City University of New York
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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City University of New York |
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| Established | 1847 |
| Type | Public |
| Chancellor | Matthew Goldstein |
| Staff | 6,100 |
| Students | 220,727 |
| Postgraduates | 29,659 |
| Location | New York City, New York, USA |
| Website | cuny.edu |
The City University of New York (CUNY; acronym: IPA pronunciation: [kjuni] or [kuni]), is the public university system of New York City. It is the largest urban university in the United States, consisting of: 11 senior colleges, 6 community colleges, a doctorate-granting graduate school, a journalism school, a law school and the Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education. More than 450,000 degree-credit, adult, continuing and professional education students are enrolled at campuses located in all five New York City boroughs.
CUNY is the third-largest university system, in terms of enrollment, in the United States, behind the State University of New York (SUNY) and California State University systems. CUNY and SUNY are separate and independent university systems, although both are public institutions which receive funding from New York State. CUNY, however, is additionally funded by the City of New York.
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[edit] History
CUNY's history dates back to the formation of the Free Academy in 1847 by Townsend Harris. The school was fashioned as "a Free Academy for the purpose of extending the benefits of education gratuitously to persons who have been pupils in the common schools of the …city and county of New York." The Free Academy later became The City College, the first CUNY college. From this grew a system of seven senior colleges, four hybrid schools, six community colleges, as well as graduate schools and professional programs. CUNY was established in 1961 as the umbrella institution of the municipal colleges of New York City.
CUNY has historically served a diverse student body, especially those excluded from or unable to afford private universities. CUNY offered a high quality, tuition-free education to the poor, the working class and the immigrants of New York City until 1975, when the City's fiscal crisis forced the imposition of tuition. Many Jewish academics and intellectuals studied and taught at CUNY in the post-World War I era when Ivy League universities, such as Columbia University, discriminated against Jews. The City College of New York has had a reputation of being "the Harvard of the proletariat."
Over its history, CUNY and its colleges, especially CCNY, have been involved in various political movements. It was known as a hotbed of socialistic support in the earlier 20th century. CUNY also lent some support to various conferences, such as the Socialist Scholars Conference.[1]
CUNY's tradition of diversity continues today, with much of its student body new immigrants to New York City, representing 145 countries.
[edit] Open admissions and remedial education
Demand in the United States for higher education rapidly grew each decade after World War II into the 1970s. The increased demand for limited college slots had the effect in New York City of increasing the competitiveness of the city's system of higher education. By the end of the 1960s, admission to CUNY's flagship City College had become highly competitive. Toward the end of the 1960s CUNY’s Board of Trustees, influenced by the civil rights movement, implemented a ground-breaking new admissions policy. The doors to CUNY were opened wide to all those demanding entrance, assuring all high school graduates, despite possible inadequacies of preparation, entrance to the University. This policy was known as "open admissions." Remedial education, to supplement the training of under-prepared students, became a significant part of CUNY's offerings.
The effect was instantaneous and dramatic. Whereas 20,000 freshmen had matriculated in one CUNY institution or another in 1969, more than 35,000 showed up for registration in the fall of 1970. Forty percent of these newcomers to the senior colleges were open-admissions students. The proportion of black and Hispanic students in the entering class nearly tripled.
Facing a fiscal crisis in 1975, the City imposed tuition on CUNY in that year. Middle-class white students who had flocked to CUNY because it offered a cost-free alternative to the state university or a private college no longer had a reason to prefer it. Their enrollment at CUNY dropped precipitously and CUNY faced declines in enrollment through the 1980s and into the 1990s.
[edit] The end of open admissions
CUNY's prestige also declined in the 1970s and 1980s. Under a new chancellor, Matthew Goldstein, and facing pressure from Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, CUNY ended its open admissions policy to the University's four-year colleges in 1999. Critics had cautioned that the policy change could lead to a drop in enrollment of minority students at CUNY's four-year institutions.
CUNY officials reported that enrollment at its senior colleges increased 10.5% from 1999 to 2002, however. Mean SAT scores of admitted freshmen admitted also rose. CUNY reported that the number of African-American students at its senior colleges had increased in the same time period, while changes in the proportions of other ethnic groups were "minimal." The University reported that two-thirds of its entering class were minority students.
CUNY students who are not directly admitted to the senior colleges because they do not meet academic admissions standards can choose to enroll in an associate degree program at one of CUNY’s community colleges, take part in "immersion" programs offered in the summer and winter months, find public or private tutoring, or participate in the one-semester "Prelude to Success" program taught by community college faculty at senior colleges. The graduates of the community college programs then earn admission to the senior colleges.
[edit] Structure
The City University is governed by the Board of Trustees composed of 17 members, ten of whom are appointed by the Governor of New York "with the advice and consent of the senate," and five by the Mayor of New York City "with the advice and consent of the senate." One trustee is the chair of the university's student senate, and finally, one trustee, without a vote, is the chair of the university's faculty senate. Both the mayoral and gubernatorial appointments to the CUNY Board are required to include at least one resident of each of New York City's five boroughs. Trustees serve seven-year terms, which are renewable for another seven years. College presidents report directly to the Board. The Chancellor is voted upon by the Board of Trustees, and is the "chief educational and administrative officer" of the City University.
Unlike other state college systems, CUNY in its early years did not operate as a central authority to the colleges. The central administration had limited power over the colleges. This is partly because most of the senior colleges (namely Brooklyn, Hunter, Queens, and City) predate CUNY and were thus established by mandate of the New York State Legislature, which has institutionalized the autonomy of the colleges. Veteran college presidents and faculty had typically viewed CUNY as a loose confederation rather than a unified system. Nevertheless, in recent years and at the behest of the Governor and the Mayor, the Board of Trustees and the Chancellor have, through the power of the purse, succeeded in weakening the college presidents and faculty and consolidating executive powers to themselves.
[edit] The Honors College
The brainchild of CUNY chancellor Matthew Goldstein, The Honors College University Scholars Program graduated its first class in 2005, attracting students with a mean high school GPA of 93.5 and SAT scores of 1365 for the Class of 2009.
In July 2006 Dr. Ann Kirschner, a graduate from Princeton University was appointed Dean of the CUNY Honors College after a nationwide search. The standards of the Honors College continued to rise as well, with incoming freshman having an average of 93.8 and SAT scores of 1381. Graduating highschool students with Ivy League caliber academic records have given the Honors College a closer look as a result, and this has had a trickle-down effect in improving the image of CUNY as a whole, which prior to the inception of the HC had been criticized as 'an institution adrift' by the Giuliani administration.
As an incentive to students, University Scholars receive a free Apple laptop, free tuition, a "cultural passport" that offers free or reduced-admission to various cultural institutions and venues in New York City, and a $7500 expense account that may be used for research and study abroad. Unlike honors programs at individual CUNY colleges, CUNY Honors College students must be accepted into and begin the program as freshmen. They currently study at one of the participating senior CUNY colleges (Queens, Hunter, Staten Island, Lehman, Baruch, Brooklyn, and City), as well as taking part in cross-campus activities and programs.
In September 2006, The City University of New York, received a $30,000,000 gift from philanthropist and City College alumnus, William E. Macaulay, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of First Reserve Corporation. It is the largest donation in the history of CUNY and has been used to buy a landmark building on the Upper West Side of Manhattan that is to become the permanent home of the CUNY Honors College, and will add support to its endowment. [2]
[edit] Colleges
CUNY consists of three different types of institutions: senior colleges, which grant bachelor's degrees and occasionally master's and associates degrees; community colleges, which grant associate's degrees; and graduate/professional schools. CUNY's Law School grants Juris Doctor (J.D.) degrees, and Ph.D. degrees are awarded only by the CUNY Graduate Center.
The colleges are listed below, with establishment dates in parentheses.
[edit] Senior colleges
- (1847) City College
- (1870) Hunter College
- (1919) Baruch College (as City College’s School of Business and Civic Administration, renamed in 1953 to honor Bernard M. Baruch)
- (1930) Brooklyn College
- (1937) Queens College (formed by the merger of Hunter and City Colleges' Queens campuses)
- (1946) New York City College of Technology
- (1955) College of Staten Island
- (1964) John Jay College of Criminal Justice
- (1966) York College
- (1968) Lehman College (from (1931) Lehman was the Bronx branch of Hunter College, known as Hunter-in-the-Bronx)
- (1970) Medgar Evers College
[edit] Community colleges
- (1957) Bronx Community College
- (1958) Queensborough Community College
- (1963) Borough of Manhattan Community College
- (1963) Kingsborough Community College
- (1968) LaGuardia Community College
- (1970) Hostos Community College
[edit] Graduate and professional schools
- (1961) CUNY Graduate Center
- (1973) Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education
- (1983) CUNY Law School
- (2006) CUNY Graduate School of Journalism
[edit] City University Television (CUNY TV)
CUNY also has a cable TV service, CUNY TV (channel 75 on Time Warner) which airs telecourses which show tapes of freshman level survey courses in psychology, physics, statistics, and geography, among others. CUNY TV also has an extensive schedule of foreign language shows in Spanish, German and French. It also shows many old films and foreign films, especially from Poland in Prof. Jerry Carlson's and City College film studies program's City Cinematheque. In addition, CUNY's flagship magazine-style series Study With the Best highlights University's students, faculty and alumni. They also cablecast public affairs shows like the Baruch College's forums as well as Prof. Doug Muzzio's City Talk and former councilwoman Ronnie Eldridge's show Eldridge & Co.. Also Brian Lehrer Live by Brian Lehrer is shown live on Wednesdays at 7:30 PM. Michael Stoler's the Stoler Report also airs a lively panel discussion on the state of the Tri-State Real Estate Market. Stoler also does the show Building NY.
[edit] Accomplishments
• Between 1983 and 1992, CUNY baccalaureate graduates earned more doctorates than graduates of Columbia University, New York University, the University of Chicago, and SUNY at Albany combined.
• CUNY has been rated by Standard and Poors first in the nation in producing bachelor degree alumni who rise to top positions in business.
• CUNY’s Graduate School and University Center has a number of Ph.D. programs ranking among the top in the United States in their respective disciplines.
• Baruch's Zicklin School of Business's part-time MBA program ranked 17th – placing it second among all MBA programs in New York City per "America's Best Graduate Schools: 2007".
• Brooklyn College’s Freshman Year Program received the Hesburgh Award in 1998.
• Hunter College is named as one of America's "Best Value" Colleges by Princeton Review.
• Queens College is named as #8 of America's "Best Value" Colleges by Princeton Review in 2006.
• John Jay College of Criminal Justice graduate program has been ranked number one among 3,500 such programs by U. S. News and World Report; CUNY Law School is ranked second in the country for its clinical training program; Hunter School of Social Work is among the top 15 Schools of Social Work in the nation.
• Baruch ranks first for ethnic diversity among U.S. institutions of higher education, "America's Best Colleges: 2005"
• A third of college graduates in New York City are CUNY graduates, with the institution enrolling about half of all college students in New York City.
• The Economist wrote positively about Chancellor Goldstein's reforms in an article, Rebuilding the American dream machine, dated January 19, 2006.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Cf. notes from CUNY Chancellor Murphy to leaders of the Socialist Scholars Conference. 1986 Memo from Bogdan Denitch to Joseph S. Murphy, Chancellor City University of New York in 1980s. "This memo was the opening channel for several hundred thousand dollars to be used in the Socialist Scholars Conference account. Murphy supported the SSC [Socialist Scholars Conference] until his tragic death in an automobile collision in Ethiopia on January 17, 1998."
- ^ "William E. Macaulay, City College Graduate And Chairman and CEO of First Reserve, Donates Record $30 Million To CUNY Honors College", The CUNY Newswire, Wednesday, September 13, 2006
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Official website: City University of New York
- The CUNY Honors College Website
- Official website: Professional Staff Congress (faculty labor union)
- From the Free Academy to Cuny: Illustrating Public Higher Education in New York City, 1847-1997, by Sandra S. Roff, et al.
