Battles raging at CUNY's Medgar Evers College - Anyone involved?

krowonhill I feel like you may not have seen Waiting for Superman. Carver? Really? 10% graduation rate..? There are many issues that face inner-city schools. The lack of preparation is the main culprit. Children who can't read,write or speak the language that they plan to study in and math..forget math..the feeding/supporting schools send area kids to the CUNY level w weak or no skills to succeed. I hope that you look past the exception and look big picture..I hope organizations like NuLeadership help people who need it, but the sq feet can't be given for free, a private citizen can underwrite the entire enterprise and write it off on their taxes..the net/net to a multimillionaire is nothing but goodwill and helping an excon get life back on track and break the cycle. If the ME wants to change everything from his ATM provider,people who occupy space on his campus he should do it..10% graduation rate means the schools charter is a total do over. I am sure that NuLeadership is a 501c and can solicit somebody for a donation that is totally tax deductable..there are empty store fronts on every street throughout the area that are competitively priced w the campus sq footage. Pick your battles students protesting who provides ATMs rather than a 10% grad rate is a great example of bad,bad priorities

so where did the church/morality thread go?

Here's a page with statistics about the school from 2007 and 2008-09. It looks like they have about a 10% graduation rate for four year degrees, but they actually awarded more associates degrees last year (390 vs. 332)even though there are fewer associates degree programs at the school. They also have a lot of turnover (40% of all full time students and 60% of all part-time students don't return each year). 50% of the students are older than 25 and 24% are older than 35.

catwalkertexasranger:

I guess people have different priorities when it comes to the ATMs - on that we can argue back and forth and not agree on anything.

In regards to the film, I agree that it's not the students. OF COURSE it's not the students. I had no idea people blamed all of the failures of the US education system on the kids. But the changes being discussed I think are wrong too. And I actually think MOST of it isn't the school system. I think it's the family and the culture of the US today. My great-grandparents didn't speak English when they came to the US but they had parents who motivated them to learn English, to not wait for something to be handed to them, to get a good education because it was the only way up - and then they wanted that for their kids. Now I see parents who TELL their kids education is important but don't put them to bed before midnight, don't get them to school on time, don't make them do their homework, don't encourage them to join extracurriculars, etc. etc. They think that the best way to get a job is to drop out of school ... to sing, to play ball, to rap, to sell drugs. The only well-off people they see are the dealers - so why get an education? Until THAT is changed, who cares what system we have?

Whatever - regardless, it's a college. These aren't little kids - these are adults at Medgar Evers. It's a public city college that should be doing good things for the community. Shutting down programs that do GOOD should not be the priority. Sure - if they track the data and see that most people enrolled are getting 2-year degrees, I would assume they would cut back on the 4-year degrees and add more 2-year programs. But that shouldn't be a drastic thing, but a looking at the trends and adjusting to the needs of the students. My undergrad school added a lot of programs while I was there based on the needs/wants of incoming freshmen and students currently enrolled who wanted MA or MS degrees.

Some of this also has to be placed in the context of how CUNY operates as a whole. CUNY has "flagship" schools like the main campus in Harlem, Baruch, Hunter, Brooklyn and then has a secondary level of 4 yr schools like Lehman, York, Queens, John Jay, etc. Under that there are the community colleges such as Kingsborough, BMCC, Hostos, Bronx, etc. Many of the secondary level 4 year schools have unique majors which attract students to them, but often they have students that want to go to the flagship schools but can't get in. Those students will take a spot at a school such as Medgar hoping to do really well for a year or two and then transfer to a Baruch or Hunter.

This is how the system has operated for years, and its something that CUNY actively encourages (have you seen the subway and bus ads with star students in Associates, Bachelors, and advance degree programs alongside successful graduates?). So while there is a portion of Medgar students that come there planning to matriculate there, many may never enter the school with that purpose.

As for the ATM situation, I'd bet that the issue is the divergent interests of the students and the administration. No doubt Citibank probably pays more to the school to have its ATM there. However, based upon my experiences as an undergraduate back before the millenium, I'd bet that they don't offer accounts which cater to students or low income persons (many, many, many moons ago they had a $500 minimum requirement to open a checking account). They also have a high ($3) ATM fee for non-Citibank customers. I'd hazzard a guess that the students probably had lower ATM fees from Carver and perhaps had access to no-fee checking or student accounts.

MHA, we actually all knew that already... (but we appreciate the theatricality of it all)...

Krowonhill, what are the issues between ME and residents you mention in the original post?

I learned from the best, lol.

ME has always struggled to maintain a reputation as something more than a Community college, even though it can grant 4 year degrees. I'm not sure why the president thinks he will be able to make it more. Maybe be the CUNY admin wants another reputable BS level school? Someone has to be cheering the president on.....

CUNY is likely overflowing with qualified students as a result of the recession. As homeowner mentions, the adult students and tech majors may face increased pressure to do timeat the CCs before they are admitted to the 4 yr schools.

A few of you have touched on some facts about MEC. The numbers don't that you quote don't tell the full story. 10% sounds dismal but when you look at all of the facts that are the cause of the 10%, you'd understand a little better. In addition, this administration has not done anything that would encourage an increase of the 10%. Before I get into the specifics of this administration, let me remind you that CUNY has cut remedial classes across the board at all colleges. That is a problem when students come to MEC or any other college unprepared because the public school system did not prepare them appropriately to succeed in college. But I digress...

This administration has:

Cut the writing lab ( what college doesn't have a writing lab?)

Cut the library hours on the evenings and weekends

cut Library staff

closed the learning center

stolen property from faculty members

turned away money that would have benefited the whole college

had security delivery letters of non reappointment to distinguished faculty members while they were teaching their classes

Lied to the local,elected officials about resolving issues with Carver bank and the Center for Nuleadership

Certainly, when faculty issues a vote of no confidence, this should warrant a second look. Had the faculty members of Brooklyn College, Hunter or Baruch issued a vote of no confidence of the administration, heads would be turning and CUNY administration would take notice. However, the administration of CUNY not only dismissed the vote, in writing they reiterated their utmost confidence in the MEC administration without a mere mention of the allegations the faculty charged this administration with. Those are the facts.

I agree, it is a shame there are not more programs for people who are not ready to pursue a BA.

I think the nearest community college is KBCC.

http://www.kbcc.cuny.edu/sub-about/Pages/default.aspx

And, as you mention, there are also EOCs around. They are often used to teach skills to folks who are not ready for community college. http://bkl.eoc.suny.edu/

Medgar Evers seemed to occupy a space that was in the middle. I.E. It attempted to serve folks who weren't ready for college AT THE SAME TIME as it attempted to serve those who were ready. Neither group is easy to serve, but prior to this newest attempt at change, did MEC manage to serve either population well?

I remember reading articles that it was about to lose accreditation as a BA level college. Did it get similar rebuke from the folks who audit and subsidize its non-degree programs?

In this funding environment, you often have to be GOOD at something. ...being mediocre at a few things is a losing strategy. The new college president, with the support of CUNY Central, seems to have chosen a direction.

....I have mixed feelings about whether going the other route (that of an EOC or Community college) would have been a better choice.

Turning down funding is always a tough decision.

I predict the funders will find another institution to accept their money, but probably not one that trains BA bound students.

The Business school at Medgar Evers is reportedly among CUNY's best.

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Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn has killed a controversial center run by ex-convicts after ruling it lacked research credentials and failed to show academic value to students, The Post has learned.

The decision by the new administration at the City University campus to pull the plug on the Center for NuLeadership on Urban Solutions comes a year after The Post reported the group got a $10,000 grant to study whether proposed state laws are racist.

The center, run by ex-cons Eddie Ellis and Divine Pryor, touted itself as the first academic research center in the United States to be developed and run by ex-convicts seeking to influence public policy on "mass incarceration, mass unemployment, and mass disenfranchisement of black men and women," according to the college's Web site.

But a probe by Medgar Evers President William Pollard and his academic team found that the felon-run center lacked academic rigor and did not belong at the college.

College officials particularly resisted the center's $2.4 million grant proposal to bring hundreds of "nonviolent" drug offenders to campus, concluding that the college shouldn't be used as an alternative to punishment for criminals, sources said.

Pryor said he will challenge the decision.

"They don't have any grounds to get rid of us," he said.

Pryor, who served 10 years for robbery and burglary, said the college rejected the center "because they have fear of people with criminal backgrounds being on campus" -- not because of academic deficiencies.

[email protected]

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brooklyn/medgar_evers_college_con_job_shut_wPX9LuQ8FYcahBu8GgUazK#ixzz1AebgI2IV

^^^^ Yuck, lots of college admin budget and management stuff.

Although many of the above are unpopular, I suspect many of the actions (1- 9) are within the legal purview of a college president and the CUNY Central Administration.

However, items 1 and 3 seem to be more serious:

1. The administration has violated CUNY Bylaws, union contracts and the Medgar Evers Governance Plan in the non-reappointment of faculty.

3. The administration has removed the Chair of Education for spurious and unsubstantiated reasons (Per PSC Contract, Chairs in CUNY are elected by faculty, not appointed by President and Provost). The Chair of Education had been elected by the faculty in her department for a three year term.

These actions seem like they would allow the affected to pursue remedies and appeals against the President and/or CUNY central. The private accreditation boards (like Middle States), NYS Board of Regents, and similar entities likely handle such disputes. I assume the faculty opposed to this administration are pursuing these routes. ....if the rules have been broken, I hope they win their case in a timely manner.

....colleges are weird in that they are set up to be far more "democratic" than most workplaces. Most of us can only dream of our bosses being subject to a complex set of bylaws that govern how they must manage us, and what items are in their purview re: what they can and can not cut.