TESTIMONY
Testimony by Jen Gaboury, First Vice President of PSC CUNY, on CUNY faculty workload and advising challenges
1:47:39
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3 min
Jen Gaboury, the newly appointed First Vice President of PSC CUNY, testifies about her experiences as a faculty member and advisor at Hunter College. She highlights the challenges faced by faculty and students in the CUNY system, particularly regarding workload and advising.
- Gaboury emphasizes the high workload for CUNY faculty compared to their peers at other public institutions
- She points out the lack of workload credit for community college faculty who serve as department advisors
- Gaboury discusses the inadequate advisor-to-student ratio at Hunter College, even after filling vacancies
Jen Gaboury
1:47:39
Hi.
1:47:40
My name is Jen Gabor.
1:47:41
I This is my first time testifying in front of the council in my new role, which is first vice president for the PSC Q And E.
1:47:48
Until 8 days ago, I was the Hunter College chapter chair, and I served I have served since 2009 until 8 days ago as a department adviser in my own department, and I also have served as the senate chair for our college senate, seeing appeals from transfer students for courses.
1:48:12
So students can appeal right when a course isn't accepted.
1:48:15
That's part of why I came to talk to you here today from the PSC QD because of my long experience doing this.
1:48:22
I have used AEP Navigate Hunters And Early Adopter of that program.
1:48:27
I've used it for more than two and a half years of trying to figure it out for my email just now.
1:48:32
And it is a helpful tool.
1:48:35
I'm certainly glad to have navigate, I would certainly welcome more tools from maps and ai bots, I'm here from the union to tell you that this is a human power problem.
1:48:50
This is a labor problem.
1:48:52
We don't have enough faculty, and we don't have enough staff.
1:48:56
And that is the beginning and the end of the problem.
1:49:00
We need people to give people information, to use those tools, and to teach them how they work.
1:49:07
I like to navigate because I can text students and say, why aren't you in my office?
1:49:13
But then they have to have a come they have to have an office to come to.
1:49:16
I am a little bit disappointed that when you and council member Brewer pushed University of Rose Henssel.
1:49:24
On the question of do you have adequate faculty She said, well, we're doing pretty well with the 600 lines.
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333 faculty lines were lost between 2018 2022.
1:49:37
Those aren't the number of people faculty that left.
1:49:40
That's the number of lines that CUNY didn't keep as lines.
1:49:44
That they put back into the pot because so much money has drained out in the formal years.
1:49:50
Right?
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And so That it is not in fact that we are up 600 lines.
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We're up about 200 lines from that money that Governor Hochul gave us.
1:49:59
We do not have adequate numbers of faculty.
1:50:02
I really appreciate Mister Dorkin's testimony and the question about, like, training faculty.
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As a department adviser, I remained the department adviser from 2009 until 2024 because I am one of only 4 faculty of full time faculty members in my department.
1:50:20
We're one shy of the required number we are supposed to have by Katie Bylaws.
1:50:25
And I am the only faculty member willing to be a department adviser because it is so much work.
1:50:32
And during COVID, Hunter College took the opportunity to cut the workload credit that department advisers received at a time when our workload was exploding in order to advise students.
1:50:45
Community College faculty generally do not receive any workload credit for being advisors in their department.
1:50:54
Hunter, this is the last thing I'll tell you.
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When we just filled recent vacancies for full time for full the full time staff advisors at Hunter College, we got down to a ratio of 912 students to 1 academic advisor.
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After we filled 4 vacancies.