Monthly Archives: February 2013

Community meeting with President Bill Kelly

Audio available here.

Summary from the the Adjunct Project:

“CUNY Graduate Center President Kelly held a Community Meeting on
Monday, February 25, 2013. A group of students, faculty, and staff
raised critical questions about the Fall 2013 GC Restructuring Plan,
CUNY Pathways, the Kroll Report, insurance coverage, and other issues.
These questions had been openly crowd-sourced beforehand to encourage
campus-wide input in shaping this forum.

The Adjunct Project has organized an “alternative Community Meeting” to be held on Friday, March 8, 3-5pm in GC room 5414:

“[S]tudents, faculty, and staff can interact and strategize responses to the lack of general participatory democracy and transparency at the Graduate Center, and how specifically to counteract the worst aspects of the Fall 2013 Restructuring Plan.

 

 Notes from meeting w/ Pres. Kelly on February 25, 2013, 3pm

Approx. 70 in attendance.

New Fellowship packages:

  • Modest decrease in size of PhD, modest increase of Masters
  • Increase in funding for PhDs
  • Reduced incoming class size by 61 students across 24 programs by 2015
    • 423 in 2012
    • 362 in 2015
  • Value of fellowships increased
  •  100 tuition only fellowships
  • Says committed to diversity .  No specifics.
  • Problem: will create a discrepancy between current ECFs. We’re going to address it in 2 ways: identify more resources for more students as well as philanthropic resources at the urging of the DSC
  • We have until fall of 2014 to come to some redress before the force of difference is felt. Requires partners. Stresses it is not a unilateral decision. At American Univ its 80/20 masters/phd, here it is reverse 15/85 masters/phd. Want to change that. Primarily we’ll be a PhD program. Emphasizes MALS program. Says no reduction in programs.
  • Promises dependent on fiscal availability.

1st year ECF asks about disparity. Why do we have to Fall 2014 and not this fall?

  • Kelly says student is receiving more than those before her, he’s more concerned with the TEACHING disparity and where he is targeting, which is why he has until 2014.

Student asks about partners in a dialogue

  • BK says he looks for variety of partners on financial side, the university, students, staff. He assumes the latter two won’t be writing checks to solve the problem but he’s “anxious” to speak with them

Student asks about DSC and club space moving from 5th floor to basement

  • BK says we’ve doubled students and faculty since moving into this building.
  • Basically, we’ve grown. Looking for more space elsewhere. After talking to ppl involved, but there’s a lack of money for new space. No decision has been made, full consultation of students will be involved.

Student asks how students are consulting in restructuring plan

  • Goal was higher funding, he says they realized they created a disparity, lists incidences when students were consulting (spoke too fast for me to list them all)

Student asks about the lack of parental leave and federally mandated well women services associated with ACA

  • Kelly asks Scott to address it
  • Scott talks about consulting with someone in Albany to implement it

Contraception was brought up.

  • It seems that Scott needs particular points about ACA and how it will impact NYSHIP to address it. This seemed like a dodge to me
  • BK says GC made the case in Albany that NYSHIP services available to SUNY students should be made available to CUNY students. Says it was successful. Refers to Scott for details. Says plan has to be in compliance with ACA. Says they’re keeping a close watch on it

BK returns to parental leave. Says there’s a task force working with Louise Lanahan (sp?) about pregnancy accommodation

  • This is the 1 semester leave that has been mentioned previously.
  • Accommodation in place by Sept 1.

Student asks about equal pay for equal work, adjucts inclusive and new fellowships. Notes increase in disparity.

  • BK says student is totally correct about pay scale for adjuncts and has nothing to add
  • Regarding doctoral fellowships, he says the goal is to get better and better
  • It sounds like the admin is just going to wait this out. The disparity will disappear over time regarding fellowship

Student asks about phasing in of fellowships instead

  • BK says that’s what that this is, a phase in. we’re a tiny part of a large university with lots of components

Student asks about funding and says she doesn’t have an ECF and notes the monetarily disparity specifically. Notes struggling students. Asks what is being done right now

  • BK’s face at this comment was priceless
  • BK says he understands and recognized the students complaints, says he can’t do anything about adjunct pay but that he can continually speak about it
  • Says he’s not turning a blind eye to 12,000 adjuncts, 10% who are phds at the GC
  • BK says this is a national issue, not just a CUNY issue, says as long as resources are continually restricted in the public sector, this will continue to be an issue.

Student asks about PATHWAYS and how that will effect grad students

  • BK says it won’t impact it in his opinion. Particularly he says w/decline of teaching due to new fellowships, need for adjuncts will go up. Where do we find teachers then is the question? Says it’s an exploitative way to look at grad students.
  • That being said, there will be too many positions, not too few.
  • Notes impact of past budget cuts have taking a long time to rebound
  • Is he concerned about pathways denying opportunities? He is not

Mike asks “If someone has outside funding, is there a hard cap on how many students are admitted?”

  • BK says if someone produces outside funding, he says “come on down” but his concern is that in the past, like int’l students, were promised one thing and got another.

Student asks about follow up on question of diversity. Asks what current steps are made that Eos/programs are at least having convo on diversity

  • BK says he needs student help with that. Says that this new funding does not mean will be seeking out a different type of student that we have in the past
  • BK says diversity in terms of lifestyle, sexual orientation, economic difference, etc are hard to measure, but it’s up to the individual programs and he’s removed from it. BK says he wants to give them tools to do as best as they possibly can.

Person asks about int’l students

  • BK says that if someone comes with a major grant, we can admit them. But we will not give a slot b/c your parents have vast resources that they will sign up for. Says this is beyond the pale

Student talks about Marilyn Katel (sp?) archives (apologies I have no idea how to spell this)

Student asks about incremental increase in funding versus decline of class size

  • BK says it is not a major decrease: 61 students of 5 years. Quotes Bill Clinton “it’s the arithmetic” (Pretty sure he’s leaving out part of this quote)
  • Enrollment strategies have to be adjusted to placement outcomes

Student asks about role of students, faculty, and staff. What does democracy mean? This has to be some DSC person. Asks it to BK as well as to the whole room. Says there are 2 community meetings a semester but it is different from day-to-day conversations and we want alternative community meetings to come up with alternative plans for our university

  • BK says he would offer as evidence the strategic plan. In terms in collaboration: it is rare that he doesn’t give the same speech 3 times a week.
  • Provost talks about collaboration being in the DNA of this institution.

Student asks about students getting arrested on campuses. Asks what response is to that Kroll report about Baruch

  • BK says 1) wasn’t there when report was issued, can’t comment ???, 2) our position is we try to manage our own affairs in our own house but he could not promise that there would a change in that policy. He has 2 commitments; protect free speech and protect others to live their lives, 3) … I don’t think he did 3 points but whatever

Many thanks to Adam for these excellent notes. -FA

DSC Meeting Minutes – February

DSC MEETING MINUTES – FEBRUARY 15, 2013

Professor Donald Robotham, Director of the Advanced Research Collaborative; EO of Educational Opportunity & Diversity Programs; Doctoral Program Anthropology

Educational Opportunity & Diversity Programs

1. Black Male Initiative

  • Fund students to recruit applicants to Pipeline program
  • Pay for students to come into interviews
  • Go to conferences to recruit students

2. Magnet Fellowships

  • Entering GC across all fields
  • Underrepresented groups
  • 8 scholarships
    • $24,000-$25,000, 5 years
      • increased from 18K
      • service: mentor students in Pipeline Program Years 1-3
        • equivalent to teaching in CUNY college
        • 3rd year: manage Magnet-Pipeline program
  • must be nominated by department
  • In addition to Magnet, some other money for in-state tuition
    • 1 year – apply every year
      • renewable
  • can be applied for after entering GC
  • every person who has applied got at least tuition

3. Pipeline program

  • encourage students in CUNY schools to apply to doctoral programs
  • Tutoring from GC Magnet Fellows
    • Choosing schools to apply to
    • Working on applications – “craft” of admissions process
    • Navigating Admissions Committee
    • GRE Workshops
    • Funding for grad school applications
    • Spring semester: model graduate school
      • Smaller seminars
      • Longer research papers
      • Matches Magnet Fellow program

Advanced Research Collaborative

  • New institution: drive collaborate and interdisciplinary research
  • Bring in fellows
    • 1 group from outside CUNY
    • 1 group from CUNY campuses
    • Trying to bring students in more and create grant program for this year
      • Shape student research projects
      • Small grants ($1000 and less) for collaborative, interdisciplinary plans
        • Not too onerous of requirements
        • Hopes to get this in place this semester

Dec. 2012 Executive Committee Meeting Minutes

Meeting Minutes from 12/7/12 Executive Committee Meeting

(more or less in order of importance)

 

 

Course evaluations: They are happening!

  • We’ve worked on a number of drafts of the evaluations, getting lots of feedback from various faculty
  • The goal is to collect information that will be valuable primarily to students in choosing classes, but also helpful to the EO and faculty
  • There will be evaluations for this past Fall semester, which will be used as somewhat of a trial run to see how well the designed evaluation works, collect preliminary data, etc.
  • The current plan is that the results will be available online, potentially on the Political Science Student Representation website
  • Fall 2012 Course Evaluations were sent out to the student listserv last Friday, and by Margaret earlier today. The link is here.

 

New Fellowship program: will go into effect for incoming Fall 2013 class

  • A fixed number of students: 12, all of whom will receive funding
    • 9 “GC Fellowships”
      • expectation to be full-time students
      • 3 Tuition-only fellowships
        • directed to incoming students who have full-time jobs and/or other sources of funding
      • There was much debate about whether 12 is an absolute cap
        • President’s office and Provost’s Office say yes
        • Questions about whether we could add more if there weren’t fellowships attached, or if there was other money in one way or another
        • If there’s going to be any effort to admit more than 12, it will be on an individual, concrete case-by-case basis
          • More-or-less a consensus among the faculty on not wanting to make hypothetical challenge/request for flexibility
      • Our department has been at the 12 number give or take a few for the past couple of years
  • Process/logistics
    • The GC Fellowships will be a $25,000/year stipend, with NYSHIP, for a 1/1 teaching load (probably can be adjusted to a 0/2 or 2/0 depending on student and campus needs on a case by case basis)
      • Will probably be able to “bank” up to one year leave of absence
      • The Admissions Committee will be ranking all candidates and go down the ranked list to fill the 12 spots
        • MA students applying to the PhD program will apply like everyone else, and will essentially be like “new” people in the applicant pool
      • Will not lose department Grad B’s
      • There will be money (unclear from where?) provided to campuses to hire more adjuncts
      • MA programs will be used to “fill bodies in classes”
  • Concerns and Criticisms
    • Some departments (especially Sociology) has voiced concerns about the cap on the number of students
      • Especially if there is money at the department level to support more students
      • Concern that this will lessen the number of minority students
      • Possibility that this will make it more difficult for international students given visa-related and other restrictions they may be facing
  • We raised the (in our minds completely legitimate) concerns that many of you have voiced regarding the inequities that this creates: in addition to the current funded/no-funded stratification, there will now be another stratification where incoming students will be receiving $7,000/year more than current ECFs for half the work/year, not to mention the inequality created between incoming funded students and people without ECFs. The response was unsympathetic. The common responses included that this benefits us all in the long-run (reasoning: better students and a better reputation) and that isn’t a matter of great concern.
  • From the administration’s perspective, this is  a done deal in all regards.

 

Moving forward: this spring, EO wants to discuss the possibility of more strictly capping enrollment in courses

  • Concerns include too many students in some classes, too many students from other programs, too many MALS students
    • Possibility that non-political science students would have to “apply” to take (all?) (some)? POLSC classes
  • One potential problem is that if the department was to limit the number of non-political science students in POLSC classes, it might make it more difficult for us to enroll in non-POLSC classes.
  • Stay tuned…

 

Archiving of select dissertation proposals: per a request from the DSC, the department will (soon?) be implementing an online archive of select dissertation proposals

  • In attempt to collect only the “good” ones, this will be a decision made by each student’s committee at the send of the Second Exam
  • There was also discussion of adding a central database of titles of those currently working on dissertation
    • Perhaps they get added after passing Second Exam?
    • How to systematically collect for people who have already passed Second Exam?

 

Student Satisfaction Survey

  • We received results from the GC-wide student survey from this past Spring
  • EO and other faculty understood the data very positively (and there are some things to be positive about)
  • Also much to be concerned about in the report, which we plan to bring up at future meetings (discussion was cut off due to time constraints)
  • Data to be used in future professional development workshops and other areas
  • Still a question how public this data is going to be made – our hope is that at the very least all students have access to it
  • EO wants the raw data so that further, more refined analysis can be done to it

 

Career Development Office: A new Career Development Office will be opening in February

  • Will centralize letter-writing services (as opposed to using Interfolio)
  • May help with workshops on the departmental level 

 

Budget: Effect of Hurricane Sandy on budget is unclear