President Boudreau holds virtual Town Hall meeting, uncertain future of City College discussed
Words and graphic by Aspasia Celia Tsampas
On Tuesday, April 21st at 12:30 pm, President of The City College of New York, Vincent Boudreau held the second virtual Town Hall via Zoom since the CUNY-wide campus closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This Town Hall is just among one of the many efforts the school’s administration has put forth to establish two-way communication amongst the City College community in the wake of an unprecedented public health crisis that limits in-person communication and will vastly alter the established equilibrium of higher education as we know it.
The president was joined by 574 live participants on Zoom, comprising of a variety of faculty, staff, and students all with an abundance of shared concern for the college’s future. While many had questions about CCNY’s COVID-19 initiatives and the future of online learning, undoubtedly the concern of the hour remained the school’s budget and the uncertainty the institution faces in the future at the ground, CUNY, and state level.
In an effort to maintain full transparency, President Boudreau understands and recognizes the financial difficulty that is coming for the college. He projects, “We can expect a 10% budget cut throughout the year due to this situation.” Nothing in this town hall provided concrete policy changes, only speculation and transparency by the president, however, the president did reluctantly warn that it is, “Virtually impossible for us to get through a 10% budget cut without doing something extraordinary.”
Such “extraordinary” measures could be among one of two approaches to a large budget cut. One would be to identify programs and individuals who are least securely attached to the college, such as apart time employees, and professors without tenure and let them go. The other would be to “share the paint,” as Boudreau put it, and take everybody on campus and allocate reductions and expenditures everyone can live with. This would include salary reductions, which while not ideal, preserves employment and the functioning of the system.
To combat this fiscal difficulty, Boudreau aims to open up an emergency fund, where contributions would be public record. In the president’s vision, this fund would appeal to the leadership of the institution to contribute to the fund. This includes department heads, deans, program creators, etc. President Boudreau states, “Leaders of this campus need to step forward and contribute to the financial situation of this campus.”
The president’s uncertainty and inability to give answers did little to comfort the hundreds of students, faculty, staff who are concerned with their tuition reimbursements, salaries, and possible tuition hikes.
Overall, President Boudreau and his staff assured viewers that while they are still working through the details, all of these concerns are being taken into careful consideration, with the advisement of CUNY.
President Boudreau states, “This coming is going to be a coming year where we will struggle to position the campus on a stable financial framework.”
On a lighter note, Boudreau announced and celebrated City College’s initiatives to contribute to New York City as a whole, with a group manufacturing face shields for healthcare workers, civil engineering students working with the city, the first CUNY School of Medicine early graduation, and the possibility of a walk-up/drive-in COVID-19 testing center on campus.
While the Town Hall opened up the conversation and let the voices of the City College community be heard, much is left uncertain for the future of the school.
