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Cabinet Meeting
Monday, April 7, 2025
10:00 am - Noon

1. Vince Boudreau, President

2. Doris Cintron, Senior Associate Provost

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

4. Scott Gurba, Chief Operating Officer

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

6. Ken Ihrer, Chief Information Officer

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. Edwin Lamboy, Dean, School of Education

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

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

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

14. 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

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. Kisha Shrouder, Executive Director of human Affairs

23. Mary Ruth Strzeszewski, Associate Provost for Academic Programs

24. Darren Tavares, Adjunct Services/HR Generalist

25. Jorge Yafar, Assistant Vice President for Facilities

‌Absent:

1. Alex Couzis, Dean, Grove School of Engineering

2. Paul Occhiogrosso, Executive Counsel to the President

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

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

The meeting began at 10am with a review of the March 24 minutes, which were deemed accurate. The President gave his announcements:

1. The college received positive feedback on their self-assessment plan document, which was circulated around the university as an example for others to follow. Associate Provost Strzeszewski expressed gratitude to everyone for their contributions to the Middle States process, particularly those who had been on committees and the steering committee.

2. President Boudreau asked that all Cabinet members pay attention to the current market situation and its potential impact on the college. He met with the Chancellor recently, and discussed the potential for salary adjustments in ECP.

3. Cabinet members will need to prepare for the PMP Deep Dive, as City College is a Deep Dive Campus this year. He has submitted the names of primary points of contact for the college, and these members will be relaying CUNY requirements back to Cabinet. The focus will be on transfer students. This will be an agenda item at the next Cabinet meeting.

4. President Boudreau mentioned the operational endowment for the campus and the decision to move certain assets into a fixed interest-bearing account in preparation for any potentially difficult periods.

HR Director, Kisha Shrouder, and Adjunct Services/HR Generalist, Darren Taveres, presented on the new Appendix E pilot program in the 2023-2027 PSC Collective Bargaining Agreement. The program offers a measure of job security for adjuncts while maintaining flexibility for departments and protecting academic judgment. The eligibility for a 2-year appointment includes teaching adjunct appointments in Spring 2025, having 10 consecutive semesters of 6 contact hours in the department, or receiving HR approval for exception. The requirements for granting a 2-year appointment include meeting service and workload eligibility criteria, having a performance review, and programmatic needs of the department and college. The meeting also discussed the transition from 3-year to 2-year appointments, the eligibility criteria, and the resources provided to departments. The deadline for the new program is June 14th. Director Shrouder asked that all department heads ensure that performance reviews are conducted for the adjunct faculty eligible for the program prior to the deadline.

COO Gurba and AVP Yafar discussed the capital budget request for the campus, focusing on various infrastructure and modernization projects. The total ask is around $90 million, with key projects including escalator upgrades, Marshak gym improvements, campus security enhancements, and IT infrastructure modernization. He expressed that many projects are existing ones needing additional funding, while some are new initiatives. The campus is also exploring green infrastructure improvements and planning for future renovations like the library. The IT capital ask is a new approach, aiming to address outdated hardware and improve cybersecurity. They are optimistic about the budget request, citing a good track record with CUNY, and the plan is to submit it by the end of the week.

Provost Liss discussed the work that the admissions team has been doing to process applications and the significant progress they have made in reducing the gap between admitted students from previous years. Despite being down in admitted students, they have almost twice as many students who have matriculated, and there is also growth in the number of students intended to enroll. The team is now focusing on graduate admissions and is looking for ways to improve the process. The college is expanding its focus to include transfer students.

The rest of the meeting focused on assessing potential threats to the campus, following the consolidated list distributed by President Boudreau from the previous Cabinet meeting. Cabinet members discussed the likelihood and severity of these threats, with a particular emphasis on the potential effects on offered programs and the well-being of students and staff. The discussion highlighted the need for a balanced approach to addressing these challenges, including evaluating the cost of running the campus without federal grants and considering the impact on tenured

professors and new hires. The group discussed strategies to mitigate potential risks to research funding in science and engineering departments. They explore options such as:

1. Adjusting tenure processes

2. Prioritizing essential infrastructure

3. Reimagining education approaches, particularly in the sciences

4. Shifting focus to undergraduate education

5. Maintaining small-scale graduate research

6. Seeking alternative funding sources like industry partnerships

Cabinet members assessed the likelihood and potential impact of the outlined threats, considering factors such as the university's diverse population, recent incidents, and proximity to other high-profile institutions. The meeting concluded with the agreement to further explore ways to reduce vulnerability and mitigate potential consequences in future meetings. The exercise will continue in future Cabinet meetings.

The meeting was adjourned at 12pm.

Action Items:

1. All deans to engage in discussions with their respective divisions to consider strategies for adapting to potential threats to research funding and academic freedom.

2. Cabinet to further develop the risk assessment matrix in future meetings.

3. Cabinet to revisit transfer student recruitment strategies at the next meeting.

4. Cabinet members to review the document shared by Executive Counsel Occhiogrosso discussing the new registration requirements for foreign nationals.