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Q&A
Discussion on CUNY's budget needs and program funding
2:01:42
ยท
3 min
Council Member Dinowitz engages in a discussion with James C. Davis about CUNY's budgetary needs and the funding required for various programs. Davis explains the rationale behind their request for an increase in operating funding.
- Davis highlights the impact of PEG cuts on community colleges and the need for $95 million to address staff vacancies and unmet needs.
- They discuss successful programs like ACE, ASAP, and CUNY Reconnect, with Davis noting that $35.5 million could make ASAP available for all community college students.
- The conversation also touches on graduation rates and the need for capital investments to address deferred maintenance issues.
Eric Dinowitz
2:01:42
I would certainly like to talk to you more about that.
2:01:44
I first wanna go back to president Davis and talk about your perspective on the budget, what your view is of the budgetary needs for
James C. Davis
2:02:04
request is that the the city increase its operating funding this year by a hundred and $40,000,000, and I wanna break down why that is, what the rationale is.
2:02:15
And I think based on the previous panel, you can anticipate some of the areas of need.
2:02:20
One, the PEG cuts have impacted all the community colleges severely.
2:02:28
$95,000,000 on a recurring basis leaves way too many staff vacancies and a lot of unmet needs.
2:02:38
The the painful thing is that, you know, as, the previous dialogue indicated, there are so many programs that do this work really well.
2:02:47
ACE, ASAP.
2:02:48
CUNY Reconnect has brought back 47,000 students.
2:02:53
And we don't have the kind of graduation rates at CUNY that are meeting national averages and that we should feel proud of at this point.
2:03:04
Right?
2:03:05
The four year graduation rates the the graduation rate from our four year senior colleges is only sixty two percent after six years.
2:03:13
And at our associate degree granting two year colleges, the three year graduation rate is only twenty three percent.
2:03:20
So we know the programs, and council member Dinovitz, you're aware of them.
2:03:25
We know the programs that worked.
2:03:26
And I appreciated your question specifically about what would it take to scale up a program like ASAP or ACE for all.
2:03:34
For example, our calculation is that 35 and a half million dollars in addition would make ASAP for all a reality in in the CUNY community college system.
2:03:46
So, you know, I I won't get into the capital side,
Eric Dinowitz
2:03:52
but I just wanna pause.
2:03:53
When you say ASAP for all, you include part time students?
2:03:56
I believe so.
2:03:57
Okay.
2:03:58
Yeah.
2:03:58
Please continue.
James C. Davis
2:04:02
My colleagues in the administration also spoke about the capital side and I'll I'll just shorthand this because I know you're familiar with these dynamics already.
2:04:11
But with the decades of deferred maintenance, the university is only now being able to climb back to a place where, you know, I think that, executive vice chancellor Batista said it would take $600,000,000 per year to bring CUNY back into buildings, into a state of good repair.
2:04:31
So, look, I mean, you put it well, you know, CUNY has been and can be the crown jewel of public higher education really in the country.
2:04:41
But in order to do that, we need both the operating funding, including and especially the restorations from those pegs over the past few years and the capital investments.