CUNY chief highlights enrollment gains, calls for more state funding to cover contract costs and capital needs
Loading...
Summary
CUNY Chancellor Felix Matos Rodriguez told lawmakers CUNY has seen enrollment growth and universities are delivering more tuition-free access, but he urged lawmakers to fully fund collective bargaining costs and larger capital investments to cover deferred maintenance and negotiated raises.
CUNY Chancellor Felix Matos Rodriguez told the joint legislative committees that the City University of New York has posted three consecutive years of enrollment growth and that affordability initiatives have enabled a large share of students to attend tuition-free.
Matos Rodriguez said 72 percent of CUNY students now attend tuition-free, and the systems CUNY Beyond and CUNY Reconnect initiatives aim to expand career-focused internships, paid experiential learning and adult access to high-demand programs. He described increases in operating support in the governors executive budget but stressed that the proposed funds fall short of the full cost of negotiated contract raises and fringe benefit increases.
The executive budget proposes $36 million in new operating support for senior colleges but the chancellor said roughly twice that amount is needed to fully cover next years collective bargaining and fringe costs. He warned that without additional enacted support campuses could face trade-offs affecting student services, programs and capital maintenance.
Matos Rodriguez also detailed capital needs across 26 campuses, describing a request for roughly $1.9 billion in five-year capital funding to modernize aging buildings and address deferred maintenance. The executive proposal provides $421 million for new capital funding, he said, while noting additional resources are required to bring CUNY buildings to a state of good repair.
Chancellors and members discussed Title VI training and mandatory reporting of discriminatory incidents; Matos Rodriguez said CUNY has rolled out Title VI training to full-time faculty and staff and is expanding mandatory compliance. He also described pilot projects to centralize shared services and to pursue sustainability investments such as solar canopies and geothermal pilots to reduce campus energy costs.
Lawmakers pressed Matos Rodriguez about student emergency aid, part-time student inclusion in Reconnect, and how CUNY plans to cover unfunded mandatory costs. The chancellor said the system will continue to press for full funding in the enacted budget and provide lawmakers with details on capital projects and collective bargaining costs.
The hearing continued with state aid and higher education agency testimony following CUNYs presentation.
