As CUNY opens for spring semester, tensions continue to rise
BY ROBBIE SEQUEIRA
On Friday, the City University of
New York (CUNY) network is set to begin
its spring semester operating on a
“70/30” mandate that was instituted
by CUNY Central that dictates 70% of
classes must be in person for each of
its 25 campuses.
CUNY’s return to campus, however,
comes at a fraught time where
enrollment has eroded by an estimated
33,000 students over the past
two years and college-specifi c student
and faculty unions are threatening
strikes and walkouts if the CUNY
administration doesn’t change a “culture
of disorganization.”
CUNY faculty and students told
the Bronx Times they are demanding
CUNY administrators cease mass
layoffs to adjunct professors, increase
the transparency of their health and
safety protocols, and stop school-specifi
c cancellations of under-enrolled
classes that they say will lead to further
layoffs of full-time employees and
delay educational tracks.
“Morale is low, it’s low for all of us,
students and faculty included,” said
Alex Wolf, a deputy chair and professor
at Bronx Community College.
“But there’s the spirit of fi ghting back
and making our voice heard.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has deepened
pre-existing tensions and frustrations
that CUNY faculty and students
have had with administrators
and college presidents.
CUNY employees demand answers,
threaten strike before August
reopening
CUNY also came under fi re last
fall when state Budget Director Robert
Mujica said CUNY offi cials misled
him about their overall declining enrollment
rate — a 12.5% decline last
year during the worst of the COVID-19
crisis, and an estimated 10% drop during
the current academic year — despite
CUNY’s request for hikes in state
and city aid.
“I haven’t seen anywhere in any of
these documents, where the plan is to
deal with a twenty-plus percent enrollment
decline,” said Mujica during an
Oct. 4, 2021, CUNY Committee on Fiscal
Affairs meeting.
In a statement to the Bronx Times,
a CUNY spokesperson said the college
system’s upcoming spring semester
plans coincide with vaccine and
booster mandates, as well as New York
City hitting a peak in regards to omicron
cases, after a major winter surge.
Consequences for unvaccinated
CUNY students include academic
withdrawal, loss of tuition
CUNY students taking in-person
or hybrid courses this spring must be
fully vaccinated when classes begin
on Friday, or they will be withdrawn
from courses for non-compliance with
their vaccination mandate on Jan. 27,
according to CUNY Central’s website.
New Year...
New Career!
Do You Want to Work in the Media Industry?
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, J 14 JAN. 28-FEB. 3, 2022 BTR
An Aug. 23, 2021, rally where the Professional Staff Congress union called for additional
safety protocols to be included in CUNY’s COVID reopening plan. Photo | Adrian Childress
Fully vaccinated does not include
boosters, according to CUNY protocol.
Additionally, students and faculty
spanning the 25-school network system
told the Bronx Times that communication
from school offi cials is
still “inconsistent” and that classes
with sizes less than 10 are being “cut”
without very little input from students
and faculty that the cuts affect.
“I feel like invisible to them, like
I’m just an ID number and a fi nancial
fi gure to them,” said Hostos College
student Fatima Bah, who is also
a mother. “Hostos has said that they
took all precautions for COVID, only
we’re only getting answers from an
email. Sometimes there’s no access
to anyone to meet about certain accommodations,
and no one answers
emails.”
Some colleges like Lehman College,
Brooklyn and the Graduate Center
are allowing courses to resume
with a minimum of 5-6 students, while
others like Hostos insist on doubledigit
enrollment for classes to run.
Same Demands, Different Approaches
Both the Professional Staff Congress
(PSC) — the activist union that
represents CUNY faculty across the
city — and Hostos Action Committee
are calling for the same demands. But
the two groups are taking different
approaches with CUNY administration.
PSC, who is holding a mass demonstration
outside of Bronx Community
College in the University Heights
section on Friday, are taking a pragmatic
approach and are “willing” to
continue further discussions with
CUNY administrators to meet their
demands.
“We’re fi ghting CUNY-wide and
college by college to protect adjuncts
from unnecessary layoffs and keep
students on a path to graduation.
Union organizing has successfully
pressured CUNY college administrations
to allow many courses to
continue despite COVID-related under
enrollment,” said PSC President
James Davis in a statement to the
Bronx Times.
According to the PSC, much of the
$854 million in emergency stimulus
money allocated to CUNY for pandemic
relief is still unspent.
“There is money to keep courses
open and adjuncts employed and college
presidents have the authority
to keep classes open and shift some
courses online to meet student demand
while COVID persists,” Davis
added.
However, after holding two prior
meetings with CUNY offi cials, PSC
said they were “provided no answers
and offered no proposals,” and added
that the provost at one CUNY senior
college has threatened disciplinary
action if employees do not comply with
the vaccine policy — a contractual violation
since no policy is in effect for
employees.
The Hostos Action Committee,
which is planning to make a visit to
the CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos
Rodríguez’s residence in Pelham on
Saturday, have fl oated the idea of a labor
strike if CUNY offi cials do not entertain
their demands.
“This planned trip to the NYC
Chancellor’s house has been a twoyear
plan since the pandemic and it’s
really stemmed over a disregard for
the public safety of the students and
faculty at CUNY,” said Joan Beckerman,
a history professor at Hostos
College and a organizer with the Hostos
Action group.
A formal strike would be tricky, in
part due to New York’s Public Employees’
Fair Employment Act, known as
the Taylor Law, which governs public
sector labor relations in the state
and prohibits public sector employees
from organizing a strike.
While PSC has not expressed support
of a strike, CUNY professors are
willing to take bold steps to regain
autonomy in a system they feel has
amounted to “decades and decades” of
systemic neglect.
“We can’t wait for PSC to fi ght
for us, when they’ve shown they are
afraid to hold CUNY accountable,”
said Shawna Barner, an adjunct professor
who was fi red from her adjunct
position at Queens College via email
in June 2020.
SCHNEPS MEDIA is the largest community media company in the history
of New York City and New York State. Schneps dominates the local market
with award-winning content across digital assets, email marketing,
community newspapers, magazines, and the most powerful group of
events in New York City, Long Island and Westchester.
We are seeking Sales Executives to develop and build new relationships,
advertising and sponsorships for our multi-channel media opportunities.
The right candidates will work directly with clients and prospects to
understand their marketing needs, and develop digital, email, print and
event packages to fulfill these needs.
Sales Executive Job Requirements:
Sales Executive Benefits:
To apply, email your resume to rdonofrio@schnepsmedia.com
link
link