Cabinet Meeting Minutes October 16, 2023

Cabinet Meeting
Monday, October 16, 2023
10:00 am - Noon

Facilitator: VP Celia Lloyd
Presenter: Executive Counsel Paul Occhiogrosso

1. Anthony Achille, Executive Director of Internal Affairs
2. Vince Boudreau, President
3. Doris Cintron, Senior Associate Provost
4. Alex Couzis, Dean, Grove School of Engineering
5. Ramon De Los Santos, Assistant Vice President of Student Affairs
6. Scott Gurba, Chief Operating Officer
7. Marta Gutman, Dean, Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture
8. Tony Liss, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs
9. Celia Lloyd, Vice President, Student Affairs and Enrollment Management 10. Juan Carlos Mercado, Dean of Interdisciplinary Studies at CWE & Professional Continuing Studies
10. Renata Miller, Dean, Division of Humanities and the Arts
11. Dee Dee Mozeleski, Senior Advisor to the President and VP & Executive Director, Office of Institutional Advancement, Communications and External Relations and The Foundation for City College
12. Naomi Nwosu-Stewart, Assistant Vice President of Enrollment Management 14. Paul Occhiogrosso, Executive Counsel to the President
13. Marie Owumi, Special Projects Manager, Office of the President
14. Susan Perkins, Dean, Division of Science
15. Andrew Rich, Dean, The Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership 18. Teresa Scala, Chief of Staff, Office of the Provost
16. Mary Ruth Strzeszewski, Associate Provost for Academic Programs
17. Vanessa Valdes, Associate Provost for Community Engagement
18. Rosemarie Wesson, Associate Provost for Research

Absent:

1. Carmen Green, Dean, CUNY School of Medicine
2. Ken Ihrer, Chief Information Officer
3. David Jeruzalmi, Chairman, The Faculty Senate
4. Edwin Lamboy, Dean, School of Education
5. Ruth Stark, Chairperson, Faculty Committee on Personnel Matters

The meeting was called to order at 10:01 am by VP Lloyd.

The October 2 minutes were reviewed and approved.

President Boudreau gave his announcements which were as follows:

1. COPs updates: This included updates from the union, budget conversations. He advised that in conversations concerning the budget, to highlight that wage increases have been impaired by budget shortfalls. It is important to have conversations with state officials to keep CUNY and City College in mind while making budget plans.
2. The recent ransomware attacks on two CUNY colleges have brought attention to unsecure points of entry into the system, including emails and unsecured devices. There are steps being taken to secure devices and begin two-factor authentication for faculty and staff.
3. The CUNY University Provost gave a presentation on Navigate which falls in line with the CCNY strategy for student retention. This means that the CCNY strategy will continue to move down this trajectory, and is well placed to take advantage of this system.
4. He discussed the current state of the college with regard to the situation in Israel and Palestine. He asked that each division be prepared to have their faculty prepared to have conversations with students, and to keep in mind the various protests that will take place across campus. He applauded the climate of mutual respect that has been shown during protests thus far. Two major steps to preserve the campus were done:
   1. President gave his official statement reminding the campus of the college’s mission to preserve the ability of the university to function
   2. Student Affairs released a document on understanding and preventing antisemitism. President Boudreau encouraged Cabinet members to attend protests, not to participate, but to listen and show support. Anything that is done with one group/side of the debate should be done with the other so that no one group feels shunned.
5. A protocol was established in case of emergency after the active shooter threat that was made several months ago. In the wake of the bomb threat made, Public Safety made a full sweep of the campus and declared the threat to be not credible. Another threat was made recently by a young man on social media, and he was arrested and charged with a hate crime. Provost Liss issued a statement with all faculty expressing that the campus will remain open, and students should feel safe enough to return to campus.

VP Mozeleski and Anthony Achille, Executive Director of External Affairs led the conversation on commencement budget and various aspects of divisional ceremonies. In 2022, a course model was shared with all divisions on how their ceremonies should be structured. As the ceremonies all go through CUNY’s procurement process, Director Achille advised that the college begin the process by November, at the latest. A spreadsheet detailing cost breakdowns for each ceremony was shared with Cabinet members for consideration going into the 2024 commencement. The conversation was concluded with a decision for Director Achille to return for the October 30 Cabinet meeting with alternative budget proposals along the following guidelines:

1. No divisional ceremonies
2. Divisional funded ceremonies
3. Divisional ceremonies with tax levy budget
4. Smaller ceremonies with the inclusion of a graduate student ceremony
5. Main ceremony off-campus

COO Gurba gave an update on the current operational strategy. He held a workshop with all branches of operations on October 10 to brief them on the strategy so far and their roles in the coming months. He is hopeful that a holistic operational strategy will be published by January, 2024.

President Boudreau went over the submitted PMP letter with Cabinet, outlining what strategies were shared with CUNY to meet the 2024 targets. These included orientation, Braven, Navigate, One-Stop, 4 semester scheduling and the Immigrant Student Center. He let everyone know that the proposed strategies that were not included in the PMP letter would form the basis for the college’s strategic plan.

The suggestion will need to be restructured in such a way that targeted benchmarks are outlined and shared. President Boudreau also specified important considerations to take when forming a plan:

1. Set targets empirically verifiable
2. Identify manageable areas with the best impact
3. Ensure an optimal sequencing of goals
4. Apply a theory of change into the planning process

He specified five priorities for Student Success which will be addressed at the October 30 Cabinet meeting:

1. The Hub
2. One Stop
3. Experiential Learning
4. 4 semester planning
5. Navigate

Provost Liss gave a presentation on the campaign his office carried out with the Navigate program. He spoke on the various reasons that students could be flagged and the options available to faculty monitoring their students’ progress. The provost’s office will continue to monitor the results of this campaign and devise strategies for success with this program.

The meeting was adjourned at 12:12 pm.

Action Items:

1. The powerpoint presentations on ransomware strategy and Navigate shared by CUNY will be sent out for review.
2. Director Achille, VP Mozeleski and COO Gurba will formulate alternative commencement plans, including budget and consequences, for decision-making at the October 30 Cabinet meeting.
3. All Cabinet members are to come into the October 30 Cabinet meeting ready to workshop the Student Success section of the Internal PMP Strategic Plan
4. Every dean should draw up a report on their respective department’s 4 semester scheduling plan.

October 30 Cabinet Meeting Agenda

Facilitator - VP Dee Dee Mozeleski
Presentation- COO Scott Gurba

Agenda

1. Approval of the October 16 Cabinet Meeting Minutes 2. President’s Announcements
2. Commencement Planning (VP Mozeleski, Anthony Achille) 4. Internal PMP Planning - Student Success
   1. The Hub
   2. One Stop
   3. Experiential Learning
   4. 4 semester scheduling
   5. Navigate
3. 4 semester scheduling (All Deans)
   1. Roll out semester by semester
   2. Frequency distribution
   3. Potential problem areas
4. Presentation