Q&A
Discussion of CUNY's hiring practices to foster inclusiveness
2:21:07
·
4 min
Council Member Eric Dinowitz questions CUNY Chancellor Felix Matos Rodriguez about the implementation of recommendation 12 from the Lippman report, which suggests recruiting and hiring to foster inclusiveness. The discussion covers CUNY's current hiring practices and the potential consideration of past actions or affiliations in the hiring process.
- CUNY is implementing a constructive dialogue initiative to train faculty in navigating polarizing situations in classrooms.
- The Chancellor states that hiring is primarily based on curricular expertise and academic criteria.
- There's uncertainty about whether CUNY can consider a candidate's past actions or affiliations in hiring decisions.
Eric Dinowitz
2:21:07
Recommendation number 12, I just wanna briefly touch on it.
2:21:11
It says recruit and hire to foster inclusiveness.
2:21:16
So it sounds like based on council member Brewer's questions, you are recruiting from different populations, different targets.
2:21:22
Is CUNY reevaluating its faculty recruitment and hiring process in order to ensure it recruits and hires those who will encourage and promote inclusivity, constructive dialogue, and tolerance?
Felix Matos Rodriguez
2:21:36
So one of the things that in the constructive dialogue initiative that we mentioned, it came in part from the faculty who were saying, you bring me in as a historian, you bring me in based on my field expertise, I may or may not have all the tools to be able to navigate some of the polarizing situation in the classroom.
2:21:56
Can you provide additional tools for us to be able to do a better job in that space?
2:22:00
So that constructive download, initiative is in part, a way for us to get faculty and train the training in the faculty so that we can be, bringing faculty that are more, skilled at navigating, some of the polarizing situations that we face in the classroom.
Eric Dinowitz
2:22:19
But you can hire you can choose hiring in part based on, say, past actions.
2:22:27
If if a faculty member has in the past made very divisive comments or done very divisive things, that can be a consideration in hiring?
Felix Matos Rodriguez
2:22:39
Yes.
2:22:40
I will be happy to take any recommendations from the committee on, on that front.
Eric Dinowitz
2:22:44
Well, I think it's also recommendation in in the in the report in the report.
2:22:49
So it isn't just the training, which I do wanna talk about in a sec, but it is also the recruitment in the first place, recruiting people.
2:22:58
Is when you are hiring on staff, I mean, is that part of the conversation, is that part of the interview about the inclusiveness element that they were gonna they're gonna bring to the CUNY community.
Felix Matos Rodriguez
2:23:10
So I think most of the hiring is based on the curricular expertise of the individuals that are being hired.
2:23:15
That's the way that, our sort of civil service law and and and selection process, the things that that are the criteria for the selection of the candidates.
Eric Dinowitz
2:23:25
Right.
2:23:25
But I don't imagine you would hire, even if they have a PhD, a member of the KKK, for example.
2:23:33
Would you I mean, you would consider that element of their background and whether or not that person's inappropriate to be teaching students, whether someone with that really, really fringe perspective.
2:23:47
No?
Felix Matos Rodriguez
2:23:48
Again, the the their hiring process is based on the academic criteria, on on the individuals.
2:23:56
There's some things that are disqualifying as somebody who might have been, with some kind of record in the past, but those are the ways, in which the hiring process is done.
Eric Dinowitz
2:24:06
What are what are disqualifying elements of someone's candidacy for a job?
Felix Matos Rodriguez
2:24:10
I mean, again, it's basically, it, I think, a prior record conviction might be something I have to sort of double check on on some of those,
Eric Dinowitz
2:24:21
agency might be fine in
Felix Matos Rodriguez
2:24:23
your HR.
2:24:23
HR components, but, again
Eric Dinowitz
2:24:25
We banned the box a few years ago.
2:24:27
But so what I'm hearing you say, and correct me if I'm wrong, is that a person who's a member of a white supremacist organization, could actually it it's actually acceptable to take them or you can't take that into consideration.
Felix Matos Rodriguez
2:24:39
You cannot take that into consideration.
Eric Dinowitz
2:24:41
You cannot take that into consideration.
2:24:45
Even violent proclivities, if they've participated in rallies that have that have been chanting for call calls to harm people, if they were in, let's say, I don't know, a rally that said, Jews will not replace us Jews will not replace us, which is what we saw roughly, 8 years ago.
2:25:02
This is not fair.
2:25:03
Is that not acceptable to consider that when making hiring decisions?
Felix Matos Rodriguez
2:25:09
So I I don't know that
Eli Meron
2:25:10
I'm talking
Eric Dinowitz
2:25:11
about Charlottesville.
2:25:11
I'm using the example of Charlottesville, but I
Derek Davis
2:25:13
think we have to be careful
Eric Dinowitz
2:25:14
Sure.
