Campaign to Repeal Pathways

Sign the Petition and Spread the Word!

PSC and UFS are launching a national petition calling for an immediate moratorium on all further implementation of Pathways. The fight against the cheapening of a CUNY education is not just a local fight. Higher education “reforms” similar to Pathways—some even with the same name—are moving forward throughout the nation. All of us in the field of higher education—especially those who serve at public institutions—have reason to be concerned by recent trends in higher education policy. Please sign the petition yourself and then forward it to your colleagues nationally and internationally, with a personal invitation to sign.

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Renowned CUNY Faculty Speak Out in Ad Campaign Against Pathways

Dr. Philipp, a twice-honored Senior Fulbright Scholar and biochemist with significant biomedical patents to his name, is featured in the campaign alongside other faculty. His ad says: “[Pathways] limits students’ exposure to new ideas and robs them of opportunities to discover new talents and passions, cutting costs by sacrificing rigor and educational quality.”

The campaign against Pathways, CUNY’s top-down overhaul of general education and transfer, began with a town hall meeting on March 8, 2012. By the end of the following month, 5,676 members of the CUNY community had signed a petition calling for repeal. CUNY faculty and staff in their departments and campus governance bodies engaged the issue. Two lawsuits were filed -- and resistance continued to grow.

The Academe blog and the GC Advocate have posted news of an important reversal from Queensborough Community College President Diane Call. Last week, President Call informed the English department on that campus that she planned to reject their near three-fourths majority vote to elect a new chair. The struggles of the QCC English department made headlines recently when faculty members were threatened with mass firings after the department voted against reducing classroom hours for Pathways-compliant composition courses.

Over the weekend and on Monday, more than 900 CUNY faculty signed a petition from the QCC English department faculty urging President Call to reconsider her decision to deny their vote for chair.

This morning, President Call sent the following message to members of the QCC English department:

Colleagues—

It is my decision to accept the recommendation forwarded by the English Department for Dr. David Humphries to serve as its Chairperson, effective November 14, 2012.

In a lengthy meeting with Dr. Humphries yesterday, he expressed his willingness and ability to advance the important work of the English Department in curricular and personnel matters. I have confidence in and appreciate his sincerity to unite the department as a community, in the best interests of the College and our students.

Thank you.
Dr. Diane B. Call
Interim President
Queensborough Community College

Another college curriculum-approving body has taken a stand against Pathways.

On Thursday, November 8, the Faculty Senate of the College of Staten Island passed a resolution holding that it would “not compromise academic rigor and quality of curricula at CSI.” The resolution says that the “majority of full time faculty, department chairs, and members of the faculty governance and related committees continue to oppose Pathways” and calls for a “moratorium on all matters related to Pathways implementation.” Read the CSI Faculty Senate resolution.

The CSI faculty are following the lead of the union’s Delegate Assembly

The battle over Pathways is also being waged in this courts. Two PSC-UFS lawsuits are working their way through the court system. One argues that the CUNY administration exceeded its authority in matters of curriculum and failed to follow university bylaws and faculty governance procedures. The other contends that CUNY has advanced Pathways in violation of the State's Open Meetings Law.

Unity is our best defense and we will not stand for coercion. That was the message last week when dozens of faculty from English departments at CUNY community colleges met to discuss a collective response to the threats of reprisal they have received as they vote on Composition courses for Pathways. At the meeting, union leaders reiterated the PSC’s commitment to defend members from retaliation and outlined the contractual and legal basis for the faculty’s right to exercise their academic judgment by voting on curriculum matters. They also shared a resolution condemning the threats, which was passed recently by the Delegate Assembly.

At the September Delegate Assembly meeting, the delegates passed a resolution reiterating the PSC's demand for the repeal of Pathways and calling for an immediate moratorium on all further implementation until the CUNY Central Administration explicitly withdraws all forms of coercion and pressure directed at faculty, staff, departments and other governance bodies. The PSC encourages faculty senates, disciplinary councils, departments and other governance bodies to adopt or adapt this resolution as they see fit.

Read the PSC’s update on the reprisals that Queensborough Community College Vice President Karen Steele announced after the English Department voted ‘no’ on three-hour, three-credit composition courses for Pathways.

Read the PSC’s response to the outrageous reprisals Queensborough Community College Vice President Karen Steele announced after the English Department voted ‘no’ on three-hour, three-credit composition courses for Pathways. What happened at Queensborough is important for all of us.

Petitions with 5,676 signatures were delivered to the Board.

University Faculty Senate Sandi Cooper and Professional Staff Congress President Barbara Bowen released a statement today on May 16th announcing a major effort to develop an alternative to Pathways.

This UFS/PSC initiative comes after a campaign that gathered thousands of petition signatures. On April 30th, at the CUNY Board of Trustees meeting, the PSC presented the petition calling for the repeal and replacement of Pathways, CUNY’s new austerity-inspired General Education framework. 5,676 faculty and staff have signed the petition, which was delivered to each CUNY trustee and college president and displayed on big signs at the Board meeting.

Nearly 350 faculty, staff and students attended a March 8th PSC Town Hall Meeting on Pathways, the City University of New York's (CUNY's) top-down overhaul of general education and transfer.

We capture part of that event in video excerpts from two of the speakers, PSC President Barbara Bowen and Terrence Martell, Vice Chair UFS and Saxe Distinguished Professor of Finance, Baruch College.