CUNY students demonstrate against proposed tuition hike
The City University of New York is the nation’s largest urban university with close to 243,000 degree-seeking students. To many, it can be the gateway to the middle class. However, a proposed tuition hike by Gov. Kathy Hochul has some students up in arms. Students on Sunday held a rally…
Over 100 CUNY department chairs sign letter blasting university’s handling of financial crisis
The City University of New York professors are furious with the public university system’s handling of its financial crisis — and warning that the “micromanaging” hiring procedures will cost it top talent. The university announced a hiring freeze and budget cuts last month to help shore up a deficit fueled…
CUNY faculty urge investment in public higher education
After making major investments in New York City’s public higher education institutions in 2022, Gov. Kathy Hochul’s budget proposal in 2023 leaves the CUNY system underfunded and unprepared to serve its students, according to James Davis, president of the Professional Staff Congress, which represents CUNY faculty and staff.
Crucial CUNY programs on the chopping block in NYC budget
CUNY programs that reconnect college dropouts with their studies, offer academic support, and provide parenting students with child care are facing cutbacks in the city’s preliminary budget, officials and faculty said at a hearing on higher education Tuesday. City Council members and advocates said the loss of those programs could…
Unions call for CUNY, SUNY ‘New Deal’ investments
The state and city university systems are facing “desperate financial conditions” and need additional funding for operating expenses, better faculty-to-student ratios and other proposals in the New Deal for Higher Education bill, advocates urged during a March 9 rally in Albany. The coalition of labor unions, students and elected officials…
New York City Retirees Fight Their Own Unions to Stop Catastrophic Health Care Cuts
Defying two years of protests and lawsuits by union retirees, New York City’s Municipal Labor Committee voted March 9 to scrap some of the best retiree health care coverage in the country. The change would put 250,000 city retirees into a for-profit Medicare Advantage plan run by Aetna. Twenty-six unions…
NYSUT activists rally for New Deal for Higher Education, with broad support from voters
ALBANY, N.Y. March 9, 2023 — Declaring that New York’s public higher education institutions strengthen the state’s workforce and create opportunity so students can get ahead, more than 500 New York State United Teachers’ activists rallied today in support of a New Deal for Higher Education. “Our SUNY, CUNY and…
Unions, lawmakers urge billions more for SUNY and CUNY in budget
Labor unions and several lawmakers are insisting the state invest billions of more dollars in the upcoming budget to support SUNY and CUNY campuses and hospitals, pushing back against the proposed tuition hikes in Gov. Kathy Hochul's proposal. The state teacher's union, United University Professions and CUNY's union rallied with…
Who should bear the cost of upgrading SUNY and CUNY? Hochul says students are part of the answer
In recent years, New York’s public colleges, which educate some 600,000 New Yorkers, have suffered a slew of financial problems and declining enrollment, caused in part by the COVID-19 pandemic. Gov. Kathy Hochul has proposed tuition hikes for SUNY and CUNY campuses as a way to mitigate the financial challenges,…
CUNY faculty demand raises, work flexibility
City University of New York employees are seeking a new contract with higher pay and more flexibility in their schedules, the president of the union that represents around 30,000 CUNY faculty and staff said Tuesday. As inflation and the cost of living in the city rise, employees are hoping to…
