Dear Lehman Colleagues,
It was a pleasure to meet some of you in person for the first time since I began my presidency in the summer at Convocation, our official beginning to the academic year.
Lehman College continues to work with CUNY central to operationalize guidelines pursuant to the student vaccine mandate.
The deadlines are upon us, but staff continue to consult with students on viable options for remaining enrolled and to reinforce the value of complying with the vaccine mandate as CUNY and Lehman attempt to return to normalcy.
Related to this, CUNY is refining their expectations for spring 2022, which now include a target of 70 percent face-to-face on campus instruction. It is not clear if there will be any wiggle room, but we have communicated that prior to COVID Lehman was moving toward more online courses and that this remains a strategy to maintain, if not boost, student enrollment at Lehman.
We will continue our conversations with the central office and keep you updated as those conversations move forward.
Celebrating Excellence
I’m pleased to note that Lehman College ranked highly in a number of categories in the latest U.S. News and World Report, including 4th among the top performers for social mobility and 14 on the list of top public schools. The college has also moved up 18 spots to No. 15 out of 393 public and private institutions on Washington Monthly’s Best Bang for the Buck Colleges in the Northeast list.
Congratulations to Dr. Victor Brown, associate provost for Academic Programs and Educational Effectiveness, for his appointment to the National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity (NAPE) Education Foundation. The foundation is a consortium with more than 300 affiliates including government agencies, corporations, organizations, and educational institutions, which strives to advance equity and diversity in classrooms and workplaces, particularly in STEM, career, and technical education.
Dr. Herminio Martinez, professor of Middle and High School Education and executive director of the Bronx Institute recently shared more reason for celebration – the U.S. Department of Education has awarded the Bronx Institute a seven-year, $12, 180,000 award to work with several Bronx schools and establish a partnership with Lehman College, the New York City Department of Education, American Museum of Natural History, Brown University, Harvard University, GENESYS Works, Kura Labs, Con Edison, Bronx Net, Seeds Training, the New York Botanical Garden, the Wildlife Conservation Society, and the Wave Hill Nature Center. The partners will contribute an additional seventeen million six hundred ninety-nine thousand eight hundred and seventy-two dollars ($17,699,872) in matching services to students.
CUNY Comeback has erased debt for more than 50,000 students and is reviewing hardship applications to determine what additional students are eligible.
Meetings
I met with Congressman Jamaal Bowman to discuss working with the college on issues like workforce development and STEM funding, as well as college promotion in his district. City Councilmember Vanessa Gibson also supports workforce development and the college’s entrepreneurial programs.
The congressman is a great supporter of the college, as is Assemblyman Kenny Burgos, who pledged to push for support of the College in the Assembly as well as a return to free tuition at CUNY.
In my meeting with Assemblymember Latoya Joyner, as with other elected officials, we discussed the status of enrollment and vaccination among students. She said she would like to visit the campus and interact with students on issues of voting and civic engagement.
Assemblymember Karines Reyes and I had a vibrant discussion about the potential for HyFlex instruction and online learning, high school student recruitment and the need for courses to prepare immigrant health care workers in light of onerous licensing processes.
I also met with Senator Gustavo Rivera, to discuss his support of the college along with the implications of upcoming deadlines for CUNY students to be vaccinated.
Shared Governance
October 6 Lehman College Senate
October 7 Cabinet
October 12 Faculty, Personnel and Budget
October 13 Cabinet
October 20 Cabinet
October 27 President’s Advisory Board
Fernando Delgado
@LehmanPresident
