President’s Community Meeting
Wednesday, September 24, 2008

The first President’s Community Meeting of the academic year was held on Wednesday, September 24 in the Graduate Center’s Skylight Room.

President Bill Kelly discussed the budget cuts recently enacted by the state. The Graduate Center’s share of cuts to the CUNY budget is expected to be approximately $2.1 to $2.2 million. The President explained that, although significant, this number was “not daunting” since The Graduate Center has made a number of necessary purchases from a surplus that accrued last year, and has established a reserve. “We are prepared to absorb this cut with minimal noticeable consequence for the community,” he said. He praised Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration Sebastian Persico and his staff for their prudent management, which will allow education and services to continue with little disruption this year. The President added that contingency plans are being made in the event that The Graduate Center is asked to absorb additional cuts.

The President and attendees welcomed Chase Robinson, The Graduate Center’s new Provost, who was present at the meeting.

Enrollment for the new student health insurance program will begin in November, the President reported, and the insurance will become effective for the Spring 2009 semester. This coverage is available for doctoral students who teach or work at CUNY. Two public meetings will be scheduled at which representatives of the New York State Health Insurance Program (the agency sponsoring the coverage) will be available to answer students’ questions, and Graduate Center staff members can also provide assistance. “The acquisition of student health insurance has been an enormously complicated issue,” said the President, “and though it seems triumphant, we believe it is something that our students should have.” (More information about this insurance is available at http://web.gc.cuny.edu/provost/doctoral_students/health.html.)

The President reported that a major hurdle has been cleared in The Graduate Center’s ongoing effort to build a facility for student and faculty housing; the zoning variance required for the chosen site in Long Island City, Queens has been officially approved. In the coming months, staff will be working to acquire additional financing for the project.

In the area of public programs, the President said that The Graduate Center is enjoying a particularly exciting year. He spoke of a number of specific events, including Basketball and Race Relations (part of a series on Civil Rights in the Sixties); the opening of People Weekly, the first exhibit curated by the James Gallery’s new Director, Linda Norden; and one of the major events in the ongoing Great Issues Forum – a discussion of Political Power with Zbigniew Brzezinski (former National Security Advisor), Mary Robinson (former President of Ireland and former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights), and Nicholas Kristof (Pulitzer Prize winning journalist).

Vice President for Institutional Advancement Ray Soldavin encouraged attendees to review upcoming programs of the Great Issues Forum at www.greatissuesforum.org. He also urged everyone to use the new online reservations system available through that website and The Graduate Center’s website at www.gc.cuny.edu. Seats can now be reserved for the Great Issues Forum, Music in Midtown concerts, Gotham Center History Forums, and Old York Readings and Reflections. President Kelly added that reservations are advisable since these are among The Graduate Center’s most popular public programs, and people who would like to attend are often turned away when all seats are taken.

Yosette Jones-Johnson, Assistant Vice President for Faculty and Staff Relations, introduced Teena Castabile, the new Associate Director of Human Resources. Joan Harden, Director of Special Events and Event Planning, announced that the date for the 2009 Commencement exercises has been changed to Thursday, May 28; the location will be Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. And John Flaherty, Director of Security and Public Safety, urged attendees to spread the word about signing up for CUNY Alert, a system that will provide text or voice notification of weather-related closings and emergencies to members of the CUNY community. (A fast, simple sign-up process can be accessed at www.cuny.edu/alert.)