Brooklyn College PSC-CUNY

Brooklyn College spokesperson Jason Carey told the Eagle on Wednesday, “While the President of Brooklyn College must transmit recommendations of the Faculty Council to the Chancellor, these proposals must be lawful and in line with recent court proceedings that ruled in favor of the CUNY Board of Trustees in initiating academic policy.” He added that reviews of general education happen periodically at the college, and have been encouraged by the Provost. “Our faculty plays a key role in shaping the academic curriculum at Brooklyn College. When reviewing and revising our general education requirements, however, the College is obligated to be guided by the broad framework of the Pathways initiative approved by the CUNY Board of Trustees."

Brooklyn College faculty breaks with CUNY:  votes to retake control of curriculum Brooklyn College. Photo courtesy CUNY Has 'no confidence' in CUNY Board of Trustees By Mary Frost Brooklyn Daily Eagle The full-time faculty at Brooklyn College passed a resolution on Wednesday to “retake control of curriculum decision making” and demand that the Brooklyn College and CUNY administrations “respect the faculty’s historic role in designing courses,” programs and degree requirements. Professors are rejecting CUNY's move to “override faculty decision making” to implement the “inadequate” Pathways general education program, according to the Brooklyn College Faculty Council. Pathways implements a set of course requirements that every student must complete to earn an undergraduate degree from CUNY, making it easier to transfer one CUNY college to another. But professors complain th...

Address to the Stated Meeting of the Faculty By Alex S. Vitale Chair Brooklyn College Chapter PSC-CUNY April 8, 2014 The de Blasio administration has expressed interest in getting bargaining started with the over 150 municipal unions without contracts. Right now there is haggling over whether cost savings in health care should be tied to contractual raises. The Municipal Labor Council, which represents all municipal unions and the City have said they want to avoid increasing premiums. In addition, the MLC leadership has said that city nurses, teachers, and professors should be the first to bargain with the City, since they have gone the longest without a contract. The City hasn’t agreed to this idea, but hopefully this will move us up on the list. The PSC continues to talk with management about a number of non-financial issues, and is ready to begin bargaining in earnest at any time over a full contract. I’m sure you will hear more on the budget from President G...

BROOKLYN COLLEGE FACULTY VOTE TO RETAKE CONTROL OF CURRICULUM DECISION MAKING; VOTE NO CONFIDENCE IN CUNY BOARD OF TRUSTEES Contact: Alex S. Vitale, avitale@brooklyn.cuny.edu Brooklyn, NY-- For the first time in decades, the entire full-time faculty at Brooklyn College passed a resolution at a special college-wide meeting on April 8 to demand that the Brooklyn College and CUNY administrations respect the faculty’s historic role in designing courses, general education programs, and degree requirements. Two years ago the CUNY Board of Trustees instructed local college administrations to override faculty decision making in implementing the inadequate Pathways general education program, which was opposed by 92% of full-time faculty at CUNY who voted in a referendum held last year. This is despite the fact that college governance documents vest curricular decision making solely in the hands of the faculty. By a vote of 298 in favor, 9 against and 18 abstentions, today’s resolution ...

Dear Colleagues, On Tuesday, for the first time in decades, the Brooklyn College faculty will be voting on a measure at the Stated Meeting of the Faculty. The resolution to be voted on supports the Faculty Council in their effort, as elected representatives of the faculty, to undertake a process of redesigning general education at Brooklyn College . Given recent attacks on faculty governance and faculty control over curriculum it is imperative that this vote succeed. So far the response has been overwhelming. Over 300 full time faculty have committed to attending the meeting. If those numbers hold true, then we will meet our quorum of approximately 275. But that does not leave much room for error. If you have committed to showing up, we need you there. If you haven’t yet and can do so, please let us know you are coming. This vote is about much more than just Pathways or general education. It’s ultimately about faculty power. Over the last generation, at CUNY and throughout aca...

A Public Launching Event for the CUNY Digital History Archive April 9, 2014 | 6:30pm CUNY Graduate Center, Martin Segal Theatre Hear from activists who have advocated for public higher education for all New Yorkers. Participate in plans for collecting and organizing a public archive of our CUNY history. Join the archiving effort: Tell your story, contribute documents, conduct interviews! The panels will involve activists in the struggle for and defense of Open Admissions from the late-1960s to the present, who will describe their experiences and offer insights about the past and its implications for the future. Come and participate in the community breakout/discussion session after the second panel, where we talk about the archive and community involvement. The Fight for Open Admissions, 1969–1976 Former student and faculty activists who led the fight on CUNY campuses to open the University to all NYC high school graduates discuss this transformative historic...