The City University of New York is slashing tens of millions of dollars from college budgets across eight of its 25 campuses, potentially gutting course offerings and student services from counseling to recordkeeping, the Daily News has learned.
Central administration ordered the schools — including York, Brooklyn and Queens colleges — to submit “enhanced deficit reduction plans” that find savings and boost revenue this school year and next, according to one of the college memos obtained by The News.
The directive comes as the city’s public university system was cut by $23 million last month under Mayor Adams’ revised municipal budget, documents show.
“The cuts that we’ve already endured this year have been devastating,” said Carolina Bank Muñoz, sociology professor and CUNY faculty union chapter leader at Brooklyn College. “And these additional cuts are just unconscionable.”
CUNY — which on top of the mayor’s cuts is losing federal COVID-19 aid and tuition revenue from dramatic enrollment declines during the pandemic — has already clawed back $128 million from the campuses over the past couple of years, according to the Professional Staff Congress.
Now, Brooklyn College has been directed to deliver $3.5 million more in savings and find $4.5 million in new savings next school year, Bank Muñoz said.
The chapter leader told The News there’s nowhere left to cut. The campus library has been operating on a reduced schedule. Faculty spend their own money on department graduation parties for students, and the allocations they receive for basics such as paper and chalk are dwindling as prices soar.
The cafeteria has been closed for at least the full semester, and some oncampus food trucks as a replacement cost at least $15 for a meal, she said. A rat infestation this fall prompted an email, reviewed by The News, asking staff to keep all food brought into the office in the refrigerator, freezer or in airtight containers.
“So you don’t want us to eat in our offices, or in the department, and we don’t have a cafeteria — so where are we supposed to eat?” said Bank Muñoz.
Queens College has been directed to cut $4.3 million this year and another $4.3 million next year, targets that the union says surpass the college’s deficit and are too great to shoulder.
While the college has yet to publicly release plans to meet the savings targets, union chapter Chairwoman Karen Weingarten said they include a hiring freeze, including to backfill positions necessary for operations.
“It feels paralyzing in many ways, not being able to move forward [on hiring] with these cuts,” said Weingarten, an English professor.
The campus is already without a registrar, following a sudden resignation this summer, to maintain academic records and issue transcripts, she said. Nor does it have a director of counseling to oversee psychologists and social workers who help students work through poor mental health, adjust to college, and make career and life choices.
That’s on top of a number of faculty positions that have been left vacant. In her department, Weingarten said, a full-time fiction professor may not be replaced “even though it might gut the program.” She warned that computer science and speech-language pathology programs could lose accreditation if certain classes are not staffed.
A spokesman for CUNY touted that the city’s public university system is an “indispensable engine of upward mobility for generations of New Yorkers and proudly prepares our graduates for the city’s ever-changing workforce.
“Over the last years, the university has taken many steps to address budget deficits across the system by implementing cost-saving measures and efficiencies while increasing fundraising and public-private partnerships. That work is ongoing and includes a targeted plan to help some CUNY colleges that are still exhibiting financial warning signs.
“Unfortunately, these actions alone are not enough. To avoid more drastic measures, we look forward to working with our partners in government in the coming months to advocate for resources to help CUNY realize our mission to lift New York.”
Across the campuses, the CUNY faculty union predicted larger class sizes, more canceled courses if too few students enroll and fewer adjunct faculty.
“The impact of that invariably is going to mean students have a harder time filling the requirements for their major, their minor and overall requirements to graduate,” said union President James Davis.
The ramifications are profound. Students could take longer to graduate or give up on a diploma. Faculty and staff who are committed to their students and the mission of the city’s public university system could throw in the towel.
“The intangible piece — and this can’t be overstated — is the relentless cuts year after year,” said Davis. “Since the pandemic, that’s had a tremendous effect on morale.”
Adams has already ordered another round of municipal budget cuts, including to CUNY, and warned a third may be on its way unless the federal government helps offset the costs of shelter and services for migrants.
While most city funding goes directly toward community colleges, it affects the financial well-being of the overall system, which can trickle down to four-year colleges.
CUNY’s Board of Trustees is expected to approve its budget request Monday afternoon, asking for an additional $429 million in operating funds, documents show.
“We don’t want to see a university that’s run by the bean counters,” said Davis. “We understand the fiscal reality, but we need to see a strong educational vision … [and] the resources necessary to support that vision.”
