Your guide to NYC's public proceedings.
Q&A
Council Member Dinowitz questions CUNY Chancellor on federal grant cuts impact
0:35:47
·
159 sec
Council Member Eric Dinowitz engages in a Q&A session with CUNY Chancellor Félix Matos Rodríguez about the impact of federal grant cuts on CUNY. They discuss the number of employees and students affected, the potential loss of research progress, and the broader implications for CUNY's workforce and student body.
- Revealed that 98 employees have been affected by stopped grants, with potentially 14,000 at risk if all federal funding is cut
- Discussed the impact on student researchers and the potential loss of scientific and artistic progress
- Dinowitz critically characterized the federal government's actions as attempting to "unemploy CUNY workers and make our students dumber"
Eric Dinowitz
0:35:47
Well, thank you chair Brandon.
0:35:49
I I I wanna follow-up on two of the items before I get into my questions.
0:35:53
The the federal grants, so you said $17,000,000 at risk, 78 stop work orders.
0:35:59
And how many positions are at risk due to this $17,000,000 cut from the federal government?
0:36:58
And that So that includes that the other I'm sorry.
0:37:03
The you said the title four was 888.
0:37:05
The 200,000,000 was is all the research funding?
0:37:09
All research funding.
0:37:14
And how many students are involved in these research projects?
0:37:25
But but it doesn't just affect employees.
0:37:27
Oh, no.
0:37:27
No.
0:37:28
It affects the various students doing the research.
0:37:31
Right?
0:37:33
And so, I mean, to summarize, the federal government is trying to unemployed CUNY workers and make our students dumber.
0:37:43
Right?
0:37:44
Like, is that fair to say?
0:38:13
Of course, the health you mentioned diseases, health, environmental.
0:38:17
It appears the federal government also wants us to be less healthy.
0:38:21
That's my opinion.
0:38:23
I guess our president disagrees.
Félix Matos Rodríguez
0:36:05
So, about so far 98 employees have been affected by the grants that have been stopped.
0:36:15
As I mentioned to you before, we have been working with each campus that sometimes if a grant is in the middle, we've been able to provide bridge funding to keep some of the employees.
0:36:27
Campuses have also made decisions on the value of the research.
0:36:32
Meaning in this grant, if we stop now, all the research is gone.
0:36:37
Right?
0:36:38
Because it's a year of work to get to where we are.
0:36:43
So that is, but just to give you the worst possible outcome, right, if the all the federal funding that we get, is about 200,000,000 overall, stop, that would be like 14,000 employees.
0:37:08
This is research.
0:37:08
Yes.
0:37:09
That that figure has to do more with Pell and and and the money that comes that way.
0:37:19
I mean, we we I think we have a breakdown by project.
0:37:22
We can provide you that.
0:37:23
We wouldn't know that.
0:37:45
Well, the point that you're driving, I wanna be fully supportive because this is not just numbers and figures which are important.
0:37:55
This is careers.
0:37:57
These are mentorships.
0:37:59
These are potential next generation of scientists and or artists that are being cut short by not being able to be part of this grant.
0:38:08
So absolutely disinvestment in research.
Gale A. Brewer
0:37:27
Also