CUNY Master Plan 2012-2016

THE CUNY MASTER PLAN 2012-2016
CUNY’s undergraduate colleges. They will learn how to be effective leaders at their campuses and in their
communities, engage in advocacy at the city and state levels, expand their social and educational networking,
and discover ways to contribute to and preserve opportunity programs in CUNY and in the city and state.
Funding for SEEK and CD is a constant issue that requires student and staff lobbying efforts as well as
administrative negotiations and planning. During the next four years SEEK and CD administrators will
explore external funding sources to augment present city and state funding to increase the monies available
for resources and student services.
In sum, despite the development of innovative practices in both SEEK and CD over the years, there
remains a need for better services, more resources, and continued creation of initiatives aimed at improving
student performance, retention, and graduation rates. Access and opportunity for a college education continue
to be challenges that thousands of academically and economically disadvantaged youth experience.
The CUNY Black Male Initiative Institute
CUNY has a public responsibility to provide leadership concerning the challenges facing African
American/black males within higher education and to raise its voice vigorously to help mobilize efforts
to achieve social and educational equity for this group. The CUNY Black Male Initiative (BMI) was established
in academic year 2005-2006 after a task force, created by Chancellor Goldstein, issued a report
and recommendations. Although the resulting entity focuses on underrepresented populations in higher
education, BMI’s extensive programs are open to students regardless of race or gender.
The initiative has been expanding and refining its programming since its inception and today includes
projects on every CUNY campus, from mentoring programs to career workshops. Looking ahead, the
BMI will continue to foster the participation and success of students from severely underrepresented
populations in higher education in concert with the University’s priorities. This includes targeting specific
areas of need through CUNY-wide initiatives that address college readiness, higher education reentry,
teacher education, and graduate education. The BMI’s annual conferences reflect that focus; its
most recent conference addressed the need to connect African American and Latino students to graduate
and professional school opportunities. The BMI will build on these efforts to strengthen the pipeline to
college and to professional and personal advancement.
One of the 2005-06 task force’s recommendations was that “[t]he University should establish an Institute
for the Achievement of Educational and Social Equity for Black Males to ensure that the University’s
intellectual and organizational resources are marshaled to address the issues that this Task Force has
been investigating.” In his testimony to the New York City Council Finance and Higher Education Committee
on the 2012 City Executive Budget, Chancellor Goldstein returned to this recommendation. He
has called for the development of a proposal for a BMI Institute focused on advanced research. This institute
would elevate the work of the BMI to a national level. In the next year, the University will seek funding
to support the BMI Institute, including funding for fellowships for researchers or CUNY graduate
students completing doctoral dissertations that address issues of equal educational opportunity as well
as those issues of race, ethnicity, and diversity as they relate to education, particularly higher education.
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