End of the Year Review: An Interview with President Boudreau
Words by Ania Wojas.
Image courtesy of Markus Winkler.
I recently sat down (virtually) with the President of City College, Vincent Boudreau, to conduct The Campus’ end of the year interview and catch up on major changes and plans for The City College of New York (CCNY). We spoke about topics ranging from the details of the reopening plan, to the three year tuition freeze, and a farewell to graduates.
Reopening of the College
Throughout the pandemic, CCNY has been proud to not have had any community transmission of the virus on campus, however many new safety measures are currently being installed. In addition to regular surface cleaning with hospital grade sanitizers and wipes, as well as multiple hand sanitizer stations and plexiglass screens, ongoing plans are addressing the campus’ air circulation systems. Current studies are being conducted to look at how air is exchanged on campus buildings to adequately install and monitor air purifiers and ventilators. Classrooms are also being better equipped to cater to the needs of hybrid learning.
In addition to enforcing social distancing protocols, admission to campus also requires visitors to show their vaccination status. If faculty or staff declines to do so, they will have to undergo regular COVID-19 testing. Students, too, must show proof of vaccination status. Currently, the system being considered for monitoring vaccine status is a validation sticker on school IDs, similar to how each student must have a sticker for each new semester. Other more high-tech solutions are also being considered, for example the Excelsior pass, but many of these options are limited to people who have been vaccinated in NYS, so the college is on the lookout for better options. When asked about possible forgeries of vaccination cards from anti-vaxxers, President Boudreau responded by saying that using these methods puts risk on the community and he hopes to continue to educate students on how the vaccine is safe, effective, and available through events and public speaking platforms, such as the town hall hosted by President Boudreau on June 8, 2021.
When asked about the hybrid reopening plan for the fall semester, President Boudreau said that the college is working towards the goal of eventually having no more than 40% of classes be online as he believes that overtime students will want “normal” in-person classes and a more typical college experience. The full reopening plan will be published on June 15 and the current guidelines can be found at this link.
The Budget
The budget uncertainties propagated by the COVID-19 pandemic was another topic of importance with President Boudreau, who explained that,
“We have, and have had since about 2009, a structural deficit, meaning that every single year, the money we get is less than the money we spend… We set a plan in place to balance the budget and then develop new revenue. Last year, when COVID-19 happened, was actually the year that we were finally going to balance [the budget].”
He went on to explain that during the pandemic, student enrollment was down by about 5%, and that each percent drop in enrollment is equivalent to about a million dollar loss. President Boudreau also added, “The majority of [City College’s] expenses are fixed costs, something like 82% of our budget every year is the cost of people that we have to employ… Despite campus activity being at a lower level, our expenses were not really that flexible.”
Thankfully, the good news from Governor Cuomo has been that CUNY schools will be on a three year tuition freeze, meaning that tuition will not increase in the near future. The New York State FY2022 Budget will also help offset costs for the college with a 3.8% increase in funding from the previous fiscal year. The budget additionally increases the maximum Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) award from $5,165 by $500 to $5,665 and supports a plan to finance the “TAP gap,” or the difference between TAP money and tuition covered in CUNY tuition credits.
For Graduates
President Boudreau is extremely proud of the class of 2021 and wishes them many congratulations. Despite the hardships students have faced the past year and those that they will undoubtedly face adjusting to a post-pandemic world, President Boudreau remains hopeful;
“These graduates are leaving City College at a time of a world historical crisis. This is not even like the recession of 2008; this is a moment when our country ground to a halt. When you come out of a place like City College at this moment, you have to kind of think about what makes you unique, what you know that other people don't know, and how can you get in there and roll up your sleeves and figure out the relationship between the specific thing you learned at this institution, the way you learned it, the purposes for which you learned it, and the needs of our society.”
He went on to say that he has, “such confidence in our graduates,” and they are one of the many reasons he has remained at City College for three decades. He continues, saying that each year when launching a graduating class into their futures and careers, the diversity of knowledge and perspectives of the student body makes City College proud to be able to contribute to innovative solutions. He explained that this has been particularly true recently, not only because of the pandemic, but also because of the shifts in social climate and world events, “There is never a graduation, except, you know, like last years graduation, that there has been a period when [our diversity has] been more necessary, and I think the mark of the college is essential to the recovery of our national soul.”
President Boudreau is saddened by the lack of an in-person ceremony for graduation a second year in a row, saying, “It’s hardest on students, but students should know it’s hard on faculty and staff as well. we work with you to get to graduation… we climb the broken escalators as well, but it’s all worth it when you graduate and it feels like that reward for a second year in a row has been taken away from us.”
Reflecting on the past year and few months, President Boudreau says, “We all need to really understand that the pandemic revealed huge inequalities in our society, you know, like who got sick and who was able to the get the earliest and best medical care and what kinds of existing conditions were associated with better outcomes.” He relates this to the college’s mission and foundation, “City college was organized and built, and continues to work, not just to provide opportunities to people who didn’t have a lot of opportunities… People who have come from backgrounds where they had to struggle get together and talk about the specific under-discussed and under-resolved problems that have affected their lives.” He continues to say that the student experience at City College makes graduates uniquely equipped to handle life in the workforce post-pandemic,
“You have on one hand the pandemic revealing a much more sharp contrast to some of these issues that sometimes float beneath the surface and an economy that ground to a halt and massive unemployment. This happens at a moment when the fabric of our society is kind of torn apart and it’s going to be our job to put it back together and do it in a way that can maybe fix some of the ways that made the pandemic such an unequal, unfair experience for huge parts of our society in the first place. And on the other hand, you have us, designed as an institution from its inception to bring together people who have different concerns and experiences and will be different in both the problems they experience and the solutions they identify.”
He adds, “I hope that on top of the hardship [in the past year], there is a measure of pride and a sense of mission. It’s kind of what's kept me going during the pandemic.”
