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Cabinet Meeting
Monday, April 21, 2025
10:00 am - Noon

1. Vince Boudreau, President

2. Doris Cintron, Senior Associate Provost

3. Alex Couzis, Dean, Grove School of Engineering

4. Ramon De Los Santos, Assistant Vice President of Student Affairs

5. Scott Gurba, Chief Operating Officer

6. Marta Gutman, Dean, Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture

7. David Jeruzalmi, Chairman, The Faculty Senate

8. Lucas Koehler, Senior Director of Finance, The Foundation for City College

9. Sheryl Konigsberg, Chief Diversity Officer

10. Joanna Kucharski, Director of Admissions

11. Edwin Lamboy, Dean, School of Education

12. Tony Liss, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs

13. Juan Carlos Mercado, Dean of Interdisciplinary Studies at CWE & Professional Continuing Studies

14. Renata Miller, Dean, Division of Humanities and the Arts

15. Ishita Mukerji, Associate Provost for Research

16. Marie Owumi, Special Projects Manager, Office of the President

17. Ismael Perez, Chief Financial Officer

18. Susan Perkins, Dean, Division of Science

19. Mario Ramirez, Associate Dean and Chief Librarian

20. Andrew Rich, Dean, The Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership

21. Teresa Scala, Chief of Staff, Office of the Provost

22. Ruth Stark, Chairperson, Faculty Committee on Personnel Matters

23. Mary Ruth Strzeszewski, Associate Provost for Academic Programs

24. Jorge Yafar, Assistant Vice President for Facilities

‌Absent:

1. Ken Ihrer, Chief Information Officer

2. Dee Dee Mozeleski, Senior Advisor to the President and VP & Executive Director, Office of Institutional Advancement, Communications and External Relations and The Foundation for City College

3. Naomi Nwosu-Stewart, Assistant Vice President of Enrollment Management

4. Paul Occhiogrosso, Executive Counsel to the President

The meeting began at 10am with a review of the April 21 minutes, which were deemed accurate. The President gave his announcements:

1. There has been recent credible intelligence about a potential student encampment surrounding the upcoming one-year anniversary of the previous encampment, which the campus was not adequately prepared for. To address this, Lieutenant Laperuta requested additional public safety officers and plans to close the campus gates from 11 am to 6 pm on April 25th.

2. President Boudreau took the opportunity to celebrate some recent campus wins, including a Guggenheim Fellowship by Film professor, Antonio Tibaldi, 3 students chosen for the Salk Fellows program, and a Truman scholar from the Colin Powell School.

President Boudreau opened the discussion with the upcoming PMP submission, due on June 16. He highlighted that City College is a deep dive campus this year, and the preliminary deep dive team has been selected: himself, Provost Liss, SVP Mozeleski, COO Gurba, AVP Perez, and Director Williams. He also mentioned that the primary focus this year will be transfer outcomes and career preparedness efforts, as such Joana Kucharski, director of Admissions, will participate in PMP discussions until submission. He discussed the university's enrollment projections and goals, noting that they were ahead of the set targets. He also highlighted the importance of balancing graduate and undergraduate student enrollment, which has been a focus since 2016. He placed emphasis on the need to continue working on retention strategies, including the implementation of a 4-semester schedule and the use of the Hub and Braven programs. The need for better data collection methods, particularly for internships and employment figures, was also highlighted.

President Boudreau shared that the members of senior staff generated a list of revenue streams based on the risk analysis exercise had at previous Cabinet meetings. Based on the discussions, the gravity of each item’s loss ranges from high to devastating. He asked that Cabinet members spend the rest of the meeting devising strategies for navigation or alleviation:

1. Visa revocations: The team discussed the impact of visa revocations on students and instructors, with a particular concern about the effect on international students. Without a specific way to anticipate or curtail this concern, it was advised that the college will need to keep abreast of the number of affected students and circulate it with Cabinet members. The participants discussed the need to make the case for the value of education to the broader public, with the assistance of state and federal officials, and the challenges of doing so.

2. Pell grants: President Boudreau discussed the potential impact of financial aid changes on students and the need for better financial management instruction. He emphasized the importance of ensuring students remain eligible for aid and suggested a 4-semester schedule to monitor students' progress. The President also highlighted the need for better transfer student management and the possibility of more flexible course acceptance. Provost Liss will check in on the transfer initiative, and get a sense of departments that are in need of greater assistance. The group explored ideas such as relaxing restrictions on existing scholarships, creating more flexible "meta majors," and improving counseling for students in the Hub to take general education courses.

3. Student loans: The major takeaway surrounded preparing for seamless transfers of students from other campuses. Members also discussed the possibility of increased enrollment during economic downturns, particularly in graduate programs, sparking the need for curricular innovation. There is also the potential for partnerships with other campuses for 4+1 programs. Students can be attracted through strategies such as emphasizing residential life on campus.

4. Collection rates: The institution has been fairly successful in this area, but there's a need to prepare for potential economic downturns. The discussion touched on the topic of waivers, with some concerns regarding uncertainty about the institution's authority to waive tuition. Cabinet members also discussed the need for better coordination between deadlines for

paying bills and financial aid processing.

The meeting was adjourned at 12:12pm, with the onus to continue the conversation in subsequent Cabinet meetings, and work on the plans already made surrounding the items discussed.

Action Items:

1. Provost Liss to liaise with the Financial Aid Office to identify which majors are losing the most financial aid eligibility in students' last 20 credits.

2. Graduate program leaders to review and potentially innovate their programs to attract more students.

3. Department chairs with 4+1 programs to reach out to counterparts at other CUNY campuses about partnerships.

4. Provost Liss to explore the concept of translational master's programs across disciplines.

5. COO Gurba’s office to convene academic advisors across disciplines to equip them with more knowledge about financial resources for students.

6. AVP De Los Santos to provide more details about the current peer mentoring capacity in the Towers residence hall.

7. All cabinet members to communicate with faculty, staff, and students about unusual closings of gates or fences on campus as the emergencies arise.