Learning at your own pace can be as
simple as one or two courses a weekend
or a continuing education workshop.
Once you have made the decision
to give it another try, you will fi nd
your college to have myriad of services
like academic advisors, counselors,
career services, food pantries, and so
much more that will provide you with
the needed support to complete your
educational journey.
Let me leave you with some food for
thought. There is a saying that goes:
Give a man a fi sh, and you feed him for
a day. Teach a man to fi sh, and you feed
him for a lifetime. My advice to you is
give yourself a chance to pursue your
educational goals and you will be successful
for a lifetime.
Dr. Claudia V. Schrader is president
of Kingsborough Community College,
which ranked as a Top 10 Community
College in the nation for the
2019 Aspen Prize.
The Census 2020 count may be
the most important and challenging
population survey that our country,
state and city have ever undertaken.
New York has historically been undercounted,
but this decennial tally
is taking place under particularly
challenging circumstances.
Undercounting can deprive us of
our rightful representation in Congress
along with millions of dollars
in federal support for public education.
Census data impacts funding
for the federal Pell Grant program,
adult education grants and a host
of other services that are vital to
CUNY and other institutions of
higher education. The importance of
achieving a fair and complete count
of every New Yorker has prompted
the state and city governments to
commit significant resources and
coordinate stakeholders. On Martin
Luther King Jr. Day, Gov. Andrew
M. Cuomo announced the creation
of the Census Council, co-chaired
by Martin Luther King III, Lucy Liu
and Lin-Manuel Miranda, to act as
the state’s coordinating arm in the
effort.
The law is that every person
should be counted, regardless of citizenship
or immigration status. But
the current climate of fear within
immigrant communities poses a
challenge to that goal; it is a concern
that hits close to home for New
York and especially for us at CUNY.
More than a third of our students
were born outside the country. They
and their families live in communities
that our own faculty experts tell
us are designated “hard to count,”
which include highly mobile people,
non-native English speakers,
undocumented immigrants, people
of color, low-income people and students.
Fortunately, CUNY students,
who reflect the full range of New
York City’s diversity, are uniquely
positioned to help achieve a fair and
accurate census count. A team of 220
students, two thirds of whom speak
a language other than English,
were being trained this month, even
before the spring semester started
this week, to be deployed as part
of CUNY Census Corps. They will
work in paid part-time positions
from January to end of May, getting
out the count at CUNY colleges and
venturing into the hardest-to-count
neighborhoods to ensure that the
people who live in those communities
are acknowledged and counted.
Participation in this missioncritical
task will enable CUNY students
to develop their leadership,
problem solving, teamwork and
communication skills. Equally important,
they will learn firsthand
the vital importance of civic engagement
— a core value of public higher
education.
Our efforts are being guided
by CUNY data resources, including
a mapping tool created by our
Center for Urban Research at the
CUNY Graduate Center that is being
widely used in census outreach
efforts across the country.
CUNY is also proud to be working
closely with NYC Census 2020
to administer and oversee the contracts
that have been awarded to
more than 150 community-based organizations
that will be at the frontlines
of this year’s census-related
education and organizing.
The key to a complete census
count is a determined, full-scale
and efficient partnership among
the leaders of New York State and
City and their institutions. CUNY
is proud to be an important part of
this partnership. We are working
closely with all our government and
civic partners to carry out this very
consequential endeavor.
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