Your guide to NYC's public proceedings.
Q&A
CUNY's priorities and student advocacy for free MetroCards
1:03:48
·
113 sec
Council Member Eric Dinowitz emphasizes the importance of addressing students' needs beyond academics, while Jeff Rhodes discusses student advocacy efforts for free MetroCards and CUNY's inclusion of transportation issues in their budget requests.
- Dinowitz stresses that student support should extend beyond the classroom, citing issues like unpaid balances and transportation costs
- Rhodes mentions that the University Student Senate has been advocating for free MetroCards
- CUNY plans to include transportation-related items like fee waivers and the Reconnect program in their upcoming budget requests
- The discussion highlights the ongoing efforts to address students' transportation needs through both institutional and student-led initiatives
Eric Dinowitz
1:03:48
Yeah.
1:03:48
And I think that's why we're sort of here at the hearing to talk about those things.
1:03:52
But I just and I think the important thing a lot of us recognize is, yes, the advisers are there for academics, and I don't want to assign work or roles not knowing whatever their titles are, but it would behoove the institution, it would behoove our city to make to see if the people who are already there, the people who are already supporting our students, if they can recognize what we all recognize at every hearing Mhmm.
1:04:18
Which is the value of CUNY and the needs of our students aren't just within the four walls of the classroom.
1:04:23
It's all of the things outside.
1:04:25
And if it weren't, we wouldn't have 13,687 students not returning for unpaid balances.
1:04:31
We wouldn't have students dropping out because they couldn't afford a MetroCard, things we all recognize, things Things things we all recognize, as our lovely person testifying has said, like, this reconnect funding made it so that she
Jeff Rhodes
1:04:45
can get that four point o GPA and get that degree.
1:04:49
Well, vice chancellor Sarmiento only talks to me because we get reconnect funding.
1:04:53
But anyway, a little a little side joke.
1:04:57
But, you know, we have our USS chair and and and and our USS, our government, our our our university student senate, they're gonna be testifying and they've been pushing the MetroCard issue.
1:05:09
And we actually have we will include it on our green sheet, which will be coming out after the mayor releases his executive budget, with some of the items you're discussing today, like fee waivers, and reconnect, right, which you've included in your response, as well as the speaker state of the city, it was mentioned, you know, and and they've been pushing this for a while, the our our student senate, and we we asked for the state for money and the city for money for this program.
1:05:37
They'll be able to talk more about what their request is and what they're looking for.