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Cabinet Meeting
Monday, May 5, 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. David Jeruzalmi, Chairman, The Faculty Senate

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

8. Joanna Kucharski, Director of Admissions

9. Edwin Lamboy, Dean, School of Education

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

11. Virginia Meléndez, Confidential Executive Officer to the President

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. Paul Occhiogrosso, Executive Counsel to the President

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

18. Ismael Perez, Chief Financial Officer

19. Susan Perkins, Dean, Division of Science

20. Mario Ramirez, Associate Dean and Chief Librarian

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

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

23. Kisha Shrouder, Director of Human Resources

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

25. Mary Ruth Strzeszewski, Associate Provost for Academic Programs

26. Jorge Yafar, Assistant Vice President for Facilities

‌Absent:

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

2. Ken Ihrer, Chief Information Officer

3. Sheryl Konigsberg, Chief Diversity Officer

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

President Boudreau began the meeting with an introduction of his new Confidential Executive Officer, Virginia Meléndez. The President gave his announcements:

1. He gave an update on protest activity on campus over the past week. The Student Affairs and Public Safety Departments worked well in ensuring that protest regulations were announced and enforced. He mentioned that there is currently no further intelligence about planned demonstrations through May 1st, which marks the one-year anniversary of last year's encampment.

2. The college will be included in meetings with elected officials in Washington, arranged by CUNY, to engage in funding discussions. He touched on the university’s concerns with funding cuts. The discussion also covered the university's grants and the potential impact of federal budget cuts. This included the proposed risk-sharing model for student loans, which could affect 90% of colleges, as well as the impact of project eliminations and the college’s endowment tax. The university is also considering how to handle the potential influx of students from private institutions due to the $50,000 cap on lifetime undergraduate lending.

President Boudreau asked Associate Provost Mukerji to give an update on stop work orders on campus. Cabinet members discussed the process for appealing grant terminations and stop work orders related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. Dr. Mukerji noted that appeals must come from the institution and be signed by the authorized representative. While terminations often state they are not appealable, plans have been made to appeal regardless to exhaust administrative remedies before considering litigation. She also discussed the challenges of supporting affected researchers and students, acknowledging limited resources to fill funding gaps long-term. Cabinet members proposed considerations to prioritize urgent needs and explore Foundation resources to provide short-term support.

COO Gurba and Director Shrouder discussed changes that the university is making to its H-1B visa processing, particularly outsourcing more work to a third-party attorney to handle tasks previously done by HR. This change will result in an additional cost which will be covered by the sponsoring department's funds. The university is also participating in an RFP for a standard global contract for visa processing, which could lead to a change in providers in the future. Despite these changes, the H-1B visa process is expected to slow down in the coming years.

The conversation moved to compliance training statistics, and methods of improving staff participation for the college. This remains an open agenda item, and Cabinet members are encouraged to bring their suggestions to the next meeting.

Cabinet members discussed other aspects of the PMP data for submission, particularly admissions, retention, and the transfer experience. Part of the discussion entailed reviewing and improving student recruitment strategies. Director Kucharski discussed current efforts, including increased touch points with accepted students, campus tours, and an ambassador program. She noted that expanding beyond the local New York City market is crucial, as the college is competing with other CUNY institutions for the same pool of students. Cabinet members discussed ideas such as virtual tours, marketing campaigns, and connecting prospective students with current students. They also discuss factors influencing student choice, including brand perception, location, and student experience. There was also discussion on the need for technological upgrades in the enrollment process. They highlighted the need for technology such as OCR to automate the student application matching process. They also discussed the need for better data tracking and reporting to understand the effectiveness of their recruitment efforts. Director Kucharski agreed to work with the Provost to develop a plan to address these issues.

Regarding retention strategies at the college, President Boudreau emphasized the importance of a four-semester schedule, which allows students to plan their courses in advance and helps the college

identify gaps in course offerings. Provost Liss reminded all Deans to have their Department Chairs submit review and submit the next iterations of the four-semester schedule, as the college is currently at two semesters. Cabinet members gave further suggestions, such as leveraging D3 athletics for recruitment, aligning degree programs with career paths, and potentially utilizing AI to optimize course scheduling.

The meeting was adjourned at 12:30pm.

Action Items:

1. Deans to work with Department Chairs to update and submit 4-semester schedules.

2. COO Gurba to investigate options for expanding digital outreach and marketing campaigns to attract students beyond the local area.

3. The HR Department will send out updated reports on compliance training completion to Deans and Department heads, for follow up with their staff members.

4. Cabinet members are invited to bring suggestions for potential consequences for non-compliance with mandatory trainings.

5. Deans to work on integrating career preparation into curriculum as part of the CUNY Beyond initiative.